11,028 research outputs found
'Of The People, By The People, For The People' Workers' Compensation in Queensland: The Rise and Fall of a Policy Community
No full textThe central question posed in this thesis is why has the Queensland model of workers' compensation been so enduring? The legislation remained largely intact from 1916 until 2001, with the exception of the years from 1996 to 1998. This was so despite the fact the central feature of a state-controlled monopoly that underpinned this model was always potentially divisive in line with the variances between liberal-conservative traditions and social-democratic ideals that subsisted in broader political culture. In addressing this question of longevity, this thesis explores the capacity of an initially contentious piece of legislation to draw strong support from former opponents, and the argument is put forward that it is best explained through the development and operation of a policy community that fostered a shared set of core values relative to broad workers' compensation policy preferences. These core values were compulsory state monopoly, no fault insurance and full access to common law. Thus, the longevity of the legislation is attributed to the continued support by key stakeholders of these core values. The thesis also demonstrates that policy community relations deteriorated during the 1990s as governments responded to broader political pressures precipitated by reform agendas. Inconsistencies in core values and policy outcomes for each stakeholder emerged as governments attempted to assert unprecedented control over the direction of workers' compensation in order to meet broader political goals. The legislation was threatened as relations within the policy community proved unsustainable when existing core values were contested.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)Griffith Business SchoolFull Tex
18q-, A Different Kind of Normal: Re-imagining Representation of Disability and Human Potentiality
No full text18q-: A Different Kind of Normal: Re-imagining Representation of Disability and Human Potentiality is a very personal project that evolved out of love and respect for those of us born with physical and intellectual impairment – made more precious when they happen to be our children. As a practice-led research project, a feature-length autobiographical documentary film has been created as a mechanism to explore the challenge of re-presenting the fullness of the lives of persons born with genetic difference on screen. The film introduces to the screen a group of individuals born with rare genetic conditions occurring on the 18th chromosome. It uses my family‟s story as a vehicle to traverse the new and unknown terrain brought by intellectual and physical impairment. In a bid to usurp entrenched, stereotypical storytelling devices that continue to marginalise, demonise and dehumanise persons of difference, the film balances the sharing of challenges with the joy and delight expressed in our lives. As a mother, filmmaker, advocate, student, academic and subject within the film, I have charted my process within the exegesis and ,in the absence of a formalised code of ethics for documentary filmmakers, I have explored ethical approaches across a number of disciplines in an endeavour to construct a framework to inform my work.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)Griffith Film SchoolArts, Education and LawFull Tex
The Rudd Government's Cooperative Federalism Reform Agenda 2007-2010
No full textPrime ministerial power in the Australian federal context is somewhat constrained. This thesis investigates an Australian prime minister's power to achieve reform by examining Kevin Rudd's machinery changes to intergovernmental arrangements and his policy reform agenda in two key areas of shared responsibility.
Rudd committed his government (2007-2010) to transforming the federation and pursuing a significant reform agenda using a strategy of cooperative federalism. Rudd's explicit invitation to states and territories to be partners in this reform appeared in contrast to ongoing Commonwealth centralisation of policy and recent decades of increasingly coercive intergovernmental relations.
This study interrogates the notion of cooperative federalism which framed Rudd's approach to policy reform. It describes Rudd's centralising changes to the intergovernmental arrangements and examines his reform agenda in the areas of finance and health. Drawing on primary research of Rudd's parliamentary speeches and using a case study method, the research traces Rudd's reforms to intergovernmental finances and health from his pre-election commitments, through the policy development, to execution, focusing in particular on his engagement with the states and territories. The analysis shows that Rudd's policy solutions in finance and health were both centralist, but that the approach taken by him and his government differed across the two cases.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)Griffith Business SchoolGriffith Business SchoolFull Tex
A Different Agenda: The Changing Meaning of Public Service Efficiency and Responsiveness in Australia's Public Services
No full textThis thesis examines the changing nature of efficiency and tesponsiveness of Australian public services over the past century It will examine how over the past 100 years efficiency has been improved and assessed. It will also examine how, since the 1970s, efficiency has become synonymous with responsiveness. The main argument of this thesis is that the nature of efficiency and responsiveness has changed over the past century.. Reforms introduced fiom the 1970s where the rationale at the time was improved efficiency, were essentially designed to make the public service more accountable and thereby responsive to the political executive. The study will examine: 1. the measures governments employed to improve efficiency and assess their effectiveness; 2. how responsiveness became the corollary of efficiency; 3. the resultant changes assessment of government perfbrmance; and 4. the effect these changes had on the Westminster system in Australia. The thesis is in three parts. Part one deals with the nature of public service efficiency and responsiveness. It examines the literature surrounding the nature of the terms and provides a definition of each. Part two details and analyses how public service efficiency was measured and improved from the end of the nineteenth century to the beginning of the 1970s. It will detail the rise and decline in public service boards and commissions and how they were used to initially limit patronage and then to act as monitoring agencies to ensure that public service input costs were as small as they could be 1i will also detail how other factors, such as the training and education of staff and computerisation had an increasing role in improving efficiency. The third part deals with the changes that have occurred since the 1970s. This will examine how responsiveness emerged as an issue and how it became an essential companion to efficiency when promoting bureaucratic change.. It will examine how the nomenclature of efficiency has been applied when the political executive seeks to ensure greater responsiveness from the public service. This third part will examine the main apparatus that were employed by the political executive to improve efficiency and responsiveness: progr am budgeting, corporate planthng, efficiency audits and contracts with senior staff. Finally, I will demonstrate the inability or unwillingness of many ministers and governments to detail policy objectives and their reluctance to evaluate the effectiveness of spending. This was accompanied by a greater reliance on senior employment contracts as the main lever to improve efficiency and responsiveness of the service.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)Griffith Business SchoolFull Tex
Arthur Fadden: a political silhouette
No full textThis thesis examines the political legacy of Sir Arthur Fadden, leader of the federal
Country Party (1940–58), prime minister (1941) and, until his record was surpassed by
Peter Costello, Australia’s longest serving treasurer (1940–41 and 1949–58). It traces
his life story from ordinary beginnings in north Queensland, through his foray into
business as an accountant and his long career in politics – local, state and federal. The
thesis argues that Fadden was integral to the establishment of the enduring coalition
arrangement between the Liberal Party and the Country (later National) Party that
remains in place to this day.
This thesis employs the methodology of political biography, building a portrait of
Fadden by looking at the influences that shaped him as a person and a politician. Yet it
is not a standard ‘life’ biography but rather a political inquiry into a political figure,
focusing particularly on his contribution to the coalition and his role as party leader. As
such the thesis contextualises Fadden very much as a man belonging to a particular
time and place in Australian history. Fadden has gone down in folklore as one of the
great characters in the Australian parliament. This thesis aims to bring his personality
and wit back to life, as part of the explanation for his political success.
Fadden held public office for close to three decades. Yet to date he remains a largely
forgotten figure in public discourse. This thesis hopes, in some part, to redress this lack
of attention. When Fadden entered the federal parliament in 1936 the conservative
parties were a loose grouping of fractious interests. By the time he retired in 1958 the
coalition was an entrenched feature of conservative politics. This thesis argues that
Fadden, through a unique blend of personal traits, such as his strength of character and a
belief in compromise and consensus, laid the foundations for an enduring coalition
arrangement that has seen successive conservative governments hold office federally for
forty-two of the last sixty years. Yet while he was conciliatory, Fadden showed that he
was not averse to pursuing his objectives with a degree of relentlessness. He was no
pushover, a fact recognised by prime minister Menzies and the Liberal members of
cabinet during policy debates in the early 1950s.
The most important explanation for Fadden’s success lies in his capacity for fostering
relationships. This thesis unpacks his relationships with political colleagues, party
leaders, public officials, the press and his constituents, and concludes that his
interpersonal skills are crucial to understanding his political longevity. Fadden’s career
proves that even at its most ruthless, politics is an intensely personal endeavour.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)Griffith Business SchoolGriffith Business SchoolFull Tex
Time Rhythm and Magic: Developing a Communications Theory Approach to Documentary Film Editing
No full textTime, Rhythm and Magic: developing a Communications Theory approach to Documentary Film Editing is principally concerned with the editing of documentary films, in particular the historical documentary. The essence of the study draws upon a reflective experiential analysis of the author’s extensive creative practice in documentary film production, with particular reference to the principles and techniques the author employs in documentary editing. The research argues that the process of constructing certain forms of documentary film involves the selection of small segments, or samples, taken from a whole and re-assembled into a reductive representation of that whole. The author finds that useful analogies can be drawn between this process in documentary film editing and the process of sampling, encoding and re-construction inherent in digital telecommunication systems.
The study also argues that a central component of both processes is the sharing and manipulation of temporal elements, and that although these manipulations are a crucial determinant of the cohesion and flow of a finished documentary film, they are invisible to the viewer. The documentary film editor is thus able to create convincing illusions which the audience perceives as reality—a creative process which might thus be described as a form of ‘magic’.Thesis (Professional Doctorate)Doctor of Visual Arts (DVA)Queensland College of ArtArts, Education and LawFull Tex
Rise up Suns: A Longitudinal Study of Sport Fan Development
No full textSport fans are key stakeholders for professional sport teams. Fans contribute both indirectly and directly to revenue streams and thus help teams to remain sustainable. However, the sport marketplace is an increasingly competitive landscape where a growing number of teams compete to attract, retain and develop fans. Such competition necessitates research that better outlines how and why individuals become team fans. Building on this opportunity, the current research investigates how the process of team identification can be used to understand fan development. Overall, this research contributes to existing theory by detailing the factors and processes that underpin fan development.
The Psychological Continuum Model (PCM) was used as the theoretical framework to guide this research. The PCM provides a developmental framework that can be used to understand the progression of psychological connections with sport objects. Specifically, the PCM conceptualises how an individual may move from simply being aware of a team through three additional stages of team connection, culminating in team allegiance. The current research advances the PCM as a fan development framework by incorporating social identity theory into the model. In doing so, team
identification was identified as a construct that can be used to examine the processes that lead to fan development. To better understand the processes that explain fan development, three studies were conducted. These studies gathered both quantitative (Study 1) and qualitative (Study 2 and Study 3) data, providing the researcher with cross-sectional and longitudinal data relevant to the investigation. All data were collected from fans of a new professional sport team located in Australia.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)Griffith Business SchoolGriffith Business SchoolFull Tex
Collision Avoidance Systems for Mine Haul Trucks and Unambiguous Dynamic Real Time Single Object Detection
No full textA suite of new collision avoidance systems (CAS) is presented for use in heavy vehicles whose structure and size necessarily impede driver visibility is introduced. The main goal of the project is to determine the appropriate use of each of the commercially available technologies and, where possible, produce a low cost variant suitable for use in proximity detection on large mining industry haul trucks. CAS variants produced were subjected to a field demonstration and, linked to the output from the earlier CAS 1 project, (a production high-definition in-cabin video monitor and r/f tagging system). The CAS 2 system used low cost Doppler continuous wave radar antennae coupled to the CAS 1 monitor to indicate the presence of an object moving at any speed above 3 Km/h relative to the antennae. The novelty of the CAS 3 system lies in the design of 3 interconnected, modules. The modules are 8 radar antennae (as used in CAS 2) modules located on the truck, software to interface with the end user (i.e. the drivers of the trucks) and a display unit. Modularisation enables the components to be independently tested, evaluated and replaced when in use. The radar antennae modules and the system as a whole are described together with the empirical tests conducted and results obtained. The tests, drawing on Monte-Carlo simulation techniques, demonstrate both the 'correctness' of the implementations and the effectiveness of the system. The results of the testing of the final prototype unit were highly successful both as a computer simulation level and in practical tests on light vehicles. A number of points, (as a consequence of the field test), are reviewed and their application to future projects discussed.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)Griffith Business SchoolFull Tex
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Stormwater Quality Improvement Devices (SQIDs) in Sub-Tropical Conditions
No full textStormwater quality improvement devices (SQIDs) are frequently installed to improve the water quality of runoff to match particular water quality objectives (WQOs). However, there is a lack of data to evaluate the functioning and performance of these systems, particularly in sub-tropical climates. The primary aim of this study was to collect such data. Another aim was to establish baseline monitoring of an urban catchment before the installation of SQIDs and to forecast the improvement to the water quality after installation.
This study investigates the performance of two SQIDs (a pond and wetland) within a treatment train that has been retrofitted into a sub-tropical urban catchment (Waterbird Park) on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The method used to evaluate the effectiveness of this system was through rainfall events, sampling of the inlets to the pond, its outlet and the outlet of the wetland. Sampling was conducted through the use of automatic sampling devices, before the retrofit, during the construction phase and after the construction of the treatment train. A secondary study was conducted on a separate catchment, (Discovery Park), in which no SQIDs were installed. The Discovery Park site was used as a baseline study, where the objective was to estimate the likely improvement that a lake and wetland treatment train would have at that site.Thesis (Masters)Master of Philosophy (MPhil)Griffith School of EnvironmentScience, Environment, Engineering and TechnologyFull Tex
The Provenance of Sediment in Three Rural Catchments in South East Queensland, Australia
No full textMoreton Bay, in South East Queensland, Australia, is a Ramsar wetland of international
significance. A decline of the bay’s ecosystem health has been primarily attributed to
sediments and nutrients from catchment sources. The Healthy Country (HC) project, a
Queensland Government funded ‘proof of concept’ initiative, is dedicated to reducing rural
diffuse sediments and nutrients entering waterways and ultimately Moreton Bay. Three
focal catchments, Blackfellow Creek, Knapp Creek and the Upper Bremer River, were
selected to trial rehabilitation techniques for the region. Sediment budgets for these focal
catchments, developed using catchment scale modelling (SedNet), indicated gully erosion
dominates the supply of sediment in Knapp Creek (90%) and the Upper Bremer River
(80%) whereas erosion from cultivated soils is the primary sediment source in Blackfellow
Creek (40%). These sediment budgets, that include predictions of both the spatial sources
of sediment and the primary erosion processes, form a series of hypotheses in each focal
catchment that are tested in this thesis.
Fallout-radionuclide activity concentrations (137Cs and 210Pbex) of in-stream sediment
sampled in each focal catchment were used in conjunction with regional source data to
test hypotheses pertaining to dominant erosion processes, specifically the relative
sediment contributions from surface and subsoil (gully and channel bank) sources.
Distribution modelling results indicated subsoil erosion processes dominate the supply of
sediment in both Knapp Creek (100%) and the Upper Bremer River (100%). In Blackfellow
Creek, the similarity of cultivated (surface) and subsoil source fallout-radionuclide activity
concentrations resulted in no discrimination between these sources that were modelled in
combination to contribute >90% of sediments. Importantly there was no discrimination
between gully and channel bank erosion sources in Knapp Creek and the Upper Bremer
River.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)Griffith School of EnvironmentScience, Environment, Engineering and TechnologyFull Tex
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