The National Health Act

Abstract

While increasing enrolments of international fee-paying students are a feature of the current Australian tertiary system, little research has been undertaken relating to international students studying social work. A national survey of all accredited BSW programs within Australia was undertaken in 1997 with regard to the demographic profile of international students, current provisions for them and perceptions of educators about relevant issues for consideration. The findings of this survey are presented here. Fee-paying international students represented a small proportion of total enrolments within Australian BSW programs in 1997. While educators perceived that these students did have particular educational and social challenges within Australian social work programs, few special considerations were afforded to them, although the literature would encourage us to consider this. Issues relating to the social and cultural construction of Western social work education are discussed, as well as the cultural relevance of Australian social work education for international students intending to practise social work in their countries of origin.     

HIV/AIDS and constructs of gay community: Researching educational practice within community-based health promotion for gay men

This paper reports on the methodology of a comparative study of three gay communities in Australia as they struggle with HIV/AIDS. The study focused on the pedagogy and practice of HIV/AIDS education for disease prevention and for health maintenance for people living with HIV/AIDS, through the investigation of three problematics: (1) constructs of 'community'; (2) the centrality of gay community-based health educators; and (3) the relations of gay men within and to their communities. The study was conceived of as a critical ethnography involving a three-part sample in the three sites and using three related research methods: (1) individual and group interviews; (2) textual analysis; and (3) participant observation. The theoretical bases for the study and its design lay in notions of 'performativity', community and adult education, organizational and institutional processes, and the idea of a 'post-AIDS' sociality. The methodology is explained in detail, as are various consultative processes embedded in the design to facilitate and enable a productive relationship with the communities researched.     

Non-linear state space modelling of fisheries biomass dynamics by using Metropolis-Hastings within-Gibbs sampling

State space modelling and Bayesian analysis are both active areas of applied research in fisheries stock assessment. Combining these two methodologies facilitates the fitting of state space models that may be non-linear and have non-normal errors, and hence it is particularly useful for modelling fisheries dynamics. Here, this approach is demonstrated by fitting a non-linear surplus production model to data on South Atlantic albacore tuna ( Thunnus alalunga ). The state space approach allows for random variability in both the data (the measurement of relative biomass) and in annual biomass dynamics of the tuna stock. Sampling from the joint posterior distribution of the unobservables was achieved by using Metropolis-Hastings within-Gibbs sampling.     

MOVING OUT TO MOVE UP: DUAL‐CAREER MIGRATION AND WORK–FAMILY TRADEOFFS

Using data from a survey of new entrants to the junior PhD job market in economics, this paper shows that dual‐career location problems compromise the personal and professional lives of early‐career PhDs. Contrary to the common assumption that couples who do not live together break up, we find that living apart is a viable solution to location problems in the first year after graduate school. Surprisingly, PhDs facing moderate location problems are more likely than those facing severe location problems to make career sacrifices on behalf of their relationship; PhDs facing severe location problems are more likely to live apart. (JEL, J12, J44, A11)     

Just Say 'No'? Alcohol and People with Learning Difficulties

This paper analyses critically the scant literature which exists on the role of alcohol in the lives of people with learning difficulties. Though the research evidence is largely insecure, it does seem relatively clear that people with learning difficulties drink considerably less and abstain in higher numbers than the general population. In spite of this, the literature is predominantly characterised by a focus on the potential dangers of excessive alcohol consumption. In contrast, the possibility that a great many people with learning difficulties may have their access to alcohol debarred is not considered to be a problem requiring attention. It is argued that this is based on a failure to appreciate the cultural significance of alcohol for most people, and that the discourse on learning difficulties is being underpinned by a concern with physical, but not cultural access.     

Hidden Markov chains in generalized linear models

We show how the concept of hidden Markov model may be accommodated in a setting involving multiple sequences of observations. The resulting class of models allows for both interrelationships between different sequences and serial dependence within sequences. Missing values in the observation sequences may be handled in a straightforward manner. We also examine a group of methods, based upon the observed Fisher Information matrix, for estimating the covariance matrix of the parameter estimates. We illustrate the methods with both real and simulated data sets.     

Estimability,testability, and connectedness in the cell means model

This article discusses the conocepts of estimation of parameters and tests of linear hyp hypotheses in the fixed effects (ANOVA) model with some zero cell frequencies. The concept of connected experiments is generalized ot he cel1-means model and relatedtotheest imation of and test of hy pothe sesa bout the cell means. A simple test for connectedness is developed as a n atur alre sult of thea nalysis of the constrai nedcell means model. The a nalysis of unconnected experimentsisbriefly discussed. Examples are presented toillustrate the ideas.