2006

Since the 1960s, Australian universities have come to be regarded as important enablers, even drivers, of regional development. This has been accompanied by the renewal of their third mission in regional engagement. Theorization of this development has neglected the individual level of analysis, tending to focus on the institutional level. This a ....

The research activity described in this report is a comprehensive regional assessment of the impacts of climate change on water resources and options for adaptation in the Okanagan Basin. The ultimate goal of the project is to develop integrated climate change and water resource scenarios to stimulate a multistakeholder discussion on th ....

Retirement is a major life change for men, with their identity so often tied strongly to paid work. However, little is known about rural men who retire from farms and moved into town - leaving their land. This article investigates their experiences, with a qualitative study of seven retired farmers in New England, New South Wales. ....

WA Country Health Services (WACHS) is endeavouring to develop a service delivery model to provide allied health and rehabilitation services to Aboriginal people in remote communities. A Community Based Rehabilitation model, with an emphasis on Community Based Workers, has been proposed as a viable framework. There are significant barriers to the ....

This fact sheet briefly describes a research project investigating the relationship between climate variability and natural resource management (NRM) practices and outcomes in agricultural regions in the Condamine region Qld, northern Victoria, and the Wallatin catchment WA. The project aims to analyse how climate has been changing ....

The intensification of agriculture, in particular pastoral farming, has led the way in the demise of water quality in New Zealand. Much of this pollution is due to the non-point source discharge of nutrients into our waterways. This environmental damage has been noticed for over 50 years, yet the cause of the problem has remained u ....

This study was funded by the Cooperative Research Centre for Sustainable Tourism and Rio Tinto. The aim of the study was to investigate the opportunities for mining operations to support the development of Indigenous tourism ventures in remote and regional Australia. Many Indigenous communities have cultural tr ....

The effects of mental illness are felt across our nation. Recent reports from Parliamentary inquiries and independent reviews have presented strong evidence for change in the way governments respond to mental illness. In February 2006, Australian leaders recognised that mental health is a major problem for the Australian community ....

Climate change poses challenges for all sectors of the Australian economy but particularly for those sectors dependent on natural resources such as agriculture. The National Agriculture and Climate Change Action Plan 2006-2009 (the Action Plan) is an agreement by Australian governments to develop a coordinated framework for climate ....

In the largest study undertaken to date, a survey was conducted of 386 broadacre farmers in a 400 000 square kilometre region of New South Wales to quantify the impact of native vegetation on farm productivity and returns. Analysis of data collected as part of the survey found that farms with lower vegetation density generally have ....

The Productivity Commission inquiry in 2004 into native vegetation and biodiversity concluded that the current regulatory approaches to native vegetation management were having a negative impact on some private landholders by imposing significant costs, preventing property development, preventing land use change to more profitable ....

The Northern Australia Irrigation Futures project has been established as a collaborative arrangement between the Australian, Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australian Governments to provide new knowledge, tools and processes, including an overarching framework, to support debate on irrigation related issues in Northern ....

The Blueprint was launched in May 2006 by the NSW Farmers Association along with 18 other organisations. It is a simplified summary of key issues to address and major actions to take that the Rural Mental Health Network considers necessary to ease a 'mental health crisis' in regional areas - evidenced by farm male owners and manage ....

In recent years, economic geographers have seized on the concepts of 'path dependence' and 'lock-in' as key ingredients in constructing an evolutionary approach to their subject. However, they have tended in to invoke these notions without a proper examination of the ongoing discussion and debate devoted to them within evolutionary economics and ....