2008

The Potential Leaders in Local Communities initiative of the Australian Government's Stronger Families and Communities Strategy focused leadership development initiatives on four largely disadvantaged social groups (youth, Indigenous communities, women, and rural and regional communities) to address various social issues. This pape ....

In the past decade, researchers have recognized the need for localized sustainability initiatives at the community level that include local people in the decision making process. The purpose of this study was to identify the set of criteria used by local people of the Tug Hill region of New York State to assess how they think about the ....

Economic development in the declining Maritime Provinces has proven to be an intractable problem over the last 70 years. Efforts have ranged from capitalist industrial resource extraction to worker-owned producer co-operatives. Yet, throughout its many variations, these initiatives have done little to secure the long-term economic secur ....

While life expectancy in the U.S. has lengthened over the 20th century, demographic sub-populations have not shared this improvement equally. Health disparities exist along several social dimensions such as gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. Among them, somewhat less attention has been paid to geographic health disparitie ....

Objective: To review the literature regarding the most sustainable and culturally appropriate ways in which to implement eye health care programs within remote Aboriginal communities in Australia from a primary health care perspective. Data sources: The search included letters, editorials and papers (published and unpublished) from ....

Family farming is far from dead, in either the developed or developing countries. Family farms need to be qualitatively defined, with both family management and substantial labour input being central elements. The 'agrarian question' has been largely about their disappearance and replacement by capitalist farms, or subsumption  ....

Edited version of a speech to the IPAA National Conference, Roundtable on Federalism, Perth, 19 September 2007 - whether the decline of the states creates an opening for the rise of local or regional government - impact of centralising pressures on local government - pessimism about the 'third tier' of government in Australia. Re ....

The propensity for Australians to move about more often and over greater distances as part of their employment, recreation and social life presents challenges for governments in the design and management of equitable fiscal policy to fund infrastructure, education, health and welfare and other services traditionally predicated on p ....

Details of the lawsuit heard in the Australian High Court in December 2007 on whether the consent of the traditional owners is essential for Northern Territory (NT) fishers to trawl the intertidal zone of coastal waters within the boundaries of Aboriginal lands are presented. It is believed that the Court's verdict will be economic ....

In managing local economies and developing plans for local government areas managers need to have an understanding of employment demand and business' plans for expansion. In this paper the results of a study are presented based on an investigation into small business owners' perceptions of employee demand and compared to previous employment level ....

Tasmania's forest industries are experiencing ongoing change. Factors such as changing technology, expansion of eucalypt plantations, and changed access to native forests are changing the number and types of jobs created by the industry. There is often debate about the impacts of these changes on local regions - which Tasmanian regions depend mos ....

This study takes a fresh look at why high levels of poverty persist in certain American neighborhoods despite billions of dollars having been invested over decades by the government. To overcome this problem, the author proposes a New Entrepreneurial Initiative (NEI) as a policy solution. The thesis of the NEI is that to eradicate persi ....

The issues of declining volunteer numbers are now well established. Aging population, rural population decline, climate change, the changing of family dynamics and the complex whole-oflife pressures facing individuals impact on the willingness and ability of individuals to volunteer time for community service. The challenge for the ....

Anticipating the future is uniquely human. We strive constantly to anticipate trends and great events to seek opportunity and avoid disaster. So what will drive the future of tropical Australia? The four authors of this book, all of whom have a close association with the Cooperative Research Centre for Tropical Savanna Management, identify ten ma ....