More info soon on Perth visit by Ruben HURRICANE Carter for justicewa.com M/while enjoy sm cool Jail Blues here http://ping.fm/28ac7

Testing ping.fm on iPhone.

Four weeks after oil spill began, Govt response inadequate: Greens

The Australian Greens say that four weeks after oil began spilling into the Timor Sea, the Government's response in regards to addressing potential marine impacts is insufficient.

 

"Today marks exactly four weeks since the Montara wellhead emergency began and yet we are still not seeing an adequate  response by Government to address all the potential impacts on marine life, including large marine mammals such as whales and turtles, fish and corals," Greens Senator for Western Australia Rachel Siewert said.

 

"Instead, what we have seen from the Federal Government from day one is a reluctance to admit the extent of the spill and only a partial response to the wide range of potential environmental impacts that marine scientists are concerned about.

 

"The birds found to be sick or dying from the oil this week may be only the most visible part of the problem – the spread of hydrocarbons through the water, potentially been made worse by the widespread use of chemical dispersants, means that there may be long-term impacts on commercially-important fish stocks, the marine ecosystem and the diverse coral colonies around Ashmore Reef," Senator Siewert continued.

 

"Scientists are extremely concerned about the imminent spawning of fish such as red emperor and an imminent coral spawning period, as fish larvae and eggs and coral spawn are likely to be especially vulnerable to oil and chemicals.

 

"I acknowledge that the area is remote but it has been four weeks now and the concerns held by fishers and scientists have been voiced from the beginning: by this time, a full investigation to address both short and long-term marine ecosystem impacts should have got off the ground," Senator Siewert said.

 

"It is very disturbing that the lack of comprehensive monitoring by the Government means that an non-government organisation, WWF, has had to take the initiative to carry out a scientific survey next week."

 

Yesterday (Thurs 17/09/2009), the Senate voted to support a Greens' motion that any inquiry into the oil spill should cover all aspects of the incident, including environmental impacts, as well as the effectiveness of the clean-up response.

 

Note to editors: Senator Rachel Siewert is in Perth today and is available for comment.

 

For more information or media enquiries please call Eloise Dortch on 0415 507 763

 

 

 

Fail: Minister shifts goalposts on Internet filtering

The Australian Greens say that Federal Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has scored another Internet filtering own-goal this week, this time contradicting a statement on his own ministerial blog.

Yesterday (Wed 17/9/09) in Senate Question Time, Senator Conroy directly contradicted his earlier position on net filtering of peer-to-peer internet traffic.

Greens Communications Spokesperson Senator Scott Ludlam said the Minister was either trying to hide some quiet goalpost-shifting or was simply unaware he had contradicted himself.

"Maybe the minister doesn't read his own blog," Senator Ludlam suggested.

Minister Conroy posted the following comment on his official departmental blog on 22 December 2008:

"Technology that filters peer-to-peer and BitTorrent traffic does exist and it is anticipated that the effectiveness of this will be tested in the live pilot trial." http://www.archive.dbcde.gov.au/2009/july/future_directions_blog/topics/civil_and_confident_society_online/internet_filtering_wont_stop_peer_to_peer_and_bittorrent_traffic_so_why_bother

However, yesterday, Minister Conroy admonished Senator Ludlam for seeking information on what proportion of illegal net traffic the government's filter would actually block.

Minister Conroy: "As Senator Ludlam well knows, there has never been a suggestion by this government that peer-to-peer traffic would or could be blocked by our filter. It has never been suggested. So for you to continue to make the suggestion that we are attempting to do that just misleads the chamber and the Australian public, Senator Ludlam, and you know better than that. We are not attempting to suggest that the filter can capture peer-to-peer traffic."

"We received another vivid demonstration yesterday of why people are right to be suspicious of this pointless waste of $44 million," Senator Ludlam said.

"The Greens support measures that will achieve better protection for children from objectionable online material, but Minister Conroy reminded us again that the mandatory internet filtering scheme started out as ill-conceived and has just gone downhill from there."
 

For more information or media enquiries please call Eloise Dortch on 0415 507 763

 

 

Subject: APO Weekly Briefing - 09 September 2009

Congratulations to Tom Griffiths and Inside Story for winning the Alfred Deakin Prize in the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards for the essay We Have Still Not Lived Long Enough about the Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria. This is the first time an online publication has won the award - not bad for a magazine barely a year old.

New commentary

Books will survive, but not on paper

07 September, 2009 | Susan Hayes, Literature Director at the Australia Council, outlines her thoughts on digital publishing in The Australian.

Award for bushfire essay

04 September, 2009 | Testimony from the 1939 and 2009 fires suggests there is one thing we never seem to learn from history, writes Tom Griffiths in this award-winning essay

Back to health again

02 September, 2009 | The Preventive Health Taskforce's advice is entirely predictable, writes Jack Waterford in the Canberra Times

Nothing exceeds like success

07 September, 2009 | Greater transparency is the fairest way of avoiding dubious lobbying practices, writes Flavio Menezes

How do we decide the fate of another?

07 September, 2009 | The story of Mary illustrates the complexity of making decisions for other people, writes John Chesterman in The Age

New research

Creative Economy

Children's television standards 2009

Australian Communications and Media Authority
08 September, 2009 | Australian children will continue to be catered for on commercial television via quotas for children's (C) and preschool children's (P) programs under these new standards.

The geography of creativity

NESTA - National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts
04 September, 2009 | This ongoing NESTA project employs economic geography techniques to examine the importance of the location of creative industries if they are to play a positive role in innovation and growth.

The future of the Internet and broadband... and how to enable it

Robert Atkinson, Richard Bennett | Information Technology and Innovation Foundation
07 September, 2009 | After 35 years of use, the Internet is reaching its design limits. The next 35 years of networking require a new architecture that can maintain the accepted services such as the Web as well as innovative new services that haven't yet been deployed.

Increasing arts demand through better arts learning

The Wallace Foundation
04 September, 2009 | The key to increasing demand for the arts may well lie in reversing the 30-year-long downtrend in arts learning both in and out of school.

Intercultural dialogue through the arts and culture? Concepts, policies, programmes, practices

International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies
04 September, 2009 | This survey report discusses intercultural dialogue as the new priority for arts and cultural policy makers around the world.

Towards green ICT strategies

Christian Reimsbach Kounatze | OECD Directorate of Science, Technology and Industry
07 September, 2009 | This OECD report analyses government programmes and business initiatives on ICT and the environment to address environmental challenges, particularly global warming and energy use.

Open access to journal content as a case study in unlocking IP

Roger Clarke, Danny Kingsley | SCRIPTed
04 September, 2009 | This paper assesses the extent to which the theoretical openness of access to refereed papers in open access journals is being exploited in practice.

Reinventing rural places

Chris Gibson, Anna Stewart | Festivals Project, Faculty of Science
07 September, 2009 | This ARC funded research project asked whether the proliferation of rural festivals in recent years has been significant for rural communities in contrast to their apparent short-lived nature?

Economics

Superannuation 2009-2010

Leslie Nielson | Information and Research Services, Parliamentary Library
07 September, 2009 | This paper is designed to provide readers with a summary of superannuation taxation, contribution, preservation and payment rules.

Framing the global economic downturn

Paul 't Hart, Karen Tindall | ANU E Press
07 September, 2009 | Using systematic content analysis of speeches and media coverage, this volume offers a unique comparative assessment of public leadership in eight countries and the EU in times of crisis.

Message to the G20: Defeating protectionism begins at home

Bill Carmichael, Saul Eslake, Mark Thirlwell | Lowy Institute for International Policy
07 September, 2009 | This paper argues that the advice that G20 leaders have received to date fails to deal with the underlying causes of protectionism which results from decisions taken by governments at home, for domestic reasons.

Education

"Under pressure I fall back to being a teacher…"

Lyn Yates, Brenda Holt | Australian Educational Researcher
04 September, 2009 | This article examines a Victorian high school's implementation of a new Year 9 program which was intended to interrupt a traditional academic curriculum and to create an imagined oasis of care and personal development for students.

Feathers in the nest: establishing a supportive environment for women researchers

Nicole Hartley, Angela Dobele | Australian Educational Researcher
04 September, 2009 | This paper discusses research examining the attitudes and behaviours of researching women in academia and considers the effect of these factors on successful researching outcomes.

Building an international research collaboration in early childhood education and care

Deborah Brennan, Fran Press | Social Policy Research Centre
03 September, 2009 | The policy domain of childhood education and care (ECEC) has experienced a huge surge of attention in recent years. However, while national governments have forged ahead with a range of policy initiatives, little comparative research has been undertaken.

Environment & Planning

Fuel consumption by new passenger vehicles in Australia 1979-2008

Mark Cregan, David Gargett | Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics
07 September, 2009 | Since 2001 the overall trend in fuel consumption has continued to decrease with average new light vehicle fuel consumption down 8.4 per cent to 8.14 litres per 100 kilometres.

Monthly airport traffic data for top ten airports: January 2008 to current

Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics
07 September, 2009 | This report provides monthly updates of revenue passengers and aircraft movement data for scheduled operations at top ten airports in Australia and including the totals for all Australian airports.

Health

Health care expenditure on chronic kidney disease in Australia 2004-05

Frances Green | Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
03 September, 2009 | Chronic kidney disease contributes substantially to health care expenditure in Australia and is increasing much faster than expenditure on total health care.

Is uptake of genetic testing for colorectal cancer influenced by knowledge of insurance implications?

Louise A. Keogh | Medical Journal of Australia
06 September, 2009 | This study found that people are choosing not to obtain genetic information because of how it will affect their eligibility for insurance, despite the fact that early screening can prevent cancer from progressing.

Moving beyond 'rates, roads and rubbish': How do local governments make choices about healthy public policy to prevent obesity?

Steven Allender | Australia and New Zealand Health Policy
07 September, 2009 | This paper asks if regulatory intervention at local government level to create environments for healthy nutrition and increased physical activity could be a solution to the growing obesity epidemic.

Evaluation of the Integrated Service Project for clients with challenging behaviour

Karen Fisher, Shannon McDermott, Ryan Gleeson | Social Policy Research Centre
03 September, 2009 | The Integrated Services Project for Clients with Challenging Behaviour (ISP) aims to decrease the adverse impact of challenging behaviour on clients, the community, and the service system. This report documents the progress of the program since 2005.

Indigenous

The Indigenous Resiliency Project: a worked example of community-based participatory research

Julie Mooney-Somers, Lisa Maher | New South Wales Public Health Bulletin
07 September, 2009 | This case study is used to demonstrate how a group of university-based researchers and Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services have used Community-based participatory research to work with young Indigenous Australians in relation to bloodborne viruses and sexually transmissible infections.

Preventable chronic diseases in Aboriginal populations

Department of Health and Families
07 September, 2009 | The purpose of this paper is to provide background information about chronic diseases in the Aboriginal population in the NT and to stimulate input and comment to assist in the revision of the Preventable Chronic diseases Strategy (PCDS) and implementation plan.

Mutant messages 2: Victoria's Indigenous family violence plan

Kyllie Cripps, Leanne Miller | Indigenous Law Bulletin
08 September, 2009 | This article critiques Victoria's ten year plan, Strong Culture, Strong Peoples, Strong Families: Towards a Safer Future for Indigenous Families and Communities.

International

Rational to rationalise? Australia's future naval combat helicopters revisited

Andrew Davies | Australian Strategic Policy Institute
03 September, 2009 | ASPI has long argued that aviation is an area of capability shortfall in the Australian Navy but urges 'hasten slowly' in procuring new combat helicopters.

Indonesia: Noordin Top's support base

International Crisis Group
07 September, 2009 | The 17 July 2009 Jakarta hotel bombings have produced calls for a strengthened security apparatus and harsher laws, but the more urgent priority is to understand the terrorists' local support base and target government programs accordingly, according to this report.

Justice

Palermo on the Pacific Rim: Organised crime offences in the Asia Pacific Region

Andreas Schloenhardt | United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
03 September, 2009 | This paper suggests that 'We must recognise the failure of the "organised crime laws" to win the "war on organised crime".'

Politics

Web 2.0: The new tools for democratic conversations – a snapshot of initiatives in government

eGovernment Resource Centre
07 September, 2009 |

Beautiful politicians

Amy King, Andrew Leigh | Centre for Economic Policy Research
04 September, 2009 | Are beautiful politicians more likely to be elected?

Reforming public services

Eidos Institute
07 September, 2009 | British polician Alan Milburn's speech given at an Eidos breakfast in Brisbane in September. Milburn led a radical reform of the UK's national health service to devolve decision-making, increase provider autonomy, diversify supply and empower patients.

Social Policy

"and there's no real way that you could ... make it totally fair"

Alan Campbell | Australian Family Relationships Clearinghouse
03 September, 2009 | This article discusses children's perceptions about how decisions were made immediately after their parent' separation, their own participation in these decisions and their thoughts about the concept of equal parenting time.

Impact of paternal temporary absence on children left behind

Alison Booth, Yuji Tamura | Centre for Economics Policy Research
04 September, 2009 | Using the first two waves of the Vietnam Living Standards Survey, this paper investigates how a father's temporary absence affects children left behind in terms of their school attendance, household expenditures on education, and nonhousework labour supply in the 1990s.

Doing better for children

OECD
07 September, 2009 | What is the actual state of child well-being today? How much are governments spending on children and are they spending it at the right times?

Culturally responsive family dispute resolution in family relationship centres

Susan Armstrong | Australian Family Relationships Clearinghouse
03 September, 2009 | This article examines aspects of post-separation services and service provision and summarises the literature related to the provision of culturally responsive family dispute resolution.

Child migrants from the United Kingdom

Janet Phillips, Coral Dow | Information and Research Services, Parliamentary Library
07 September, 2009 | Between 1922 and 1967 about 150,000 children with an average age of eight years and nine months were shipped from Great Britain to help populate the British Dominions of Canada, Rhodesia, New Zealand and Australia with 'good white stock'.

Review of the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999: issues paper

Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs
08 September, 2009 | Set up to examine the effectiveness and efficiency of the EOWW Act, this review will consider practical ways to improve the equal opportunity framework to deliver better outcomes for Australian women.

The wellbeing of Australians: gambling, chocolate and swine flu

Robert A. Cummins | Australian Centre on Quality of Life
04 September, 2009 | The Australian Unity Wellbeing Index monitors the subjective wellbeing of the Australian population. The first survey was conducted in April 2001 and this report concerns the 21st survey, undertaken in May 2009. 

Royal commissions and official inquiries

Australian Law Reform Commission
08 September, 2009 | A legislative framework is required to govern the establishment and operation of official inquiries at the federal level to ensure that such inquiries have adequate investigatory powers while the rights of individuals are protected, according to this discussion paper.

New audio

The future of museums - Part One

04 September, 2009 | The way we interact with museums and their collections is changing fast, and so too is the way they're now engaging with us.

Schooling and the common good

04 September, 2009 | Jack Keating discusses his new report on education with Peter Clarke in Inside Story

The new Australian alcohol guidelines: what happens now?

07 September, 2009 | The National Health and Medical Reserach Council (NHMRC) recently released the Australian guidelines to reduce health risks from drinking alcohol. These new guidelines are different in many ways from the previous ones (NHMRC 2001) and aim to establish the evidence base on reducing alcohol-related health risks.

Why Privacy Matters

03 September, 2009 | In this speech for Privacy Victoria, former High Court judge Michael Kirby addresses local and international issues of privacy protection.

New video

Alana Valentine on the role Australian stories in theatre

07 September, 2009 | More than any other artform, theatre preserves and recycles "classic" works. While there is certainly a place for this, does it come at the cost of new voices?

Death on Palm Island

07 September, 2009 | In November 2004 on Palm Island an Aboriginal man, Cameron Doomadgee, was arrested for swearing at a police officer. Forty minutes later he was dead in custody.

Alan Milburn on reforming public services

07 September, 2009 | Alan Milburn led a radical reform of the UKs national health service to devolve decision-making, increase provider autonomy, diversify supply and empower patients. He is a proponent of citizen-centred public services.

What's so good about democracy?

07 September, 2009 | Professor John Keane, author of "The Life and Death of Democracy", discusses the history of an evolving ideal that continues to shape our world, from the Ancients through to today.

New jobs

Executive Director

South Australian Council of Social Service 07 September, 2009 | The South Australian Council of Social Services (SACOSS) is the peak non-government representative body for the health and community services sector in South Australia.  SACOSS is a not for profit organisation, with a belief and vision of Justice, Opportunity and Shared Wealth for all South Australians.  SACOSS provides a strong and independent voice for fair and just public policy and equitable and responsive services.  SACOSS members help to build a more just

New events

'Counter-memorialisation'?: The destruction of monuments in minority nationalist and subversive militancy

LOCATION:	Room SPW226, Swinburne University, Hawthorn Campus
ORGANISED BY:	Institute of Social Research

10 September, 2009 | This seminar, presented by Dr Daniel Leach, aims to provide an overview of the history of monument destruction as a subversive tactic, drawing upon key examples and examining their symbolic, political and historical impacts.

Evidence-based policy

LOCATION:	National Convention Centre
ORGANISED BY:	Criterion conferences

28 October, 2009 | How to lay the groundwork today for better use of evidence tomorrow - Productivity Commission An evaluation of the UK Government's use of evidence based policy and the implications for Australia What your public really thinks about you and your policies -  Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research

The Art of Good Health and Wellbeing - International Arts and Health Conference, Australia

LOCATION:	Glasshouse Arts Conference and Entertainment Centre
ORGANISED BY:	Arts and Health Australia

10 November, 2009 | Join 600 delegates from the USA, UK, Canada and Australia for this major international arts and health conference which will explore how creative activities are being utilised to aid and improve health and wellbeing in individuals and in communities.

New books

Australian arts organisations directory

04 September, 2009 | A comprehensive 26-page directory containing contact details for nearly 200 Australian arts organisations.

Australasian Journal of ArtsHealth

04 September, 2009 | The Australasian Journal of ArtsHealth (AJAH) is a new, international, blind-peer-reviewed electronic journal providing an outlet for researchers and practitioners working in the broad areas arts and health.

New websites

Australian Public Service Commission

07 September, 2009 | This site promotes good practice in managing people, supports leadership and learning and development in the Australian Public Service (APS), fosters ethical behaviour and workplaces that value diversity.

 Bravehearts: break silence on child sexual assault, wear white tomorrow

Australians declare: 'IT'S ALL WHITE TO SAY NO' to child sexual assault

FOR WHITE BALLOON DAY, TUES 8^TH SEPT

-         Aussies encouraged to wear white on White Balloon Day -

7th September 2009: Bravehearts is calling on all Australians to wear white and 'break the silence' on child sexual assault for White Balloon Day on Tuesday 8^th September (tomorrow), during Child Protection Week (7^th to 13^th September).

Bravehearts, Australia's leading child protection advocacy group and the only charity specifically and holistically dedicated to child sexual assault in Australia, holds its annual national awareness and fundraising campaign, 'White Balloon Day' during Child Protection Week to increase awareness about child sexual assault and to highlight the need for attitudinal change in this area.  This supports the significant education, prevention and early intervention programs run by Bravehearts.

White Balloon Day will be launched at Parliament House in Canberra on Monday 7^th September by The Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, The Hon. MP Jenny Macklin, The Hon. MP Bronwyn Bishop and Bravehearts Founder and Executive Director Ms Hetty Johnston.   

Alarming disclosure statistics show that one in five Australian children is sexually assaulted before they turn eighteen¹.  Last year, 55,000 children around Australia were substantiated to have been abused; these were the children coming to the attention of child protection services. Knowing that most victims will not disclose until adulthood and more than half will never disclose, real figures are estimated to be five times this level.

 

White Balloon Day is fast becoming the signature event of Child Protection Week and its purpose is to protect children from sexual assault (through the Bravehearts education and counselling programs). An often taboo and difficult subject to discuss, White Balloon Day sends a positive message of support to victims of child sexual assault, encouraging them to 'break the silence' and speak out to protect themselves and others from potential future harm. .

 

How can Australians participate in White Balloon Day?

 

The 'White Balloon' was adopted by Bravehearts as a symbol of support for survivors of child sexual abuse.  Tuesday the 8th of September 2009 marks the 13^th anniversary of the event in Australia, the slogan being "Child Sexual Assault: It's all WHITE to say NO". Bravehearts encourages all Australians to purchase an official white balloon, or white balloon day enviro-bag from any Terry White Chemist and to wear white, the colour symbolising a child's innocence – to show support for victims, help shift attitudes and break down the stigma and silence associated with child sexual assault.

 

Ms Johnston said, "Child sexual assault can happen to anybody. As a parent of a child sexual assault survivor, I have witnessed first-hand the trauma a child victim faces from this devastating crime.  White Balloon Day is about breaking the silence on child sexual assault. Silence around child sexual assault is the worst enemy of children, and White Balloon Day is an opportunity for the community to come together, find a collective voice, show support for victims and their families, and say: 'we will not tolerate our children being harmed in this way'."  

 

"We are delighted that so many Australians and successive Governments support Bravehearts' groundbreaking work in this area, and that they have joined us to help spread the word about this very important campaign," Ms Johnston said.

 

"All children deserve the best chance at a happy childhood and White Balloon Day helps many children achieve this," said Johnston. "We can, as a community, make a difference in this area through action and education.  White Balloon Day is forging a movement for change in community attitude towards child sexual assault. Changing awareness is changing behaviour, and this helps to protect Australian children."

 

White Balloon Day works.  In 1999, the White Balloon Day campaign resulted in a 514% increase in disclosures of child sexual assault to Queensland Police Headquarters alone.

 

"With official White Balloon Day events confirmed around Australia, 2009 is the year for bringing awareness of child sexual assault home to a much larger audience of children, parents, Government and communities.  We can all be Bravehearts – by supporting this cause.  I call upon all Australians to help protect

our children by supporting White Balloon Day; and to help make Australia the safest place in the world to raise a child," Ms Johnston concluded.

White Balloon Day 2009 supporters include The Nine Network, Terry White Chemists, Google Australia, MySpace Australia, Bendigo Bank and Dymocks – who are all coming together to help get Australians get involved.

 

YOU CAN HELP – A LITTLE GOES A LONG WAY

 

Ø      $10.00 donation = preventative education for one child in a school or day care centre

 

Ø      $25.00 donation = a crisis telephone call with a qualified Bravehearts counsellor

 

Ø      $50.00 donation = a one-on-one Bravehearts counselling session for a child in crisis

 

Ø      Order a Ditto's Keep Safe Adventure DVD for $19.95 + postage

 

 

For more information and details on where to purchase official white balloons:

 

White Balloon Day                            http://www.whiteballoonday.com.au

Bravehearts You Tube Channel       http://www.youtube.com/bravehearts

Bravehearts MySpace Channel      http://www.myspace.com/braveheartsaustralia

 

¹ Australian Institute of Criminology 1993, Second Conference on Violence. Based on ABS Population Data from June 2008, one in five children under the age of eighteen years represents almost 1,000,000 children. 

Media Contact:

Amanda McGregor ph: 02 9492 1004/ m: 0411 222 311 / amanda@launchgroup.com.au

 

About Bravehearts White Balloon Day: Bravehearts is Australia's leading child protection advocacy group.  Founded by Hetty Johnston in 1997, and based in Queensland, 2009 marks the 13^th Anniversary of 'White Balloon Day'.   Bravehearts is the only Australian children's charity holistically dedicated to the issue of child sexual assault, and has evolved into an organisation whose purpose is to provide therapeutic support and advocacy services to survivors of child sexual assault. Bravehearts is forging a movement for change in how child sexual assault is dealt with by the criminal justice sector, government institutions, churches and the community at large.

Bravehearts currently provides counselling services to hundreds of children a year (with a long waiting list due to limited funds) at a cost of nearly half a million dollars per annum. As well as supporting survivors of child sexual assault, Bravehearts is unique in that they also focus on prevention (through their highly acclaimed children's education campaign) and early intervention, as well as healing and activism. If you have any questions about child sexual abuse, or to contact Bravehearts, call their toll free number: 1800 114 474

 

About the Bravehearts Education Campaign: Ditto's Keep Safe Adventure

Research has found that one of the greatest tools for reducing child sexual assault is children's ability to recognise unsafe feelings and inappropriate actions towards them. Bravehearts have created an interactive CD-Rom 'Ditto's Keep Safe Adventure' which is used as an educational tool at schools and in homes across Australia. The CD-Rom has been expanded into a live, interactive, fun show that is presented in schools to over 20,000 children between the ages of 4 and 8 each year.  More than 63,000 children around Australia have now seen the education program.

Sally Robertson
Account Director
Launch management group

p:  + 61 2 9492 1089       e:  sally@launchgroup.com.au

m: + 61 400 927 003       a: 169 Blues Point Rd, North Sydney NSW 2060          

w: launchgroup.com.au  

 

 Australia's vulnerable and disadvantaged caught in spiral of drug use

 

The relationship between drug use and disadvantage in Australia is inextricably linked. Those who are most vulnerable include: young people, indigenous, the homeless, people in jail and those who are living with mental illness.

 

The Anex 09 Australian Drugs Conference – Drugs in Hard Times will gather industry experts and representatives from drugs, health, welfare, justice and police services from non-government and government to spotlight the issues and feedback to government on gaps in policy and provide research and information from the frontline.

 

Illicit drug use is significantly higher in some of Australia's key minority and disadvantaged communities:

• Conservative estimates suggest that drug use among the homeless is ten times higher than that of the broader community
• Recent illicit drug use is significantly higher amongst people who are unemployed or unable to work than the employed, students and those engaged in home duties
• The connection between incarceration, drug use and reoffending, shows that eight in every 10 reoffending prisoners have a history of injecting drug use

 

There are more than 50 speakers who are available for interview depending on your specific interest. We have tabulated this into the attached Speaker Spreadsheet for quick reference. Within the spreadsheet are abstracts and biographies cross referenced to the topics/research papers that the speakers are presenting on.

 

Please contact Daya Lichtenstein or myself at the conference press office to coordinate your story interest and interviews on 02 9212 3888.

 

We look forward to working with you on coverage of the Anex 09 Australian Drugs Conference.

 

Jenny Muir and Daya Lichtenstein

Primary Communication

 

Tel:        61 2 9212 3888

Email:    jmuir@primary-pr.com

www.primary-pr.com