Volume 4 Number 1 QUT’s Rhodes Scholar Karl makes news
Teaching pair reach out to kids
Research outlook strengthens
qut.com
A university for the real world
QUT has received a terrific boost to its research endeavours. In January the Federal Government announced funding of $16.3 million over seven years for one Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Diagnostics.
Some $70 million will be raised from other sources.
An additional bid for the new CRC for Construction Innovation was also funded for $14 million over seven years (with $50 million backing from other sources).
The CRC for Diagnostics has evolved from the award-winning CRC for Diagnostic Technologies and, again, will be headquartered at QUT.
Overseen by its director, Professor Tony Evans, the new CRC will work in the areas of antibody engineering, antibody/antigen detection, protein engineering and profiling, molecular evolution, genetic and infectious disease diagnostics, single nucleotide polymorphism detection technology and point-of-care nucleic acid tests.
Capitalising on the human genome project findings, this work is expected to produce an exciting range of medical diagnostic tools that will help revolutionise the prediction and management of a raft of inherited diseases.
The exciting new CRC for Construction Innovation was the result of a joint bid by a team consisting of Dr Keith Hampson and Professor Tony Sidwell of QUT's School of Construction Management and Property, Professor Derek Walker of RMIT, Dr Ron Sharpe of the CSIRO and Mr David Abbott of the Department of Industry, Science and Resources.
This new CRC involves a substantial consortium of core and supporting organisations that includes universities, industry partners and government agencies.
It will aim to create and commercially exploit tools, technologies and management systems to ensure improvements across the whole-of-life of constructed facilities.
Long-term, the construction industry will benefit from new technologies which have been piloted on actual construction projects, new software tools that incorporate the new technologies, and just-in-time training modules which will deliver education when and where needed.
This funding represents a tremendous endorsement of QUT's research initiative and enterprise, and was a wonderful start to what I know will be a great year for QUT.
Professor Dennis Gibson Vice-Chancellor
If you have new story ideas or feedback to share about QUT Links, contact the Editor on 07 3864 1150, email [email protected] or write to
The Editor
Corporate Communication Department QUT
GPO Box 2434 Brisbane Q 4001
QUT Links is published by the QUT Corporate Communication Department, in co-operation with the QUT Alumni Relations Unit.
Design and production by QUT Publications Unit.
Edited by Carmen Myler.
Photography: Tony Phillips, Suzanne Prestwidge.
Editorial material is gathered from a range of sources and does not necessarily reflect the opinions and policies of QUT.
1 1
Uncle Bob among those honoured
2 2
In brief ...
4 4
Making the news
5 5
Teaching pair help show children
6 6
Ilana finds “best company in the world”
7 7
Mardi Gras Festival director fuelled by passion
8 8
Talking Point ... with Rosemary Vilgan
9 9
Reconciliation needs action
10 10
Talking Point ... with Professor Evan Douglas
11 11
QUT’s Rhodes Scholar helps landmine victims Future of golf in steady hands
12 12
Australians give more, donation analysis reveals Short bouts of activity equally good for health
13 13
Geologists find Newcastle earthquake fault Research aims to cut tumour blood supply
14 14
Alcohol ignition interlock trial underway
15 15
PhD candidate urges disaster plan Trish set to battle the broadsheet brands
16 16
Allison grooves to London’s accounting tune
17 17
Graduate makes art for heart’s sake
18 18
Alumni news
19 19
Alumni calendar of events
20 20
About the Alumni Board
21 21
Keep in touch ...
24 24
Services and facilities for QUT Alumni
Cover:
Michael and Kate Blackmore with Rene (age three) and Tiffany Zacchini (age six)
CONTENTS
Uncle Bob Anderson
I
t was with mixed emotions that one of Queensland’s most well-known advocates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and workers’ rights received the news that he was the latest recipient of a QUT honorary doctorate.So humbled by the recognition, Uncle Bob Anderson – who among a long list of positions, holds the chair of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Board – had tears in his eyes.
“It’s the humility Aboriginal people have,” he said. “We don’t aspire to great heights.
“We carry out our responsibility to our community. The aspirations of
‘going up the ladder’, so to speak, and achieving is what you might regard as a white structure, it doesn’t apply in Aboriginal society.”
“Uncle Bob”, as he is respectfully known, has had a long association with QUT.
He completed a five-year
apprenticeship in carpentry and joinery in 1949 at the Central Technical College where QUT Gardens Point now stands, making the 71-year-old the university’s first indigenous graduate and one of its oldest-living indigenous graduates.
He is also one of the university’s Golden Graduates and was named the South-East Queensland Indigenous Elder and Indigenous Person of the Year in 1998.
Uncle Bob sees his achievements, and particularly the honorary doctorate, as a way of showing other indigenous people what they can achieve.
“It could act as an inspiration to younger people to see elders as role models and have a focus on following in their footsteps,” he said.
He, too, had a role model when he was growing up.
His uncle, Paul Tripcony, took him to book stores every Saturday, fostering a keen interest in reading and learning.
He found out, after his Uncle Paul had died, that he had been the vice- president of the Queensland branch of the Federated Liquor Trades Union.
Uncle Bob followed more closely in his uncle’s footsteps than he realised by becoming active in the Building Workers’ Industrial Union and, later, being elected to the Queensland Trades and Labour Council.
He considers his greatest achievement as being elected and re-elected as the Queensland state organiser for the Building Workers’
Industrial Union between 1963 and 1978.
Between the 1950s and 1980s, he worked to improve the rights of indigenous people, beginning the challenge with the Queensland Council for the Advancement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, the forerunner to ATSIC.
This task, he admits, was no mean feat – being an indigenous working class unionist and activist for Aboriginal rights in Queensland at that time required a great deal of courage, commitment and persistence.
Uncle Bob was also involved in surveying Queenslanders in the lead up to the historic 1967
referendum campaign which ultimately recognised indigenous peoples’ right to vote for the first time.
He said last year’s Walk for Reconciliation in Brisbane and Sydney reflected the feelings of the average Australian in the 1967 referendum.
“(The walks) were absolutely unbelievably wonderful, spiritual and emotional for us all.”
But he said Australia had a long way to go to deliver equality and self- determination to its indigenous people.
“The fact that the Prime Minister hasn’t said sorry doesn’t move him away from the responsibilities outlined in
the Declaration of Reconciliation that deal with how to correct the
disadvantage.
“I hasten to point out, too, that there are other sectors of our community who are disadvantaged in the same ways and I’d feel uncomfortable if indigenous people were more advantaged than their brothers and sisters of other
nationalities.”
Former Director-General of Education Clyde Gilmour also received the honour of Doctor of the University late last year, while another former director-general and QUT Council member Ron Boyle was recognised with a posthumous doctorate.
“I hasten to point out, too, that there are other sectors of our community who are disadvantaged in the same ways…”
Uncle Bob among those honoured
2 2
In brief...
JAMES’ ACHIEVEMENTS WIN ACCLAIM
QUT engineering and information technology graduate James Moody was honoured as the nation’s top young science and
technology achiever at the Young Australian of the Year Awards in January.
James – who was featured in the previous edition of QUT Links – was recognised for his contribution to the Centenary of Federation satellite, FedSat-1, and his community service and sustainable development work.
The 24-year-old’s latest honour follows a string of awards he has received in the past year, including the Institution of Engineers’
Young Professional Engineer, the Young Queenslander of the Year, and Queensland Young Achiever of the Year prizes.
AGED CARE EFFORTS RECOGNISED
Nursing graduate Rosanne Fleming had her efforts developing quality nursing home services honoured recently as a finalist in the Federal Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Residential Aged Care.
Ms Fleming, who is the executive director of nursing at four Brisbane nursing homes run by Fleming Health Services, was a finalist in the “professional
excellence” category for her work developing better care for residents with dementia.
She is a recent graduate of QUT’s Master of Nursing
(Gerontology), and has committed many hours and resources into aged care research and policy development.
Faculty of Business
Outstanding Alumni Award.
YOUNG SURVEYOR OF THE YEAR
Bachelor of Applied Science (Surveying) graduate Adam Ladhams has been recognised with the W Keith Hayes Young Surveyor of the Year Award 2000 from the Institute of Surveyors, Queensland Division.
In addition to this award, Adam received funding to further his academic endeavours from his employer Connell Wagner.
SCHOOLS MERGE BY DESIGN QUT’s School of Planing, Landscape Architecture and Surveying, and the School of Architecture, Interior and Industrial Design have been combined and now operate as the School of Design and Built Environment.
UNI MAY JOIN WHO’S FEW QUT will have a rare opportunity to help develop guidelines and management strategies for international air quality after entering into a
“working relationship” with the World Health
Organisation.
Within two years, the university could become a WHO collaborative centre – one of just a few
organisations working with the international body on air pollution.
Researchers at QUT’s Centre for Medical and Health Physics have been engaged in an increasing level of joint activities with the WHO for the past two years,
culminating in the two parties signing a letter of agreement.
DEAN WINS OPTOMETRY AWARD
Dean of the Faculty of Health Professor Ken Bowman AM has been named Queensland Optometrist of the Year for 2000 by the Queensland Division of the Optometrists Association of Australia.
TRIPCONY OUTSTANDING Outgoing head of the Oodgeroo Unit at QUT Penny Tripcony has been named the Outstanding Educator 2000 by the Australian College of Educators. Ms Tripcony recently retired from QUT.
CREATIVE INDUSTRIES VISION UNFOLDS
QUT Council has approved the establishment of a Creative Industries Faculty from July 1. The new faculty will comprise staff currently located in the Academy of the Arts and the School of Media and Journalism, together with some individuals from the School of Humanities and Social Science, and the School of Communication.
As the Kelvin Grove urban village takes shape over the next few years, the Creative Industries Precinct will be a strong feature of the education/industry components of the development.
Other Council decisions include the transfer of psychology and counselling
David Moffatt
OUTSTANDING GRADUATE SNARES “MOST EXCITING CFO POSITION IN LAND”
QUT’s Outstanding Alumni Award winner for 2000, David Moffatt, has been appointed Telstra Corporation’s chief financial officer and group managing director, finance and administration.
Telstra CEO Dr Ziggy Switkowski described David’s new position as “arguably the most exciting CFO position in the land”.
David will remain in his current position as CEO of General Electric, Australia and New Zealand until March 1, when he will take up his new post in Telstra’s Melbourne office.
In August last year, the management graduate was announced QUT’s 2000 Outstanding Alumnus Award winner and also received the
to the Health Faculty from January 1, (although still located at Carseldine for at least the next three years) and formation of a new school from humanities and social science, and human services at QUT Carseldine.
From July 1, QUT Carseldine will become an organisational unit of the university, distinct from but equivalent in standing to a faculty.
QUT ANNOUNCES OP GUARANTEE SCHEME
QUT announced on December 7 that it would guarantee entry into 80 per cent of its undergraduate courses to students with an OP5 or better.
The offer also waives prerequisite subjects for those students. Courses not included in the scheme are either highly limited courses or courses requiring portfolio/audition.
Achievement of OP 1-5 has been a good indicator of success at university and it is considered these students have the ability and commitment to achieve in their field of choice.
SAVAGE WINS TEACHING AWARD
Susan Savage from the School of Design and Built Environment was presented with an Australian Award for University Teaching in Canberra earlier this month.
She was category winner in Physical Sciences and Related Studies. The prestigious award attracted a grant of $40,000.
GRADUATE TAKES ON MISSISSIPI CHALLENGE
A gutsy QUT graduate has helped two friends take on the mighty Mississippi River to raise money for people with cancer – and succeeded.
Education graduate Jo Mackey was part of the
“Mississippi Challenge” team that recently broke the world record for the fastest water- ski dash down America’s longest and most treacherous river.
Jo, a full-time English teacher at Emmanuel College on the Gold Cost, helped co- ordinate the record effort and
photographed friends Brenton and Sean McGrath as the pair skied for six days and 3,042km in terrible conditions.
She watched her two friends – one of whom was in remission from leukemia – suffer bruises, fatigue and chemical burns from polluted water as they skied into the record books.
“The challenge was about ordinary people achieving the extraordinary,” Jo said.
The team, which has set up the Challenge Charity Trust, aims to raise enough
money to establish a respite centre at the Gold Coast for people with cancer and leukemia.
“It was a very personal mission for all of us,” Jo said.
“There were originally going to be three skiers, but Neville Wilson, who was a driving force behind the idea, had stomach cancer and passed away six months before the challenge.
“We carried out his last wish on the trip, which was to scatter his ashes in the Mississippi.”
After she returned from the emotional, record- breaking trip, Jo was honoured with a $10,000 Queen’s Trust award to publish a record of the Mississippi Challenge.
She plans to write a coffee-table book featuring photographs she took during the challenge and is hopeful of finding a publisher.
Photos and information from the Mississippi Challenge are on the web at http://www.mississippi challenge.better.net.au
Jo Mackey
Emotional times ... team members during the Mississippi challenge.
Photographed by Jo Mackey
4 4
T
here are at least four things in life that we can take for granted: death, taxes, politics … and an evening news bulletin 365 days a year to tell us how it is all unfolding.For people like Channel Nine’s Karl Stefanovic, this means that – even in the festive season – there is always work to do.
Karl’s recent summer has been busier than most, with him filling the weekend presenter’s chair on National Nine News for Mike London, as well as working as a Gold Coast presenter and journalist every other day.
The QUT graduate admits that while the seven-day working week can be tiring, it is worth the effort.
“It does make me one of the youngest news presenters around,” said
the clean-cut 26-year-old, who has already amassed a range of experience in local and international news and entertainment since graduating in 1995.
“Some people wait a long time for the opportunity to do something other than reporting.”
When he is not warming the presenters’ chairs, Karl works as a journalist for Channel Nine in Brisbane, a job which he started in June 2000 after working as a journalist and presenter for Channel Ten and TVNZ in Auckland.
It proved to be a timely move.
In only his second week at Nine, Karl found himself covering one of the year’s biggest stories when he was assigned to Childers to report on the backpacker hostel fire that claimed 15 lives.
While not realising the magnitude of the story at first, Karl later won a Queensland Media “All Media Best News Report” Award for his coverage.
“We decided to cover it in a straight fashion, not being over-sympathetic,”
he recalled.
“The stories really told themselves and I didn’t need to invent angles or be creative. The pictures told the story.”
Amid the chaos of Childers’ main street and the 14-hour days, Karl said there was little time for him to think about the enormity of the events he was witnessing.
“I think we worked harder than any other TV crew. We were there at 5am and wouldn’t leave until 7pm, and even then we would go to the pub and talk to the locals,” he said of the days following the fire.
“The whole time you have to keep the focus on the story and remember that your feelings are not part of the story, because the story is bigger than you.”
Karl said there was a certain “rush”
working on a big story like the Childers tragedy, and it was that excitement that kept him in the news business.
“For a while I worked on Pay TV [Optus] presenting an entertainment show. I got to go to LA and interview the cast of Lethal Weapon 4 – Mel Gibson, Danny Glover and Reneé Russo – but I really missed the daily shift. I was bored out of my mind,”
he said.
“There’s something about coming to work every day, not knowing what I’m going to be working on. I have to become an expert on a subject in, say, half an hour, and then there’s the adrenaline rush at the end of the day.
It’s addictive.”
As is, apparently, the public’s thirst for news – as the evening television bulletin maintains its position as the country’s most popular news source.
Even with the advent of competition in Pay TV and digital television, Karl can’t see that changing.
“At the end of the day people still like getting home, turning on the television and letting it all unfold before them,” he said.
“And I love going home at night and knowing that the story’s done … for another day.”
b y M a r g a r e t L a w s o n
Karl Stefanovic ... finds “rush” of TV news addictive
Making the news
Teaching pair help show children
W
hile Monday mornings for many of us mean battling traffic or public transport to return to the same desk and office in the same city or town – for Michael and Kate Blackmore the start of a new week means setting up in an entirely new destination.In the past 12 months the two education graduates have travelled 28,000km through every state in Australia except Tasmania and Western Australia.
As they go, they are carving a pioneering path as the first people to continuously teach the primary-school- aged children of show families for the entire school year through the Queensland School for Travelling Show Children.
Having come from teaching in conventional classrooms, Michael and Kate are now getting used to a new set of tasks that are anything but conventional.
Take Fridays for example: it’s the end of the teaching week and – while most teachers are winding down for the weekend – Michael and Kate can be found packing, preparing for an early rise on Saturday and facing up to a 10-hour drive to a new town.
“(At first), we were really exhausted because we weren’t used to working all week and then travelling. But we’re getting used to it – now it’s just what we do,” Kate said.
The pair’s unconventional classroom is in the back of a semi-trailer which is parked either in the grounds of a local school or at showgrounds.
If some of the 68 children enrolled at the show school don’t arrive on time – or don’t show up at all – they don’t receive a talking to. Instead, when they do eventually make it, Michael and Kate ensure the children make up what they’ve missed.
Everything else – computers, Internet access, TV, photocopier, desks, chairs and lessons – is the same, if not better, than those used in a normal classroom.
Michael and Kate have been together since they studied at QUT and this isn’t the first job to take them away from their families. The duo has taught in Brisbane, Cairns, Miles and Torres Strait.
“We’ve had many unique opportunities but this one is like a dream. No-one can believe it’s a real job, no-one can believe you could possibly get paid to go around Australia,”
Kate said.
And it seems it’s not just Michael and Kate who love their new job – the show community has also accepted the travelling school concept with open arms.
Until this year, the children had to learn via distance education with the help of their
parents, or leave their families to attend school.
The travelling school has taken several years to become a reality, with a core group of parents from the Showman’s Guild pushing the Queensland Government for funding and resources.
Many of these parents, and their parents before them, have spent their lives on the show circuit with limited educational opportunities and they were adamant their children would not receive the same disjointed education.
“This school is giving these children new opportunities to
learn in a way they haven’t been able to before and that will open up new options for their futures,” Michael said.
“A lot of people take for granted that there’s always going to be a school and some don’t think education is important, but all of these parents are instilling in their kids how important it is,”
Kate added.
“No-one can believe it’s a
real job, no-one can believe
you could possibly get paid
to go around Australia”
b y M a r g a r e t L a w s o n
6
Ilana finds
“best company in the world”
And Ilana will soon be in the thick of it.
Within two days of returning to Brisbane and her job as an intern in Microsoft’s Brisbane office, Ilana received the news that she had been successful and was moving to Seattle.
In late March she will become a program manager on the team behind Microsoft’s Exchange (messaging and collaboration) software. Based on the Redmond campus, Ilana’s job will see her working with some of the biggest names in the business.
“I’m really excited about the opportunity, especially as I’ll be working for Charles Eliot who is a bit of a legend in the Exchange world,” Ilana enthuses.
“It’s exactly what I wanted but at the same time it’s so scary.
“They’ve already got a recruiter over there helping with my visas, looking for an apartment and even trying to find me a new car. It all happens very quickly.”
It’s just as well that Ilana happily admits she prefers life in the fast lane.
With her fiercest passion being rally cars, most of Ilana’s hobbies involve anything that requires excitement and adrenaline. When she’s not racing around town in her Suburu WRX, Ilana also
I
t would have been a nerve-wracking situation for even the most seasoned of job hunters.Ten thousand miles from home, jetlagged and alone, Ilana Smith was subjected to one of the most slick and rigorous interview processes in corporate America.
Shuttled from building to building on the expansive Microsoft campus in Seattle, she attended 11 one-on-one interviews. Each was with a different manager and was designed to differentiate Ilana’s professional or personal skills from those of scores of other job seekers.
Ilana says while it made for two of the most gruelling days she has experienced, that is what it takes to compete for a job with the global software giant.
“Every year Fortune magazine releases a list of the top companies to work for, and Microsoft regularly makes that list,” points out the 24-year-old who grew up in Karumba in Queensland’s far north.
“At this point in my career it was my main goal to work in Microsoft’s head office because it is the place all the best and most exciting things call home.”
Ilana Smith
likes to ski, skydive, and is looking forward to the opportunity to snowboard in the fields near Seattle.
“Nothing gets me like being on the edge, being excited,” she says.
“I think that’s what appeals to me about IT as well. The industry changes all the time and coming to work is exciting and interesting because there’s always some new technology
development.
“I couldn’t imagine being in a job where you just do the same thing day in, and day out.”
And now, achieving her dream job only 18 months out of university, Ilana looks set for a bright and exciting career.
“I don’t have a firm goal now other than to keep learning. When I get there I’ll find out where I want to go next,”
she says.
“But for now, I might sound biased but I think I work for the best company in the world.”
Mardi Gras Festival director fuelled by passion
“O
verwhelming” is how David Fenton describes his role as festival director for the 2001 and 2002 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.“My average day is frustrating, hectic, aggravating, bizarre and strangely fun – add tension, tension, tension,” he said.
Given time to catch his breath, it becomes evident that the 34-year-old – who recently completed his Master of Fine Arts at QUT – is fuelled by passion.
Though David has spent more than a decade since graduating from QUT’s Bachelor of Arts (drama) as an artistic director, this is the first time he has been faced with dual challenges – personal and professional.
“I’ve found myself at a professional and personal nexus: Who am I? How am I represented? Who am I within the professional community?” he asked.
“Personally, I’m representing the gay and lesbian cultural voice and this is the most high-profile way I can do this at the moment.”
This is not the first time David has worked as a director for the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras – he has been a freelance director for the festival several times.
As a freelancer he was also invited to direct productions such as national tours for the Bell Shakespeare Company.
“In effect, I’ve been creating work for someone else’s agenda – a hired gun as I
call it,” he laughed.
One of his aims is to lift the profile
of the festival out of concern that the wider community merely sees the Mardi Gras as
“parade and party”.
“Not many people know there is a festival which lasts for 23 days and is the largest gay and lesbian arts festival in the world, with more than 100 performing arts, literature, music, visual arts and
community events, and special events,” David said.
“This year I’ve decided to rein in the number of events, making sure the program reflects excellence and doesn’t just become
representation for representation’s sake.”
This, he said, had been the most difficult
aspect of changing his role from being the artistic director of the Riverina Theatre Company to his current position.
“I’ve come from being an artistic director with a conservative regional theatre company where I became accustomed to listening to the community and doing what I should be doing,” he said.
“I’ve moved to one of the most radical artistic positions where I have to listen to a community that’s more demanding, more voracious and more passionate about their inclusion.”
Another goal he has during his tenure at the festival is to bring the gay and lesbian culture to the wider community by staging events that a broader audience can relate to.
“We have cross-demographic events – we call them Priscilla events. One example is the Frocks@Fox Day where children come along and do face painting.
“But we shouldn’t be highlighting just the cosmetic aspects of our culture, we need to find a more complex way of attracting broader audiences so that we can demystify our culture.
“The festival is also a chance not only to explore who we are now, but who we want to be, and where the gay and lesbian culture fits in to Australian culture – while also maintaining difference.”
As for his future after 2002, David is undecided.
“Once you’ve had a job that fulfils you personally and professionally, you tend to seek out career opportunities that are personally fulfilling,” he said.
“My dream is to start a small company that shows new Australian gay and lesbian work.
“But it’s like going back to subsistence farming after being in a high-profile, well-paid position. Maybe that will be essential to staying
emotionally healthy as an artist by being able to tackle the questions that are important to me.”
8 8
“I
n running a superannuation fund, my attention is often focused on financing an ageing population – which leads me to ponder wider demographics. Every time I see a cancer cure news story, I am heartened, but simultaneously anxious about the social and fiscal changes facing our country.The demographic changes will force a structural realignment of the attitudes and work practices in Australia. The
“baby boomers” are ageing and will double the number of people aged 65 years and over in the next 40 years, with even more rapid growth in those aged over 85 years.
Life expectancy is improving to the extent that one in three female babies born today is expected to live until 100.
Consider Japan, which has moved since the Second World War from having the youngest population in the world to having the oldest.
What will our community look like, what will our infrastructure and lifestyle needs be, and how will we serve our customer base?
An ageing population will obviously bring changes in the workforce – for instance, older women now participate in the workforce more than men. To accommodate a longer life expectancy, both in terms of financing and
enjoyment, we can expect to undertake greater part-time or contractual work into our 70s. For some, this could of course, be with family or charitable work – for others, the opportunity to try different careers once they are financially settled.
Much has been said about the obvious market opportunities resulting from the demographic changes, including new leisure pursuits, continuing education and personal services such as health care. Schools will need to be replaced by retirement villages and the need for financial advisory services will grow.
Talking Point…
with Rosemary Vilgan, Executive Director Government Superannuation Office
Rosemary Vilgan ... ageing population presents challenges
But these obvious issues aren’t the only issues.
In financial markets, huge inflows have occurred over the past decade in the share market and in superannuation.
At some point after 2010, outflows are likely to exceed inflows. How will our economy be affected?
The whole question of financing an ageing society is a minefield.
Superannuation and private savings will go some way, as will part-time work.
However, taxes will still be required to fund the current expenditure on infrastructure like roads, as well as pensions and health that cannot be privately financed. There will be much community debate and angst over the levels of taxation to be borne by workers and the adequacy of the pensions paid to the retired.
Not only will these debates happen, but the volume of “baby boomers”
means they will of course hold the power of the vote as they continue to push, as they have their entire life, for social change.
Along with financing the aged, there is a large question around how to
produce the goods and services to be consumed.
Our workers are becoming more skilled and, as a result, we are successful in fields like medical research and treatment, information technology and finance.
This means that Australia, as with most developed countries, is becoming more of a service economy than an industrial economy.
Tourism, household care and
alternative therapies are the sorts of areas that will be devoured by the “baby boomers”, but Australia could face little in the way of a workforce. We can import goods, but a service industry is a people industry.
On recent trips to America, I watched the growth in the workforce participation of the older person. Purely on observation, it seemed to me that maybe half the checkout operator jobs in K-mart-style stores, supermarkets and fast-food chains are held by people over the age of 60. This seems to be a two- edged sword – proof that the older person is being accepted into the workforce, but not in those jobs of a particularly high standing.
Reconciliation needs action
T
he quest for reconciliation between indigenous and non-indigenouspopulations in Canada and Australia will only succeed if a clear strategy of action is drawn up providing security to both, according to one of QUT’s first law graduates.
Paul Chartrand is a QUT graduate and Canadian Metis (Metis are indigenous to the Plains region).
Since graduating from predecessor institution QIT in 1981, Paul has used his legal knowledge to try to return justice to the lives of indigenous people in Canada.
He returned to Brisbane late last year to take part in a National Roundtable aimed at reviewing the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission.
Paul said ATSIC represented a major step forward in the quest to give indigenous people a voice in government.
He said Canada and Australia had similar experiences on the issue of reconciliation with both prime ministers refusing to issue an apology for past injustices.
And in both countries, he argued, politicians used the issue of
reconciliation for their own purposes, preaching to a public with no clear idea of what reconciliation meant.
“If you look at public consternation that resulted from the Mabo decision in 1991 it was in a sense bizarre and driven by a lack of understanding of the system,” he said.
“There’s no way a country like Canada or Australia would allow their courts to make a decision that will take bites out of people’s bank accounts or backyards.
“But because of the nature of politics and the political system, bogeymen are
raised, political opponents will make preposterous arguments or misconstrue issues and actually promote
misunderstandings – and this acts as a barrier to reconciliation.”
Paul said both countries’ governments must make a formal statement of regret for the effects of past policies and draw up a strategy of action that committed them to new policy directions.
“The policies would provide security to those who are in a vulnerable position and see that their identity is secure and that their social, political and economic niche within the country is safe,” he said.
“It should also give some security to those who are in power so that which is sought to be achieved is not seen as a threat to those with vested interests.”
Now while some older people may continue working, the reality is that this will be insufficient.
For both tax and workforce needs, Australia will need to soul search and consider immigration. If we don’t grow our population, and our population simply ages, there will be no young people to care for and provide services for the elderly.
Immigration is not an easy topic for a country to discuss and cuts at the heart of how people are feeling in society today. There is almost a polarisation of society, with different groups being simultaneously excited or threatened by the pace of change in this country. I liken this polarisation in society to the growth of community markets simultaneously with the Internet.
While Australia is re-inventing itself as a “smart economy”, and many service industries are springing up, those trained in the older economies are disillusioned by their lot in life.
Immigration to them is not seen as an opportunity to bring new skills and younger workers to Australia to finance our future development.
Australia is effectively replacing the farms and manufacturing shops by tourism and biomedicine, but the people aren’t so easily transferable.
We have some people retreating from the pace, wanting communities and personal attention back in the banks.
Others though, are ecstatic with gigabytes, hypertext and on-line discount broking. How will we offer
and value these different groups as part of the progress of the country?
The expected demographic changes in our society will have an enormous influence over our economy, workforce and even personal happiness. One day, look at your families, friends and neighbours, and have a think about these issues.
”
Rosemary Vilgan (BBus 1987) was an Outstanding Alumni Award Winner for QUT’s Faculty of Business in 1999.
“Life expectancy is
improving to the extent that
one in three female babies
born today is expected
to live until 100.”
10 10
“E
ntrepreneurship used to be a dirty word in Australia, no thanks to some prominent businessmen who ventured beyond entrepreneurship intocriminality.
But, more recently, entrepreneurship is gaining its credibility back and is hot on the agendas of Federal, State and local governments as a generator of jobs, incomes and economic growth – which in turn allow a stronger dollar and lower interest rates, and more.
Entrepreneurship is a behavioural thing. It is what individuals and organisations do when they are creating new wealth for themselves, their businesses, and their communities.
New wealth comes from the successful commercialisation of new technology. And by new technology we mean innovation – new products, new services and new ways of managing things.
These innovations are “commercial”
only if there is a significant demand for them – meaning that people and/or businesses are willing to pay enough for them to more than cover their cost of production.
Entrepreneurial people have particular abilities and attitudes that underlie their entrepreneurial behaviour.
The relevant abilities include opportunity recognition, viability screening, problem solving, leadership and general management skills.
Beneficial attitudes for entrepreneurial managers include relatively low aversion to risk and a relatively strong preference for independent decision-making.
Such people tend to recognise particular innovations as potentially lucrative new business opportunities and to make the decisions necessary to ensure the commercial success of the new business venture.
Entrepreneurship is not limited to small and new businesses. Large and old businesses can be highly entrepreneurial.
A great example of an entrepreneurial large firm is Jack Welch’s GE. Under Welch’s leadership GE became a prototype of the entrepreneurial large firm that continues to find market success by continual innovation.
New and small firms are most commonly associated with
entrepreneurship because they are flexible and quick to react to market opportunities. But large companies can build an entrepreneurial corporate culture that can similarly be flexible and proactive.
Gary Hamel, co-author of the book Competing for the Future has recently written another book, Leading the Revolution, which addresses this issue directly. How can today’s leaders encourage and develop an
entrepreneurial culture within their business or other organisation such that the organisation is able to discover, capture and exploit the commercial value of innovations?
The answer provided by Hamel, in essence, is that the organisation must capture the creative ideas that naturally emanate from its employees, from top management down to the lowliest coffee-boy.
To do this, organisations must create an entrepreneurial culture that encourages its employees to present their ideas to top management for adoption.
Even universities and governments can create entrepreneurial cultures that foster new products, services and management processes.
The Brisbane Graduate School of Business has been fortunate to operate within the QUT organisational environment that has encouraged and nurtured our new MBA program.
The market has recognised this innovation by making our MBA the largest in Queensland and external rankings (Asiaweek, May 5, 2000) have placed us within the top four MBA programs in Australia and in the top 20 in Asia.
Our Executive MBA (EMBA) program has been launched this year.
Ahead of us is more innovation – we are working on an International MBA (students would attend courses in two other countries as well) and an Offshore MBA (the program would go to foreign students, rather than expecting them to come to us).
”
Talking Point…
with Professor Evan Douglas
head, Brisbane Graduate School of Business
S o l u t i o n s
Solutio n s
an overview of research initiatives undertaken by QUT
QUT’s Rhodes Scholar
A QUT medical engineering graduate who has been working to help landmine victims in
Cambodia has been named the 2001 Queensland Rhodes Scholar.
Twenty-one-year-old Tom Ward was selected from 20 candidates for the award and will study for his PhD at Oxford University’s Orthopoedic Engineering Centre later this year.
Tom’s final-year project at QUT last year involved the development of a device which, he hopes, will make life
“a little easier” for many rural Cambodians who have lost limbs as a result of landmines – as well as benefiting people recovering from knee operations.
Tom Ward
Statistics show that, in Cambodia, one in every 250 people is an amputee, and 87 per cent of the population lives in rural areas isolated from urban health services.
A Queen’s Trust grant recipient, Tom visited Cambodia recently to conduct an assessment of what type of rehabilitation technology could assist rural amputees.
He then returned to QUT to design a device that monitors how people walk after major surgery and tracks their recovery progress.
“This information has not been available for people in the rural areas because it was impractical for them to come back into the city,” Tom said.
“The device consists of two sensors mounted on the legs which provide information that includes how a person is walking, their gait and joint angles.
“It was a necessity to make the device simple, portable, robust and inexpensive.”
“Some hurdles will have to be overcome because, at present, doctors and health authorities expect their patients to go to the cities for treatment,” he said.
“There will have to be a shift in that expectation, and for doctors and patients to accept an alternative such as telemedicine which will enable patients to be diagnosed from information and data transmitted via the Internet to a centralised clinic.”
Future of golf in steady hands
The future of golf could be less painful for its millions of followers – professionals and particularly amateurs – as a result of a QUT project.
As part of his final-year project, medical engineering graduate Cameron Mercer has developed a device that measures golf club vibration following contact with the ball.
Mr Mercer said results from tests would “keep golf club manufacturers honest”. He was prompted to investigate the problem of vibration following approaches from the golfing industry and physiotherapists.
Throughout the world, he said, people suffered from golfing injuries, particularly of the lower back, wrists and upper extremities.
“It is thought that vibrations could be a factor in the injury rate as any golfer will tell you how much it hurts when a shot is badly hit,” Mr Mercer said.
Mr Mercer said his development was not so much a stand- alone device but a measuring device.
“The main idea of the project was to compare two clubs that had different properties – one with a damper and the other without,” Mr Mercer said.
helps landmine victims
S o l u t i o n s S o l u t i o n s S O LV I N G real problems
an overview of research initiatives undertaken by QUT
Australians are claiming more donations to charities than ever before, but statistics reveal widespread distinctions between the amounts donated in some states and professions, a QUT analysis has revealed.
QUT Associate Professor Myles McGregor-Lowndes completed a study using Australian Taxation Office statistics, and found that the average Australian claimed $181 in deductible donations, or 0.21 per cent of their taxable income, each year to charities.
“This is an increase of 5.7 per cent on the previous financial year, and the first time in four years that the average percentage of income people claimed to have donated has increased,” Professor McGregor-Lowndes said.
“I’m hesitant to draw conclusions, but that is probably indicative of an improved economic climate and increased public confidence.”
Professor McGregor-Lowndes said the data, taken from 1998 ATO statistics (the most current data available) showed that philanthropy was most common in New South Wales and the
Australians give more,
donation analysis reveals
ACT, with average donations of $221 (0.24 per cent of taxable income) and $212 (0.25 per cent) respectively.
Tasmania ($142 or 0.18 per cent) and Northern Territory ($125 or 0.12 per cent) were at the bottom of the list, with deductible donations well below the national average.
Professor McGregor-Lowndes said the data also revealed which professions were, statistically, the most generous.
“Air transport, religion and medicine did well, but construction and road freight did not,” he said.
“As you would expect, people with high incomes generally claimed the most donations in dollar terms, with those earning over $1million donating an average $36,000.”
Professor McGregor-Lowndes stressed that the data were only as accurate as the information people had reported on their 1998 tax returns.
“I’m sure many people under-report their donations, and many over-report,” he said.
“One study has estimated that Australians donate
$2.8billion each year, compared to the $581million which is reported in deductible donations.”
People who feel guilty because they do not exercise the recommended 30 minutes a day, three times a week, can now feel better about their health if they are normally active.
New QUT research has shown that people who do short bursts of physical activity – like walking and climbing stairs – several times most days, experience equal, and sometimes better, health benefits.
Human movement studies lecturer Dr Tom Cuddihy studied two groups of 25 inactive men and women, allowing the first group continuous exercise for 30 minutes, three days a week. Members of the second group were asked to undertake “lifestyle-based” exercise for just six minutes, five times a day, at least four days each week.
Dr Cuddihy said that when the group members had a physiological assessment (a complex analysis involving weight, body mass index, blood pressure, cholesterol, and other measurements) two months later, both groups’ health and fitness levels had improved.
The team has concluded that the lifestyle approach of accumulating exercise during people’s daily routines can be just as beneficial to health as long blocks of high- intensity exercise.
“It means that if you can spare six minutes, five times a day to go for a brisk walk to a meeting, climb some stairs instead of taking the lift, or park further away and walk to and from work, you don’t have to do the sweaty stuff to keep your health and fitness.”
Short bouts of activity equally good for health
Solutio s
S o l u t i o n s
an overview of research initiatives undertaken by QUTQUT researchers conducting geological mapping around Newcastle have confirmed the location of the fault that caused Australia’s first fatal earthquake in 1989.
School of Natural Resource Sciences lecturer Dr Gary Huftile said he and honours student Jason Chaytor had verified that a 40km-long fault off the Newcastle coast had caused the 1989 earthquake, and warned there was a potential for future quakes in the area.
Dr Huftile said the fault, near the surface offshore extending down under Lake Macquarie, was “theoretically capable” of causing an earthquake up to 6.0 on the Richter scale.
The 1989 Newcastle earthquake was a magnitude 5.6, killed 12 people, injured 165 and caused $4billion in damage.
“In a quake, the city’s foundation would amplify the effect and cause the area to shake like a bowl of jelly.
“What we are trying to do here is quantify the risk. I am concerned that people don’t understand the hazard and have not prepared,” Dr Huftile said.
“It is astounding to me that 10 years after the earthquake, the mapping of this fault is just now getting done.”
Dr Huftile has conducted research in earthquake geology in Los Angeles and Oregon and is Australia’s only specialist in this area.
Geologists find
Newcastle earthquake fault
Photo here
Research aims to cut tumour blood supply
Scientists may soon be one step closer to understanding how cancerous cells spread thanks to a postdoctoral fellow’s groundbreaking research.
Dr John Hooper from QUT’s Centre for Molecular
Biotechnology will work to explain the crucial process that causes cancers such as colon and prostate tumours to develop their own blood supplies and spread to other parts of the body.
His work has received a major boost with the announcement from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) that Dr Hooper has been awarded both the CJ Martin fellowship and the Menzies Foundation’s RG Menzies fellowship, together worth
$280,000 over four years.
The fellowships will allow Dr Hooper to divide the next four years between QUT and San Diego’s prestigious Scripps Research Institute, where he will map the
molecular processes involved when cancers establish their
own blood supplies.
Solutio n s
Dr Gary Huftile and honours student Jason Chayter ... quantifying risk
S o l u t i o n s S o l u t i o n s S O LV I N G real problems
an overview of research initiatives undertaken by QUT
“Then, when it comes time to be relicenced, they use the interlock device and can implement what they have learned in a controlled way.”
Ms Guthrie said participation in the interlock trial was voluntary and would cost offenders around $900 for use of the device and a place in the rehabilitation program.
“We are hoping that magistrates will waive or decrease the fines they would normally give offenders to make
participation in the program more affordable and attractive,” she said.
The project has been funded by an Australian Research Council (ARC) Strategic Partnerships in Industry Research and Training (SPIRT) grant, and has been co-ordinated in partnership with the Motor Accident Insurance Commission and interlock device manufacturer Drager Australia.
Drager Australia’s Asia Pacific Manager (Drug and Alcohol Group) Rod Tattersall said he hoped the trial of the interlock device would help reduce the number of road accidents caused by alcohol-impaired driving.
He said designers had devised a special technique for drivers to learn before they could use the interlock, as well as several mechanical safety features.
“We have programmed the interlock to require the driver to provide further breath samples at random times after starting the vehicle,” Mr Tattersall said.
“Attempts to tamper with the electrical circuit or circumvent the interlock [by] placing a balloon on the mouthpiece are detected by the interlock and recorded as a violation.”
Dr Guthrie said CARRS-Q would evaluate the interlock’s effectiveness as a rehabilitation tool, and its potential to change the behaviour of persistent drink drivers.
The trial has received support from Queensland’s Chief Stipendiary Magistrate, Community Corrections, Queensland Transport, Queensland Police Service, RACQ and the Department of Justice and Attorney General.
Magistrates now have another alternative when sentencing drink drivers, with the trial of an
“ignition interlock device” underway in Queensland.
The interlock device is similar to a hand-held breathalyser which is wired into a car’s ignition, preventing drivers with a measurable blood alcohol content (BAC) from starting their car.
The Queensland trial of the device is the first Australian attempt to install ignition interlocks as part of the judicial process and is being co-ordinated by QUT’s Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety – Queensland (CARRS-Q).
CARRS-Q project manager Dr Diane Guthrie said magistrates could recommend in probation orders that convicted drink drivers participate in the trial, which began on February 12, 2000 and will run for three years.
She said the Queensland trial combined use of the interlock device with the “Under the Limit” rehabilitation program, also devised by the QUT team.
“Offenders complete the rehabilitation program during their licence disqualification period, which teaches them how to make better decisions about their driving and drinking behaviour,” Dr Guthrie said.
Photo here
Solutio s
Alcohol ignition interlock
trial underway
PhD candidate urges disaster plan for Mozambique
Trish set to battle
the broadsheet brands in London
Beau Martin ... inspired
E
nvironmental Health PhD Candidate Beau Martin is trying to make adifference in flood-ravaged Mozambique.
Late last year, the 21-year-old travelled to the impoverished African country, as part of his honours study, to
look at how the government dealt with the health effects of the country’s biggest floods in 50 years.
It was a vastly different career path from the one he’d set himself at the start of his Bachelor of Health Science degree – to be a state or local
environmental health officer in Australia.
He arrived in the capital Maputo at the end of the floods and was able to gain access to affected residents and staff through organisations such as the United Nations, World Health Organisation and the Red Cross.
“I was looking at how the disaster affected people’s health and how any ill health could have been prevented through increased preparedness,”
he said.
Beau found that the Mozambique Government was not well prepared for the disaster but, thanks to the help of international governments and 200 international organisations, it was able to prevent major health problems.
“Prevention needs a lot of money and there are a lot of other problems in
J
ust months into her job at one of Britain’s top newspapers, The Independent, Trish Wadley’s mind is sharp and ready to strengthen the paper’s branding and circulation.After holding managerial positions in marketing and promotions for companies including News Corporation, Foxtel and Brisbane’s B105FM, the challenge of a new role is what persuaded Trish to re-enter the media game.
“I had made a career decision to work outside of media but agreed to this job because I thought The Independent was an undersold brand,” she said.
“The paper is a product that has not been marketed properly and there’s opportunity for me to do that.”
The Independent is a “young” paper and was created by a group of journalists to fill the middle ground of a
newspaper range that mirrored the polarised politics of England.
“But it’s tough times now because our reason for being has been marginalised with the New Labour politics,” Trish explained.
“There’s less of a need for a champion of the middle.”
The Independent is read by more than 623,000 people each day and is one of the four major broadsheet daily
newspapers in England that compete with a range of tabloid papers in a price- sensitive industry.
Trish completed a Bachelor of Business majoring in Journalism at QUT in 1984.
After just 20 months as a journalist, she switched to promotions and marketing because it “looked like more fun” and she felt she could have more impact on the overall success of a business.
“This is a big challenge for me and I’m giving it two years to see if I can make a difference before I move on to pursue more strategic business options that don’t necessarily pigeon-hole me in marketing or media,” she said.
Mozambique. Getting people fed and housed is a much higher priority than disaster prevention,” he said.
The floods claimed 700 lives and two million people were affected.
Beau said most of the health problems were related to stagnant water – dengue fever, malaria, cholera and other mosquito- and water-borne diseases – and required a mammoth vaccination program.
Beau has made several
recommendations to the Mozambique Ministry of Health and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) – the major one is for the implementation of a disaster management plan.
b y To n i C h a m b e r s
“Getting people fed
and housed is a much
higher priority than
disaster prevention”
12 16
Allison grooves to
London’s accounting tune
b y A m i s h a P a t e l
Allison Moss ... organising the accounts of musicians is quite a challenge
A
ccounting graduate Allison Moss has the kind of job most music lovers would die for.On her first day at Martin Greene Ravden – a London-based accounting firm with clients from the music and film industries – Allison met Right Said Fred, a duo famous for their song, I’m too sexy.
Since then, she has regularly worked with DJs, pop stars and record label executives.
Martin Greene Ravden has more than 70 employees and boasts a client list of musicians including Garbage and Pulp as well as actors Sean Connery and John Cleese.
As a senior accountant with the firm, Allison’s job involves accounting by day and relationship building and partying by night.
“I am invited to a lot of gigs and backstage parties that now seem like work because I always have to look out for clients or potential clients,” she said.
“You meet some great people but it all comes down to business and you have to take your business cards everywhere.”
Even though the firm’s core business is accounting and tax planning for their clients, Allison said her role could border on artist representation as well as business management.
“Because we represent record companies … as well as musicians, ranging from the successful to those just starting out, we often introduce clients to labels as well as managers and agents,”
she said.
“I could meet an upcoming band at a client’s gig one night and then a few months later they could become our client.”
Allison said one of her biggest challenges was organising the accounts for a band or DJ who was not up to date with their accounts.
“Some musicians haven’t kept receipts or done their accounts for the
past 10 years, so getting them up to date is quite a challenge,” she said.
“A DJ or band might start small, earning £100 for a performance cash-in- hand and then, years later, they will be earning more than £500,000 and come to see us when they suddenly realise they haven’t done anything about tax.
“There’s a fair bit of investigative reporting that needs to happen in those situations, which I enjoy because it’s interesting chasing up their dealings with record labels and concerts.”
Another challenge is dealing with the fact that most musicians are not business-minded, and therefore require much more “hands-on help”
than accountants normally provide.
“Most of the musicians don’t want to bother with business and any mention of accounts can freak out the client,”
Allison said.
“One of my clients has to have a creative session after each meeting with me just to relieve the tension.”
These challenges are certainly a far cry from those encountered in her studies or in her first job with Toowong accountancy firm Anthony Wetmore
& Co.
After all, how many accountancy graduates from the class of ’94 need to ensure their office attire transposes nicely to a nightclub setting?
Fortunately, Allison said the party scene did not mean a big wardrobe because London fashion was “all about black”.
S
tarting out as a professional artist can have its moments, as Megan Axelsen will tell you.The visual arts graduate laughs as she remembers one of her first professional freelance assignments, painting an elderly man’s garage door.
“It was the weirdest thing. He wanted people to think he owned a Rolls Royce by getting one painted on his garage,” she said.
“He phoned one of my lecturers and said he was looking to hire someone who could do the job and make it look real.”
Working from photographs, Megan obliged, and the man is now the proud owner of a gleaming two-dimensional Roller.
Despite the eccentric nature of her brief, Megan, pictured at right, was definitely the right person for the job.
Since graduating in 1998, the diminutive 22-year-old from Karalee has begun to make a name for herself through her ability to recreate reality in her art.
Unlike many young artists who try to develop their individual styles through contemporary or abstract works, Megan has always preferred drawing faces and real-life images.
Graduate makes art for heart’s sake
In Megan’s second year at QUT, she honed her skills by drawing portraits of fellow students and tutors straight onto the cement walls of the art classroom, watching the faces slowly wear away as curious passers-by touched and smudged her creations.
Her distinctive style and ability saw Megan chosen as the illustrator of a high-profile children’s book Sarah’s Story, which was released last year.
The book, written by Prince Charles Hospital nurses Netty Winkel and Fiona Henshelwood with former QUT early childhood lecturer Leisa Holzheimer, was designed to help children facing heart surgery understand their experiences in hospital.
“The authors saw some of my drawings at my father’s workplace and decided that was the style they were looking for.”
Megan met and studied photographs of nine-year-old cardiac patient Bianca Kable, who became the model for the character of Sarah. The result was a huge success and, as a published illustrator, Megan could not be happier.
“To already have my name on a children’s book at this point in my career is just amazing. It’s hard to survive
in this industry through freelancing until you get your big break, and Sarah’s Story has really helped,” she said.
Megan supplements her art with a part-time teachers’ aid job at Milpera State High School, which has a diverse cultural population.
With the help of a grant from Multicultural Affairs Queensland, Megan has produced an exhibition of 23 full-sized, full-body portraits of
“new Australians”.
The exhibition aims to promote multiculturalism and, after being housed at the Queensland Museum during late 2000, has begun a year-long tour of Brisbane’s local libraries.
While Megan’s next step on her journey as a professional artist is still undecided, she knows that her plan will be to keep drawing people and to strive for more exhibitions of her own.
“My ambition is not to be rich but just to work full-time as an artist doing something I love. That would make me happy.”
