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Climate change: a post-COP15 diagnosis
Will Steffen | December 21, 2009Not surprisingly, interpretations of the outcome from COP15 range from an outstanding success to an utter disaster, and everything in between. Political leaders claim a big step forward towards climate protection, while the vast majority of the NGOs who flocked to Copenhagen blast the outcome as, at best, a wasted opportunity.
In many ways, views on the outcome of COP15 were strongly conditioned by expectations, especially for those who thought that the Copenhagen conference would ‘seal the deal’ for limiting anthropogenic climate change to a temperature rise of no more than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. But a comprehensive, final agreement was never really in the cards, even months before the meeting itself. The real question was whether COP15 would make enough progress to build unstoppable momentum towards a much tougher, legally binding agreement sometime in the next 6 to 12 months.
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Reforming Health: What Australian Healthcare might look like in 2015
Andrew Podger | December 21, 2009This speech was presented by Andrew Podger on 30 November 2009 at the GAP/ACHR Congress on Australia’s Health.
Let me paint two scenarios, both positive, based on the Australian Government pursuing substantial elements of the National Health & Hospital Reform Commission’s NHRCC’s recommendations.
2015 is only five years away, so we should not expect revolutionary change by then. But I am hopeful that sufficient action will have been taken to confirm the future direction of the Australian health system.
I could of course be wrong.
Bedfellows or Combatants: the balance between innovating health technology and maximising the value of the health dollar
Deborah Waterhouse | December 21, 2009My name is Deborah Waterhouse and I am the General Manager of Glaxosmithkline (GSK) Australasia. I would like to thank GAP for inviting me to speak today.
The title I have chosen is Bedfellows or Combatants: the balance between innovating health technology and maximising the value of the health dollar.
UncategorisedProductivity Commission gets Web 2.0
editor | December 20, 2009The Productivity Commision has entered the wonderful world of Gov 2.0 with the launch of a blog designed to gather feedback on the recently released Draft Report into Market Mechanisms for Recovering Water in the Murray-Darling Basin. Check it out at blog.pc.gov.au »»
Where does all the money go?
Sara Hudson | December 20, 2009In the last 12 years, Commonwealth funding for Indigenous specific health programs has increased by 328% with no noticeable improvements in Indigenous health outcomes.
UncategorisedALP Pollie blogs against Mandatory ISP filtering
editor | December 20, 2009The Hon Penny Sharpe MLC, NSW Parliamentary Secretary for Transport, is urging all Australians who oppose mandatory internet filtering to contact both Senator Stephen Conroy and their local MP to make their views known. Read her blog, Why The Internet filter is not the solution we wish it was »»
UncategorisedVlogs for Health Reform
editor | December 20, 2009The team at yourhealth.gov.au have created a nifty video wall. Watch what patients and healthcare professionals are saying about the proposed National Health and Hospitals reform, or upload your own video here »»
The R18+ rating, internet censorship, and our local games industry
Paul Callaghan | December 18, 2009The double whammy of policy announcements on clean-feed and classifications mean that it's been a big week for the Australian gaming industry.
On December 15, 2009, the Attorney General’s office release their long delayed public consultation paper on introducing an R18+ rating for video games in Australia. Later that same day, Stephen Conroy finally released his office’s report on mandatory ISP level filtering. In combination, the flow-on effects from both of these policy developments has the potential for broad and unforeseen consequences on the future of our local game development community.
Combating Climate Change Deniers: Simple Responses
Brad Gray | December 16, 2009Heard the one about cosmic rays? Got a climate change doubter in your family? Not sure how to respond when they criticise climate science? Read these scientific responses to the most common sceptics’ arguments and you’ll be ready for anything.
To tackle the issues raised by climate change deniers, a new report has been prepared with scientific responses to common climate change objections. Objections to climate change "have been repeatedly shown to be false, weak or irrelevant in the peer-reviewed scientific literature,” says the author, scientist Dr Parris.
For instance, it is FALSE that ‘Climate change is due to the effects of cosmic rays’. The latest scientific research suggests any effect from cosmic rays is too small to play a significant role in climate change.
Are skilled people the new Legion of the Lost?
Les Pickett | December 16, 2009One of the greatest challenges facing organisations is how best to harness the great wealth of under-utilised knowledge and experience that is progressively walking out the door.
Every time someone leaves an organisation there is the potential for a loss of know-how.
Sometimes, in the cases where the long serving are departing, the culture of the organisation also dies a little.
People change jobs, the average length of employment in one organisation in Australia is around three years and seems to be reducing: they retire, often earlier than has been the case; or resign for a variety of reasons. Some are retrenched or sacked.
There is an increasing pool of people with a range of competencies in the community that provide an opportunity to reduce the much touted skills gap. The trick is to match the demand and the supply, but nobody knows what the true supply situation really is.
Girlfriends or natural socialists?
Luke Malpass | December 15, 2009Ever heard the tired old cliché about women always wanting a man they can change, and men always wanting a woman who will not?
Empowering individuals to control their personal information
Malcolm Crompton | December 11, 2009Here is a seriously interesting paper that came out of the UK a year ago: “Empowering individuals to control their personal information”. It is a background paper presented to a conference on “Privacy by Design” which was all about providing a proactive approach to privacy protection. It was held on 26 November 2008 and hosted by the UK Information Commissioner’s Office in Manchester.
