The Western Independent, Volume 21 Number 2, May 2015

MAY 2015 – Volume 21 No 2

A FREE NEWSPAPER PRODUCED BY CURTIN UNIVERSITY JOURNALISM STUDENTS Visit

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Billion dollar link under fire page

Caleb Gorton

City councils and environmental groups have condemned the Perth Freight Link project because of the impact it will have on the Beeliar Wetlands.

The $1.6 billion project will extend Roe Highway 5.2km, from the Kwinana Freeway to Stock Road in Coolbellup, through Beeliar Wetlands.

Cockburn Mayor Logan Howlett said the council had opposed the Roe Highway extension since 2001.

“The city, group and members of the community have made many appeals and held rallies over the years based on a variety of factors, including fragmentation of the wetlands, loss of public open space and local amenity, and the endangered Carnaby cockatoo’s habitat,” Mr Howlett said.

Mr Howlett said he condemned “the destruction of Bibra Lake”, as well as the decision to build a road over the “most pristine” wetlands in WA. Save Beeliar Wetlands convenor Kate Kelly said the extension was the equivalent of putting a “six lane freeway through the middle of Kings Park”.

“All 97.8ha of wetlands and bush would be lost,” she said.

“It will take out and bulldoze around a quarter of the total of the park, including the surrounding urban bush lands and uplands of Bibra Lake, North Lake, Coolbellup and Hamilton Hill.”

Ms Kelly said the project threatened species living in the wetlands.

“Many thousands of creatures would die and, if they did survive in the short term, research shows their deaths are inevitable as there are few places for them to go,” she said.

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“Threatened species such as the Carnaby’s cockatoo would lose foraging and future nesting places.

“The remaining creatures would have to contend with future spills, noise and 24-hour lighting, which would affect their capacity to reproduce and survive.”

The Beeliar Wetlands are home to at least three endangered bird species, including the Carnaby’s cockatoo and peregrine falcon.

WA Transport Minister Dean Nalder said project planning had taken the environmental and social impact into consideration.

“As an environmental offset, the State Government will purchase 470ha of land elsewhere in the state to create a

“All 97.8ha of wetlands and bush would be lost” ‘bush forever’ site,” he said.

“It eliminates the stop-starting of trucks along other roads, which reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 450,000 tonne by 2031.

“From a social viewpoint, it provides better access to Fiona Stanley Hospital, frees up suburban roads by taking trucks off Leach Highway and improves traffic through the Murdoch precinct.”

Fremantle Deputy Mayor Josh Wilson said the Perth Freight Link would also impact Fremantle through the substantial works and traffic re-direction.

“These will cut into parts of the Fremantle community, impact houses

HOMES CLOSED: Aboriginal community fights back against closures.

SITTING DUCKS: Nature threatened by the Perth Freight Link.

and subject residents to increasing noise and diesel particulates from trucks,” he said.

“The council does not support the Perth Freight Link because it hasn’t been the subject of careful planning.

“It will lock the south-metro region into a car-dominated future, killing the chance that we could get more freight

on rail and an effective second-tier public transport system.”

Ms Kelly said the wetlands were also important to the local community.

“Wetlands provide untold services to local communities through water filtering and storm water remediation,” she said.

“They provide lovely places to recreate

PHOTO: Safiah Rind.

and relax, bird watching and nature play for families.”

The Federal Government has committed $925 million to the project, which is expected to create 2400 new jobs.

Work on the Perth Freight Link will start in early 2016 and is expected to be completed in 2019.

PHOTO: Cam Findlay.

DON'T KICK US OUT: The WA Premier set off a firestorm of protest when he announced the effective closure of remote Aboriginal communities in November, 2014. In our page 19 feature, an Aboriginal elder describes the profound connection between Aboriginal people and their land, and what it would mean if that land was taken away.

Visit Inkwire at http:// inkwirenews.com.au for Curtin journalism online.

NEWS

A message from the student editors

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Joseph M Fernandez

“Think in the morning. Act in the noon.

Eat in the evening. Sleep in the night.”

– William Blake.

STAFF EDITOR Sean Cowan

We learned the hard way that this was not the life of a print journalist.

It went something along the lines of ­­­­­— wake before the sun, think all day, sleep a few hours wherever you can find them, and eat the greasiest food whenever you can fit it in.

Not a pretty picture, we know.

In all honesty, production week looked ominous and off-putting from the outside.

The prospect alone was enough to send some running for the woods.

Fortunately, 14 of us were not as easily dissuaded.

Perhaps the 14 of us subscribed to a more Helen Keller way of life, one that said: “Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence”.

Producing a newspaper with the smallest staff in the history of the pub-

STUDENT EDITORS Louis Zambotto Helene Lambetsos NEWS EDITOR Chelsie Stone FEATURES EDITOR Jai Price PHOTO EDITOR Pierra Willix PRODUCTION MANAGER Jesinta Burton DEPUTY PRODUCTION MANAGER Kira Carlin SPORTS EDITOR Tim Walker ARTS EDITOR Ricci-Lee Smith CHIEFS OF STAFF Kristie Lim Kira Carlin Caitlin Creeper Bridgette Stephens CHIEF SUB EDITOR Aaron Bryans DEPUTY CHIEF SUB Nadia Budihardjo DESIGN ADVISOR Tom Henshaw LEGAL ADVISOR Joseph M Fernandez TEACHING STAFF Sean Cowan Nicole Cox Shannon Harvey Daile Pepper Chris Thomson

lication didn’t inspire confidence.

We were told it would be hard work from the beginning.

We were told the horror stories.

We were told about the tears. The stress. The endless reading.

What we weren’t told about was the immense pride that comes with producing the finished work.

Something you couldn’t be told, but could only learn the hard way.

Struggle quickly turns into experience, and experience quickly turns into achievement. And that achievement is what you’re holding in your hands.

So we wouldn’t trade one story in this paper for an extra hour’s sleep, one extra page for a day’s less work.

And we’d happily eat a week’s worth of greasy food if it meant having a paper we can truly say we are proud of.

– Louis Zambotto and Helene Lambetsos

Centre gets million dollar makeover Bronte Macpherson

The planned refurbishment of up to eight youth centres, costing more than $10 million, will increase community engagement rates, according to the WA Police and Community Youth Centres.

PCYC marketing and communications manager Sally Courboules said the major refurbishments at Albany, Bunbury, Carnarvon, Gosnells, Kalgoorlie, Kensington, Midland and Rockingham would increase participation rates at each centre.

“The upgrades will provide improved and appealing environments for young people and community members, as well as improved

working spaces for WA PCYC and WA Police personnel,” she said.

In the 2013/14 financial year, 288 young people were engaged in PCYC training institute programs, according to the PCYC Annual Report 2013 – 2014.

According to the report, more than 4000 youths attended PCYC recreational camps and 33 youths received one-on-one support through an outreach program.

YMCA family support projects acting manager and youth worker Hayley Passmore said the refurbishments would also increase staff morale.

“Working in this industry is really hard,” she said.

“Having a little bit of new life in the job will be great for staff morale.”

Ethical Guidelines The highest standards of ethical conduct are expected in the way the Western Independent's journalists obtain and present information. One of the course requirements is that they abide by the Media Entertainment and Arts Code of Ethics and Curtin University Department of Journalism's ethical guidelines in all aspects of writing, photography and production. The MEAA Code of Ethics and Curtin's journalism guidelines are designed to safeguard individual rights while respecting the public's right to information.

PHOTO: Jade Coleman.

Rare reptiles on show at Caversham Wildlife Park

PHOTO: Brittany Langley.

A new enclosure at Caversham Wildlife Park will become home to some of Australia’s rarest reptiles, says co-owner David Thorne.

Set to open in July, the $75,000 enclosure will house species that are not allowed to be owned by regular members of the public.

The enclosure is expected to house perenties, black-headed pythons, olive pythons, lace monitor lizards, woma pythons and freshwater crocodiles.

Mr Thorne said the project had proved difficult because of the specialty flooring, air-conditioning and insulation needed for the reptile enclosure.

“This exhibit is near to completion, and the reptiles presented here won’t

be permitted for normal households,” he said.

Reptile City co-owner Jason Lapins said reptile permits were very limited in Western Australia, compared to other states and territories.

“Due to Western Australia’s Conservation and Land Management team and strict quarantine laws, no reptiles from overseas can be directly imported into WA,” he said.

“Reptiles are a piece of Australian history, that’s what makes them so special and valued.”

Mr Lapins said wildlife parks played an important role in displaying exotic reptiles to the public.

He said applying for an exotic reptile permit could be difficult without special reasons, including breeding or conducting a study.

“Around 70 per cent of homeless people I come across have quite a severe mental health issue, but then like the nature of homelessness, it’s so isolating,” he said.

“It’s easy to become quite depressed and anxious, so I’d say every homeless person I have come across has those sort of symptoms.”

Western Australian Association for Mental Health chief executive officer Rod Astbury said it was important for people with a mental illness to have housing, employment and education support.

“This is the area that the 10-year plan identified as the most underinvested in WA,” he said.

“WAAMH is looking to government, both state and commonwealth to

address this shortfall.”

Mr Liveris said the mental health challenges faced by homeless people were often forgotten because housing and accommodation were seen as the main priority.

“It’s so difficult to be able to live a healthy life and adequately respect one’s surroundings when you’re mentally ill and really not up to the task of going to work and leaving your bed for the day,” he said.

“It’s part of the cycle of homelessness.

“There are very few mental health experts and professionals out there who really do understand the challenges that face homeless people.”

• For more on the 2015 Federal and State Budgets, see Page 10.

HELP: Funding provides support.

Abby Williams

Western Independent Telephone 08 9266 7038 08 9266 7878 Facsimile 08 9266 7142 Postal Address GPO Box U1987 Perth WA 6845

HANDS ON: Attendance increase expected.

RARE REPTILE: A snake's new habitat.

Homeless ‘ignored’ in suicide prevention Dominique Bayens The State Government’s decision to spend $26 million on suicide prevention programs is a positive step, but more support is needed for people who are homeless, according to mental health experts.

The Suicide Prevention Strategy, which was announced earlier this month, aims to halve the number of people committing suicide in WA by 2025.

Conrad Liveris, the co-founder of homelessness advocacy group Street Smugglers, said the State Government had not recognised the link between homelessness and mental health.

PHOTO: Brittany Langley.

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New medical school ‘not needed’ Chelsie Stone The Federal Government should put funding into post-graduate training programs instead of the Curtin Medical School to avoid a reduction in the quality of patient care, according to the Western Australian Medical Students’ Society.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott recently committed $20 million to Curtin University’s proposal to establish a medical school in Midland.

WAMSS president Kiran Narula said the additional junior doctors would compromise the education of existing students and the care of patients because there would be too many students seeking practical experience.

“The additional concern is the more students there are in the hospital ward under one doctor, the more time that doctor has to spend teaching the students, as opposed to treating the patient,” he said.

“That creates a conflict for that doctor because they have a responsibility to both – to teach the next generation of doctors as well as treat their patients.”

Mr Narula said a new medical school would not solve the shortage of rural GPs in WA. “The issue we’ve got to realise is that medical schools don’t actually create GPs,” he said.

“It creates junior doctors and then, in order to create GPs, those junior doctors have to undergo further training.”

Medical Students’ Association of Notre Dame president Kate Nuthall said the rural health crisis would not be solved by the addition of a new medical school.

“Time and time again there’s been extensive research that has shown there are two strategies that work in terms of getting people back to working in rural health care,” she said.

“Those two strategies are enrolling students from a rural and remote background, and exposing students

to rural medical schools during their training.”

Mr Narula said 800 doctors in the country and 84 doctors in WA missed out on opportunities to participate in further training last year.

“The $20 million that will be spent on the medical school will be better spent on that training program and increasing the number of places in that training program because that is what will actually fix the problem in WA,” he said.

Ms Nuthall said she was concerned there were no provisions for postgraduate training.

“You can see a large number of medical students actually trailing the one consultant,” Ms Nuthall said.

Ms Nuthall said the consultant was trying to teach the medical students and care for patients.

“There hasn’t been enough allocation of additional resources to ensure that patient care is not affected by these medical students,” she said.

Curtin University head of medicine William Hart said there needed to be a progressive expansion of training places to accommodate the increased number of medical graduates.

“There is currently both an absolute shortage of doctors in WA as well as a mal-distribution, leaving the outer suburbs, eastern and southern, and rural and regional areas without enough doctors,” he said.

“The new school will make a significant contribution to WA’s medical workforce needs in underserviced areas and disciplines such as general practice, mental health and aged care in particular.”

Ms Nuthall said there were enough medical students in the Midland area.

“We have a large number of students on rotation at Swan District Hospital at any time,” she said.

“So to say this is an untapped market is completely wrong.

“Many of the structures in the Midland area are currently already being utilised for medical student

BITTER PILL: More junior doctors are not the answer, according to students.

training, meaning the capacity doesn’t necessarily exist to take on more medical students.”

City of Swan Mayor Charlie Zannino said there was a need for tertiary education in the Midland region and the medical school would help address the lack of local doctors.

Confidential sources at risk — union Jesinta Burton The requirement for law enforcement agencies to obtain a warrant to access a journalist’s metadata would not protect confidential sources, according to the union representing Australia’s journalists.

The (Interception and Access) Telecommunications Amendment (Data Retention) Bill 2015 was passed in March and included a section that requires law enforcement agencies to obtain a warrant to access a journalist’s metadata.

Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance WA president Martin Turner said there were problems with the laws.

He said there was a notion in government that national security was best served by having access to personal data.

“Basically, I think everything in this is slanted towards what is deemed a ‘public interest’, which in a government sense means security is paramount,” he said.

Under the new laws, telecommunications providers are required to keep records of all phone and internet use for two years.

The law gives 21 agencies, including Telstra, the right to seek access to metadata.

Turner said the metadata law was bad for journalists because information would be subject to surveillance and would, therefore, not move freely.

“They’re basically placed in a situation of second guessing themselves as to what sort of information could pass through this threshold of information that the government security forces think poses some sort of threat,” he said.

Australian Lawyers Alliance spokes-

A Perth Central and East Metro Medical Local report showed a ratio of 0.65 doctors per 1000 people in the eastern suburbs, compared to 2.6 doctors per 1000 people in the western suburbs.

Mr Zannino said this was particularly alarming because WA had the biggest

man Greg Barns said the legislation imposed a severe limitation on the right to privacy.

“Australians have lost a fundamental right with this legislation because it allows security agencies and police to know whom it is people contact, how often and when,” he said.

“Journalists are right to feel threatened. It is imperative in a democracy that the media can report on issues and do so while protecting their sources.”

Murdoch University senior lecturer Ian Cook said the laws amounted to more than just an invasion of privacy for journalists.

“When it comes to journalists, because they are the ones that are particularly concerned about it, it’s also an attack on freedom of the press,” he said.

Dr Cook said the way metadata was kept would allow it to be used to identify a journalist’s confidential source

PHOTO: Aaron Bryans.

“relatively easily”.

“That’s going to affect the quality of journalism we get in this country in a very negative way,” he said.

Australian Privacy Foundation vice chairman David Vaile said there was little evidence the new laws would improve the nation’s security.

They were also open to abuse, he said.

Turner said it was difficult to see how whistleblowers could safely give information to journalists in the future.

“They will seldom be in situations where they are not compromised if they are giving highly sensitive information,” he said.

Dr Cook said the Bill would make whistleblowers more reluctant to come forward.

“It's a really necessary part of democratic processes, that that information does get out,” he said.

shortage of doctors in Australia.

Curtin Medical School is due to open in 2017 and will offer a five-year direct-entry undergraduate medical degree.

The school will take about 60 students a year until 2020, when it expects to increase the intake to 120.

Labor GM crop ban will hurt farmers — agriculture experts Emily Cousins

UNPROTECTED: All calls can be detected.

PHOTO: Supplied.

WA Labor’s plan to ban genetically modified crops would set farming and agriculture technology back by years, according to a prominent agricultural academic.

Earlier this year, WA Labor MP Darren West said his party would ban GM crops if it won the next state election.

Western Australia State Agricultural Biotechnology Centre director Michael Jones said prohibiting GM crops in WA was a “Luddite” action.

“GM technology provides breeders with additional resources to improve crops, to reduce use of pesticides, control weeds, improve quality and meet the challenges of climate change,” he said.

GM farmer Wes Baker, who has been growing genetically modified canola since it was first tried in WA in 2009, said it was an important crop.

SEEING GREEN: No ban on GM.

“We have noticed a reduction in weed competition in following crops, which then results in an increase in yield and a greater return,” he said.

Mr Baker said banning GM crops would limit farmers’ opportunity to develop and improve financially.

“The most devastating weather event that can destroy our crops with just one cold morning is a frost, which is on the top of the list of issues for profitable farming,” he said.

“Without GM technology, we will never be able to develop a frost-tolerant crop or any other crop that could be beneficial to us.

“As long as we have the authorities to test the products for approval, I don’t see any problem with GM.” A 2014 study by Food Economics and Rural Development found GM crops had reduced pesticide use by 37 per cent.

The study, by Professor Martin Qaim, also showed crop yields grew by 22 per cent and profits rose by 68 per cent.

PHOTO: Tina Dahmen.

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Calls for school finance lessons Chelsie Stone

ANALYSING FINANCE: Students need financial help. PHOTO: Chelsie Stone.

Companies use sport to promote alcohol — study

Caitlin Creeper Consumers are unwittingly helping alcohol companies merge Australia’s sport and alcohol culture on social media, according to experts.

A recent Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology study, which was funded by the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education, found the alcohol industry timed their social media posts to coincide with professional sporting events. RMIT researcher Kate Westberg said social media engaged the consumer far more than traditional advertising platforms.

“Not only is the consumer taking on images like … traditional media, but by sharing information they actually play a role in disseminating content,” Associate Professor Westberg said.

“With social media, we are far more engaged. One of the issues with sport sponsorship is it merges the sport and alcohol culture in Australia and very much makes alcohol part of the sport consumption practices and normalises it.”

McCusker Centre for Action on

Alcohol and Youth executive officer Julia Stafford said sport and alcohol marketing on social media was a problem when specifically targeted at young people.

“Alcohol companies know that this is how young people socialise. It’s how they build their identity and interact with friends, so they use social media to normalise alcohol consumption in sport,” Ms Stafford said.

Alcohol advertising in Australia is self-regulated by the alcohol and advertising industries, which must follow the Alcohol Beverages Advertising Code.

Ms Stafford said the limited regulation surrounding the placement of alcohol advertising in Australia was “ineffective”.

“It’s completely ineffective in all ways but particularly around the internet and social media,” she said.

Ms Stafford said social media wasn’t an easy platform to regulate because it was global.

“There needs to be some effective regulation on alcohol sponsorship in sport and the way alcohol companies market … on social media,” she said.

Students should be taught more about budgeting, organising their own insurance and managing their superannuation while still at school, according to the Association of Financial Advisers.

Chief operating officer Phil Anderson said the process should start in primary school.

“Basic concepts around financial management, savings, expenditure is appropriate to cover off in primary school,” he said.

“I think it would be much better to have people leave school with those skills.”

A 2014 ANZ national survey found young adults aged from 18 to 24 had the least financial and numeracy knowledge of any adult age group.

Mr Anderson said teaching these skills should be personalised to each student.

“It’s not about accounting and economics and the broader macroeconomic factors,” he said.

“It’s about balancing your own book as much as it might be useful to teach people about balancing the country’s books.”

WA Education Department literacy and numeracy support manager Karren Philp said financial knowledge was more essential than ever.

“Students are growing up in a world where money is less visible,” she said.

BEHIND BARS: Community service is just as effective as imprisonment.

schools have downloaded the resources, according to Ms Birch.

Ms Birch said it did not mean every student had completed a lesson or term in finance, because curriculums were very crowded.

State Government spokeswoman Vanessa Peters said some financial literacy was already being provided in the school curriculum.

“The Western Australia mathematics curriculum provides students from Year One to Year 12 with opportunities to develop their money and financial skills and knowledge,” she said.

“Specifically, Year One students are taught how to identify different units of money, Year Five students are taught how to create simple financial plans and, in Year 10, students are taught how to calculate compound interest.

“In senior high school, students can undertake courses that apply maths to budgeting, investment, superannuation and accountancy for personal and work settings.”

Ms Birch said merging financial literacy into maths and accountancy studies was a step forward, but they had to be integrated into everyday situations.

“Economics and business doesn’t take it to that life skill level that we have to focus on,” she said.

“The behaviour, the attitudes and practicing things in a real life context makes it a little bit more real.”

PHOTO: Sebastian Neuweiler.

Community service better for rehabilitation – legal analysts

Mark Tilly

BAD MIX: Alcohol is normalised with sport sponsorship. PHOTO: Cam Findlay.

“Online shopping is growing, credit is easy to access and the choice and complexity in financial products and services is increasing.

“As young adults, students will need to know how to budget and make wise choices for everyday living.”

Katrina Birch, the chief executive officer of charity organisation Financial Basics Foundation, which offers free financial literacy resources to Australian educators, said financial literacy should be made a compulsory subject.

“Research shows that the earlier we start to teach financial literacy, the more likely it is that young people are going to understand and learn some of the skills required to be considered financially literate,” she said.

Ms Birch said financial literacy was not just about being knowledgeable, but also meant having a good attitude and behaviour towards money.

“You can’t automatically say that if you know A, B, C and D about finance, you will therefore be financially literate and make good financial decisions,” she said.

“What it involves is for that person to have the right attitude about good financial behaviours and then also to practice those behaviours.”

The Financial Basics Foundation has developed three free teaching resources to educate students about finance.

About 68 per cent of Australian

Community service is a more effective way of rehabilitating Indigenous offenders and reducing imprisonment rates than mandatory sentencing, according to legal observers.

Federation of Community Legal Centres executive officer Liana Buchanan said mandatory sentences had a big impact on Indigenous populations.

“Had these people been given community-based orders, and requirements to participate in programs, they might have actually had a better chance to stay crime free in the future,” she said.

Some crimes committed in WA carry a mandatory minimum jail sentence, including the offence of assaulting a police officer.

Ms Buchanan said mandatory or

minimum sentences were outdated.

“Mandatory sentencing has to come off the statute books,” she said.

A National Justice Coalition campaign was launched earlier this month, calling for Australian Attorneys-General to address the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in the criminal justice system.

The Change the Record campaign has also called for mandatory sentencing to be abolished as part of a push to reduce Indigenous imprisonment rates by 2040.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service chief executive officer and Change the Record co-chairman Shane Duffy said the Federal Government needed to take charge of the issue.

“If you actually address the root causes of incarceration and you invest in affordable housing, employment, training, health services, disability services, it will reduce the incarceration

rates right across the country,” he said.

Mr Duffy said Change the Record was discussing possible solutions with Australia’s Attorneys-General. He said community service was an effective way of reducing high imprisonment rates.

“That’s actually a smarter way of utilising your dollars, rather than locking people up and throwing away the key, for them to become institutionalised,” he said.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Indigenous imprisonment rates increased by 183 per cent between 2004 and 2014. Indigenous people represented almost 30 per cent of the total prison population in 2014.

Change the Record outlined 12 policy solutions, including investing in rehabilitation and community support, implementing a wider range of sentences, introducing non-custodial options, and removing mandatory sentences.

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Mobile games get classified Elise McLean

New tools for classifying mobile phone apps will make it easier for game developers to launch games in Australia, according to Interactive Games Entertainment Australia.

Amendments to the Classifications (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Act 1995 passed the Senate in 2014, allowing Justice Minister Michael Keenan to approve classification tools for mobile apps.

IGEA chief executive officer Ron Curry said these tools would simplify the classification process.

“For a global market, game developers will only need to go through an application process once,” he said.

“From that process they’ll get country-centric classifications.”

Mr Curry said the new tools would allow developers to get an Australian rating, as well as European and American ratings.

Australia joined the International

Age Rating Coalition in March, which links government and industry content classification authorities globally.

A spokesperson for the AttorneyGeneral’s Department said classifications would be generated after developers filled out a questionnaire about their game’s content and interactive elements.

“The IARC tool then generates the relevant classifications from the information provided in response to this questionnaire,” he said.

Mr Curry said developers would usually have to pay to have their product classified in Australia, but with the new tool, it would be free.

He said it could cost up to $2000 to get an Australian classification, “and you have to pay again if you want to go to Europe”.

Mr Curry said developers could appeal classifications they felt were wrong.

The Attorney-General’s Department spokesperson said the Google Play store — the app store for Android users

— would be the first online shopfront to display classifications.

“It is expected that Australian classifications will start appearing on the Google Play store in the coming weeks,” the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said the trial was triggered by the growth of the mobile game industry.

“The government is trialling the IARC tool in an effort to keep the National Classification Scheme up to date with the pace of growth of mobile and online games in recent years,” the spokesperson said.

“The tool will help to ensure that a greater number of online and mobile games display Australian classifications just like traditional games sold in stores.

“It is not realistic or practicable for the Classification Board to manually classify each of them.”

According to the spokesperson, mobile classifications will become a permanent fixture in online shopfronts if the 12-month trial is successful.

MOBILE RATING: New tools help classification.

PHOTO: Pierra Willix.

Australians sacrifice their privacy online Shelby Brady

DONE DEAL: Australian give information without hesitation.

Teen loses memory from shock therapy Renata Grandao An 18-year-old mental health patient who received electroconvulsive therapy is now suffering from memory issues, according to her mother.

Brianna Storck was diagnosed with severe treatment-resistant depression and social anxiety after a crisis admission to Joondalup’s psychiatric ward in September, 2014.

Ms Storck started cognitive behavioural group therapy and voluntarily chose to undergo ECT after unsuccessful antidepressant and mood stimulant trials.

Cognitive behavioural therapy is a relatively short-term psychological treatment focusing on how a person’s thoughts and actions affect their feelings, conducted one-on-one or in groups with a professional.

Ms Storck’s mother Belinda said her daughter had received 15 ECT sessions in total but her memory had deteriorated.

“It seemed beneficial at first and I’m not sure if it was because it was her actually wanting it to work,” she said.

“They decided to stop because she actually didn’t let on that she was

having memory problems and when she eventually did, they eventually stopped it.”

North Metropolitan Health Service Mental Health executive director Patrick Marwick said there was research that showed ECT was effective for patients with mental health issues.

“There is considerable evidence to support the use of ECT to provide relief for people with severe and chronic depression,” he said.

“Depression is also treated with antidepressant medications and cognitive behaviour therapy.”

Mr Marwick said ECT was recommended for patients with severe and chronic depression who had not responded to anti-depressant medications and cognitive behavioural therapy.

Medicare statistics show 24,213 Medicare-funded ECT treatments were administered to Australians in 2013/14, with 1630 of those in WA. Between July, 2014 and March, 2015, more than 13,000 Australians and 731 West Australians were given Medicare-funded ECT treatments, according to Medicare.

Under the Mental Health Act 2014, ECT cannot be administered to people under the age of 14 in WA.

PHOTO: Bridgette Stephens.

Australians are still willing to provide personal information to access websites, according to a recent report.

Private company Intel Security recently surveyed 1200 Australians in a study to coincide with Privacy Awareness Week and found only 33 per cent of Australians always thought about privacy when providing their personal information.

Intel Security spokesman Michael Sentonas said Australians were now more aware of privacy issues, but still needed to be careful.

“Whilst people are starting to consider more and more of their privacy when they’re sharing personal information online, they trade it very, very quickly,” he said.

“People will trade for convenience.

“They will download an application without really thinking about, ‘what information on our smart device does that application access?’”

Mr Sentonas said there wasn’t enough

information available about the use to which people’s personal information was put, or how it was secured.

HWL Ebsworth Lawyers regulatory and financial services group partner James Moore said privacy policies were usually available, but people did not take them seriously.

“In Australia, it’s mandatory for privacy policies to be made available and to be brought to people’s attention,” he said.

“People aren’t overall very interested in it to the point of wishing to read a policy.”

Deakin University media studies lecturer Adam Brown said almost everyone used the internet and was affected by privacy policies.

“I’ve had students and I know other people who say ‘I don’t want to be on the internet’,” he said.

“But you don’t have that choice anymore.”

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, there were more than 12 million Australian internet subscribers in December 2014.

Taxi groups want level playing field David Pekel The State Government needs to regulate the UberX ride-sharing system, according to a leading Perth taxi company.

Swan Taxis chief executive officer See Peng Yeo said the State Government needed to ensure all participants in the industry had a level playing field.

“Now we have in one industry two big players, one is the taxi body, which is regulated and Uber. UberX is not

regulated,” Mr Yeo said.

The ride-sharing service, which operates via a smartphone app, is headquartered in San Francisco and was launched in Perth in July, 2014.

The taxi industry recently launched its “Don’t Risk It Grab a Cab” campaign, which was aimed at convincing people that it was safer to use taxis.

Australian Taxi Industry Association chief executive officer Blair Davies said UberX did not regulate its drivers.

He said state governments were

SPEEDING AWAY: UberX is not regulated.

responsible for enforcing laws and regulations.

Uber driver Badar Waheed said he had not seen any evidence the Department of Transport was regulating UberX drivers.

“I have picked up passengers in front of cops while driving in the city. They didn’t say anything to me,” Mr Waheed said.

UberX and the Department of Transport were approached for comment but did not respond.

PHOTO: Jessica Thomas.

May 2015

6

NEWS

News in brief Fly struggle

WA fruit growers lost up to 50 per cent of their crops after an influx of Mediterranean fruit flies over the autumn months.

Hills Orchard Improvement Group spokesman Brett DelSimone said fruit flies were out of control and posed a risk to fruit growers.

“It causes up to $40 million damage per annum in the WA economy,” he said.

Department of Agriculture and Food senior research officer Sonya Broughton said fruit growers should remain vigilant, particularly with unprotected trees.

“They also need to practice better orchard hygiene by picking up any fruit that has fallen to the ground, as well as destroying any crops they no longer wish to use,” she said.

Simon Orchard

WA scamming

West Australians are losing about $16 million to online scams each year, according to Consumer Protection fraud liaison officer Adam Edwards.

A 2013-14 WA Commerce Department report found 200 people fell victim to romance scams during the year, losing a total of $10.4 million.

Murdoch University criminology lecturer Joseph Clare said the frequency of online romance scams was directly proportionate to the amount of people using online dating sites.

“If you put anything online, particularly dating websites, you will be contacted by scammers,” Dr Clare said.

Cesilia Faustina

Tortoise time

Perth Zoo has opened a new breeding unit to save Australia’s most endangered reptile, the western swamp tortoise.

Friends of the Western Swamp Tortoise chairman Jan Bant said less than 50 adult tortoises were left in the wild and Perth Zoo’s breeding program would be “crucial” to the species’ survival.

Perth Zoo media and communications manager Danielle Henry said the new facility would hold up to 250 tortoises, many of which would join the 700 that had already been released into the wild.

The western swamp tortoise is only found in a 3-5km strip of land on the Swan coastal plain in Western Australia.

Stephanie Baumgartel

SKA project

The establishment of the Square Kilometre Array will increase Western Australia’s role in astronomy, according to an international astronomy research centre.

Work on the huge radio telescope will start in 2018, with 18 countries involved in the program.

International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research executive director Peter Quinn said the project would revolutionise WA. “Western Australia’s role in world astronomy will be expanded by a factor of at least 1000,” he said.

“A lot of astronomy strengths have been on the east coast, but now we’re seeing that centre of gravity moving towards the west.”

Shauna Mullally

Teen tracker ‘not safe’ Dylan Websdane

Experts have warned parents against using a phone app that would allow them to see what their children do on their phones.

The TeenSafe app was designed to give parents access to their child’s call and text history, social media accounts and GPS location.

University of Western Australia Centre for Software Practice director David Glance said the app made the child’s phone less secure.

“Ironically, it defeats some of the purposes of the app because you’re making them more vulnerable not less,” he said.

“If they have this kind of access to that phone, then it really does open it up and make it more vulnerable.

“If a parent doesn’t passcode-protect their phone, while their child does, the device’s security becomes compromised.”

Happy Families director and parenting expert Justin Coulson said he discouraged use of the app, but said parents needed to monitor their children online.

“Parents are concerned about what their children are doing online and would want to know what’s going on.

It’s essential,” he said.

“Kids don’t need smartphones, they need smart parents.”

Dr Coulson said parents could fol-

EYE SPY: Parents monitor their children.

low their child’s social media accounts as an alternative to using TeenSafe.

He said parents should have an “open and trusting relationship” with their children instead of spying on them.

“Spying leads to suboptimal outcomes, but monitoring is a different story,” he said.

“You don’t need an app to monitor, you just shoulder-surf and have periodic access to their devices to check that they’re doing the right thing.

PHOTO: Louis Zambotto.

“I would only suggest using the app in the most extraordinary circumstances where things are absolutely beyond repair.”

Prof Glance said the app, which is available through Google Play and iTunes, had few benefits.

Children outsmarted the technology, he said.

“You only have to ask kids at high school how quickly it took them to get around the filters and proxies that the education department puts on websites,”

Professor Glance said.

“Kids are very clever at finding ways to get around these things.”

Dr Coulson said children could be sneaky when using technology.

“They’ll have extra profiles and devices that we don’t even know about,” he said “The more controlling we are, the more likely it is we won’t ever know what’s going on because they’re just getting too smart for us.

“One of the key developmental tasks of being an adolescent is to separate oneself from parents and create your own identity.”

Using the service costs $14.95 a month, according to the TeenSafe website.

Professor Glance said TeenSafe tried to exploit concerned parents by charging a monthly fee to use the app.

“The irony is the fact that we’ve got governments around the world legitimising that it’s okay to spy on people and remove all sense of privacy for their own good,” he said.

According to the Australian Communications and Media Authority, 89 per cent of Australian teenagers own a mobile phone.

Professor Glance said children needed simple phones, rather than smartphones with “wifi and data”.

“That’s all they need,” he said. “If you’re worried about safety and security, that is absolutely sufficient.” TeenSafe was unavailable for comment.

Behind the eight ball on science funding Sean Harken The Federal Government’s funding for science education is “underwhelming”, according to WA Labor.

WA Opposition health and science spokesman Roger Cook said the Abbott Government was not investing enough money in the area.

“The government’s efforts, in relation to science, are pretty underwhelming,” Mr Cook said.

“I believe science is primarily a human capital development opportunity and what we need to be asking ourselves is, ‘how are we equipping the young people of today to be the scientists of tomorrow?’,” he said.

The Federal Government announced in the Federal Budget it would provide an extra $70 million to scientific research organisations to build new infrastructure in the coming year.

The funding was in addition to its annual $9 billion investment in science research.

Edith Cowan University mathematics education lecturer John West said the $1.5 million partnership between the Federal Government and WA universities for the Inspiring Australia Science Program showed the government was focused on improving science education.

“It’s really good to actually see more emphasis in the budget on STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics],” he said.

“As the co-author of the report in WA on optimising STEM education in WA schools, we see that the investment

STEM EDUCATION: Science education needs more funding.

in STEM education is a key driver of industry.”

Dr West said funding for science education was required to prevent students from abandoning their studies in the field.

“More funding needs to be directed earlier on, possibly into teacher education, but also into ways of actually retaining students and making students and parents realise how important it is to keep their students’ doors open,” he said.

“Research tells us that, unfortunate-

ly, a lot of students actually drop out of the STEM pathway between year 4 and year 8, and a lot of these career-focused initiatives don’t start until the upper years of secondary school.

“So trying to hang onto the ones that we’ve got left, when we’ve already lost a significant proportion of them, is a huge issue.”

Earth Science WA, an organisation that helps teachers in the science field, said science education was vital.

Earth Science WA chief executive officer Jo Watkins said Australia had

PHOTO: Kira Carlin.

fallen behind other countries in the area.

“If we don’t educate our students and encourage students at the younger level then we will get left behind,” she said.

According to the Benchmarking Australian STEM 2014 report, less than one quarter of Australian university students are enrolled in the sciences.

Dr West said throwing money at the situation wasn’t the answer.

“We really have to look at getting smarter and opening up new markets and job opportunities,” he said.

Women remain tight-lipped — sexologist Rachel Neumann Women are more likely to lie about masturbating than men, according to a WA sexologist.

Yoniverse Sex and Relationship Therapy sexologist Emma Stewart said women were often reluctant to talk about their sexual history.

“As a sex therapist, when I ask about masturbatory practices and I ask

about their sexual history, women are far more reluctant to talk about their masturbation,” she said.

“With men, it’s seen as very normal, it’s seen as very healthy, it’s seen as something that you just do, but that’s not really encouraged with girls and women.”

A 2014 National Health and Medical Research Council study of more than 20,000 men and women found 72 per cent of Australian men and 42 per cent

of women admitted to masturbating in the past year.

The study concluded masturbation was uncommon among younger women.

Ms Stewart said masturbating could help to relieve the negative effects of menstruation, stress and headaches.

“Hormonal changes occur when you masturbate and it can be quite good in terms of helping relieve abdominal cramps,” she said.

Sexual Health and Relationships

clinical counsellor Raelene Stokes said it was healthy for men to masturbate.

“It keeps blood flow to the penis,” she said.

“Masturbation is beneficial to prevent or alleviate stress and depression, as it releases endorphins.

“Provided men masturbate three-tofive times per week, it can prevent prostate cancer.

“It’s good for hormonal balance, it’s good for heart and prostate health.”

May 2015

7

NEWS

Disability housing row ignites Charlie Lewis

A prominent union has criticised the privatisation of the Disability Services Commission after a Senate inquiry found some residents had been abused and neglected in non-government accommodation.

Last year, the commission started transferring 60 per cent of its accommodation services to nongovernment organisations.

WA Community and Public Sector Union branch secretary Toni Walkington said last month’s inquiry proved privatisation was difficult because staff were not up to the same standard.

“In the public sector, you have whistleblower legislation that protects employees who reveal something that’s not right. You don’t have that in the private sector,” she said.

“You have superior employee screening mechanisms in the public sector and the training is different.”

Opposition mental health spokesman Stephen Dawson said the move was purely about saving money.

“They’ve said this is about choice, about providing choice to families, and while some families will choose to go to a new service provider, they aren’t providing the choice to stay where they are,” he said.

“It’s about saving money, and that’s disappointing.

“We’re talking about some of society’s most vulnerable people, and we shouldn’t be moving them

unnecessarily.”

Caring about Residents with Disabilities, a group formed in response to the changes, said the policy had been adopted without consulting those it affected.

“One of the primary things is that for many of the people who’ve lived in this accommodation for many decades, they’ve forged extremely close relationships with staff,” group spokesman Troy Reynolds said.

“It may take several years of familiarity with someone to spot the extremely subtle sign that someone is, say, about to have some kind of seizure and you can’t teach these things in a two-week training course.”

Ms Walkington said many people had made the choice to move into nongovernment accommodation.

“There’s always been the option for people to move to non-government providers of accommodation for people with disabilities and many individuals have clearly chosen,” she said.

Disability Services Minister Helen Morton said the transfer to nongovernment organisations had been successful.

“For some people living with disability, this is their first chance to consider an alternative living arrangement,” she said.

“People are choosing their own options.

“They can stay in the same house, with the same housemates, if they want to, with the service provider of their choice, or if they’re ready to explore something new they can do that too.”

FIRST CHANCE: Close relations forged.

less tests in their lifetime as something that motivates them to attend for screening, then that is an additional benefit of the change to a five-yearly cervical screening test using HPV as the primary test,” she said.

“These changes will ensure that Australia stays at the forefront of cervical cancer prevention.”

A WA Health Department North Metropolitan Health Service spokesman said the new program would see women receive phone call reminders. Under the current system, they receive letters.

“It is imperative that until the program changes are implemented, that all Australian women aged 18-69 years, continue to have regular twoyearly Pap smears,” he said.

According to the 2015 Medical

Services Advisory Committee’s review, the HPV test is more effective than a Pap smear because it can detect the virus that causes pre-cancerous abnormalities.

According to recent Cancer Council statistics, 93 WA women were diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2012, and 14 died.

Ms Ledger said women who had not been tested were most likely to develop cervical cancer.

“Cervical cancer is one of the most preventable cancers, as up to 90 per cent of cases can be prevented through regular Pap smears,” she said.

Ms Ledger said about 80 per cent of women had human papilloma virus at any time. “Ninety-nine per cent of cervical cancer cases are caused through HPV,” she said.

PHOTO: Cam Findlay.

New virus test could save more women’s lives Sophia Constantine

A new human papilloma virus test could save more lives and allow women to be tested less regularly, according to a cancer expert.

Cancer Council WA cancer smart manager Melissa Ledger said the National Cervical Screening Program recommended women aged 18-70 who were sexually active had a pap smear every two years.

Under the new system, which will be introduced in 2017, women aged 25-74 would only be tested every five years using a HPV test.

Ms Ledger said the new system would save more lives and require fewer tests.

“If Australian women see having

PREVENTION FOREFRONT: Fewer tests.

PHOTO: Tina Dahmen.

Experts: new high school system leads to better graduates Abbey Donaldson

STEPPING STONE: School system moves towards practical pathways.

PHOTO: Safiah Rind.

A new course requirement for high school students who don’t take Australian Tertiary Admission Rank subjects will help their career prospects, according to education experts.

Under the existing program, students who don’t take ATAR subjects in high school will graduate with a Western Australian Certificate of Education.

From next year, students who don’t intend to take ATAR subjects will have to achieve a Certificate II in training to graduate high school.

Tertiary Institutions Service Centre executive officer Steve Hoath said the changes would help students struggling with academically oriented subjects.

“The schools system is moving more towards having practical pathways, as well as having the academic pathway,” he said.

“It’s about giving more students opportunities, as opposed to some leaving without any qualifications at all.”

A School Curriculum and Standards Authority spokeswoman said the course changes would increase the

level of literacy and numeracy standards across the West Australian school system.

“We need to ensure school leavers are equipped to pursue further education or enter the workforce and these reforms will do that,” she said.

Mr Hoath said the introduction of the Certificate II course would allow students from lower socio-economic backgrounds another way to continue their studies.

“There are lots of students who don’t perform well in ATAR courses, whether that’s because of illness, disruptive education or even maturity,” he said.

“That’s not to say those students aren’t capable of success at university.

“If they’re given the opportunity to demonstrate their capabilities through another pathway, then I think that’s excellent for them.”

Central Institute of Technology Higher Education consultant Ferguson Roper said the Certificate II pathway would give students the chance to get some “real-world” skills.

“If they want to go on and do other things then it’s also a stepping stone into another vocational course, such as a Certificate III or IV, which gives them a lot of career opportunities,” he said.

May 2015

8

NEWS

Trade goes on despite executions GOT BEEF: Indonesian demand for beef increases.

Nabila Morgan An increase in the demand for beef in Indonesia has offset fears that the execution of two Australian drug traffickers would harm trade relations between the two countries.

Indonesia has sent 90 delegates to Australia to secure beef supplies of

PHOTO: Lizzie Ayers.

about 640,000 tonnes this year, an increase of eight per cent from last year.

Murdoch University senior politics lecturer Ian Cook said the execution of Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan in Indonesia should not affect trade between the two countries.

“Indonesia is one of our closest neighbours and it’s a country with whom we’re going to have a long-

term relationship and we need to keep that,” he said.

“We have to focus on rebuilding and carrying this forward.”

Live cattle exports from Western Australia to Indonesia in 2013-14 were valued at $82.5 million, according to the Department of Agriculture and Food.

United Voice Legal lawyer Merna Girgis said Australia needed to look at

the bigger picture.

“It’s in Australia’s best interest to maintain a relationship with Indonesia,” she said.

“It would be counter-productive to stop trade with them and risk our economy declining.”

The Department of Agriculture and Food started the Northern Beef Futures project in 2014, with $15 million in funding to improve local pastoral beef

businesses and increase trade with Indonesia after the suspension of live cattle exports to the country in 2011.

Department of Culture and Arts executive officer Sarah Rizk said the two governments needed to further discuss the executions and the effect on trade.

“Trade should continue, but so should the dialogue about this issue between both governments,” she said.

Health blogs ‘harmful’ Officials warn against powdered alcohol use

The promotion of extreme diet and exercise programs by unqualified ‘experts’ on social media can harm the health of young women, according to fitness and health professionals.

Department of Health Centre for Clinical Interventions acting director Anthea Fursland said some fitness bloggers were offering unhealthy advice.

She said some bloggers were promoting low-carb meals when a good diet required an “adequate amount of carbohydrates”.

According to Google Trends, internet searches for “low carb diet” increased by 434 per cent in Australia between November, 2010 and November, 2014.

Dietitian and nutritionist Kathryn Hawkins said people who followed coconut oil and “full fat” trends could develop high cholesterol and risked cardio vascular problems.

According to the Heart Foundation, saturated fats such as coconut oil should be avoided to reduce the risk of heart disease.

A 2014 Australian Bureau of Statistics study found more than 2.3 million Australians aged 15 years and above went on a diet to lose weight in 2011-2012.

Australian Institute of Fitness acting team captain David Mitchell said any fitness or dietary advice should come from a professional.

“If you’re getting nutrition advice, it

Rory Coleman-Heard

MEAL PREP: Following a strict diet plan.

should be from a dietitian and exercise advice from an exercise professional, not just random people on the internet,” he said.

A 2012 survey by the US-based Centre for Eating Disorders found that the social networking site Facebook influenced how more than half of people felt about their bodies and weight.

Ms Hawkins said social media

PHOTO: Emma Kelly.

allowed people to give advice based on their own experiences.

“Anyone from a mum who lost weight, to a schoolgirl whose skin cleared up, now has a platform to influence others and give advice to others based on their own experiences,” she said.

“Some of the advice we read from these people is really worrying.”

drink is as close to 18 as possible,” Ms Corser said.

University of Sydney pharmaceutical chemistry senior lecturer Nial Wheate said there were no reported incidents of palcohol misuse, but the risk was high.

Powdered alcohol could create a secretive drinking culture among Australians, according to a leading drug foundation official.

US company Lipsmark is reportedly planning to market ‘palcohol’ in Australia after its release was approved in the United States in early March.

Australian Drug Foundation national policy manager Geoff Munro said the product, which contained about 16g of alcohol in each 29g sachet, could encourage users to drink at work.

“I would see it as an anti-social product that could allow people to engage in hazardous, harmful and unhealthy drinking,” he said.

Mr Munro said the product, which is due to hit US shelves in the next two months, was made to allow discreet drinking.

“That is a concern because that is clearly an implication of what this product can lead to,” he said.

The Whitehaven Clinic program director Tabitha Corser said the sale of palcohol in Australia would contradict key messages about youth alcohol consumption.

“Research shows that children the age of 15 should never have alcohol and parents are strongly being encouraged to make sure their child’s first

JUST ADD WATER: Discreet drinking.

“It’s a better process, it’s a bit more transparent, and accountable, and more publicly visible and known,” she said.

Freedom Centre, which is funded by the Mental Health Commission, uses a peer support model to help prevent mental illness in young people with diverse sexuality and gender.

The most recent statistics from the Gender Centre show there were at least 250 people in WA with gender dysphoria last year.

About 80 had undergone a gender reassignment procedure.

Australian Transgender Support Association of Queensland president Gina Mather said transgender people were not given enough support.

“Around 70 to 80 per cent of transgender people who come out to their families and friends find them-

selves ostracised and leaving the family home,” she said.

Gender Centre spokeswoman Katherine Cummings said simple processes were often difficult for transgender people and contributed to their mental health battle.

“Trans people are often rejected for housing on the basis of not meeting the criterion of male or female,” she said.

Ms Mather said she had seen the effect mental health issues had on the transgender community.

“I have had to identify 144 suicide victims since I took on the role in 1994 and it’s not a good look,” she said.

“Transgender people just want to blend into society, live their lives and not be noticed.

“Being lumped in with other types of people is extremely offensive.”

PHOTO: Jesse Baker.

Emily Cousins and Stephanie Baumgartel

Transgender amendment to help gender documentation process

PHOTO: Aimee Hughes.

Andrew Murdoch and Shauna Mullally

PEER SUPPORT: Freedom Centre co-ordinator Dani Wright.

An amendment to the Gender Reassignment Act 2000 would help the national transgender movement, according to transgender experts.

The Gender Reassignment Amendment Bill 2015 was introduced to the WA Legislative Council in March this year, but has yet to be passed.

The amendment would abolish the Gender Reassignment Board of WA and leave responsibility for official gender documentation to the State Administrative Tribunal.

Freedom Centre co-ordinator Dani Wright said the amendment would make the system more efficient.

May 2015

9

NEWS

Chicken tastes foul — award-winning author Shelby Brady

SWEET DREAMS: Kids need eight-to-ten hours sleep.

PHOTO: Pierra Willix.

Lack of sleep linked to mental health problems Rachel Neumann Young children with sleeping disorders are more likely to develop psychological conditions, according to new research.

A study by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, which was published in May, found four-year-olds with sleeping disorders had a higher chance of developing mental health issues at age six.

In particular, insomnia increased the risk for developing symptoms of conduct disorder, major depressive disorder and social phobia, according to the study of 1000 children.

Clinical psychologist Yvette Williams said sleep deprivation could affect the quality of a child’s education. “They are tired, they’re going to school and they don’t have the same capacity as children who have slept well,” she said.

“We’re looking at consequences

for behaviour, and poorer ability to regulate emotions for young children that are tired.”

A 2015 American Academy of Paediatrics review of literature about sleep patterns found sleep loss posed a serious risk to an adolescent’s physical and emotional health, academic success, and safety.

WA Primary Principals Association president Stephen Breen said sleep was important for children to do well at school.

“Sleep deprivation has an obvious effect on student outcomes, there’s no two ways about it,” he said. “We’re not necessarily talking about a child falling asleep, but a child not engaged.”

Mr Breen said parents should establish routines as soon as possible to stop children taking a negative approach to sleeping habits. “On a regular basis, children should get their eight-to-10 hours of sleep,” he said.

Cheaper chicken production has made the meat less flavoursome, according to an award-winning author.

In his new book The Dorito Effect, author Mark Schatzker suggested the increased speed with which chicken was now produced had reduced its flavour.

Schatzker said chicken had become more affordable, but tasted much worse.

“Very simply, deliciousness has migrated from whole foods to junk food,” Schatzker said.

“It’s no surprise people are making such terrible food choices.”

According to the RSPCA, Australians consume an average of about 45kg of chicken meat each year.

Schatzker said the flavour of chicken could improve through better breeding and farming.

Nutrition Australia senior nutritionist Aloysa Hourigan said people often worried about the rapid growth of chickens.

“Certainly it will change the nutritional quality, like when you look at the fat content of certain meat, then that might vary when you cross breed,” she said.

Chickens are also bred to produce large breast muscle and are grown to slaughter weight in 35 days, according to the RSPCA. Schatzker said chickens were slaughtered after 86 days in 1946 and 1947.

RSPCA senior scientific officer for farm animals Melina Tensen said the

CHEAP CHOOK: Chicken no longer tastes like chicken.

PHOTO: Kira Carlin.

Public transport ‘can handle extra patrons’

PHOTO: Kira Carlin.

Perth’s public transport system will be able to accommodate patrons who do not want to pay an extra fee to park in the central business district, according to Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi.

A fixed $2 parking fee in all shortterm City of Perth parking bays was introduced in May after the State Government raised the parking levy payable by local government.

Ms Scaffidi said the public transport system had handled extra passengers before.

“The city has been through peak periods and public transport has been able to facilitate commuters,” she said.

“We encourage people to look at alternative methods of transport such as public transport or cycling to make the city cleaner and greener.”

As of March 2015, use of Transperth facilities had increased by more than

1.6 million patrons in the 2014/2015 financial year compared to the 2013/2014 financial year.

University of South Australia transport planning Professor Michael Taylor said Perth’s public transport system could handle more passengers.

“You’ve got high frequency CAT buses, you’ve got free public transport zones, which is up to one or two stations away from the central station, and you’ve got bus lines within that,” he said.

Ms Scaffidi said all the revenue raised from the new parking fees would be used to make the City of Perth more attractive, vibrant and presentable.

A new $209 million underground busport is under construction to replace the demolished Wellington Street bus station.

It is expected to handle more than 200 buses an hour. The project is on track for completion in mid-2016.

transition back to home.”

WA Association for Mental Health president Alison Xamon said nongovernment community organisations that provided non-clinical services needed support.

She said the mental health sector was “already under increasing pressure due to the recent federal funding delays and uncertainty”.

“Community mental health services are often best placed to deliver these types of services, and yet are the most underfunded service area,” Ms Xamon said.

Former mental health patient Nadisha Senasinghe said she would have had to wait three months to see a mental health therapist in the public health system.

“There’s a huge waiting list for anything public, and if I wanted immediate care then I would’ve had to admit myself to the locked ward at Graylands Hospital,” she said.

Ms Morton said the Mental Health, Alcohol and Other Drug Services Plan 2015-2025, which was released in December 2014, highlighted the

need for services for current and future mental health patients.

“The plan highlights the importance of early access to support and the need to provide more services in the community, closer to where people live,” she said.

“It outlines a blueprint to maintain and reconfigure hospital services, while further developing community services, over the next 10 years.”

Ms Morton said she expected the final plan to be released to the public later this year.

Emily MacDonald

CITY FEES: Public transport is cheaper.

process in Australia relied on selecting the “best of the batch” in terms of efficiency and weight gain.

“What we have seen in meat chicken production in the last couple of decades is breeding for growth, so, fast growth rate, which means that a chicken nowadays at just 35 days old is basically ready to be barbequed,” she said.

“That’s a very fast growth rate compared to say 30 years ago or so, and it’s that fast growth rate that results in some of the problems that we see in the chicken industry today.”

Ms Tensen said the focus on fast growth rates caused physical problems, including leg weakness and heart failure in chickens.

“The muscle is growing faster than the bones and the bones basically can’t keep up with it fast enough,” she said.

Minister: New mental health service will speed up the referral process Gwynette Govardhan A new community-based mental health service aimed at providing faster assessments and referrals for young patients is set to receive a $30 million State Government funding boost.

Mental Health Minister Helen Morton said the service would work with Fiona Stanley Hospital’s recently opened youth mental health unit.

More than $612 million will be invested in mental health services at

public hospitals during the 2015-16 financial year.

“A new $2.5 million youth-specific community mental health service will facilitate prompt access to treatment and better continuity of care for more than 700 young people aged 16 to 24 years each year,” Ms Morton said.

“A community-based team of mental health professionals will provide rapid assessment and referral to specialist services for young people experiencing a mental health crisis and support those who require hospital care as they

May 2015

10

BUDGET 2015

Abbott: Medicare needs makeover

Tim Walker The Medicare Benefits Schedule Review must consider different ways to fund healthcare providers, according to health experts.

The Abbott Government believes more than $1 billion could be saved through a complete overhaul of the system, which pays healthcare providers when any one of more than 5500 different procedures is carried out.

Australian Health Care Reform Alliance chairman Tony McBride said the review should recommend the system moves away from the fee-forservice model in which a patient pays each time they see a specialist.

Instead, block grants should be given to health service providers.

“It really has to be a look at the whole way we fund primary healthcare and recognising there are better ways of funding it,” he said.

Last month, Federal Health Minister Sussan Ley said Australia’s Medicare system was “sluggish and bloated” because it had not changed in more than three decades.

Sydney University health policy Associate Professor Adam Elshaug said the Medicare Benefits Schedule had not kept up with the ever-changing nature of medicine.

“It’s a positive move by the current government, in the sense that the Medicare Benefits Schedule is a policy instrument that has been in place now for 30 years or more,” he said.

“It’s recognised we have almost 6000 items on the MBS. Many of those individual items are very longstanding in terms of the descriptions of the service, the prices that are set for the services and the pace of growth in medicine.”

ILLUSTRATIONS: Nadia Budihardjo.

Tax break for City eyes cameras WA businesses

PHOTO: Louis Zambotto.

Emily MacDonald

REFORM: Money saver.

Royal Australian College of General Practitioners president Frank Jones said the MBS review should aim to provide better healthcare to patients.

“The Federal Government’s MBS review should not be focused on savings,” Dr Jones said.

“It needs to be focused on improving patient care and creating a more effective system so that patients are supported in the best possible way.”

Dr Jones said investing in GPs, rather than hospitals, would be beneficial for both patients and the healthcare system.

“GPs see more than 80 per cent of Australia’s population every year and are the most cost-efficient pillar of the healthcare system, so it makes sense to invest in general practice,” he said.

“Investment in primary healthcare will produce long-term health savings and better outcomes for patients.”

Mr McBride said the review should improve the health system.

“We are hopefully going to see the minister in a couple of weeks time, and we will be encouraging her to develop a clear health policy, and to look at shifting the emphasis of the Australian health system towards primary health care prevention and relatively less investment in hospitals,” he said.

and applied to all businesses.”

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, there were more than two million Australian businesses trading in June, 2014.

Stirling Business Association president Jayne Griffiths said it wouldn’t take long for a small business to turnover more than $2 million.

Malaga and Districts Business Association chief executive officer Clive Haddow said, however, the new measures would have a big effect on small businesses.

“It’s really hitting in on the small business owner and it’s been a long time coming in any budget that we start seeing some real help for small business,” he said.

“It’s interesting enough that the opposition is proposing that instead of having a one-and-a-half per cent cut to the tax rate for small business that they have a five per cent cut in tax rates.”

Mr Haddow said WA small businesses were struggling because of the slow down in the mining sector, but some were grateful the focus was on them.

“We’re not saying that this is the Utopia, we’re just saying that it’s nice to see that this is started,” he said.

“Now we can give small business a tax deduction, we can give small business a chance.”

A plan to give police access to CCTV cameras throughout Perth will improve community safety, according to Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi.

The $7 million funding for the WA State CCTV Strategy was contained in the 2015-16 State Budget and will allow police to access internet-based cameras and view footage in real time.

Ms Scaffidi said the cameras would encourage community engagement.

“The State CCTV strategy is definitely in its infancy, but if funding becomes available, consideration would be taken by us to access some of the grants they may offer,” she said.

“We would certainly engage with the community to see how much more they would like us to engage in the CCTV presence.”

WA Police Minister Liza Harvey said the money would help local governments to buy cameras and CCTV equipment.

“This camera network will allow police to access any internet-based CCTV system which is part of the network and view in real time the pictures being recorded,” she said.

Ms Scaffidi said Wellington Street in East Perth and parts of Northbridge would be considered for more CCTV coverage once the strategy was in place.

Stirling Central Shopping Centre property manager Nigel Steven said

CCTV helped the centre control crime.

“Most people know now, if you’re thinking of doing anything anti-social, we have got around 40 cameras in the centre,” he said.

Mr Steven, who also manages Sorrento Quay Boardwalk in Hillarys, said more cameras were installed there to deter anti-social behaviour.

“The CCTV cameras are an excellent deterrent,” he said.

“They are not really expensive these days and can be viewed through the internet.”

Mr Steven said it was important the CCTV strategy was selective in its placement of cameras.

“They shouldn’t be along your streets and in your local neighbourhoods,” he said.

“There could be some issues with that in terms of some privacy for people.”

Opposition police spokeswoman Michelle Roberts said CCTV was effective in stopping crime.

“Where CCTV is properly monitored, security officers or police can be quickly deployed to anywhere a fight or violent incident is occurring,” she said.

Ms Roberts said CCTV cameras in Perth and Northbridge had been an invaluable resource for police.

The draft strategy is open for public comment until June 26.

The document aims to provide a clear framework for the use of CCTV to improve community safety.

specialists to Perth,” she said.

“This talent pool has fuelled innovation in the mining and oil and gas sector and has extended as well as other fields such as health and astronomy.”

The recent Federal Budget included a $2.5 billion package to promote Australian small business, and a 1.5 per cent tax cut for businesses with an annual turnover of less than $2 million.

Ms Willmot said small business was an important driver for economic growth.

“Small business is the largest

employer in the state,” she said.

As part of the Federal Budget, employees in start-up businesses will have access to tax breaks on shares they get as part of their salary.

Resource Governance International managing director Nic Pollock said technology start-ups now gained more attention.

He said Perth had welcomed more “accelerators” and “incubators”, programs designed to assist start-ups by investing cash in exchange for equity.

“It’s getting more attention with a lot of accelerator programs and

incubators developing,” he said.

“It’s because of the drift away from mining. Technology is a very natural step to develop.”

Accelerator program Amcom Upstart will open in Perth in June, offering $40,000 for eight per cent equity in new businesses.

Accelerators include mentorship and educational components for startups.

Incubators usually take no equity and are generally government-funded with a focus on developing biotech, medical technology, and productcentric companies.

Jemma Buti

Many small businesses won’t benefit from tax breaks provided by the recent Federal Budget, according to WA small business associations.

The Budget included a tax cut of 1.5 per cent for small businesses, which was defined as being any business that employed fewer than 20 people.

According to the Small Business Development Corporation, small businesses with a turnover of less than $2 million a year would be eligible to deduct every asset purchased, up to a total of $20,000, from May 12 until the end of June, 2017.

Chamber of Commerce and Industry Western Australia chief executive officer Deidre Willmott said limiting the tax break to businesses with a $2 million maximum turnover would prevent many small businesses from taking advantage of it.

“The $20,000 instant asset write-off will provide a genuine incentive for those that qualify to invest in their small business, with some flow-on benefits for the broader economy,” she said.

“However, the two-tiered rate of company tax sends the wrong message because Australia needs a company tax rate that is internationally competitive

New tech businesses crucial to Perth’s economy — CCI Cesilia Faustina Technology start-ups and small businesses will play a big role in Perth’s future, according to West Australian business experts.

Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive officer Deidre Willmott said start-ups, which are fledgling business enterprises, had helped the state’s economy and innovation sector.

“The growth of Western Australia’s resources sector in recent years has attracted talented people, including engineers, designers and technology

May 2015

11

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Pop-ups ‘hurt’ other retailers Gwynette Govardhan

Pop-up stores can help new businesses but harm nearby competitors, according to the Small Business Development Corporation.

Pop-up retail shops are temporary stores that are designed to give a brand exposure.

Small Business Development Corporation spokeswoman Diane Graham said there were pros and cons to pop-up stores.

“It’s terrific for businesses who want to try out a new idea before they have to spend a lot of money,” she said.

“On the other hand, pop-up stores can represent an unfair competitor for small businesses already in that vicinity who do have to pay rent and are in it long term.”

The Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority has recognised the popularity of pop-up stores and markets in Perth and have implemented a leasing program on William Street.

Chief executive officer Kieran Kinsella said it was important to design places for potential users.

“The William Street leasing program provided an opportunity to test the

short-term pop-up retail concept,” he said.

Perth CBD business Cheep, located in Piccadilly Arcade, is offering artists, designers and creators a rentfree space to sell their goods.

The Piccadilly Markets, located in the upstairs space above the Cheep store, are held every second Saturday.

Cheep director Caitlin Stewart said the markets gave small businesses a chance to feel like they had their own shop. They could sell goods and make contacts with other new labels, she said.

“The Piccadilly Markets are free to join and we don’t take commission or charge fees,” she said.

“The space is otherwise unused and that’s a shame.”

Ms Stewart said the biggest struggle for designers and creators who wanted to use pop-up businesses was that it was often expensive.

“It can be really hard to start up your own creative outlet and turn it into a profitable business without preexisting funds or a constant turnover,” she said.

“Most people who have these aspiring labels are doing it as their side project and have full-time jobs which can detract from the creative process.”

Future looks bright for WA performance art NO CHARGE: Pop-ups get free market spaces.

Aaron Bryans

PRICE CUT: Theatre patrons take the bait.

PHOTO: Sophia Constantine.

Cheap theatre tickets to bring in an audience Pierra Willix Heavily discounted theatre tickets are expected to attract new patrons to the State Theatre Centre.

The $20 tickets are available because of an initiative by the Black Swan Theatre Company and Rio Tinto, and represents a cut to ticket prices of at least 70 per cent.

Rio Tinto iron ore chief executive Andrew Harding said the scheme was the first of its kind in WA. “More people can experience the wonderful world of theatre presented by our state’s flagship theatre

Perth’s performing arts scene is rivalling those of Sydney and Melbourne, according to member-funded advocacy group Committee for Perth.

Chief executive officer Marion Fulker said the growth had come because more events had been held in Perth. The completion of the Perth Arena had also helped.

“We’ve had so much more spontaneity in our arts sector,” she said.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 56.3 per cent of West Australians aged 15 years and above went to a performing arts event in 201314, compared with 52 per cent in New South Wales and 55 per cent in Victoria.

According to the ABS, more than 1.1 million West Australians went to at least one performing arts event in

2013-14, an increase of 184,900 people from 2010 and the highest growth in the nation.

Ms Fulker said WA needed to focus on developing local artists to keep attendance rates high.

“We need to keep fostering our young talent and our emerging and developing talent because one day they will become like Tim Winton and be on the world stage,” she said.

West Australian Music marketing and communications officer Aarom Wilson said the ABS statistics eased some of the concerns about Perth’s music scene, which arose after the closure and relocation of nightclub venues such as The Bakery and The Fly By Night.

“Perth’s always had a strong love of performing arts, whether it be music or theatre,” he said.

According to Mr Wilson, the recent

PHOTO: Daniel Morris.

statistics were misleading because they reflected the increase of stadium show attendances following the opening of Perth Arena, and did not address non-stadium attendance.

He said it was still expensive for bands to come to Perth, and it was risky for promoters because everyone waited until the last minute to buy tickets.

Mr Wilson said WAM had tried to avoid a lack of pre-sale tickets for its State of the Art Festival this year by releasing ticket sales early, but had failed.

“Last year, State of the Art had 5000 tickets sold and 1500 of those tickets were sold in the last two days,” he said.

“We opened tickets earlier, we hoped we’d be ahead of where we are at the moment but it’s following a similar trajectory.”

company,” he said.

A Black Swan Theatre Company spokeswoman said the scheme was aimed at breaking down the price barrier.

“For many people in the community, this stops them from attending the theatre,” she said.

WA accounted for only 12 per cent of national ticket sales, according to Live Performance Australia's 2013 attendance and revenue report.

The spokeswoman said the number of people attending the theatre had increased since the cheaper tickets were made available, and 67 per cent of patrons attending the first main stage season of Dinner were newcomers.

Clarification

Our article Students learn environmental art in the April 2015 edition referred to the “City of Rockingham group Castaways”. The Western Independent wishes to clarify that Castaways is not a group, but an event administered by the City of Rockingham.

The article also stated: “Castaways will focus on teaching environmental art in schools”. We wish to clarify there is no plan or power for Castaways or the City of Rockingham to include environmental art in the curriculum.

We regret the errors and apologise for any inconvenience caused.

LOCAL TALENT: Black Swan puts on a show.

PHOTO: David Mamet.

May 2015

12

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

Local industry pays the price Nicole Schreck The low cost of producing clothes overseas has left Australian fashion companies with little choice but to have their clothes produced offshore, according to the Australian Made Campaign.

Chief executive Ian Harrison said more Australian businesses now imported their textiles.

“Companies can make things a lot cheaper in Asia than they can in Australia because our wage levels are high, and our work practices are not as flexible as they need to be,” he said.

“It’s very important that the government, the employer movement, and the trade union movement all recognise the need to do things in this country that actually encourages businesses to invest again in manufacturing activities.”

The importation of textiles, clothing and footwear reached an all-time high in January when $1.4 billion worth of goods were imported to Australia, according to Trading Economics statistics.

$428m museum upgrade

According to the Council of Textiles and Fashion Industries Australia, 92 per cent of clothes sold in Australia are imported, mostly from China.

Only nine per cent of Australian companies knew where the cotton came from, according to a Baptist World Aid Australia 2015 fashion report.

Perth-based fashion designer Mauricio Alpizar said emerging Australian designers needed more guidance about manufacturing in Australia.

“It would be great to have a little bit more funding for emerging designers,” he said.

“Or some kind of guidance to people to manufacture in their own countries without overspending or going bankrupt after five years.

“In Australia it is not only about the manufacturing, it’s the revenue, and equipment and all that is super expensive.”

According to the Manufacturing Skills Australia Environmental Scan 2015 report, the national textiles, clothing and footwear sector employs about 29,500 people.

CHEAP IMPORTS: Manufacturers are looking overseas.

Arts in brief Online music

Maintaining an online presence is vital to a musician’s chances of success, according to the peak body representing WA musicians.

WA Music marketing and communications officer Aarom Wilson said it was important for musicians to use social media to ensure their music was heard.

Mr Wilson said it was also important for musicians not to put too much focus on social media.

“You’ve got a lot of artists where it’s more about the hype and having amazing social media skills,” he said.

Murdoch University cultural policy studies Professor Toby Miller said social media could both help and hinder musicians.

Prof Miller said the use of social media by musicians had reduced intellectual property returns to musicians, but had helped them to promote themselves more widely.

“I think if used wisely then it can reap rewards for you and get your music heard by an entire load of people, which really should be the aim of all artists, which is getting your music heard by as many people as possible,” he said.

Megan Lack A $428 million refurbishment of the WA Museum, featuring new exhibitions, interactive spaces and function rooms, is expected to attract more tourists.

Museums Australia WA executive officer Robert Mitchell said the museum would promote local history and culture.

“Our current Museums Australia research indicates that visitors are seeking authentic experiences, not only to be entertained, but also to gain an insight into local cultures,” Mr Mitchell said.

Mr Mitchell said the upgrade would help more people share authentic WA stories and artefacts.

Chamber of Culture and Arts executive director Henry Boston said the museum was critical to WA and the state needed a museum that was comparable to other Australian capital cities.

More than 900,000 people visited the WA Museum in the 2013/14 financial year. The project is due to be completed in 2020.

PHOTO: Kira Carlin.

MUSEUM MAKEOVER: Construction has begun.

Regional theatres get more funding Rory Coleman-Heard

BRIDGING ACT: Hooping in large crowds.

PHOTO: Sophia Constantine.

PHOTO: Supplied.

New State Government grants will help theatre companies undertake more regional performances, according to a WA theatre company director.

In May, the WA Government announced $900,000 in grants would be handed out over the next three years to help professional acts tour the Gascoyne, Kimberley and the Pilbara.

Big Mama Productions proprietor and Theatre Kimberley artistic director Gwen Knox said the fund was crucial

in helping her to draw audiences for her shows.

She said it cost up to 20 per cent more to hold performances in regional areas when compared with metropolitan areas.

Theatre Kimberley was granted almost $57,000 to produce Staircase to the Moon, a musical puppet show based on the book by the Aboriginal author Bronwyn Houston.

WA Regional Development Minister Terry Redman said the grant would help create “vibrant and sustainable regional communities”.

Claire Seymour

Islamic art

Local artists are trying to project a better cultural understanding of contemporary Islamic art by holding workshops with local, interstate and international artists.

Alif Arts Hub owner Hamida Novakovich said her organisation was trying to reach out to a wider audience.

She said it was important to have a presence in the community and a space for people to come together.

Australian Islamic College teacher and Arabic calligraphist Moayad AbdulRahmanand said the community was open to his art, but were often surprised by its deeper meaning.

Safiah Rind

May 2015

13

PHOTO ESSAY

Burns heal for residents Walley examines a fallen tree from the bushfire.

A photo essay by Jade Colman

The town of Northcliffe has risen from the ashes after a bushfire in February almost destroyed it. Located 30km south of Pemberton in WA’s South-West, the town’s industries were devastated by the fire, which hit dairy farms and avocado and green tea plantations. Despite the destruction of 98,000ha of land, a house and several sheds, the residents of Northcliffe have, through sheer grit and hard work, bounced back.

Northcliffe dairy farmer Walley Bettink’s property was among many farms struck by the bushfire. “I didn’t think the fire was anywhere near home, but the fire spread out very quickly towards the west and in the end that was the major concern,” he says. Bettink lost up to 15km of fencing in the fire and says he is still feeling the effects. “I am still fixing fences now and I’ve been at it for three months,” he says. Bettink says the biggest concern facing those hit by the fire is the fencing problem, which means other tasks are still outstanding.

Northcliffe volunteer firefighter Peter Hill says the town will recover quickly because it is in the town’s nature. “Last year, there was a book that got published called The Town that Wouldn’t Die, which kind of sums up the attitude of Northcliffe. People are resilient,” he says.

The Shire of Manjimup has set up a recovery fund to assist those affected.

The burnt bush in the background is the only visible evidence of how close Walley came to losing his home.

Walley's paddock is unusable for grazing.

May 2015

14

PHOTO ESSAY

Kicking it with the boys

Showing off her plane.

A photo essay by Safiah Rind Many careers are viewed as male-dominated but some women are helping to break the gender barrier.

As of last year, female pilots comprised less than five per cent of the pilots at Australia’s biggest airlines, Qantas and Virgin. Women, however, are increasingly breaking into the aviation industry. About 50 per cent of Virgin’s recent cadets are female.

Charlee inspects her plane.

Charlee Hateley, a pilot instructor with the Jandakot-based Royal Aero Club of WA says: “females can fly, it’s achievable”. “Telling girls and women about aviation hopefully encourages them more.”

Renee Gracie, who was in Perth for the V8 Supercars at the Barbagallo Raceway, was the first female to compete in the Porsche Carrera Cup. She is also the first female in 14 years to commit to a full season of the V8 Supercars. “I wish I had someone to look up to when I was getting into this because there was no one out there for me to look up to or set an example,” she says. “It’s good that girls say ‘oh I want to be like her’.”

Getting ready for take off.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics reports that the rates of women in trades is increasing. There are now more than 1400 female electricians across the country.

One of these women, Nadia, has her own business called ElectroGirls. She says there are many opportunities for women to get into trades, but they have to work to break down the barriers created by social stereotyping. “There are a lot of females that are scared to try getting in to trades, but they need to know you can,” she says.

Lorraine Hull, a carpenter who owns her own business, says more women in traditionally male-dominated industries will eventually lead to normalisation.

Fast and furious.

Renee Gracie with her custom car.

May 2015

15

PHOTO ESSAY

“There a lot of females that are scared to try getting into trades, but they need to know they can.”

“There’s definitely opportunities for girls, but we have to break down that barrier and social stereotyping” — Nadia

Nadia checking equipment before a hard day's work.

Nadia runs her own electrical buisness.

Men make up more than 98 per cent of Australia’s construction workers.

Lorraine runs carpentry workshops for women.

May 2015

16

PHOTO ESSAY

Friendly competition between players on the turf.

Bowling for fresh faces A photo essay by Jonathan Cunningham

The sport of lawn bowls has had a long history in Australia, the first game being played in 1845 in Tasmania.

Nowadays, it is played by 500,000 people across the country.

Despite the growth in player numbers, the majority of players are men over the age of 55. The camaraderie in these clubs is obvious to any visitor and many players spend countless hours at their club playing bowls, chatting, drinking and helping with maintenance.

South Perth Bowling Club president Tony Percival says clubs need to attract younger players. “What we do is target other sporting clubs - football, hockey - for players aged 28 to 35 who cannot play those sports any more,” he says.

Joanna Morris, who has worked in bowling clubs for nearly 20 years, says clubs can only survive if they can continue to attract younger players to the sport. This, however, is difficult. “It is very hard to introduce younger people into a steadfast environment where the elderly don't like to change,” she says.

“Traditionally, bowling clubs were for the retiree and a place to escape the kids, grandkids. The only way for clubs to continue in the future is to embrace change and, further, maybe to encourage it.”

Assessing the competition's form.

Taking a break in the club room.

Prepping for another round.

Placing the latest winners on the honour board.

Eyes on the prize.

May 2015

17

FEATURES

Shaking up the adoption drill Chris Mason

T

im Harcourt’s 40th birthday will always hold special memories for him, and not just because it was a milestone number. In August, 2005, Tim and his wife Jo were in Shanghai preparing to welcome a child into their family, more than two years after submitting their initial intercountry adoption application.

The intervening period had been full of forms, seminars, assessments, financial stress and emotional turmoil.

That was all forgotten when new daughter Yun Shi was placed in their arms.

“She always says, ‘I’m your 40th birthday present’,” Harcourt laughs.

In 2010, the Harcourts applied for another child, but were forced to explore other options after being told they would have to wait for up to eight years for another Chinese child.

“The Taiwanese got in touch with us and said, ‘there’s this little boy ... he’s not been adopted in Taiwan, would you consider?’,” Tim says.

After a five-year wait, that little boy, Jhen-Huei, officially joined the Harcourt family this year.

Under the current system, Australians wishing to adopt a child must go through a long and complicated process and most prospective parents aren’t as lucky as the Harcourts were with Yun Shi. According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, the number of children adopted by Australians has fallen and waiting times have increased.

The most recent AIHW report shows 2013-14 was the worst year on record for adoptions in Australia. Since the Harcourts adopted Yun Shi in 2005, the average waiting time for inter-country adoptions has blown out to five years.

In January, Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced the Federal Government intended to overhaul the overseas adoption process by establishing the Intercountry Adoption Support Service.

The new bureau will provide support for adoptive parents at all stages of the adoption process and cut the waiting time to just one year.

The government is also engaged in discussions with the USA, Vietnam, Bulgaria, Poland and Latvia to increase the number of inter-country programs.

State governments have also introduced new legislation that was designed to make the adoption process quicker and easier.

Despite these changes, progress is slow and prospective parents still face a long and uncertain wait.

Harcourt says the system should be simplified and should put the child first.

“Anything that they can do to streamline the bureaucracy without undermining the important protections for children, I think, is a good thing,” he says.

“You have to do 30 contracts, and if one bureaucrat from Foreign Affairs has written ‘Tom’ and not ‘Tim’, you have to do it all over again.”

As residents of New South Wales, the Harcourts’ journey started with the local Department of Child Services. It soon became clear, however, that there was little choice than to look for a child overseas.

“I think DOCS just said you’ve got to go international if you want to adopt,” Tim says.

“Domestic adoption is almost impossible and we didn’t really mind whether it was domestic or international.”

National adoption advocacy group Adopt Change is researching community attitudes toward adoption.

Adopt Change chief executive officer Jane Hunt says the group believes it’s important to educate people about adoption.

“We’re really interested in how we educate the public and the community around adoption,” Hunt says.

“That it’s not a negative thing, that it’s actually an extraordinary thing for parents to provide an opportunity to a child.”

According to Hunt, an anti-adoption culture has become ingrained in recent years.

She says she has seen this attitude reflected in various government departments across the nation and has heard many stories of prospective parents being told adoption is too hard.

“People talk about an anti-adoption culture in the bureaucracy and certainly I’ve seen quite a lot of evidence around that,” she says.

Hunt says there are several factors that influence this attitude, most notably a lack of government resources.

“There are not many case workers to actually facilitate adoption, so most case workers handle child protection, adoption and inter-country adoption,” she says.

The lack of communication between departments is also a problem.

“The foster care system and the adoption system are parallel processes,” she says.

“You start one and then you start the other, whereas you could be assessed at the same time for both.”

In Australia, adoption applications are processed by the states and territories, while the Federal AttorneyGeneral’s Department is responsible for ensuring compliance with the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, which Australia signed in 1998.

“I was very small, very underweight. I probably would have been taller than I am now if I hadn’t been a failure to thrive” Hunt says Adopt Change has been lobbying for an increase in intercountry agreements for some time and is positive about the difference the Intercountry Adoption Support Service might make.

“Prospective parents, they’ll get a person who will work for them and help them through the process,” she says.

The service, however, is yet to materialise and agreements are still being negotiated.

Any country wishing to enter into

COMMUNICATION BREAKDOWN: Tim Harcourt with his two children.

such an agreement with Australia must comply with a strict set of guidelines in keeping with the requirements of the Hague Convention.

Hunt says her previous role as the chief executive officer of Fitted for Work, a not-for-profit organisation that helps women from disadvantaged backgrounds to obtain employment, opened her eyes to the impact a nonpermanent family life during childhood could have.

“What I saw with a lot of the clients that were coming through that organisation was a lot of them had been women who had been in the foster care system,” she says.

“They had experienced multiple kinds of placements as they were growing up and they then found it really hard to get employment, or maintain housing.”

Ariana Kirk knows the value of a permanent family unit.

Kirk, who was born in the US, was removed from her biological mother at an early age and placed in foster care,

NATURAL BORN: Tim Harcourt's children Yun Shi and Jhen-Huei.

moving through several homes before the age of five.

This uncertainty and lack of permanency had a lasting effect. “I wasn’t meeting targets in terms of growth, physical growth,” she recalls.

“I was very small, very underweight.

I probably would have been taller than I am now if I hadn’t been a failure to thrive.”

Kirk was eventually brought to Australia by her aunt Rose and adopted into her aunt’s already-established family.

She gained a sister and brother, as well as a mother and father. This stability and support contributed to her growth and general health, which soon improved.

While being adopted does not define who she is, Kirk says it does influence both her life and the way she views the world.

“I do think that you do view family differently from when you’re adopted compared to when you’re just born naturally into a family,” she says.

PHOTO: Supplied.

While she has experienced little negativity from others because of her adoption history, Kirk says she has become withdrawn when discussing it.

“I think maybe there is sub-text to people’s reaction when you reveal your adoption and I don’t always reveal it,” she says.

“Some people, I’m comfortable sharing that part of my life and, other people, I’m very much like, ‘no, none of their business, none of their concern’.”

Harcourt has some advice for any prospective parents who may be unsure about subjecting themselves to a long, complicated and emotionally unforgiving application process.

“Treat it as a loving first resort, don’t treat it as a last resort after you’ve gone through IVF or donors or whatever,” he says.

“You know, it’s something that people who have birth children should do as well.

“There’s a lot of kids in the world who don’t have parents and they’d like them,” Harcourt says.

PHOTO: Supplied.

May 2015

18

FEATURES

Hunting groups ready to fire Aimee Hughes

“I

’ve done it my whole life.

I always have since I was a kid,” Sporting Shooters Association of Australia WA president Ron Bryant says. Growing up as an avid recreational hunter, Bryant is speaking out against those who seek to limit his beloved pastime.

The State Parliament’s Public Administration Committee has recommended a two-year trial that would allow hunters like Bryant to shoot on Crown land. Current Australian legislation allows recreational hunting on private land with the owner’s permission. If Parliament acts upon the new recommendation, shooting will be allowed on a reclaimed pastoral station in WA’s north and in state forest in the South-West.

The trial would help to protect endangered native animals, according to the shooters.

WA is home to more than 140 of Australia’s 207 mammal species and statistics from the Department of Parks and Wildlife’s 2014 annual report show rare fauna, like the brushtail possum, the bilby and the numbat are likely to become extinct because they are threatened by feral rabbits, foxes and pigs.

“At the moment, public lands are being overrun by feral pests and the government can’t control it,” Bryant says. “We are here, ultimately, to help.

“What happens is there’s a fence line and you just cannot cross it. You can do as much as you can on the turf you’re on, but these animals are smart and they see you coming and they run back into that area where they know

TAKING AIM: Hunters want more freedom.

they’re going to be safe.”

The RSPCA, however, strongly opposes the hunting trial and recently placed newspaper advertisements condemning recreational shooting. Their advertisement portrayed a shiny trophy on one side with the words “This is a trophy” next to a dead rabbit with the words “This is not” across it.

In retaliation, the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia published a full-page advertisement. It shows Bryant holding a rifle alongside four dead rabbits, accompanied by the words: “They’re not trophies. They’re pests!”

RSPCA WA communications manager Natasha Farrell says the association is concerned about animal welfare.

“Recreational hunters are not expert

marksmen, so there will be suffering to the animal as it’s killed,” she says. “The recreational hunting is also going to impair any co-ordinated and planned pest management program out there, and there’s also the fact that it might jeopardise people’s safety.

“Illegal hunting is already happening in State forests”

We all go to state or national forests to have a picnic or walk, and you don’t want people walking around with guns.”

While the issue is being debated in Perth, farms in country WA are surrounded by vacant Crown land that

PHOTO: Supplied.

plays home to pests.

WA Farmers Federation president Dale Park says he has had to call recreational hunters to his property at Badgingarra to eliminate pests.

Kangaroos, emus, rabbits and feral cats threaten Park’s farm. He says he has noticed the difference since he started using recreational hunters.

“We get plenty of pests in from the national park and the unallocated Crown land,” he says. “We have made a bit of difference. We used to get a lot of kangaroos on our road driving up and down. Whereas now we don’t seem to have as many on the roads these days.”

According to Park, kangaroos can eat up to five times as much as sheep and it’s important he protects his livestock’s food.

“In our first year, we probably took about 1000 kangaroos just off our property,” he says.

Park says the problem can never be entirely resolved. “You don’t get rid of them,” he says. “You can just keep them down to a dull roar.”

If the trial is allowed, hunting could impact on the popular Bibbulmun Track, which sees thousands of people walking the 1000km trail through forests from Perth to Albany.

Bibbulmun Track Foundation chairman Mike Wood says the foundation is concerned about walkers’ safety and the possibility of people avoiding the track out of fear. “The hunters, hunting and prospect of hunting could stop people from going out on the track and walking,” he says.

Wood says many walkers have encountered illegal hunters. “Illegal hunting is already happening in state forests,” he says.

“They turn up, using our facilities, using our shelters and let their dogs loose while there have been walkers. They’ve brought out the esky of rum and coke and turned on the AC/ DC album from 1974, disturbing the ambience.”

Sometimes the Department of Parks and Wildlife finds the hunters, and other times its rangers find evidence of hunters.

“We have had an instance where a DPW ranger has gone to a shelter to do maintenance and found a slaughtered pig on the table,” Wood says. “There was no meat, it was the guts and bits and pieces. It looked like a murder scene.”

Bryant says the trial could help to “solve some of the issues by using unpaid volunteers, at no cost to anybody”.

If it goes ahead, the RSPCA and Bibbulmun Track Foundation will certainly be disappointed. Those who deal with pests on a daily basis, like Park and Bryant, are likely to celebrate.

Schools embrace Korean language Kristie Lim

W

A has joined the rest of the nation by introducing Korean language classes in

schools.

Korean is spoken by 80 million people and more than 150,000 Australians, according to the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority.

Australia-Korea Foundation chairman Peter Coleman says WA’s growing interest in the Korean culture is one of the reasons the language was introduced into the Western Australian Certificate of Education system.

Coleman says less than one per cent of Australian students took Korean classes in 2014, but the numbers have doubled since 2010.

“In WA, only 121 primary school students at Christian Hope College and no high school students formally studied Korean in 2014,” Coleman says. “The numbers of students

learning Korean at UWA demonstrates the interest. 350 in 2014.”

The global fascination with Korea is one reason Willetton Senior High School and Mount Lawley Senior High School chose to introduce the language.

Coleman says there is a surging interest in Korean culture worldwide, caused by Korean pop music like the infamous Gangnam Style dance, Korean film, Taekwondo and Korean barbeque.

Australia has strong trading ties with the other countries in the SouthPacific region, including South Korea.

According to the WA Government’s State Development Department 2014 report, South Korea’s Trade and Investment with WA, South Korea is WA’s third biggest export market.

A distance of almost 17,000km separates the two countries, but bringing down the language barrier will bring them culturally closer, according to Coleman and other academics.

“Australia and Korea have strong, complementary economies, vibrant cultures and an enduring commitment to supporting peace and prosperity in our region,” Coleman says.

Korean Language and Cultural Education Centre Perth founder and Korean teacher Ebony Bae says Perth’s interest in Korean culture is growing and the language should have been offered in schools sooner.

University of Western Australia Korean studies Associate Professor Joanna Elfing-Hwang says adding Korean studies to the curriculum will add to WA’s cultural diversity.

Already, 40 students have enrolled in the course at Willetton Senior High

LIFE LESSON: Kids explore a new language.

School and 10 students at Mount Lawley Senior High School.

Coleman says, however, some issues need to be addressed.

“The first one is really the commitment of the principals of the school, because when you introduce language programs, it is something out of the ordinary. You have to conjure up a sense of ‘why’ with the students,” Coleman says.

He says teacher availability, the inclusion of Korean in WACE exams, funding, student interest and parental support are the other factors involved in choosing the schools.

“Most important of all is we should get general support from the parents because parents also need to reinforce with the kids that are learning Korean is a positive thing against other language options,” Coleman says.

Willetton Senior High School head of languages Nathan Harvey says Korean language programs are very popular in New South Wales.

“The students have been finding it really interesting and something different for them and finding a good challenge as well,” Harvey says.

Mount Lawley Senior High School

PHOTO: Jessica Thomas.

head of languages Anita Chong says the school could only afford to introduce Korean after receiving financial support last year.

WA Education Department curriculum and student services support director Karen Webster says offering a language in primary school makes it easier for high schools to offer the same language.

Coleman says the foundation will consider using a 2014 Korean government grant to increase the number of Australian schools offering Korean language classes.

May 2015

19

FEATURES

Closures threaten culture

UNITY: Protestors rally against closures.

Luke Illich

“A

PHOTO: Cam Findlay.

kind of happiness takes hold, like being at peace with the universe,” senior Noongar man and WA Aboriginal Legal Service chief executive Dennis Eggington says.

Eggington lives in Perth, but often travels to his own country in the lower South-West, on the border of the Bibbulmun and Minang regions.

“That’s the country I’m connected to,” Eggington says. “By the time I’m down there, my shoes are off, I put my feet in the sand or in the soil, and I’m looking at the place with a different view. It’s a happy, elated feeling.”

In November 2014, Premier Colin Barnett said a “significant number” of WA’s 274 Indigenous communities would soon close, citing poor health outcomes, high rates of domestic

PHOTO: Cam Findlay.

violence and child protection issues.

His announcement followed the Commonwealth Government’s decision, two months earlier, to withdraw funding for WA’s remote communities.

Eggington says it is essential for Aboriginal people to have access to their homelands.

“There’s a sickness that you feel when you come out of country,” Eggington says.

“Being on country and speaking your language, it makes you feel strong and healthy. The benefits across all sectors of life are immeasurable. It’s important to keep that connection and to pass it on to the next generation.

I’ve been taking my kids and grandkids down there. They love it.

Each time we explore a little bit more country down there, we talk about our language and culture. There’s this euphoria. It’s about passing things on. You feel like you’re living your culture and that’s very important.”

Eggington says forcing people into regional cities and towns will create more problems than it solves.

“It’s plain and clear what will happen,” Eggington says. “People will be pushed into the margins of our towns and cities. We’ll go back to the fringe-dweller days.

“If they’re not going to put resources into remote communities, they certainly won’t put resources into regional towns to help cope with the influx of people. There will be overcrowding. People will be hit hard. On top of finding themselves homeless, they will be dealing with the emotional trauma and stress of being disconnected from their country.

It’s a double whammy.”

John Curtin Institute of Public Policy economics Associate Professor Mike Dockery says there is a proven link between Indigenous culture and wellbeing.

“Indigenous people who have a stronger engagement with their culture and a stronger sense of cultural identity have better outcomes across a range of domains, including employment, education, physical health and mental health,” he says.

“You can’t separate our culture from our land – they’re one and the same” “For many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, particularly those in remote Australia, connection to the land is an integral part of their culture and their kinship networks. The land and associated stories define who they are and where they are from. Having a sense of self-identity and cultural affiliation is critical to psychological wellbeing.”

Dockery, who has done extensive research on Aboriginal culture and wellbeing, says governments need to weigh up the full cost of their decisions.

“The planned policy will, at best, result in people moving to nearby and larger communities where we know there is a lack of jobs, and past experience suggests it will create added social dysfunction,” Dockery says.

Dockery says the State Government’s stance on the issue is “unsustainable”.

He says it does not address the economic and social costs of “disempowering Aboriginal people and further undermining the continuity of their sense of self-identity.”

According to Dockery’s research, Indigenous Australians who are more connected to their land and traditional culture are less likely to suffer from psychological stress and other mental health problems. They are also more likely to be employed, complete high school, gain a tertiary qualification and are less likely to have a criminal record or drink excessive amounts of alcohol.

Nicholas Biddle from the Australian National University’s Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research says there is evidence to suggest people who move from remote areas have worse outcomes than those who stay.

REACHING OUT: Dancers in front of parliament house.

“There is a consistent body of literature that shows those who move residence without it being an informed and supported choice are at risk of long-term negative outcomes,” Biddle says.

Greens Senator Rachel Siewert says the policy will create high levels of homelessness on the fringes of regional towns.

“This will have very bad consequences for their wellbeing,” Siewert warns.

“There is not enough housing in these towns as it is without more people being forced into them. The government hasn't been into communities to sit down and talk with them about their plans and their future. They will force people off their homelands into towns where circumstances will be worse, increasing the gap, not closing it.”

Senior Miriuwung Gajerrong woman and Kimberley Aboriginal Law and Culture Centre chairwoman Merle Carter says she understands how the wellbeing of her people is inextricably linked to the land.

“Our land is everything,” Carter says. “You can’t separate our culture from our land. They’re one and the same. We belong to our country.

We belong to the land. There’s an emotional and spiritual healing that takes place when you’re in country.

You can just relax and breathe it all in.

When we’re living in a town or suburb we’re just existing, but being out in country gives our life meaning.

“Aboriginal people need to practice their culture so they can teach their children to care for country. Our ancestors have been taking care of this

PHOTO: Cam Findlay.

country for thousands of years and we need to pass this knowledge on to the next generation. If these people move to town, they will lose their language and they’ll lose their culture because you can only practice your culture on your own country.”

Carter paints a grim portrait of town life for those displaced from their land.

“There will be overcrowding,” Carter says. “People will be lining up for the dole. Domestic violence will get worse and there will be more drug and alcohol problems.

“There are no jobs in town. They’re going to send people where there’s no work to begin with. Some of our people haven’t been to school and can’t read or write. All they know is how to take care of their country. What are they going to do?”

Eggington says the policy is both practically and morally flawed.

“Removing people from communities will put Australia on a repugnant pathway,” Eggington says.

“Like South Africa, we have to make a difficult, principled, moral decision.

It’s not about funding or structures. It’s about this policy being immoral.

“The world had to tell South Africa to end apartheid, and the world has to tell Australia that this policy is morally corrupt.”

WA Aboriginal Affairs Minister Peter Collier and Premier Colin Barnett were unavailable for comment.

Barnett has, however, recently been reported as saying his government would take a more nuanced approach.

He now plans to build up larger communities while closing the smallest and most under-resourced.

May 2015

20

FEATURES

Driver abuse has no brakes Martin Busk

“H

ey, bin Laden! Learn how to drive!” a man shouts from the backseat, as the old bus jumpstarts.

The bus is heading to the Esplanade Busport and behind the wheel is Jas Smith. He is just about to finish for the weekend, but first he will have to put up with some more racial abuse.

Smith ignores the screaming passenger. He knows all too well that if he says something, it will come back to bite him.

“Normally, the people who are harrassing us are on drugs and we can’t do anything about it” He swallows his pride and keeps driving as the passenger keeps yelling.

A survey of more than 260 WA bus drivers in November 2014 showed 88 per cent had been subjected to verbal abuse. The Transport Workers Union’s survey also found 33 per cent had been spat upon by passengers, while 52 per cent had been racially abused and 16 per cent had been assaulted on duty.

Smith considers himself lucky because he hasn’t been attacked physically. Despite this, it is obvious being compared to Osama bin Laden because of his appearance bothers him, even though he pretends it doesn’t.

“This happens often, not only with me, but with other drivers as well,” Smith says with a sigh. “Normally the people that are harassing us are on drugs and we can’t do anything about it.”

The passenger that harassed him minutes earlier comes walking towards

the front of the bus as it gets close to the Karawara stop.

“Hey, bin Laden, are you going to take over the whole world?,” he says, laughing before stepping off the bus.

Smith wipes a drop of sweat off his forehead. Soon he will be home with his family, affording him a break from the threat of racism and verbal abuse.

“Sometimes, when it gets really bad, we have to call for security. I don’t really get scared, because we are inside a cage,” Smith says.

According to the 2014 Public Transport Authority passenger satisfaction report, increased security has led to 99 per cent of people feeling safe on buses during the day and a record high of 84 per cent feeling safe in bus stations at night.

Public Transport Authority spokesman David Hynes says the majority of buses have CCTV cameras and alarms.

“We go to great lengths to make bus travel as safe as possible,” Hynes says. “This includes the installation of CCTV cameras on buses and emergency duress alarms for passengers and drivers.

“More than 89 per cent of our buses are fitted with multiple CCTV cameras (seven in each new bus) which take very high-resolution footage. There are also more than 200 CCTV cameras at bus stations around our network.

“Each new Transperth bus is fitted with a security cab for the driver.

More than 1370 of the total Transperth bus fleet of 1426 are fitted with security cabs, and every bus on the road after 6pm has a security cab.”

Hynes says there are about 90 Transperth security guards stationed at bus depots, in addition to 18 mobile patrol vehicles that are available to respond to incidents immediately.

“It’s clear that these measures are working,” he says.

Hynes says there has been a steady decline in the number of incidents such as spitting on buses because of the installation of swab collection kits.

“Apprehending offenders who spit at bus drivers is also a priority for us, which is why DNA kits are provided

to all Transperth bus drivers,” Hynes says.

“The swab collection kits are given to all drivers during their induction, and they are also taught the appropriate way to collect saliva for testing.

“The kits are used, on average, about 10 times a year. Spitting incidents have decreased markedly over the past five years, down from 51 in 2009-10 to 19 in 2013-14.”

Hynes says the removal of cash ticketing will not stop anti-social behaviour altogether.

“There are some passengers who cannot, or do not wish to, use our SmartRider system, and removing cash ticketing would disadvantage them for no substantial advantage,” he says.

In most cases, arguments between passengers and drivers start when passengers try to avoid fares. Transport Workers Union WA bus industry organiser Phil Ogden says a scheme that removes money from the buses may help reduce the amount of conflict.

“I would definitely love to see a total cash-free system,” Ogden says.

“What that does is take away lots of the arguments. Currently we’ve got SmartRider cards and they are highly used, but the thing is the drivers have to take cash when they top up the cards. I would prefer that passengers went elsewhere to top up the cards and that they didn’t see the driver at all. That way the driver doesn’t have to carry any cash at all.”

According to the survey, 60 per cent of bus drivers say they have experienced problems getting security backup in an emergency situation.

Ogden says more security guards are needed. And they need greater powers.

“People out there seem to know what they can and can’t get away with,” Ogden says. “The problem we’ve got at the moment is that when a security guard takes someone off a bus, they don’t have any jurisdiction over the person as soon as he or she gets off the bus. Then the security guard has exactly the same rights as you and I would have. I would like to

see these guards with the same equipment and rights as transit officers.

They are basically one step down from policemen. The only thing a transit officer doesn’t carry is a gun.”

Bus driver Michael Clarke says he has figured out a way to avoid conflicts with passengers; he simply treats them respectfully.

“Do you really want to get into an argument over a couple of dollars with people that are drunk?” he asks.

“I’m one of those guys who lets everyone on the bus and tells them to make sure they pay next time.

Look, I’ve got a half an empty bus and I’m going in that direction anyway,” he says, puffing hard on his cigarette before he gets back on the bus. Clarke likes to do things by the book and finds no shame in admitting he lets people on the bus for free to avoid an unpleasant situation.

“When I did the training, they said that the drunk people are doing the right thing getting on the bus instead of driving. In that regard, if we kick them off, they might get in a car and drive instead, so it’s about doing the right thing for the community as well,” he says.

In 2009, Thornlie bus driver Gerard Sin was punched and pelted with a chunk of concrete after getting into an argument with some teenage passengers in Armadale.

Sin suffered serious facial injuries and was blinded in his left eye. Sin’s employer Swan Transit stated he had only himself to blame for the incident.

The company claimed Sin picked up the passengers at a location not specified as a bus stop and later got into an argument with them.

Protective cages around the drivers’ seats were introduced, but Phil Ogden says the abuse continues.

“The abuse has not decreased after cages were introduced,” Ogden explains.

in a cell who have mental health issues or a history of abuse and trauma in that small space with one toilet … it would just be devastating.

“Women are coming out worse than when they went in and if you didn’t go in with mental health issues you are definitely coming out with mental health issues.”

McMahon says the prison is not overcrowded. He says, as of May 15, there were 311 prisoners in a prison with 394 beds.

“Claims that the prison system is overcrowded are inaccurate. Every prisoner has a bed in a secure cell,” he says.

The Department of Corrective Services WA annual report for 20132014 notes a Strategic Asset Plan for 2014-2015. The plan seeks to ease pressure at Bandyup Prison by providing an additional 30 beds at Roebourne Regional Prison. For many women, this plan is too late.

Beverly Riley was arrested and sent to Bandyup Prison after allegedly breaking a window in the house she owned with her then-partner. Later, Riley was held in remand for more than five weeks. To an outsider, five weeks in prison might not sound like a lot, but for Riley it was long enough for her to be traumatised.

“When you first get in there you’re made to strip and shower in front of another person. I was terrified,” she recalls. “And because I was terrified, the woman watching decided to call one of the guards and I just freaked out. I jumped up on to the wall that divided the showers and I was screaming.”

Things didn’t improve much for Riley once she was placed in her cell.

“I slept on a mattress on the floor. It’s

a horrific experience to go through,” she says. “There are two people in a cell and you have to sleep on the floor and you have to pee in front of another person. I made a little makeshift wall with a towel and a chair. I mean, most people don’t turn around but you just shouldn’t have to do that. I was only in there for five weeks but it just takes all your dignity.”

Statistics from the Centre Against Sexual Assault show 90 per cent of Indigenous women and 82 per cent of non-Indigenous women in prison have been sexually abused at some point in their lives. Riley says the prison is poorly equipped to cater for people with serious mental health issues and trauma.

“Drivers still get abused and they still get spat on, but the physical abuse has dropped, simply because they can’t get to the driver. The cage is not going to stop a bullet, but it will stop a rock and most objects thrown at the driver, except liquid.”

According to Ogden, it’s unlikely that the Public Transport Authority will increase security or remove the cash ticketing systems from WA buses.

Bandyup Prison at breaking point Gareth Thomas

T

wo mattresses covered in black plastic are laid on the ground at right angles. At the end of one mattress lies a toilet shared by two women. With the mattresses in this formation, one woman is forced to sleep with her head at the base of the toilet bowl.

Although this mock cell is just like hundreds at the overcrowded Bandyup Women’s Prison in Middle Swan, there is one difference.

This is an installation set up in the busy car park of Mirrabooka Square shopping centre. The mock cell is part of a protest organised by the Bandyup Action Group.

On either side of the mock cell, volunteers are enthusiastically attempting to capture the attention of passing shoppers to make them aware of the overcrowding and appalling conditions endured by women at the prison.

According to a December, 2014 report from the Office of the Inspector of Custodial Services WA, Bandyup can hold 259 prisoners. The report states the prison population has been as high as 319. The overcrowding has led to a decline in the quality of services and conditions.

Bandyup Prison is located in Middle Swan, 25km east of Perth. It is the only prison for women in Western Australia, and the only prison that caters for all security classifications. This means the

TIGHT SPACE: Zero room to move.

prison hosts women who have done something as simple as defaulting on a fine. It also holds women who have committed murder.

With female imprisonment rates rising, the Bandyup Action Group has been lobbying the State Government to provide alternatives to prison. The allocation of $20 million in the 2015 State Budget to build a new facility for women at Hakea Prison has not provided them with any comfort.

WA Corrective Services Department commissioner James McMahon says progress has been made at Bandyup since the Custodial Inspector examined the prison in March, 2014. McMahon has established a reference committee to oversee the implementation of the

PHOTO: Kira Carlin.

changes recommended in the report.

“The Reference Committee and the new remand facility are complementary elements of our overall strategy to take a women-centred approach to female offenders,” he says.

Bandyup Action Group spokeswoman Kelly Somers says double or even triple bunking prisoners will cause mental health problems and increase the tension between prisoners.

“Women are being crammed into cells,” she says. “The latest news we’ve had is they’ve started talking about ‘three to a cell’ because there is just simply too many women in there.

“You’ve already got ambulances being called every second day and people self-harming. You put three people

“We don’t think that women should be going to prison for unpaid fines” Somers says the increasing prison population at Bandyup is made worse by a policy that allows women to choose to go to prison instead of paying their fines.

“We don’t think that women should be going to prison for unpaid fines. It should just not be an option. There are other offences that women should not be going to jail for, such as driving offences, other sorts of public order offences,” she says. “At the moment, there aren’t a lot of options for community-based orders, work development orders and other alternatives to imprisonment. If we can increase those options, then we believe we can decrease the number of people going to jail.”

May 2015

21

FEATURE

Second step to redemption

BEHIND BARS: Tough life after jail.

Tyne Logan

H

erbert Bropho leans back in his creaky camp chair as he lets out a rough cough. His weathered, dark brown skin sits in the shadow of a wiry white beard and a red beanie pulled down so far it almost touches his eyelashes.

Bropho has been in and out of the corrective services system since the age of nine. Starting in primary school with the theft of a bike, he moved on to stealing cars and guns, breaking and entering, and assault. Since his first trip to prison, he has been to almost every jail in WA. Bropho’s life outside of a prison cell was anything but free. He struggled to get a job, and knew nothing more than his life of crime. From the first time he left prison, he knew he’d be back.

“Once you’ve done your time, you’ve paid your debt to society. But the police know who you are, they know you’ve been institutionalised. They’ll try to get you back in jail,” he says.

At 49, Bropho no longer defies the law like he used to. Despite this, he remains without stable accommodation and without employment.

According to a 2012 Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report, 46 per cent of prisoners will leave jail with a mental health, drug or alcohol problem, while 63 per cent of prisoners will leave without organised employment and 43 per cent will be homeless.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australian incarceration reached a 10-year high during the past year. Despite many re-integration programs, both in and out of prison, 59 per cent of prisoners have been there before.

The statistics paint a bleak future for prisoners, particularly in terms of employment. Some prisoners, however, buck the trend.

International transportation and logistics company Toll runs a program called Second Step, which helps to employ people who are marginalised for a variety of social factors. This includes people with a history of

PHOTO: Sebastian Neuweiler.

addiction or criminal behaviour.

Of the more than 400 people who have gone through the Second Step program, less than five have re-offended.

Second Step program manager Ruth Oakden says Toll’s partners provide specialised assistance.

“We’re a logistics company, we don’t have specialised social workers, psychologists or mental health workers on staff,” she says. “Our partner programs are the ones who can provide this type of assistance and work with Toll to provide supported, long-term job opportunities.”

The 2012-13 Australian Human Rights Commission annual report shows more than 240 complaints of discrimination on the basis of criminal record were made during that year.

Oakden says the biggest hurdle for former prisoners is convincing an employer to look past a criminal history.

Monash University Law Faculty Associate Professor Bronwyn Naylor says it’s not inappropriate for an employer to want to know someone’s criminal record.

“I remember my parole officer said to me I had 20 days to get a job or it would be a breach of my parole” “It’s now used as a sort of easy way of reference checking,” Dr Naylor says.

“So rather than actually individually following up if the person is an appropriate employee, its used as a blanket approach to wipe out all people with a criminal history so they’ll be safe,” she says.

Criminal record checking was certainly a barrier for ex-prisoner Roger Antochi.

Just one month after his 18th birthday, Antochi was sitting in a maximumsecurity prison, where he spent the next three-and-a-half years.

“I remember my parole officer said to me I had 20 days to get a job or it would be a breach of my parole,” Antochi says. “But when I applied I had

to do a police check and every time I signed off on that, I wouldn’t get the job,” he says. “So, I finally applied for a labouring job and I lied on my police check and I got the job.”

Twenty days later, he was fired for lying about his criminal history and landed himself back in prison for another armed robbery. This time, things changed.

“I did over 50 rehabilitation programs,” he says.

While Antochi welcomed rehabilitation, he noticed life skills programs were limited. To fill the void, he collaborated with a youth development officer to set up a small business inside Port Phillip prison.

The business program, ‘Doin’ Time’, ran like a normal business which made and sold T-shirts across Victoria. In the first year, the business made $155,000, all of which went to charity.

Despite this, Antochi felt they were not getting appropriate recognition for their efforts, so he started to write to senior executives. To his surprise, they all responded.

“So there I am, sitting in a maximum security jail in Victoria with Sir Richard Branson on one side and Paul Little on the other side and both of them asking me what I want to do after I leave prison,” he says.

“At that stage, Paul Little had the Toll Second Step program going and Paul and Ruth Oakden offered me the position at Toll as the Toll Second Step program administrator.”

Within six months, he became the Second Step co-ordinator and expanded the program nationwide.

Antochi’s first employment opportunity through the Second Step program has led him to his current position with Whitelion, a support and education-based prevention program.

Not all prisoners or former prisoners have had access to an employment program, however.

This is the case for former Bandyup prisoner Beverly Riley.

Riley sits firmly against the coffee shop booth. The dark rings under her eyes are buried behind the protruding cheekbones of a skeletal face. She is tall and slender and walks with poise and confidence, but the colour in her skin has faded.

Riley has been homeless and unemployed for two years since her

release. She attributes this to her ongoing panic attacks, post-traumatic stress and memory loss.

“To be told ‘get over it, move on’ is hard because I’ve got nothing to move on to” “It’s ridiculously traumatic. I’ve been emotionally traumatised and to be told, ‘get over it, move on’ is hard because I’ve got nothing to move on to,” she says.

She says she needs to be able to manage her panic attacks and find a permanent address.

Despite only being in prison once, the ongoing effects of her sentence and her mental health problems have been detrimental.

Antochi says the social stigma around people who have spent time in

custody needs to be overcome.

“I totally understand that there are heinous crimes that I don’t agree with and have a bad social stigma towards as well like murder, rape or paedophilia,” he says. “But there are people out there who have made mistakes in their lives and have paid for those dues and need to now be members of society and to do that they need to actually be accepted.”

“Take the person for face value now and skill sets now, don’t take them for their past. If we really believe in rehabilitation, and they need to be productive members of the community, we need to stop the revolving doors to our prison system.”

Noting that it costs about $120,000 a year, to accommodate a prisoner, Oaken says it makes sense for businesses to lessen the tax burden by providing employment opportunities for those at risk of re-offending.

May 2015

22

FEATURES

Perth roads in major jam Aaron Bryans

M

ost mornings, Perth residents struggle with traffic congestion, which has slowed average speeds to 54kmh on the Graham Farmer, Kwinana and Mitchell freeways during morning peak hours, according to Main Roads data. Perth’s road project organisation group Main Roads WA has been criticised for focusing on short-term solutions, rather than long-term initiatives.

A senior WA traffic consultant says Main Roads WA should focus on managing traffic demand rather than building more roads “You can’t keep building more lanes.

That’s not the way to go. You’ve got to address the main issue, which is peak traffic between set hours and vehicle occupancy,” i3 Consultants WA senior traffic engineer David Wilkins says.

“A greater use of public transport is needed. Most of the people only have one person in the car. You’ve got to manage your demand. The current way is to build infrastructure to suit the demand. The correct way is to manage the demand to suit the infrastructure.”

The RAC and advocacy group Committee for Perth have called for the introduction of light rail to overcome the problem.

RAC media and government relations senior manager Liz Carey says a lack of connecting alternative public transport options is one of the biggest drivers of congestion in WA. “Congestion is forecast to cost the State’s economy $2.1 billion by 2020,” Carey says.

“RAC believes action is needed now to avoid Perth’s congestion worsening as the population continues to increase. The MAX light rail project, which has been described as transfor-

mational, is one example of an important transport project which has been delayed or deferred, and this will have a flow-on effect for the north-east of Perth.”

According to an Australian Bureau of Statistics 2014 study, Western Australia’s population reached 2.57 million people in June, 2014 – an increase of 54,400 people from 2013.

Perth is the second-fastest growing capital city in Australia after Brisbane, and the ABS estimates its population could reach 5.5 million by 2061.

“We need to have a long-term solution, Perth is going to continue to grow”

Committee for Perth chief executive officer Marion Fulker says the growing population means Main Roads WA needs to think about the long-term future.

“We need to have a long-term solution. Perth is going to continue to grow,” Fulker explains.

“We remain convinced that light rail is the thing that will not only help move people around in the inner city area, but it will help to accelerate the densification of that inner city area. It would replace some of the CAT bus system.”

WA auditor-general Colin Murphy blamed Perth’s increasing population and the actions of Main Roads for the worsening of traffic congestion in his recent report Main Roads Projects to Address Traffic Congestion.

“Main Roads and other key transport agencies, including the Department of Transport, had not determined clear congestion targets, outcomes or performance levels,” Murphy says in his report.

Murphy was referring to a recent Australian Bureau of Statistics report

that estimated there were 2.1 million vehicles on WA roads in 2014, up 17 per cent from 2009. With only three major freeways connecting to the CBD, the traffic demand exceeds the road’s capacity, leading to congestion.

In a joint statement to the Western Independent, Main Roads and the Department of Transport said there was a need to invest in alternative transport methods, such as cycling.

The statement said the State Government’s six-year long $101.6 million investment into cycling networks throughout WA had resulted in the construction of 221km of off-road shared paths and 71km of on-road bike lanes.

“The recently announced $72.1 million investment over four years will continue to improve safety and bike network connectivity for all West Australians,” the statement said.

“The four-year plan to improve infrastructure for cycling includes $34.4 million allocated to major transport projects. The remaining $37.71

million has been allocated to local government grants and principal shared paths for the next four years.”

Fulker agrees cycle paths are a more viable long-term option.

“Cycling is also on the rise. We’ve got to think about ways in which we can make cycling safer and keep up the predominance of people who are willing to get out of their cars. We need viable alternatives that are better than the car,” she says.

The long-term answer might be in light rail, cycle paths or better infra-

BUMPER TO BUMPER: More roads won't ease traffic.

structure, but there is also a need to change driver behaviour.

According to the Main Roads WA website, frequent lane changing, incorrect merging and tailgating has an effect on traffic movement.

PHOTO: Sophia Constantine.

The newest breed of iHuman Ben Webster

T

here is a glass flask, slightly bigger than a grain of rice, implanted in the webbing between WA Parks and Wildlife Department research scientist Michael Tuffin’s thumb and forefinger.

This flask is a radio frequency identification tag, designed to make electronic tasks such as unlocking the car or paying for shopping more hands-on.

The implant, which he ordered online from a robotics hobbyist store, was injected into his hand using a syringe he bought from a Tasmanian piercing store. Tuffin performed the procedure himself and it cost him a total of just $9.

The scar is barely half a centimetre across. The implications, however, are significant.

“I went and got a simple implant tube, or piercing tube, and got the ampoule myself. They are pointed so you can see a little scar here,” Tuffin says.

“All up, it took about 10 minutes and mostly that was just me going slow to be sure it was going in the right spot. It’s not that complicated.

You just have to know where to put it.”

An RFID uses electromagnetic waves to wirelessly transfer data. It’s the same technology found in the chips implanted in pets to identify them if they go missing, or hidden in the packaging of goods designed to set off alarms when stolen. Now tech nuts, scientists, hobbyists and self-

proclaimed ‘biohackers’ are ordering the kits online and implanting the chips in their hands.

This is no longer something that scientists are doing in secretive laboratories, hidden from the public eye. The Facebook group RFID Implantees has more than 710 members.

Once implanted, the chip can be used to store important data, such as personal identification information or medical records. The chip can act as a key for unlocking paired devices like a car’s doors, a laptop computer or the doors to a building. Tuffin says the chip can be used in your house to turn on the TV or have a coffee made.

As the potential applications for the implants grow and their popularity increases, there are also bigger risks.

This includes the risk of infection and the danger of severing tendons.

“As long as it’s done professionally and you go to someone who knows what they’re doing, there’s not really any risk”

Northbridge Exotic Body Piercing owner and operator Cameron Bryant says health risks are minimal when you’re in experienced hands.

“As long as it’s done professionally and you go to someone who knows what they’re doing, there’s not really any risk,” he says.

Some research suggests, however, the chips come with serious

BIONIC MAN: The RFID implant.

health risks. In her self-published paper Microchip-Induced Tumors in Laboratory Rodents and Dogs: A Review of the Literature 1990– 2006, anti-RFID advocate Katherine Albrecht claims the implants increase the risk of cancerous tumours. This is evidenced by the higher rates of occurrence in laboratory animals implanted with this technology, she says.

According to RFID tag manufacturers Applied Digital Solutions, Albrecht’s claim is “erroneous and

PHOTO: Scott Ray.

misleading”. The US Food and Drug Administration says the chips can cause other serious medical issues.

Getting an MRI becomes difficult with an RFID implant because patients can suffer severe burns or an adverse tissue reaction. The chip can also move inside the patient.

Tuffin says this would only be the case with more powerful RFID implants because MRIs are designed to be safe to use with the small amount of metal used in standard RFID implants.

“At worst, it would probably get a little bit warm in an MRI machine. There are other implants that I’ve looked into in the past and I’m sure lots of other people have as well. I’ve seen some people online get things like magnetic sensors implanted in their fingertips against nerve clusters. If you went into an MRI machine, you may get a bit shredded.”

Tuffin is, however, concerned about the security risks associated with storing sensitive data on an RFID implant.

“They are now at the point where they can be cloned, so it’s a potential security issue if you use it for entry to your house, or if you just have someone come up to you and read the information,” he says.

Because most of the standard RFID implants are not encrypted, they are vulnerable to being read by unauthorised third-party scanners.

Mark Gasson, a British scientist and cybernetics expert, was one of the first people to have an RFID chip implanted. In 2010, Gasson infected his own implant with a computer virus and then wirelessly transmitted this virus to other systems in his research centre, effectively becoming the first human to be infected by a computer virus. Gasson urges anyone considering an implant to do plenty of research.

Tuffin says people should be careful about the equipment they use.

“You don’t want to accidentally pick up a pet chipping kit and find out that you’ve welded this little glass ampoule into your hand,” he says.

Whether you’re an amateur hobbyist interested in freeing up pocket space by making your key chain obsolete, or a hard-core biohacker looking to blur the line between man and machine, human augmentation is a concept that, though in its infancy, has untapped potential.

May 2015

23

FEATURES

Funds to help stop violence Helene Lambetsos

D

omestic violence support centres offer aid to women and children who are victims of abuse, but these lifelines are suffering from a lack of resources.

“We turn people away on a daily basis,” Patricia Giles Centre manager Amber Williams says.

The centre offers accommodation, counselling and support to women and children escaping domestic violence.

“There’s not enough counselling for kids,” the centre’s chief executive officer Kedy Kristal says. “There’s not enough beds in the metropolitan area, particularly for women and children.”

What looks from the outside like a unit block plays home to up to six families at a time. From the inside, the centre is as non-clinical and homely as possible — to make distressed clients feel at ease.

On this particular afternoon, Williams and Kristal are enjoying a slight lull in traffic after a busy morning. They completed two client assessments earlier, refusing to accommodate one of them.

The decision to turn women and children away is not unusual.

Between 2013 and 2014 the centre accommodated 62 women and 85 children, but turned away 287 and 391 respectively because of a lack of resources.

A new centre being built in Ellenbrook could soon help to reduce the demand for domestic violence services in WA. The centre, a $2 million partnership between the Department of Child Protection and Family Support and the Department of Housing, is set to receive additional funding over the next four years.

Department for Child Protection and Family Support director general Emma White says the new centre should be up and running by early 2016.

“Women will be referred to the refuge through the department, the police and other domestic violence services as well as self-referrals,” she says.

White says the centre will offer five units in a secure location, with outreach services provided to families in the accommodation.

“The new service will also work proactively with women and children so they can live safely at home and reduce their need to access refuge accommodation,” she says.

According to the Australian Institute of Criminology, 23 per cent of homi-

cide victims in Australia are killed by a person classified as an “intimate partner”.

Most of these victims were killed in the family home, making crisis accommodation centres even more crucial.

The high rate of high-profile domestic violence cases this year, such as the case in which Leila Alavi was allegedly stabbed to death by her estranged husband in January, has led many groups to call for more action from governments.

Federally, this call has been answered with a $30 million domestic violence campaign. On a state level, the Ellenbrook project is the first part of a two-part State Government promise to provide new crisis and accommodation centres.

With the rate of reporting of domestic violence increasing, Kristal says more crisis and accommodation centres will be crucial.

“The more we raise the profile of domestic violence in the community, the more women will come forward and report,” she says.

“Unless we actually raise the number of services to manage that initial reporting response, all we’re doing is raising it. Women are coming forward, and there’s no service for them. There’s no safe place to give them, there’s no counselling for them, no counselling for the children.”

“It will help, every little bit helps, but it’s still not going to meet the demand” Though the new centre will help, it may not be enough, Williams says.

“It will help, every little bit helps, but it’s still not going to meet the demand,” she says.

“In a whole range of areas in relation to sexual assault and domestic violence, WA is quite under-resourced.”

WA is not the only state experiencing a rise in domestic violence cases.

Victoria has seen an increase of more than 70 per cent, according to Rape and Domestic Violence Services executive officer Karen Willis.

“All services across Australia are experiencing a massive increase in demand. As we talk more and more about domestic violence, more and more people will feel that if they come forward and talk about the experiences they’ve either had in the past or are having now, that they’re going to lead to resources and support,” she says.

“And that’s absolutely brilliant, but what needs to happen by all states and territories and at a federal level is there

OPEN ARMS: Kedy Kristal and Amber Williams are happy to provide support.

AN ESCAPE: Crisis centre is home to victims of domestic violence.

needs to be considerably more resources put into increasing capacities of existing centres to meet that demand.”

While crisis centres play a key role in ensuring the safety and wellbeing of domestic violence victims, Kristal and Williams say preventive education is vital.

A recent survey of 3000 respondents about their attitudes towards relationships and domestic violence revealed one in three people between the ages of 12 and 24 did not consider exerting control over someone was a form of violence.

One in four thought a man slapping his girlfriend wasn’t serious if he was drunk.

The survey was conducted as part of The Line, a campaign educating young people about respectful relationships and domestic violence.

Kristal says the survey highlights the

need for young people to be targeted in domestic violence campaigns.

“There’s data that says, in any year in Australia, there’s 1.9 million children in an age range between zero and six that will be impacted by domestic and family violence,” she says.

“It's great that we’re starting to do it in high schools, but we really need to start doing it much, much earlier.”

Williams says domestic violence education is crucial for younger people. “It needs to start in primary schools,” she says.

“It’s better to be proactive, than trying to fix things up afterwards.”

Willis, too, says a change in attitudes and behaviour is needed.

“We can have the best services in the universe, but the problem is by the time the services kick in it’s already too late, the violence has already occurred.

So what we need to do is prevent the

PHOTO: Kira Carlin. A COMFORTABLE HOME: The Patricia Giles Centre.

PHOTO: Kira Carlin.

violence,” she says.

Whether it’s crisis and accommodation centres, education for students, or awareness campaigns to make victims comfortable enough to come forward, Australia is trying to fix the ongoing issue of domestic violence.

Willis says there is no easy solution.

“A child can go to a respectful relationship class at 10, and then walk into the playground and get bullied.

Then walk into a classroom and have a teacher who uses power and control, and then go home to a domestic violence situation, so the good work that might have been done in that class in the morning has just been undone,” she says.

“We need to be working at all sections of society.”

Anyone experiencing domestic violence can call the Rape and Domestic Violence Services on 1800 737 732.

PHOTO: Kira Carlin.

May 2015

24

SPORT FEATURE

The toll of elite swimming

MISSING OUT: Competition rules over a social life.

Saxon Durrant

“I

’m not going to miss the feeling of not being good enough and doubting myself to the point until it feels as though it’s affecting every part of my life,” Adelaide Hart says, maintaining eye contact.

It seems improbable these types of feelings could be held by someone representing her country in a sport that she loves. For Hart, 20, a triple gold medallist at the 2011 Youth Commonwealth Games, these feelings are common.

They are among the key reasons she is quitting the sport after 12 years of hard work, abandoning her dream of making a senior Australian swimming squad. Five years ago, things weren’t as gloomy. Hart was touted as the next big thing in Australian swimming in The West Australian.

“She may not be a household name, but if the status of Australian swimmers whose records have been shattered by Adelaide Hart is any indication it is only a matter of time,” sports reporter Dale Miller wrote on August 9, 2010.

Time has now run out.

The general public sees little of the work our professional athletes put in. They see the glory of the

race, the joy and the happiness experienced by the winners and medallists.

They are also watching when it all goes bad because of things like depression, in the case of Ian Thorpe, or the use of sleeping pills.

They don’t see the countless hours those athletes spend in the pool, nor do they know about the huge sacrifices each of them has made over several years just to be able to swim a split second faster.

A 2014 study by the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport reported 46 per cent of the 224 Australian elite athletes who responded to a survey experienced symptoms of at least one mental health problem.

Depression symptoms were the most common and were present in 27 per cent of respondents, while others suffered from a range of problems, including eating disorders and anxiety.

Injured athletes had higher levels of

PHOTO: Saxon Durrant.

both symptoms of depression and generalised anxiety disorder.

Adelaide Hart first managed to tread water when she was five.

She laughs about having taken swimming lessons because her parents didn’t want her to drown.

Her instructor said she had natural talent and, at the age of eight, she joined a swimming squad.

Hart made junior national teams at the ages of 14 and 15, and brought home three gold and three silver medals from the Youth Commonwealth Games in 2011.

All was well until February 2014, when an injury forced her out of the pool for 10 weeks. She started thinking about giving up. Now, more than a year after the injury, she’s made the decision.

“I’m finished with my career, but I don’t regret my career,” she says.

“I think, over a period of time, I have let a number of things slowly get to me and it has subsequently affected my confidence and my selfbelief. Those two things have been dying away and right now it’s got to the part where I can’t come back from that. It’s very hard to have motivation when you have no self-belief and, in turn, it’s very hard to train and get up in the morning.”

Hart’s decision to quit has also affected her immediate family. Her dad Jon has been heavily involved in Hart’s professional swimming career and both parents are somewhat disappointed at Hart’s decision.

“I still feel that she’s got swimming left in her at an elite level,” Jon says. “I think she’ll look back and go, ‘I wish I could go back and have a bit more of a dig at it’.”

Jon says, however, it’s more important that his daughter does what makes her happy. The family is well aware of the pressures on elite athletes and they’re pleased that pressure has been removed.

Others, however, are still fighting.

Damian Fyfe, 17, has already represented Australia four times at swimming and will soon do it all again at the Junior World Championships in Singapore.

He hopes to make it into a senior Australian squad one day.

Fyfe is used to the pressure that comes with international competition, but admits it’s still tough to cope.

He has seen a psychologist to address demotivation issues and says he often thinks about quitting. He has to think about what he has achieved and what is ahead just to keep himself on track.

Sports psychologist Shayne Hanks says ath-

letes will often quit if they haven’t got the right balance between life and sport.

“If you have a bucket full of energy, you take a scoop for training, a scoop for work, and a scoop for study, pretty soon that bucket gets pretty empty unless you’re putting something back into that,” Hanks says.

He says athletes can refill the bucket by simply catching up with family and friends or going to the beach.

Some athletes don’t put enough into the improvement of their mental skills.

“I didn’t go to a lot of social things. I didn’t get to hang out with my friends a lot of the time” “When I talk with athletes, I’ll ask them what percentage is mental at the top of your sport, and they’ll give me an 80 per cent figure,” he says.

“So I ask them, ‘how many hours per week do you train physically and in the gym?’

“Technically, they might say, ‘I train 20 hours physically’ and yet you think; 80 per cent of your performance is predicated on your mental performance.

“So then I say, ‘how many hours a week do you train mentally?’, and that’s a question that goes down like

a lead balloon because most people in that room wouldn’t be able to point to a couple of hours per week where they are doing any type of mental training.”

The pursuit to be the best often comes at a high cost.

Swimming and training for more than 20 hours a week is not only mentally and physically draining, but when combined with high school, university or paid work, it leaves little time for anything else in life. Despite the social sacrifices, Fyfe says it’s all worth it.

For the swimmers who never reach the pinnacle of their sport, perhaps it’s not worth it. They have made the same sacrifices, but never tasted glory.

Hart remembers all the social and educational sacrifices she made when she started high school.

“I didn’t go to a lot of social things.

I didn’t get to hang out with my friends a lot of the time,” she says.

“You can’t work, especially if you want to pursue study, it’s really difficult to work. Some people can do, but generally those people that can manage paid work as well as study don’t get to an elite level or the level that they want to achieve.”

The thought of moving on from swimming scares Hart.

While she has completed year 12 and is studying communications and media part time at Notre Dame University, her tone suggests she doesn’t know what lies ahead. Adelaide Hart, in her own words, is a “complex character that doesn’t know herself yet”.

STASH OF PRIDE: Hart’s collection of medals.

PHOTO: Saxon Durrant.

May 2015

25

SPORT

Clubs defend big payments

Nicole Schreck Rural football clubs claim they need to pay players to keep their teams strong.

Boyup Brook Football Club president David Inglis said offering to pay players who had moved to Perth gave them a chance to “come back and still play footy for their local club”.

South Bunbury Football Club general manager Larry Gleeson said clubs had to pay players to keep them.

“Most of your top money earners would be from Perth,” he said.

“Your good local players get paid … otherwise they’ll move to another club in the same area where they can get more money.”

Claremont Football Club operations manager Darcy Coffey said paying players was a good way for country clubs to hold on to local players who had moved to Perth for work.

Players who wanted to further their

football career had to play in Perth, he said.

“Unfortunately, they have to move to the city to compete in state level footy, which can be a drain on country towns and what they’re doing,” he said.

Mr Inglis said Boyup Brook players were paid an average of about $250 a game while Mr Gleeson said South Bunbury spent up to $80,000 on player payments each year.

Mr Coffey said football helped keep communities alive.

“I understand sport is a huge part of community clubs and they need their footy going to create and maintain a vibrant community,” he said.

“Some guys want to stay at home and play in their country towns, which is fantastic. It contributes to a real vibrant community atmosphere.

“It’s when they’re probably dragging them away from an opportunity is when it becomes a problem.”

FINANCIAL GAIN: Players are often paid to play country footy.

Barbagallo Raceway general manager John Clark said the circuit was a better venue for V8 Supercars than street circuits because the raceway had permanent infrastructure.

“A street circuit is all about temporary infrastructure and a lot of money is spent on the event,” he said.

“It is not utilised for other motorsport throughout the year.”

The WA leg of the 2015 V8 Supercar championships was held at Barbagallo Raceway in early May. Mr Clark said negotiations with Tourism WA were underway to secure the future of the Barbagallo race.

“We have been negotiating with them for the last eight months, looking

at a five-year contract moving forward,” he said.

Mr Clark said the WA Sporting Car Club spent $13 million on upgrading Barbagallo.

“There were new pit garages for the V8, a new media centre, new timing and control system and a new administration block, as well, to service all those requirements,” he said.

Barbagallo Raceway was upgraded after V8 Supercars officials left Perth off the 2010 championship series calendar.

Mr Clark said crowd numbers for the Barbagallo V8 Supercar race were steady.

“It attracts between 40,000 and 50,000 people per year,” he said.

PHOTO: Joshua Diong.

No second chances for Perth Supercar drivers at Barbagallo

Tim Walker Negotiations are underway to extend Perth’s V8 Supercars contract.

There will, however, not be a second race in Perth each season, according to the sport’s governing body.

V8 Supercars communications general manager Cole Hitchcock said holding a second round each year at Barbagallo Raceway was not financially viable.

“Street circuits are generally good for two things,” he said.

“It brings the racing closer to the people, that is always an advantage, and sometimes it provides more spectacular racing.”

HELPING HAND: Regional clubs lack court hire.

PHOTO: Cam Findlay.

Lack of court hire revenue hurts country tennis clubs Louis Zambotto

SPEEDING AWAY: No second round at Barbagallo racetrack.

PHOTO: Safiah Rind.

The ability to attract new members is crucial to country tennis clubs because they do not bring in the court hire fees that city clubs receive, according to regional and metropolitan clubs.

Manjimup’s Ringbark Tennis Club, based 6km from the town, is closing its existing clubhouse because of falling membership numbers.

Club president Stewart Learmonth said the club had no junior members and eight senior members. In 2010, it had 20 senior members.

Mr Learmonth said regional clubs depended “almost completely on memberships” because few people hired their courts.

“It’s the membership that brings in the dollars,” he said.

Leederville Tennis Club president Michael Harris said his club had seen its membership fall from 400 in the 1990s to 150 members today.

He said city clubs relied more on court hire than on memberships to cover their expenses.

“We’ve got six courts under lights now and a good percentage of our expenditure is covered by the court hire money,” he said.

According to Tennis West, more

than 180 affiliated tennis clubs exist in regional and metropolitan WA, with almost 19,000 playing members.

Tennis West chief executive officer Geoff Quinlan said regional clubs needed volunteer coaches to encourage juniors to play tennis.

“It is really important our regional clubs are healthy and vibrant, and they are offering community benefit,” he said.

“There’s not enough of a population to have a qualified tennis coach, so that can be delivered by volunteers.”

Mr Quinlan said programs like ANZ Tennis Hot Shots and the National Schools Partnership Program had been set up to encourage young players to pick up a racquet.

Two-thirds of WA clubs are based in regional areas, according to Tennis West. Mr Quinlan said there had been little change in the number of tennis clubs in WA. “In 2010, we had 121 country clubs and associations and that’s remained steady through to 2015, where we’ve got 122,” he said.

“With our metropolitan clubs and associations, we had 67 in 2012, whereas in 2015 we had 68.

“Those numbers have been relatively constant, with minor fluctuations from 2010 through to 2015.”

May 2015

26

SPORT

Perth Spirit not dampened Tim Walker

The Perth Spirit’s 2015 campaign will not be affected by the poor performance of its Super Rugby partner Western Force, according to Rugby WA officials.

The Spirit made the grand final in the first season of the National Rugby Championship in 2014 after the Force recorded its best season in the Super Rugby Championship with a record of nine wins and seven losses.

The Force, however, has won just two matches in Super Rugby this season and is out of contention for the finals.

The National Rugby Championship includes only Australian teams, while the Super Rugby Championship features teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

Perth Spirit general manager Andrew Hill said the Force and the Spirit had different goals.

“While it is nice to be successful in everything you put your hand up to be in, they are two very different competitions and there are two different reasons for competing,” he said.

“The Force is about trying to compete at the highest possible level that we can and the Perth Spirit, while we want to win, is about developing play-

GOOD SPIRITS: Perth Spirit unaffected by poor Western Force season.

ers and bringing people through from local competition.”

Rugby WA chief executive officer Mark Sinderberry said Super Rugby form would not provide any guidance as to how a National Rugby team might perform.

Mr Sinderberry said the Spirit provided local players with a pathway to Super Rugby.

“This competition is an important opportunity for our club players to play alongside our Super Rugby representatives and broaden the base of local players that will be pushing to eventually play Super Rugby,” he said.

Six players who represented the

Safety updates needed at track — father

PHOTO: Supplied.

A father whose son died in an accident at WA’s Barbagallo Raceway wants the State Government to fund safety upgrades at the track.

Scott Elliott’s 24-year-old son Cameron was killed in a motorcycling accident on Christmas Day in 2009.

Cameron crashed on turn six and was launched into the barrier, which was made from earth-moving tyres.

Mr Elliott said his son’s death could have been prevented if the barrier was a sand bank.

“The injuries he sustained prior to hitting the concrete wall were fairly minor,” he said. “He fractured both wrists and had a fractured rib, which he would’ve completely recovered from.

“When you get slammed into a solid barrier that is like concrete, being earth

moving tyres, he suffered a massive brain injury.”

Mr Elliott has started a petition on Change.org calling for State Government funding to improve the raceway and remove the earth-moving tyres.

The petition has attracted more than 1000 signatures.

Motorcycling Western Australia executive director Rick Gill said his group was responsible for licensing and the safety of tracks around the state.

“All the tracks that we operate are compliant with the standard that we set in place, but the standards are a minimum standard,” he said.

Barbagallo Raceway general manager John Clark said many upgrades had been made to improve the raceway.

“There has been considerable track safety upgrades over the last several years, with increases in length of run-off

have three young kids that don’t play in our first 11 sitting on the bench, but the kids that aren’t selected in our squad are playing in the competition,” he said.

“I just don’t quite see how that works.

“At the end of the day, it’s a trial and we will see how it all goes.”

Australian Cricketers Association chief executive officer Alistair Nicholson said assembling the right coaching team for the Cricket Australia XI was crucial.

“The resourcing, coaching and management of the team will obviously have to overcome the challenges associated with players being assembled from different states, perhaps being less experienced,” he said.

Marsh said the new team would not make WA’s task of defending the title

any more difficult.

“We will just prepare the best we possibly can and we will pick the best 11 players that we have got to play each week and we will go from there,” he said.

“The seventh team in won’t affect us at all because we will have our best 15 players in our squad.”

Mr Nicholson said the association tentatively supported the introduction of the new team.

“The ACA supports the initiative of an additional team in the Matador Cup to the extent that it is an opportunity for greater numbers of our members to compete in one of our premier domestic competitions,” he said.

The Cricket Australia XI is the first team to join the competition since the ACT Comets played their last game in the 1999-2000 season.

GEARING UP: Young players set the stage.

NUMBER 52: Cameron Elliot riding his bike.

New cricket team raises Marsh ire The recent addition of a seventh team into cricket’s domestic 50-over competition is unfair to each state’s fringe players, according to WA assistant coach Geoff Marsh.

Cricket Australia announced in May that a new team, called the Cricket Australia XI, would join the competition next summer as part of a two-year trial.

The team will comprise players who missed out on selection for their state and members of the National Performance Squad.

Marsh said young players would be given the chance to test themselves in the competition, but he was concerned about the selection process.

“The states pick their 15 and we

Perth’s suburban clubs.

Mr Sinderberry said the Rugby World Cup would allow younger players an opportunity to play in the NRC when the stronger players were on duty with the Wallabies.

“While some of the Wallaby players that did play some part in last year’s National Rugby Championship may not be involved due to their World Cup commitments, it provides additional opportunities for our next generation of Wallaby players to get their opportunities at this level,” he said.

The Rugby World Cup will be held in England this year, from September 18 to November 1.

PHOTOS: Supplied.

Abbey Donaldson

Tim Walker

Spirit last season earned full-time contracts with the Western Force in 2015.

Mr Hill said the Spirit’s success could be attributed to a mix of players from local rugby clubs and the Western Force.

“The key to being successful is we have a really good combination of that young talent and some of the experienced guys playing in the NRC,” he said.

“It’s important we do well, and it's important we bring the young talent to give opportunities to people that deserve them.”

The Spirit used 42 players last season, 19 of whom were provided by

sand traps at the highest speed corners,” he said.

Mr Clark said new track edging was organised in consultation with motorcycle user groups.

“This new edge surface allows participants who run off the circuit to maintain control and slow down in a safe manner,” he said.

“As with any sport there is an element of risk. With this in mind, continual improvement, whether it be safety or general facility improvements, is what we strive for, to allow all users a safer, more enjoyable venue to participate on.”

Mr Elliott said he still rode his motorcycle at the circuit.

“In some ways, I feel like I’ve got a second career because I’m riding for my son because he missed out on it,” he said.

“So I ride for him. I’ve got the sticker on my bike ‘riding for you number 52’.”

PHOTO: Pierra Willix.

May 2015

27

SPORT

WA cyclists compete for gold Sean Harken

GOLDFIELDS CYCLASSIC: Prize money attracts more competitors.

PHOTO: Daniel Morris.

A $40,000 prize pool is attracting more riders to the Goldfields Cyclassic, according to Cycle Sport WA. Cycle Sport WA operations manager Toby Hodgson said he expected more riders to take part in this year’s event.

“All events around Perth and WA in terms of our racing have been growing by 10 to 20 per cent over the last two years,” he said.

“Last year there was 172, so we are anticipating 200 riders.”

Mr Hodgson said the prize money attracted national teams to the event.

Eastern Goldfields Cycle Club secretary Deborah Miles said the total prize money was split between two stages, with about $20,000 for each.

“It’s the richest cycle race in the whole of Australia,” she said.

“It offers the most prize money.”

Mr Hodgson said he hoped to break the Pinjarra Classic record of 225 riders.

The annual Goldfields Cyclassic is a two-stage event in which cyclists first ride from Kalgoorlie-Boulder to Menzies, then from Menzies to Leonora.

Ms Miles said the outback experience would test competitors’ skill and endurance.

“It’s two days, 132km on the first day and 103km on the next,” she said.

“If you’re a cyclist it’s also a real challenge.

“It’s a whole experience. It’s not just another cycle race.”

Riders are graded for the event, different grades starting at different times.

Mr Hodgson said the aim of the grading system was to ensure all competitors could finish near each other.

“There is a moment in time - last year it was about 10km out from the finish - when all the grades came together,” he said.

“Then you have around 150 people riding in a large group, like the Tour De France, and those stronger riders are going to take off.”

Last year’s A-grade winner Sam Welsford said the use of grading meant the sprint to the finish was “quite hairy”.

“Because it was so short until the finish, we had a massive peloton with over 150 for the sprint,” he said.

Welsford said starting after other competitors made him nervous.

“It’s actually pretty nerve-racking when you see their groups going off 30 minutes beforehand and you’re thinking ‘how am I going to catch them?’” he said.

The Goldfields Cyclassic will be held on May 30 and 31.

Gymnast’s balancing act to make Olympic team Tim Walker

STATE GAME: Ryan Davis played for WA this year.

PHOTO: Kira Carlin.

State football here to stay — WA coach Tim Walker

The state game will remain a part of the WAFL fixture but its success will not help state of origin football return at AFL level, according to WAFL state coach Darren Harris.

Harris, a former assistant coach at West Coast, said more importance was placed on club football than on representative football at the top level.

State of original football would probably prove popular among supporters, he said.

“The chance to have that would be great, the diehards would love to see it,” Harris said.

Harris said WAFL players still wanted to represent their state.

“Every year, the players want to play for their state,” he said.

“I’d be hoping there is a state game

every year, and we get the chance to see who is the best state.”

Of the 25 players selected to represent the WAFL team that defeated the SANFL by 45 points in May, 14 had AFL experience.

“We have got all volunteers in this state squad, there are no conscripts,” he said.

“The more chances we give the players to play at the most elite level they can play at, the better.”

Swan Districts and WAFL representative team player Ryan Davis, who played 14 games for West Coast between 2008 and 2009, said he would like to see the return of state of origin football.

“It would be a great fixture to bring back into the season between all the states,” he said.

Harris said he saw the state game as a chance to give back to football in Western Australia.

A young athlete has set her sights on competing at the Olympic Games in Rio De Janeiro in 2016, but is struggling to balance her gymnastics career with her high school studies.

Amy Quinn, who represented Australia at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, said making the Olympic Games required determination, motivation and discipline.

“Balancing school and my sport definitely hasn’t been easy in the past,” Quinn said.

“I train six days a week for a total of at least 20 hours.”

Quinn said she found it difficult to balance sport with school.

“I often find gymnastics more stressful and harder than school,” she said.

“Studying and schoolwork is more of a way for me to unwind from gym, but gymnastics is definitely a way to take my mind off other things.”

Quinn, who suffered two stress fractures in her foot earlier this year, was reluctant to speculate on her chances of being selected for the Olympics.

“I don’t really want to think too much about Rio, as I don’t want to get my hopes up too much,” she said.

“There is a lot of tough competition in order to be on the Olympic team, as only one Australian rhythmic gymnast gets to go.”

Quinn finished second in the Australian National Championships in 2014, 23rd in the individual event at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, and was the leading Australian for two of her four routines at the 2014 World Championships in Turkey.

Her mother Linda said Quinn had the discipline to succeed at both school and gymnastics.

“Amy is very disciplined and focused. She wants to achieve in both areas and this requires complete dedication,” Ms Quinn said.

“Things like socialising with friends, parties, watching TV, school camps and outings are just a few of the things she is unable to do.”

PHOTO: Supplied.

RIO BOUND: Amy Quinn has Olympic aspirations.

Quinn was ordered to spend more prepare her sufficiently for Gymnastics than 10 weeks in recovery after the Australia to consider selecting her for injuries to her foot.

World Championships,” she said.

She said she coped with the pain Quinn said representing Australia for a few competitions, but needed at the Olympic Games would be a treatment to compete at the Australian fantastic experience.

Championships and, potentially, the “This year, the top Australian at World Championships in Germany in the World Championships is going to September. be the 2016 Australian Rio Olympic Linda Quinn said her daughter had representative, which, of course, plenty of support. would be my ultimate goal,” she said.

“She has a very good team surrounding “It would be incredible to be called her at the West Australian Institute of an Australian Olympian. It would be a Sport and they are doing their best to dream come true.”

MAY 2015 – Volume 21 No 2

Sport Elite swimmers

24

State tennis

25

Son's legacy

26

Balancing act

27

Lessons for junior footballers page

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Ed Nixon

ROLE MODELS: Junior players copy their heroes.

PHOTO: Pierra Wilix.

Race to riches Kristie Lim An increase in prize money for major WA horse races is designed to attract elite competitors from the Eastern States, according to racing authorities.

Prize money for both the Winterbottom Stakes and the Kingston Town Classic has been doubled to $1 million, while the money available for the WA Guineas has increased from $400,000 to $500,000.

Racing and Wagering WA thoroughbred racing manager David Hunter said the aim was to attract interest from Eastern States horse owners and to increase attendance on race days.

Mr Hunter said increased prize money would also encourage owners to invest in yearlings in the hope of

winning higher stakes in future.

WA Racehorse Owners Association president Harvey Crossman said it was difficult to attract top horses to WA without big prize money being offered.

“We’ve got to have depth in the field and unfortunately, we don’t have enough horses in WA who are probably Group 1 standard,” Mr Crossman said.

Mr Crossman said WA horses fared well when racing against horses that had come from the east.

“WA horses have been very competitive,” he said.

“It’s not easy for Eastern States horses to come over and win because it’s a long trip they’ve got to fly over and acclimatise here.”

Mr Hunter said it was vital for WA to increase the profile of its top races.

AND THEY'RE OFF: The stakes have been raised.

Junior footballers need to be educated about unacceptable, violent behaviour on the football field, according to a sports psychologist.

University of Western Australia sports psychology senior lecturer Ben Jackson said parents and coaches should educate juniors to replicate only the sportsmanlike behaviours of their role models.

“If they see someone, for example, being violent on a field and get praise for that, it is more likely to influence their behaviour,” he said.

“The emphasis is on parents and coaches to explain to juniors about taking the good behaviours from role models and understanding the ‘not so good’ behaviours, while educating them about those negative behaviours

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and how they can avoid them.”

Dr Jackson said elite players often overlooked the impact they had on junior players.

“Professional sports people sometimes forget the position they have in terms of how youths look up to them,” he said. “Psychology theory would tell us that youths will watch professionals … and will look at the reactions that they get for what they do.”

A 2013 University of Melbourne study found an excessive focus on sport was likely to produce belowstandard performance and personal results from sports people.

Joondalup Kinross Junior Football Club Auskick coaching co-ordinator Sheldon Gault said football should take a back seat to developing character in juniors.

“If you can create a fun environ-

GOLD RUSH: More money will bring more competitors.

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ment and you’ve got a place the kids want to be at, then respect for the game is going to fall into place after that,” he said.

Gault said junior players copied the on-field actions of their role models.

They were unlikely to copy their offfield actions, he said.

“If you talk to kids at Auskick games, they will talk about what they saw on the football last night on TV or they will talk about their favourite player,” he said.

“You might see a player on the weekend kick a snapshot over their shoulder because they saw their favourite player do that.”

Dr Jackson said AFL clubs now conducted psychological tests before recruiting a player to see whether they could cope with the emotional demands of being an AFL player.

PHOTO: Daniel Morris.

PHOTO: Daniel Morris.