Wendy Hillman

Grey Nomads travelling in Queensland, Australia: social and health needs

ABSTRACT At any time of the year, and particularly in the colder months of the southern part of the Australian continent, many caravans and mobile homes can be seen on the roads of northern Australia, and Queensland, in particular. Mainly during June, July, August and September, Grey Nomads frequent the northern half of Australia, to escape the colder climate of southern Australia. The term Grey Nomad is applied to the section of the older Australian population who use their retirement years as a time to experience travel once freed from the constraints of work and family commitments. This paper draws on research conducted about the health and social needs of Grey Nomads holidaying in a Central Queensland, Australia, coastal location. Open-ended, semi-structured interviews were undertaken with 20 participants. Contingency plans concerning wellness, wellbeing and medical conditions all formed a part of the Grey Nomads’ daily existence while travelling. Many important and lasting friendships and social support networks were formed during the journeying and sojourning phases of the travel. Many of the Grey Nomads interviewed felt the need to keep in contact with home, even though they willingly chose to leave it, and to be ‘away’. Just as the Grey Nomad cohort have concerns and solutions about their health and related issues, so too, they have concerns for social networks and family connectedness while travelling in Australia.

Veblen and the theory of the backpacker leisure class status seeking and emulation in the Australian contemporary tourist economy

In 1899 Thorstein Veblen wrote a seminal monograph on the subject of consumption and leisure. His work, The Theory of the Leisure Class, is one of the most enduring examples of status-seeking individuals� conspicuous consumption and conspicuous leisure practices, particularly when applied to the tourist industry, and furthermore, is still relevant in today�s economic climate. This article develops an independent theory of backpackers and how they can be perceived as undertaking conspicuous consumption and conspicuous leisure practices. This is done using Veblen�s work as a foundation. Qualitative methods using in-depth interviews and participant observation techniques are employed to obtain data from 41 participants. The findings serve to highlight the fact that Veblen�s thesis is as relevant today as it was when it was written in 1899.

Families on the Fringe: Mental Health Implications of the Movement of Young Families to Non-metropolitan Areas

Abstract Over the past three decades, thousands of young families have moved from large cities to non-metropolitan areas of Australia. This is one of the major demographic shifts underway in Australia and demands urgent policy attention. Despite the various impetuses towards relocation, little is known about how these families fare in their new environments. This paper draws on a 3-year study of the experiences of young families who move to regional, rural and remote areas conducted in two states using interviews with parents and service providers. The parent interviews suggest that relocation, regardless of the reason for migration, has the potential to adversely affect mental well-being (through loss of social connections and exclusion from their new community). This is even more so for those with pre-existing mental health problems due to their non-acceptance by the new community and inadequate access to support services. Service providers indicated that the migration of young families to rural and remote communities is placing additional demand on already stretched health and other services. The paper concludes with a discussion of potential strategies to lessen the negative impacts on the mental and social well-being of young families moving to non-metropolitan areas.

‘Risky business’: The future for female trekking guides in Nepal

Over the years, much has been researched on male trekking guides, the trekking industry and male dominated and led tours. Research is lacking on female-only advancements made in this industry, and the risks that female guides experience daily. The research comes from face-to-face semi-structured interviews with 10 female trekking guides from Nepal. The interviews were undertaken with female guides employed by the ‘3 Sisters Adventure’ trekking agency to ascertain the risks and safety issues for female trekking guides in the Himalayas. Findings suggest that female guides do indeed face risks and safety issues when guiding treks. More recently, female trekking guides have begun to carve their own niche within current Nepali tourism enterprises and into the future.

Factors Associated with the Climate Change Vulnerability and the Adaptive Capacity of People with Disability: A Systematic Review

AbstractPeople with disability experience multidimensional inequalities, which heighten their vulnerability to climate change. An understanding of the vulnerability and adaptive capacity of people with disability can be gained through considering how they have fared during the types of events associated with climate change, such as droughts, floods, heat waves, hurricanes, and wildfires. A systematic review was conducted to identify factors associated with climate change vulnerability and adaptive capacity of people with disability. Papers were sourced from 12 electronic databases, the Google search engine, the websites of 21 organizations, and the reference lists of included papers; 34 papers (relating to 28 studies) met the selection criteria. Most studies were located in the United States, and almost half were focused on hurricane events. Factors contributing to vulnerability included personal factors (e.g., female gender, uncoupled or living alone, nonwhite ethnicity, and low income), environmental fa...

The invisible students with disabilities in the Australian education system

Purpose There has been very little empirical research for the need to identify the importance of an inclusive territory of commonality for “invisible” students with disabilities in Australian education testing, such as the National Assessment Program-Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN). The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach The research methodology used a cross-sectional mixed methods, deductive quantitative, an inductive qualitative, functionalist perspective and interpretivist perspective from internet secondary data analysis. This was undertaken to investigate the government functionalist macrosociology of Australian education to the detriment of the microsociology debate of students with disabilities, for inclusive education and social justice. Findings This finding showed vastly underestimated numbers of students with disabilities in Australian schools experienced through “gatekeeping”, non-participation in NAPLAN testing and choices of schools, resulting in poor educational outcomes and work-readiness. Social implications The research findings showed that functionalism of Australian education is threatening not only social order, well-being and resilience of an innovative Australian economy through welfare dependency; but also depriving people with disabilities of social equality and empowerment against poverty brought about by a lack of education and of the human right to do a decent job. Originality/value The study provided a critical evaluation of the weaknesses of government functionalism; specifically the relationship between the dualism of macro and micro perspectives, which promotes the existence of “invisible” students with disabilities in education, despite government legislation purporting an inclusive education for all students.

Book Reviews : LEISURE AND FEMINIST THEORY Betsy Wearing London, Sage, 1998, xvi, 207 pp.,

one MP) are in fact discourses in the Foucauldian sense. This is not to suggest that the views expressed by MPs are not fascinating and important, but to raise the question of how far the Foucauldian analysis succeeds when applied to the shifting and partisan nature of political speech. Sullivan is concerned to define terms and concepts rigorously, and perhaps her notion of sexual culture (p. 5) could be expanded