Neuropsychiatric services in Australia and New Zealand

2020 ◽  
pp. 531-536
Author(s):  
Greg Finucane ◽  
Adith Mohan ◽  
Perminder S. Sachdev
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
New South ◽  
Community Management ◽  
Short Stay ◽  
Royal Melbourne Hospital ◽  
Hub And Spoke ◽  
State Institutions ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Inpatient Units

In New Zealand and Australia, until recently, neuropsychiatric patients with disorders like Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, or Huntington’s disease were generally treated in state institutions, and there has been an axiomatic shift to short-stay inpatient units and community management, often with insufficient resources. This chapter explores the provision of adult neuropsychiatric services in the Australasian public health sectors and the current inadequacies in its planning frameworks. Divided by region, the facets of the main neuropsychiatric bodies in each are explored such as the Neuropsychiatric Institute (NPI) in New South Wales and the Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH) Neuropsychiatry Unit. While there are a number of centres in Australasia that satisfy the ‘hub’ requirement of the ‘hub and spoke’ model recommended for the implementation of neuropsychiatric services, the ‘spokes’ are inconsistently developed, leading to patchy provision across the countries.

Lecanactis (Roccellaceae) in Tasmania, with the description of a new saxicolous species and a revised key for the genus in Australia

2021 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-101
Author(s):  
Gintaras Kantvilas
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
New South ◽  
First Record ◽  
New Taxon ◽  
European Species ◽  
Australian Species ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Distribution And Ecology ◽  
Tasmanian Endemic ◽  
First Time

AbstractThe lichen genus Lecanactis Körb. in Tasmania comprises six species: L. abietina (Ach.) Körb., which is widespread and pan-temperate; L. latispora Egea & Torrente and L. neozelandica Egea & Torrente, both shared with New Zealand and with the former recorded here from the Auckland Islands for the first time; L. mollis (Stirt.) Frisch & Ertz, shared with Victoria and New Zealand; L. aff. dilleniana (Ach.) Körb., a European species recorded provisionally for Tasmania on the basis of several sterile collections; L. scopulicola Kantvilas, which is described here as new to science and apparently a Tasmanian endemic. This new taxon occurs in rocky underhangs and is characterized by a thick, leprose thallus containing schizopeltic acid, and 3-septate ascospores, 19–30 × 4.5–6 μm. Short descriptions and a discussion of distribution and ecology are given for all species. A key for all 11 Australian species of the genus is provided, including L. subfarinosa (C. Knight) Hellb. and L. tibelliana Egea & Torrente, which are recorded for Australia for the first time, and L. platygraphoides (Müll.Arg.) Zahlbr., a first record for New South Wales. Lecanactis spermatospora Egea & Torrente and L. sulphurea Egea & Torrente are also included.

scholarly journals “No Entry into New South Wales”: COVID-19 and the Historic and Contemporary Trajectories of the Effects of Border Closures on an Australian Cross-Border Community

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 610
Author(s):  
Dirk H. R. Spennemann
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Economic Impact ◽  
New South ◽  
Community Integration ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
The State ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Border Community ◽  
South Wales

Given its intensity, rapid spread, geographic reach and multiple waves of infections, the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020/21 became a major global disruptor with a truly cross-sectoral impact, surpassing even the 1918/19 influenza epidemic. Public health measures designed to contain the spread of the disease saw the cessation of international travel as well as the establishment of border closures between and within countries. The social and economic impact was considerable. This paper examines the effects of the public health measures of “ring-fencing” and of prolonged closures of the state border between New South Wales and Victoria (Australia), placing the events of 2020/21 into the context of the historic and contemporary trajectories of the border between the two states. It shows that while border closures as public-health measures had occurred in the past, their social and economic impact had been comparatively negligible due to low cross-border community integration. Concerted efforts since the mid-1970s have led to effective and close integration of employment and services, with over a quarter of the resident population of the two border towns commuting daily across the state lines. As a result, border closures and state-based lockdown directives caused significant social disruption and considerable economic cost to families and the community as a whole. One of the lessons of the 2020/21 pandemic will be to either re-evaluate the wisdom of a close social and economic integration of border communities, which would be a backwards step, or to future-proof these communities by developing strategies, effectively public health management plans, to avoid a repeat when the next pandemic strikes.

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