scholarly journals Private practice metropolitan telepsychiatry in larger Australian states during the COVID-19 pandemic: an analysis of the first 2 months of new MBS telehealth item psychiatrist services

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (6) ◽  
pp. 644-648 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey CL Looi ◽  
Stephen Allison ◽  
Tarun Bastiampillai ◽  
William Pring
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Private Practice ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Consultation Rate ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Monthly Average ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Commonwealth Government ◽  
Service Data

Objective: Private practice psychiatry in Australia was largely office-based until the Commonwealth Government introduced new psychiatrist Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) telehealth items in response to the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. We investigate the uptake of (1) video and telephone telehealth consultations in April–May 2020, and (2) the overall changing rates of consultation, i.e. total telehealth and in-person consultations across the larger states of Australia. Method: MBS item service data were extracted for COVID-19 psychiatrist video- and telephone-telehealth item numbers and compared with a baseline of the 2018−2019-financial-year monthly average of in-person consultations for New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, and Western Australia. Results: Total psychiatry consultations (telehealth and in-person) rose during the first wave of the pandemic by 10%−20% compared to the previous year. The majority of private practice was conducted by telehealth in April but was lower in May as new COVID-19 case rates fell. Most telehealth provision was by telephone for short consultations of ⩽15−30 min. Video consultations increased from April into May. Conclusions: For large states, there has been a rapid adoption of the MBS telehealth psychiatrist items, followed by a trend back to face-to-face as COVID-19 new case rates reduced. There was an overall increased consultation rate (in-person plus telehealth) for April−May 2020.

In A Fix: Fixed-Term Parliaments in the Australian States

2013 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 265-298
Author(s):  
Peter Congdon
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Constitutional Amendments ◽  
South Wales

Constitutional systems of Westminster heritage are increasingly moving towards fixed-term parliaments to, amongst other things, prevent the Premier or Prime Minister opportunistically calling a ‘snap election’. Amongst the Australian states, qualified fixed-term parliaments currently exist in New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria. Queensland, Tasmania and Western Australia have also deliberated over whether to establish similar fixed-term parliaments. However, manner and form provisions in those states' constitutions entrench the Parliament's duration, Governor's Office and dissolution power. In Western Australia and Queensland, unlike Tasmania, such provisions are doubly entrenched. This article considers whether these entrenching provisions present legal obstacles to constitutional amendments establishing fixed-term parliaments in those two states. This involves examining whether laws fixing parliamentary terms fall within section 6 of the Australia Acts 1986 (Cth) & (UK). The article concludes by examining recent amendments to the Electoral Act 1907 (WA) designed to enable fixed election dates in Western Australia without requiring a successful referendum.

Podospora excentrica. [Descriptions of Fungi and Bacteria].

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. W. Minter
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
South America ◽  
Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Geographical Distribution ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
New South ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
South Australia ◽  
South Wales

Abstract A description is provided for Podospora excentrica. Some information on its associated organisms and substrata, dispersal and transmission, habitats and conservation status is given, along with details of its geographical distribution (South America (Venezuela), Atlantic Ocean (Portugal (Madeira)), Australasia (Australia (New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia)), New Zealand, Europe (Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, UK)).

The Distribution of Phytophthora cinnamomi Rands at Two Sites in Southern Western Australia and at Durras in South-Eastern New South Wales.

1982 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 139 ◽  
Author(s):  
WM Blowes ◽  
WA Heather ◽  
N Malajczuk ◽  
SR Shea
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Phytophthora Cinnamomi ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Native Forest ◽  
Prevention Strategies ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
Isolation Techniques ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Western Australian

Native forest at Durras in south-eastern New South Wales and Jarrahdale in south-western Western Australia was examined for the presence of Phytophthora cinnamomi by two sampling and isolation techniques. With the lupin seeding baiting technique, randomly selected samples of soil and fine roots collected from the New South Wales site yielded P. cinnamomi when baited, while similar baiting of comparable samples from Western Australia failed. Direct plating of samples of upper roots and root collars of recently dead Banksia grandis from Western Australian sites yielded P. cinnamomi, while this organism was not isolated from comparable samples of chlorotic Macrozamia communis collected at the New South Wales site. The results suggest that the form of occurrence of P. cinnamomi and its association with disease in Australia vary in different situations. Viewing each situation independently might ensure the adoption of control/prevention strategies appropriate to all.

Botryosphaeriales associated with stem blight and dieback of blueberry (Vaccinium spp.) in New South Wales and Western Australia

2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly A. Scarlett ◽  
Lucas A. Shuttleworth ◽  
Damian Collins ◽  
Chris T. Rothwell ◽  
David I. Guest ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Stem Blight ◽  
South Wales

Regional and Facility Differences in Interventions for Mastitis by Australian Physiotherapists

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 695-705 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lara Clare Diepeveen ◽  
Elise Fraser ◽  
Anna Jane Elizabeth Croft ◽  
Angela Jacques ◽  
Adelle M. McArdle ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Therapeutic Ultrasound ◽  
Electronic Data Collection ◽  
Healthcare Facilities ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Ultrasound Intensity ◽  
Observational Design ◽  
Ultrasound Parameters

Background: Little information has been documented regarding interventions for mastitis by Australian physiotherapists. It is currently not known if physiotherapy interventions vary across Australian regions and types of healthcare facilities. Research aims: (1) To identify the interventions used by Australian physiotherapists treating mothers with mastitis and (2) to determine the variability in interventions used across regions and facilities. Methods: A retrospective observational design was used. A sample of case records of mothers with mastitis was identified ( N = 192). These case records documented physiotherapy interventions for mastitis in hospitals and private physiotherapy practices in Western Australia ( n = 77; 40.1%), Victoria ( n = 76; 39.6%), and New South Wales ( n = 39; 20.3%). An electronic data collection tool was designed to examine intervention variables. Results: The physiotherapy interventions received by mothers included therapeutic ultrasound (n=175; 91.1%), education and advice ( n = 160; 83.3%), and massage ( n = 103; 53.6%). Therapeutic ultrasound parameters varied across regions and types of healthcare facilities. Mean documented therapeutic ultrasound intensity was approximately twice as high in New South Wales and Victoria than in Western Australia. Conclusions: Regional and facility differences exist in physiotherapy interventions for mastitis in Australia. Healthcare professionals who refer to physiotherapists for mastitis should be aware that interventions received may differ across regions and facility types.

Prison Versus Western Australia: Which Worked Best, the Australian Penal Colony or the English Convict Prison System?

2019 ◽  
Vol 59 (5) ◽  
pp. 1139-1160
Author(s):  
Barry Godfrey
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Natural Experiment ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Prison System ◽  
Jeremy Bentham ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Penal Colony ◽  
South Wales

Abstract Between 1850 and 1868, a natural experiment in punishment took place. Men convicted of similar crimes could serve their sentence of penal servitude either in Britain or in Australia. For historians and social scientists, this offers the prospect of addressing a key question posed over 200 years ago by the philosopher, penal theorist and reformer Jeremy Bentham when he authored a lengthy letter entitled ‘Panopticon versus New South Wales: Or, the Panopticon Penitentiary System, and the Penal Colonization System, Compared’. This article answers the underlying tenet of Bentham’s question, ‘Which was best prison or transportation?’ by applying two efficiency tests. The first tests whether UK convicts or Australian convicts had higher rates of reconviction, and the second explores the speed to reconviction.

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