Ground penetrating radar investigations at the Lake Condah Mission Cemetery: Locating unmarked graves in areas with extensive subsurface disturbance

Ground penetrating radar (GPR) was used to non-invasively map the location of unmarkedgraves within the Lake Condah Mission Cemetery in western Victoria as a means of siting future interments. This cemetery was associated with the former Lake Condah Mission (established in 1869) and continues to be an important site for local Indigenous people. It is anecdotally thought to contain more than 100 graves however only 26 are currently marked. The GPR survey identified an additional 14 probable unmarked graves as well as 49 other areas that may contain one or more unmarked burials. The extensive subsurface disturbance present at the site and the presence of many extant tree roots made the effective interpretation of the GPR data difficult. Despite this, it was still possible to delineate areas where no unmarked graves are present. This is an important outcome for managing the cultural heritage of the cemetery because it identifies areas where new graves can be emplaced in a culturally appropriate fashion. This demonstrates the utility of GPR as a means of effectively managing heritage sites containing unmarked graves, even when substantial subsurface disturbance is present.

Values, preferences and goals identified during shared decision making between critically ill patients and their doctors

Objective: Examine values, preferences and goals elicited by doctors following goals-of-care (GOC) discussions with critically ill patients who had life-limiting illnesses. Design: Descriptive qualitative study using four-stage latent content analysis. Setting: Tertiary intensive care unit (ICU) in South Western Victoria. Participants: Adults who had life-limiting illnesses and were admitted to the ICU with documented GOC, between October 2016 and July 2018. Intervention: The iValidate program, a shared decision-making clinical communication education and clinical support program, for all ICU registrars in August 2015. Main outcome measures: Matrix of themes and subthemes categorised into values, preferences and goals. Results: A total of 354 GOC forms were analysed from 218 patients who had life-limiting illnesses and were admitted to the ICU. In the categories of values, preferences and goals, four themes were identified: connectedness and relational autonomy, autonomy of decision maker, balancing quality and quantity of life, and physical comfort. The subthemes — relationships, sense of place, enjoyment of activities, independence, dignity, cognitive function, quality of life, longevity and physical comfort — provided a matrix of issues identified as important to patients. Relationship, place, independence and physical comfort statements were most frequently identified; longevity was least frequently identified. Conclusion: Our analysis of GOC discussions between medical staff and patients who had life-limiting illnesses and were admitted to the ICU, using a shared decision-making training and support program, revealed a framework of values, preferences and goals that could provide a structure to assist clinicians to engage in shared decision making.

Importance of environmental flows in the Wimmera catchment, Southeast Australia

In this paper the environment, climate, vegetation, indigenous and European settlement history, stream flow patterns, water quality and water resources development in western Victoria, Australia are studied. The last part of the paper focuses on the MacKenzie River, a tributary of the Wimmera River located on the northern slopes of the Grampians Ranges in western Victoria, Australia. Water release along the MacKenzie River was regulated to improve water quality, stream condition and river health especially in the downstream reaches. The upstream section tends to receive water most days of the year due to releases to secure the requirements of water supply for the city of Horsham and its recreational and conservation values, which is diverted into Mt Zero Channel. Below this the middle and downstream sections receive a more intermittent supply. Annually, a total of 10,000 dam3 of water is released from Wartook Reservoir into the MacKenzie River. Of this volume, only about 4,000 dam3 was released explicitly for environmental purposes. The remaining 6,000 dam3 was released to meet consumptive demands and to transfer water to downstream reservoirs. The empirical data and models showed the lower reaches of the river to be in poor condition under low flows, but this condition improved under flows of 35 dam3 per day, as indicated. The results are presented to tailor discharge and duration of the river flows by amalgamation of consumptive and environmental flows to improve the condition of the stream, thereby supplementing the flows dedicated to environmental outcomes. Ultimately the findings can be used by management to configure consumptive flows that would enhance the ecological condition of the MacKenzie River.

Gariwerd

People have been visiting and living in the Victorian Grampians, also known as Gariwerd, for thousands of generations. They have both witnessed and caused vast environmental transformations in and around the ranges. Gariwerd: An Environmental History of the Grampians explores the geological and ecological significance of the mountains and combines research from across disciplines to tell the story of how humans and the environment have interacted, and how the ways people have thought about the environments of the ranges have changed through time. In this new account, historian Benjamin Wilkie examines how Djab wurrung and Jardwadjali people and their ancestors lived in and around the mountains, how they managed the land and natural resources, and what kinds of archaeological evidence they have left behind over the past 20 000 years. He explores the history of European colonisation in the area from the middle of the 19th century and considers the effects of this on both the first people of Gariwerd and the environments of the ranges and their surrounding plains in western Victoria. The book covers the rise of science, industry and tourism in the mountains, and traces the eventual declaration of the Grampians National Park in 1984. Finally, it examines more recent debates about the past, present and future of the park, including over its significant Indigenous history and heritage.

Swamp wallaby (Wallabia bicolor) distribution has dramatically increased following sustained biological control of rabbits

Swamp wallabies have dramatically extended their distribution through western Victoria and south-eastern South Australia over the last 40 years. Newspaper reports from 1875 onwards show that on European settlement, wallaby populations were confined to eastern Victoria, including the ranges around Melbourne, the Otway Ranges and Portland District of south-western Victoria, and a tiny part of south-eastern South Australia. Populations contracted further with intense hunting for the fur trade until the 1930s. In the late 1970s, however, wallabies began spreading into drier habitats than those initially recorded. Possible causes underlying this change in distribution are discussed; some seem unlikely but, because wallabies began spreading soon after the introduction of European rabbit fleas as vectors of myxomatosis, the cumulative effects of releases of biological agents to control rabbits appear important. A caution is given on assuming that thick vegetation in high-rainfall areas provides the only habitat suitable for swamp wallabies, but, most importantly, the study shows how native mammals may benefit if rabbit abundance is reduced.