Governments and health agencies in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom (UK) have implemented changes to drug policy, regulation and/or legislation for reducing increasing rates of dependency, overdose and other harms associated with prescription and over-the-counter opioid drugs, and supporting their medicinal use. However, there has been no systematic evaluation of empirical evidence on the effectiveness of the drug policy changes. A systematic review of studies was conducted to assess the evidence. Studies included peer-reviewed and grey literature. The findings of studies were synthesised to identify common features and outcomes of changes to drug policy, including reductions in overdose, death and other indicators of effectiveness. There were 21 studies that met review criteria, and were of changes that generally aimed to: increase access to treatment for issues with opioid drugs; or, restrict access to opioids and other drugs. The evidence base was limited, and overall showed no major impacts in reducing harms and supporting medicinal use. However, studies of changes focused on increasing access to naloxone suggested the most promising evidence of effectiveness. More research and evaluation is required. With the risk of increased harms associated with opioid drug use in Australian, Canadian and United Kingdom settings, policymakers and other stakeholders need to prioritize measures that support: more research and evaluation; national campaigns publicising awareness of risks associated with opioid drug use and their appropriate medicinal use; and investment in health care services offering more appropriate clinical management of pain and opioid drugs.

People with cognitive disability who have complex support needs typically engage with multiple services across social care domains that operate in silos. These services are individually ill-equipped to adequately recognise the presence or impact of disability and respond to the breadth, depth and intersectional nature of people’s support needs. This lack of appropriate recognition and response often in turn works to further exacerbate the complexity of a person’s support needs. This paper reports on a systematic review of current national and international evidence addressing good practice in supporting people with complex support needs. The review assesses evidence in policy and practice in disciplines including homelessness, child protection, disability, social work, youth studies, health, mental health and drug and alcohol to identify key factors that facilitate or hamper person-centred integrated social care. An analytic frame adapted from Ecological Systems Theory is deployed to present the key factors identified to shape responsive support at the level of people, services and systems. The paper concludes with a discussion of three key principles synthesised from the review as the crucial underpinnings of a responsive social care system for people with cognitive disability and complex support needs.

Sports-related alcohol promotion is a primary mechanism via which young people are exposed to alcohol advertising. Efforts to reduce this exposure need to be informed by information relating to: 1) the prevalence of sports-related alcohol promotion in live, broadcast and online contexts; 2) the nature of this promotion; 3) the effects on young people of exposure to these forms of alcohol promotion; and 4) evidence-based strategies that have been demonstrated to address alcohol promotion activities that connect alcohol with sport. The aim of the present study was to synthesise available data on these issues to provide insights into the range of regulatory options that are likely to be most effective in restricting alcohol promotion in sports-related contexts. A narrative review approach was used to capture a broad range of relevant literature. Evidence from Australia, New Zealand and around the world shows that more restrictive alcohol promotion regulation is needed due to the known harms associated with youth alcohol consumption, the sheer volume of alcohol advertising to which young people are exposed and recent changes in the platforms used by alcohol marketers to promote their products. The following specific regulatory changes are among those recommended to reduce young people’s exposure to sports-related alcohol advertising: removal of timing exemptions that permit alcohol promotion during televised sporting programming regardless of the time of day; redefinition of children’s viewing times to reflect children’s actual viewing habits; the explicit inclusion of sponsorship within advertising codes; the banning of online alcohol promotion due to the inability to implement effective access restrictions; and the introduction of mandatory regulations that are developed and implemented in alignment with public health interests.

An era of financial constraints calls for effective and efficient committee work when making collective decisions. A systematic search identified research literatures in business administration, health research and service development, and social psychology addressing decision making about highly technical issues by mixed groups of people. Existing empirical and theoretical syntheses were drawn together to identify learning about the structure, processes and environment of committees and the characteristics of effective chairing. Committee performance depends upon the individuals involved, their attributes and relationships; and the time available for a committee to explore their knowledge to make choices or solve problems. In general, groups with six to twelve members tend to perform better than those in either smaller or larger groups, especially when relying on virtual communication. Diverse groups take account of a range of opinions and enhance credibility and widespread acceptance and implementation of decisions but may be more difficult to convene and manage appropriately. However, where chairs manage conflict constructively, more varied membership leads to better performance and more reliable judgements. These small-scale interactions reflect the larger scale institutional relationships, hierarchies and cultures which act as a backdrop to committee activities. These findings suggest that effective committee performance is enhanced by: appointing members from all key stakeholder groups who between them bring the appropriate range in educational and functional background, while keeping the group size close to 6-12; appointing committee chairs for their facilitation skills and generalist background rather than specialist knowledge; allowing sufficient time to allow all relevant knowledge to be shared and valuated through discussion, especially when judgements need to be made by committees with members who vary in status; applying formal consensus development processes; and, particularly when working virtually, considering the challenges of developing trust and cohesion, and integrating divergent perspective.

This review of 112 papers from 1979-2014 suggests that smaller class sizes in the first four years of school can have an important and lasting impact on student achievement, especially for children from culturally, linguistically and economically disenfranchised communities. Abstract The question of class size continues to attract the attention of educational policymakers and researchers alike. Australian politicians and their advisers, policy makers and political commentators agree that much of Australia’s increased expenditure on education in the last 30 years has been ‘wasted’ on efforts to reduce class sizes. They conclude that funding is therefore not the problem in Australian education, arguing that extra funding has not led to improved academic results. Many scholars have found serious methodological issues with the existing reviews that make claims for the lack of educational and economic utility in reducing class sizes in schools. Significantly, the research supporting the current policy advice to both state and federal ministers of education is highly selective, and based on limited studies originating from the USA. This comprehensive review of 112 papers from 1979-2014 assesses whether these conclusions about the effect of smaller class sizes still hold. The review draws on a wider range of studies, starting with Australian research, but also includes similar education systems such as England, Canada, New Zealand and non-English speaking countries of Europe. The review assesses the different measures of class size and how they affect the results, and also whether other variables such as teaching methods are taken into account. Findings suggest that smaller class sizes in the first four years of school can have an important and lasting impact on student achievement, especially for children from culturally, linguistically and economically disenfranchised communities. This is particularly true when smaller classes are combined with appropriate teacher pedagogies suited to reduced student numbers. Suggested policy recommendations involve targeted funding for specific lessons and schools, combined with professional development of teachers. These measures may help to address the inequality of schooling and ameliorate the damage done by poverty, violence, inadequate child care and other factors to our children’s learning outcomes.

This paper explores the concept of collaborative care, particularly in relation to a range of new models of organisation and service that are emerging in response to one of the most problematic areas of public policy ‐ mental health. These emerging models of coordinated mental health care are testing the limits of the evidence supporting coordinated care, and require critical evaluation. Myriad concepts of collaborative or coordinated care in health, including mental health, have created multiple definitions. Once definitional issues have been surmounted, however, the evidence for coordination of health care is reasonably strong. There is considerable research about which treatments and programs are best for people with a mental illness. There are few areas seemingly as complex as mental health, given that responsibility for policy and service lies across all three tiers of Australian government and across multiple jurisdictions. It also engages public, private and non-government sectors. Co-morbidities are commonplace, particularly drug and alcohol problems among younger people. Governments in Australia have traditionally taken responsibility for policy, programs and services, either as direct service providers or through contracting outputs from others. Yet the evidence indicates that for people with a mental illness, the best solutions are often not found in government but in the community and in organisations outside of government. New organisations and new structures are attempting more holistic management approaches, combining clinical care, community support, housing, employment and other services. This paper considers some of these new models in the light of existing evidence. The key challenge facing continued reform in mental health is not uncertainty regarding programs or services, but rather how to drive coordinated care for consumers across departments, governments and providers. This review will highlight the key changes that must be made for the benefit of the millions of Australians with a mental illness. Such changes need to empower users of care systems to choose options that actively support coordinated and efficient care delivery systems. There are too many silos between central, line and operational agencies. Often they fail to recognize that no-one has a monopoly on experience or wisdom. There are too many ambiguities of role between jurisdictions in the crucial interstices of Commonwealth-State responsibilities for health, education, aged care, disability support and infrastructure development. We focus on jurisdictional cost-shifting: citizens listen and hear only blameshifting.

Financial incentives are used by natural resource management organisations to encourage landholders to adopt sustainable practices where the outcomes on a farm scale may be negative or marginal. There is a growing body of research aimed at understanding why landholders do or do not agree to participate in financial incentive programs, however research that considers when and how financial incentives work to bring about long-term behaviour change is relatively immature. The purpose of this review is to answer the question: What factors influence the effectiveness of financial incentives on long-term natural resource management practice change? In synthesising the evidence, it was found that there are numerous characteristics of the practice change itself, along with the program design and implementation, which are important to understand long-term behaviour change. These include whether inexpensive maintenance or long-term funding is available; whether the changes are relatively simple to sustain; whether the program involves structural changes; whether there is land use rigidity; and whether the changes have resulting environmental benefits that are highly observable. Additionally, it is advisable for programs that use financial incentives to include the following program features: ongoing extension support and a focus on building relationship and trust; flexibility in how the practice change is applied; active landholder involvement from planning to evaluation; and contract length that is appropriate for the complexity of the NRM practice. These characteristics can be used to guide policy makers in their natural resource management investment decisions. There is a clear need for greatly increased monitoring and evaluation of existing programs, both during the program and after its conclusion, in order to more fully understand its long-term impacts and ultimate effectiveness. Finally, landholders undertaking a practice change generally benefit from ongoing support from government natural resource management extension officers.