The aim of my thesis is to document the cultural history and heritage of the ancient Australian canine, the dingo. An analysis of the complex symbiotic relationship between the dingo and human society for over 4,600 years reveals an animal uniquely positioned as both a human companion and top-order predator - fulfilling important ecosystem services across the Australian mainland, complementary to their role in traditional Aboriginal society. The thesis collates ethnographic, scientific and social representations of the dingo, and interrogates the legacy of 200 years of dingo control across the south-eastern third of the continent. I use a writing technique called a prosopography to explore areas of knowledge about dingoes, and the culture and heritage surrounding them. This involves recording human-animal encounters in the form of the stories of individual animals within a contextual history, revealing themes, patterns, inconsistencies and anomalies in dingo-human history. The listing of the species as endangered on the IUCN Red List (2004) and as a threatened species in the State of Victoria (2008) underscores the importance of critical analysis, revealing processes underlying the construction and dissemination of dingo knowledge that reinforce their cultural and physical marginalization. The study reveals a complex human-dingo history, and strives to present this information in a comprehensible format as a basis for discussion - allowing new insights into the unique history of the dingo's survival at the heart of traditional Aboriginal society and at the limits and borderlands of contemporary environmental management.

'Nassella trichotoma' (Nees) Hack. ex Arechav. (common name, serrated tussock) occupies large areas of south-eastern Australia and has considerable scope for expansion in the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales. This highly invasive grass reduces pasture productivity and has the potential to severely affect the region's economy by decreasing the livestock carrying capacity of grazing land. Other potential consequences of this invasion include increased fuel loads and displacement of native plants, thereby threatening biodiversity. Rural property owners in the Northern Tablelands were sent a mail questionnaire that examined use of measures to prevent new outbreaks of the weed. The questionnaire was sent to professional farmers as well as lifestyle farmers (owners of rural residential blocks and hobby farms) and 271 responses were obtained (a response rate of 18%). Key findings were respondents' limited capacity to detect 'N. trichotoma', and low adoption of precautions to control seed spread by livestock, vehicles and machinery. This was particularly the case among lifestyle farmers. There have been considerable recent changes to biosecurity governance arrangements in New South Wales, and now is an ideal time for regulators and information providers to consider how to foster regional communities' engagement in biosecurity, including the adoption of measures that have the capacity to curtail the spread of 'N. trichotoma'.

Domestic space heating in many cold regions of Australia is usually supplied by heaters running on solid wood, gas or electricity. All three fuel sources usually emit large quantities of greenhouse gases. Firewood collection for wood heaters has serious impacts on biodiversity. Wood heaters emit smoke and other gases which cause serious health problems. This research looked at pellet heaters as an alternative home heating option, to see if they could reduce wood smoke pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity impacts, using the Northern Tablelands of NSW as a case study. The research looked at existing literature and conducted social surveys to find that pellet heaters are a suitable home heating option with lower emissions and lower impacts on biodiversity than other options. Pellet heaters will be slightly more expensive to purchase and operate, so options for providing incentives for their uptake were examined. There are public benefits from pellet heaters (public health, biodiversity and climate), and so there may be a case for policy intervention to encourage their uptake. Pellet supply was identified as a disincentive to the uptake of the heaters. The research found that there are suitable local sources of waste wood or silvicultural by-products to support pellet manufacture in the region. An efficient pellet plant would need to produce in the vicinity of 50,000 tonnes per year to be viable. Such a plant would over-supply the Northern Tablelands under the most optimistic scenario, so a market would need to be created for pellets outside the region.

This project involved the replication of the International Farm Transfers Study Survey in Australia. The International Farm Transfers Study compares trends in farm succession and retirement across continents. While previous studies of the succession process have tended to focus upon the transfer of physical assets, such as land and other fixed capital, this project examines the transfer of the intangible assets of farm businesses between generations on family farms, such as the transfer of managerial skills and specific farm knowledge... The purpose of this study was to provide a comparison of Australian trends in career progression, farm succession and retirement with those in other countries participating in the International Farm Transfers Study. Specifically, the project sought to examine and compare the transfer of intangible assets of the farm business, such as managerial skills and specific farm knowledge between generations on the family farm, between various cultures.

River catchments have been the dominant form of regionalisation for natural-resource management in many countries since the 1980s. Local governments play a considerable role in planning with ever-increasing responsibilities for sustainable environmental management, planning and development controls. There has also been an increasing emphasis on community participation in resource management, which emphasises the need to re-examine the requirements for spatial definition of resource governance regions. This paper proposes three principles. First, the nature and reach of environmental externalities of resource use should determine the size and nesting of resource management regions. Second, the boundaries of resource governance regions should enclose areas of greatest interest and importance to local residents. Third, the biophysical characteristics of a resource governance region should be as homogenous as possible, which provides resource planning and management efficiencies. The paper describes a range of concepts and empirical techniques used to apply these principles to the derivation of a resource governance regionalisation of the State of New South Wales, Australia.

Australia faces many environmental problems of considerable scale and complexity. These include high greenhouse gas emissions, pressures on coral reefs, continuing net loss of tree cover and native vegetation, soil erosion, soil salinity, declining water quality and quantity, continuing threats to biodiversity, increasing pressures from urban areas due to population increases and increased per capita consumption, and climate change. Many factors contribute to the environmental behaviour of individuals, and through their combined actions, to society's. Australia faces many environmental problems of considerable scale and complexity. These include high greenhouse gas emissions, pressures on coral reefs, continuing net loss of tree cover and native vegetation, soil erosion, soil salinity, declining water quality and quantity, continuing threats to biodiversity, increasing pressures from urban areas due to population increases and increased per capita consumption, and climate change. Many factors contribute to the environmental behaviour of individuals, and through their combined actions, to society's.

This study investigated the effects that visual and performing arts can have on the environmental behaviour of individuals, communities and broader society, with a view to providing recommendations on how to more effectively harness the arts in order to promote ecological sustainability. The research aims were to: This study investigated the effects that visual and performing arts can have on the environmental behaviour of individuals, communities and broader society, with a view to providing recommendations on how to more effectively harness the arts in order to promote ecological sustainability. The research aims were to:

• investigate how the visual and performing arts are both deliberately and unconsciously used in shaping perceptions towards the environment in Australia and internationally;

• describe how people and organisations working towards environmental repair and conservation have used arts-based modes of communication;

• integrate theory of how environmental behaviour is determined and the impact that the arts have on that process;

• use a series of events that incorporate the arts and environmental repair, to evaluate the role of the arts in changing people's behaviour towards the environment;

• determine if art events can aid participation by a broad cross section of the community, can strengthen a community's abilities to promote inclusion, and can be powerful vehicles for community mobilisation, empowerment, and information transfer;

• determine what role the arts might have in shaping ecological sustainability at a societal level; and

• develop policy recommendations for extension and environmental education programs.

The selection of research methods was guided by methodological pragmatism, drawing from a range of social science paradigms according to circumstance. A quasi-grounded theory approach was used in some stages of the project. This interlaced data collection and analysis so that emerging concepts and theoretical constructs were grounded in the life experience of the research participants. In other stages, social constructivist methods such as focus groups and in-depth semi-structured interviews were employed. Through data collection prior to and after arts events, the project approach used logical positivist methods to provide evidence of the impact of arts events and the causes underlying these impacts. The purposeful methodological diversity added cross-disciplinary force to the thesis, and enabled triangulation between the different types of data, to afford greater confidence in the conclusions.

I found that the work of individual artists can influence the behaviour of citizens through 'internally derived I found that the work of individual artists can influence the behaviour of citizens through 'internally derived' interventions, which impinge on a person's values, beliefs, knowledge, attitudes, self-identity and habits, and through these, on social norms. However, desire by individuals to adopt pro-environmental behaviour can be hampered by situational or infrastructure constraints. I also found that the arts have a role in reducing some of these constraints, through 'externalist interventions' where the arts are embedded into ecologically sustainable development. This might be where community and public art are incorporated into urban planning as a means of making active transport modes more attractive, or where the arts provide alternative forms of consumption which are lower in embodied energy and higher in embodied labour.The degree to which a person responds to the arts will depend on personal characteristics (e.g. gender, class, etc.), situation, institutional factors, as well as the type of art. The accumulated result of individual behaviours leads to macro-level impacts on the environment. A knowledge of these impacts in turn influences individual artists, and affects their practice.

I found that the arts could foster pro-environmental behaviour through one of three 'pathways'. The first pathway is where the visual and performing arts are used to synthesise complex ideas and to communicate them to non-specialist audiences in an engaging form. This makes the arts valuable in enhancing the teaching of scientific or environmental material and raising awareness about environmental issues in a wide range of contexts. The arts have been used because of these qualities by practitioners, both in Australia and overseas. The arts are also a medium for articulating a dissenting or critical voice which prompts people to look at issues in new ways. Some artists are at the forefront in challenging dominant social paradigms and are active participants in attempts to improve the environmental behaviour of individuals and of society. I found that the arts could foster pro-environmental behaviour through one of three 'pathways'. The first pathway is where the visual and performing arts are used to synthesise complex ideas and to communicate them to non-specialist audiences in an engaging form. This makes the arts valuable in enhancing the teaching of scientific or environmental material and raising awareness about environmental issues in a wide range of contexts. The arts have been used because of these qualities by practitioners, both in Australia and overseas. The arts are also a medium for articulating a dissenting or critical voice which prompts people to look at issues in new ways. Some artists are at the forefront in challenging dominant social paradigms and are active participants in attempts to improve the environmental behaviour of individuals and of society.

A second pathway is where the arts and particular artists connect their audience to the natural environment through thoughtful or evocative representations of the environment or by being in the natural environment itself. Similarly, the celebratory aspects of the performing arts make them useful in affirming ecological restoration and environmental repair activities in a non-didactic way. Modem life in Western society has disconnected most people from the natural environment, and the arts provide a way of re-establishing this link. The art described under this pathway exemplifies the important role of artists in aiding understanding of the Australian natural environment and its native flora and fauna, complementing the role of ecologists. Through experiencing artistic explorations a community can develop empathy toward the natural environment, and this is vital in developing a caring relationship for it. A second pathway is where the arts and particular artists connect their audience to the natural environment through thoughtful or evocative representations of the environment or by being in the natural environment itself. Similarly, the celebratory aspects of the performing arts make them useful in affirming ecological restoration and environmental repair activities in a non-didactic way. Modem life in Western society has disconnected most people from the natural environment, and the arts provide a way of re-establishing this link. The art described under this pathway exemplifies the important role of artists in aiding understanding of the Australian natural environment and its native flora and fauna, complementing the role of ecologists. Through experiencing artistic explorations a community can develop empathy toward the natural environment, and this is vital in developing a caring relationship for it.

Several case studies were studied that had elements of both the first and second pathways. The case studies demonstrated that celebrations and festivals can be successfully linked with conservation of the environment, and can allow conservation and care of the environment to penetrate many social networks. An event involving music, theatre, dance and spectacle can have many effects on participants and audiences. Such events can encourage people to reflect on their and others' relationship with the environment, and can affect people emotionally and engender positive feelings for the environment. They also have a strong capacity for engendering appreciation and pride in community and can act to strengthen those bonds. They can involve a large number of people, and therefore expand the audience or awareness-rasing about the environment I hey alow partcpants to develop the for awareness-raising about the environment. They allow participants to develop their ideas, to learn about issues and to express their feelings for those issues. They also have an effect in affirming beliefs, reminding, and reinforcing existing knowledge and values, and in prompting changes in people who have not been exposed to those ideas. The case studies showed that large art events with an environmental theme can influence both those whose environmental behaviour is poorly developed as well as those whose behaviour is already good. The process of engagement is particularly important, especially if the message of the work can be carried through in the ways the work is realised. The actual process of being involved is important in learning and consolidating one's ideas and knowledge. The impact of the message is enhanced through repetition and added exposure, and the effects can endure long after the event 1s over.

The third pathway is where the arts are embedded in ecologically sustainable development, through the combined effects of community development, economic development, and changes in the patterns of consumption. Examples from urban contexts were examined, where public and community art were integrated into urban planning which was designed around improved active transport modes. Australia's environmental impact is driven by consumption that is high in embodied energy, water and resources. Because the arts industry is low in embodied energy and resources and high in embodied labour, it will be an important segment of the economy in a 'post-consumer' society that has lower levels of environmental impact. The arts can also be integrated with ecologically sustainable development in rural areas. Examples include the links between landscape architecture and landscape aesthetics and the farm planning and landcare movements, as well as the linking of ecological art with ecological restoration. The community and participatory arts have an important role in catalysing ecological sustainability, particularly through their ability to foster altruism. Community arts events have a strong community-building role and can be linked with celebrations of ecologically sustainable behaviours and aspirations.

Australian communities face increasing losses and disruption from natural disasters. Disaster resilience is a protective characteristic that acts to reduce the effects of, and losses from, natural hazard events. Disaster resilience arises from the capacities of social, economic and government systems to prepare for, respond to and recover from a natural hazard event, and to learn, adapt and transform in anticipation of future natural hazard events. This assessment of disaster resilience estimates the status of these capacities and shows how they are spatially distributed across Australia.
Composite indices are frequently used to summarize and report complex relational measurements about a particular issue. The Australian Natural Disaster Resilience Index measures disaster resilience as a set of coping and adaptive capacities. Coping capacity is the means by which available resources and abilities can be used to face adverse consequences that could lead to a disaster. Adaptive capacity is the arrangements and processes that enable adjustment through learning, adaptation and transformation. Eight themes of disaster resilience encapsulate the resources and abilities that communities have to prepare for, absorb and recover from natural hazards (social character, economic capital, emergency services, planning and the built environment, community capital, information access) or to adapt, learn and solve problems (social and community engagement, governance and leadership). Across the eight themes, 77 indicators were used to compute the Australian Natural Disaster Resilience Index in 2084 areas of Australia, corresponding to the Statistical Area Level 2 divisions of the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The index was then used to undertake the first nationally standardised assessment of the state of disaster resilience in Australia. Disaster resilience is reported at three levels: an overall disaster resilience index, coping and adaptive capacity sub-indexes and themes of disaster resilience that encapsulate the resources and abilities that communities have to prepare for, absorb and recover from natural hazards and to adapt, learn and solve problems (social character, economic capital, emergency services, planning and the built environment, community capital, information access, social and community engagement, governance and leadership).
Volume I (this volume) assesses the state of disaster resilience in Australia, using the Australian Natural Disaster Resilience Index. Volume I gives a brief overview of the design and computation of the index, then assesses the state of disaster resilience in Australia at different levels: overall disaster resilience, coping and adaptive capacity, and the eight themes of disaster resilience. Volume I also presents a typology of disaster resilience that groups areas across Australia that have similar disaster resilience profiles.
Readers interested in the results of the assessment of disaster resilience in Australia should focus on Volume I.

In this study we examine the level of adoption, perceptions of problems and reasons for non-adoption amongst graziers of the integrated weed control technique of spray grazing. A postal survey of graziers across southern Australia was undertaken in January 2004. Awareness of spray grazing was high amongst respondents (87.9%) with many of those familiar with this technique intending to use it in the future (53.5%). Respondents highlighted a range of problems associated with the use of spray grazing, most commonly involving stocking rate and the technical aspects of chemical application. The most common reason for non-adoption was an aversion to using chemicals. Other non-adopters of spray grazing provided a range of well thought out reasons for having not applied this weed control method. Further research is required to understand the barriers to adoption of weed management strategies amongst less motivated producers.

Weeds are known to have a great financial impact on the Australian grazing industry. Integrated weed management is widely considered to be the solution to the pasture weed problem. Through surveying the indigenous knowledge of graziers this project sought to identify the best management practices for pasture weeds of southern Australia and the challenges that producers face in implementing them. In addition, this project also aimed to validate the producer perceptions which were relied upon for much of this study and identify the pasture weeds of most concern to graziers throughout southern Australia. The project consisted of five major research activities which were: key informant interviews; a postal survey sent to 7,000 graziers; an on-farm validation study; telephone interviews; and producer focus groups. Although preliminary in nature, the results of the validation study indicated that producers are able to report most weed densities to within 5% canopy cover. However, many producers were unable to identify the annual grass weed vulpia ('Vulpia' spp.). Respondents to the postal survey reported an estimated 328 plants as undesirable species, dominated by annual broadleaf weeds. The most commonly reported species included capeweed, Paterson's curse, saffron thistle, blackberry and barley grass. The best management practices were examined for the most commonly reported weeds in four functional groups.

Natural hazard management policy directions in Australia – and indeed internationally – are increasingly being aligned to ideas of resilience. However, the definition and conceptualization of resilience in relation to natural hazards is keenly contested within academic literature (Klein et al., 2003; Wisner et al., 2004; Boin et al., 2010; Tierney, 2014). Broadly speaking, resilience to natural hazards is the ability of individuals and communities to cope with disturbances or changes and to maintain adaptive behaviour (Maguire and Cartwright, 2008). Building resilience to natural hazards requires the capacity to cope with the event and its aftermath, as well as the capacity to learn about hazard risks, change behaviour, transform institutions and adapt to a changing environment (Maguire and Cartwright, 2008).
The Australian Natural Disaster Resilience Index is a tool for assessing the resilience of communities to natural hazards at a large scale. Using a top down approach, the assessment will provide input to macro-level policy, strategic planning, community planning and community engagement activities at National, State and local government levels. First, it is a snapshot of the current state of natural hazard resilience at a national scale. Second, it is a layer of information for use in strategic policy development and planning. Third, it provides a benchmark against which to assess future change in resilience to natural hazards. Understanding resilience strengths and weaknesses will help communities, governments and organizations to build the capacities needed for living with natural hazards.
Design of the Australian Natural Disaster Resilience Index
The Australian Natural Disaster Resilience Index will assess resilience based on two sets of capacities – coping capacity and adaptive capacity. We have used a hierarchical structure for the Australian Natural Disaster Resilience Index. Indicators provide the data for a theme – together the indicators measure the status of the theme. We collected approximately 90 indicators across the eight coping and adaptive capacity themes. Indicators were collected at Statistical Area 2 (SA2) resolution where possible.
Results of the Australian Natural Disaster Resilience Index
The results and initial trends in the eight themes of the Australian Natural Disaster Resilience Index are presented below. It should be noted that these interpretations and maps are subject to further change as the State of Disaster Resilience Report is developed. What is presented here is an overview of the pattern of index values. In all maps, lower index values in brown represent lower disaster resilience and higher index values in green represent higher disaster resilience. Each of the sections is an SA2 division of the ABS.