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FINANCIAL LITERACY
Volume 302 Editor: Justin Healey ISBN 978 1921507 12 0 $20.95
Financial literacy can be defined as the ability to make informed decisions about how to use and manage your money. Young Australians are particularly active consumers, so it is important from an early age that they understand their rights and responsibilities when it comes to managing money. This book is an excellent aid for young people to better understand their finances and features the following topics: saving, banking, budgeting, smart shopping tips, understanding types of loans and credit and how to manage debt, investing and financial planning, choosing suitable mobile phone plans, avoiding scams and rip-offs, and explains the basics about insurance and superannuation. Get on top of your finances while you are young and establish healthy financial habits! |
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UNDERSTANDING MENTAL ILLNESS
Volume 303 Editor: Justin Healey ISBN 978 1921507 13 7 $20.95
Mental health is a state of emotional and social wellbeing which infl uences how we cope with the stresses of everyday life and whether or not we can achieve our potential. Mental disorders are broken down into three groups: anxiety, mood and substance use disorders. According to a major 2007 survey, 45% of Australians aged 16-85 years (7.3 million people) experienced at some point in their lifetime a mental disorder. This book explores the prevalence of mental disorders and the services available for treatment. It also focuses on improving community understanding of the negative effects of mental illness on individuals such as reduced work participation, social isolation, stigma and discrimination. So many among us experience mental illness – are we doing enough to understand its causes, and manage its many social, health and economic impacts? |
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MARRIAGE AND COHABITATION
Volume 304 Editor: Justin Healey ISBN 978 1921507 14 4 $20.95
The proportion of adults living with a partner in Australia has declined from 65% in 1986 to 61% in 2006. Registered marriage also declined over the past two decades from 62% in 1986 to 52%. On the other hand, there has been an increase in de facto relationships from 4% to 9% in this period. ‘Marriage and Cohabitation’ explores Australians’ changing attitudes towards, and growing acceptance of, relationships outside of registered marriage, and includes a look at government recognition of same-sex relationships and the debate over gay marriage. What is the future of committed relationships, and what are the social impacts of modern day partnering? |
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RECYCLING AND MANAGING WASTE
Volume 305 Editor: Justin Healey ISBN 978 1921507 15 1 $20.95
Australia may be a large country, but we live in a throw-away society that is rapidly filling it with our waste. Our insatiable desire to constantly upgrade disposable technology and consume over-packaged products has continued unabated for decades. At the same time however, there has been a trend away from both burning waste in incinerators and burying it in landfills. Waste management policies now seek to minimise waste disposal by reducing its generation and by reusing and recycling. This book reveals the extent of our growing waste problem and examines the waste and recycling practices of households, and includes many tips on how to reduce, reuse and recycle. Topics include green waste, plastics, glass, paper, metal and electronic waste (e-waste). What can you do to reduce your impact on the environment? Don’t let a good chance go to waste! |
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THE DEATH PENALTY
Volume 306 Editor: Justin Healey ISBN 978 1921507 16 8 $20.95
Although the world is gradually moving towards abolition of capital punishment, in 2008 an estimated 1,718 people were executed in 25 countries and at least 8,864 people were sentenced to death in 52 countries. Three quarters of those executions took place in Asia, with China carrying out more executions than the rest of the world’s nations put together. Since 1967 when the last Australian (Ronald Ryan) was hanged, the Australia has maintained a policy of opposition to the death penalty. This book details the countries which still promote execution by the state and presents a range of arguments which advocate the abolition of capital punishment. What is Australia doing internationally to help abolish the death penalty – a breach of the most fundamental human right, the right to life? Is the death penalty ever justified? |
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INFECTIOUS DISEASE
Volume 307 Editor: Justin Healey ISBN 978 1921507 17 5 $20.95
Infectious diseases are major causes of illness, disability and death in many parts of the world. The recent swine flu pandemic has shown just how vulnerable we all are to communicable diseases which are capable of being transmitted from one person to another, or from one species to another. This book examines the various types of communicable diseases affecting Australians and how they are kept under control. Topics include: outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics; symptoms and treatments for Australia’s major infectious diseases including the common cold, bacterial and viral infections, the various types of influenza, pneumonia, mosquito-borne infections, food-borne disease, hepatitis, HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections. This book also looks at vaccine-preventable diseases and gives an overview of Australia’s immunisation policy. |
due April 2010 |
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THE HEALTH OF INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS
Volume 308 Editor: Justin Healey ISBN 978 1921507 19 9 $20.95
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are more likely to have poorer health than other Australians. The indigenous burden of disease is estimated to be two-and-a-half times greater than that of the total population. Long-term health conditions experienced by Indigenous people include circulatory and respiratory diseases, diabetes, musculoskeletal conditions, kidney disease, and eye and ear problems. Indigenous disadvantage extends across a range of socioeconomic factors that affect the health of indigenous people, including income, employment, educational attainment and home ownership. Indigenous people are also more exposed to health risks such as smoking, poor nutrition, alcohol abuse, overcrowded housing and violence. There have been some improvements in the health and wellbeing of ATSI people, but as this book reveals, more needs to be done to ‘close the gap’ between the health status of Indigenous Australians and that of non-Indigenous Australians.
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GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOOD AND CROPS
Volume 309 Editor: Justin Healey ISBN 978 1921507 20 5 $20.95
Advances in gene technology are increasingly having impacts on how we produce crops and food for animal and human consumption. Australia already allows the commercial growing of genetically engineered canola and cotton for the purposes of herbicide tolerance and insect resistance, and bans are being lifted in some Australian states after extensive crop trials amid ongoing concerns about cross contamination. What are the latest advances in biotechnology, and how is Australia regulating this new and potentially pervasive science? Should there be mandatory labelling to declare the presence of GM ingredients in our food? The GM debate – what are the risks and benefits, ethics and concerns involving genetic modification when applied to food, agriculture, human and animal health and the environment? |
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CHANGING FAMILY TRENDS
Volume 310 Editor: Justin Healey ISBN 978 1921507 21 2 $20.95
Over the past thirty or so years, major social trends in marriage and work patterns have impacted on Australian family formation and structures. Families are very diverse and can take many shapes and forms, extending across a number of households. This book explores changing family trends and presents an overview of characteristics which define the Australian family in its many evolving guises. Lone parent families, step and blended families, grandparent families, and same-sex families are all examined in the light of major social shifts including the trend toward smaller families, both parents being in the workforce, divorce, later life partnering, the decline in marriage in favour of de facto relationships, women having children on their own, and access to reproductive technologies for gay and lesbian couples. Despite this diversity, 74% of couple families with dependent children are still the norm. What is the future of the family? |
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CANNABIS USE
Volume 311 Editor: Justin Healey ISBN 978 1921507 21 2 $20.95
Cannabis, also known as marijuana, has been used for medical and recreational purposes for thousands of years. It is the most commonly used illicit drug in Australia. According to the latest national survey, over 5.5 million people have used it. This book comprises two chapters: Cannabis and Your Health; and Cannabis and the Law. What are the short- and long-term health effects of this depressant, especially on those who are dependent? The association between cannabis use and psychotic disorders is well established, however there is still considerable debate over a possible causal relationship between cannabis use and mental illness. The use, possession, cultivation and sale of cannabis is illegal throughout Australia, though several states and territories have decriminalised minor cannabis offences. Should cannabis be decriminalised, or even legalised – or should law enforcement take a stronger abolitionist approach, before the whole nation goes to pot? |
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ABORTION ISSUES
Volume 312 Editor: Justin Healey ISBN 978 1921507 23 6 $20.95
In Australia 1 in every 4 pregnancies is terminated, with 80,000 women undergoing abortion every year. International research shows that women will still seek abortion, even if it is illegal, and a number of surveys reveal a majority of Australians support the idea of safe and legal abortions. Abortion laws are different in each Australian state and territory, yet some of the legislation is vague and open to interpretation. This book explores the topic in two chapters: Abortion Options; and Abortion Laws – An Ongoing Debate. What can be done to avoid unplanned pregnancy – if a woman finds herself in this situation, what are the options? Should Australia’s abortion laws be standardised? What are the pro-choice and pro-life arguments in relation to decriminalisation, availability of non-surgical abortion (RU486), late-term abortion, birth defects, the health of the expectant mother, and conscientious objections of health practitioners? Whose rights should prevail in this ethically complex debate? |
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AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL IDENTITY
Volume 313 Editor: Justin Healey ISBN 978 1921507 24 3 $20.95
Australia is a young and culturally diverse nation which often struggles with how to define its national identity. What does it mean to be an Australian? What are the values and symbols that represent Australian citizenship and patriotism? This book presents a range of opinions on how the national identity has been shaped through Australian citizenship, symbols and values: multiculturalism, tolerance (a ‘fair go’), national symbols (including the flag debate), British colonial influence, indigenous heritage and dispossession, freedom and democracy (including the Republic debate), egalitarianism, the landscape (beaches and ‘the bush’), mateship, larrikinism, the Anzac spirit, sporting obsession, outdoor lifestyle, our image overseas, and what it means to be ‘un-Australian’. When does patriotism become provocation? Do we as a people have an ideal or actual view of our collective identity, or should we in fact embrace and celebrate multiple identities? |
