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Sheriffs Research Research reported by Musher Sheriff and Decamps and Brown notes that the presence of a subordinate goal frequently acts to augment bonds among peers and reduce intercrop conflict. In this sense, the group of bullies who harassed Phoebe Prince attained a greater sense of connection, cohesion, and belongingness with one another by way of their mutual and collective tormenting of Phoebe. It appears that one of the reasons why Phoebe was singled out by the group of bullies was her past romantic involvement with a boy from the bullying group. It is also likely, however, that she was made a target of their bullying because she came from a foreign county and was from a different cultural background. Another factor that likely contributed to the bullying of Phoebe Prince was a lack Of empathy on the part Of her tormentors.

Identification As reviewed in the last module, deficits in empathy can very often be a absentia factor in cruel, antisocial behaviors. That is to say, a person who is normally nonviolent and non-aggressive can become violent and aggressive when caught up in the angry mentality of a group. Research reported by Richer et al. When there is a significant feeling of intercrop belongingness. In this sense, the nine students who bullied phoebe may have gotten caught up in a demutualization mob-mentality where their individual senses of responsibility, compassion, and empathy toward Phoebe were significantly obscured.

Sustainability in education, it is asserted, is made up of the following: improvement that fosters learning; improvement that is enduring; improvement that can be supported by available resources; improvement that does not have negative implications for surrounding schools; and improvement that promotes diversity and capacity. Leaders can contribute to this kind of improvement by placing learning at the heart of their initiatives; by ensuring that everyone takes responsibility for leadership; and by making plans for their own obsolescence. Wagner considers the merits of standardised testing in the United States, and asserts that educational reform must move well beyond 'high-stakes' testing if it is to make a difference to the way students are educated and what they are educated to do.

He fears that the highly politicised education arena is often prone to reform by legislators who know little about education and whose main concern is accountability, an outcome which they perceive to be facilitated by testing. Wagner wants educators and policy makers alike to consider whether compulsory standardised testing ensures intellectual rigor, and that all students gain the skills to make a contribution to democratic society and to the knowledge economy, or if it just contributes to higher dropout rates, disillusionment and inequality. The Australian Secondary Principals' Association has been investigating the issue of teacher shortage.

This article, calling for a national approach to the problem, condenses the study into the three Rs - retention; retirement; and recruitment - arguing that the detail involved in all three of these areas needs to be addressed if the overall problem of teacher shortage is to be solved. For example, it claims that while most are aware of the age profile of the profession, many do not realise that quite a number of the potential retirees are teaching mathematics and science subjects. Furthermore, younger recruits to the profession are of a generation who expect not to remain in one position for too long. Allowing for the flexibility that permits new recruits the kind of professional mobility other jobs provide is a factor which could influence retention rates.

Teasdale-Smith also makes the point that we do not always consider the effect the shortage is having on schools. The proliferation in overseas jurisdictions of teachers teaching in disciplines for which they are not qualified has had consequences for school enrolments and for student achievement. This article describes the difficulties faced by the beginning teacher, and examines the amount of support they receive.

It highlights the fact that many schools have devolved responsibility to 'beginning teacher buddies', whose own schedule has seen the responsibility passed to the induction folder. While conscious that solutions to this problem are hard to find, it reminds us that supporting beginning teachers is crucial to improving their retention rates.

Through series of anecdotes and recollections, Scarlett sharpens the focus on the motivations behind good teaching practice. Among other things, teachers are prompted to bear in mind the particularity of each student, to be aware of the dangers of substituting authority for rationality, to remember that values are implicit in all practice and that 'the aim of each exercise is to do [themselves] out of a job again and again'. In this article, Firek seeks the reasons for the lack of relevant technological competence exhibited by graduate teachers, given that technology courses are mandatory in their degrees.

The answer, she professes, lies in the fact that many preservice teacher courses in the United States teach technology and computer use in isolation from the candidate's core specialty. All preservice teachers, therefore, end up learning technology in the same way at the same time, without regard to the students' specialisations. English teachers will not learn how to make the many opportunities that technology provides available to students if they are learning database programs in a 'one size fits all' course.

Clearly, Firek argues, the obvious solution is to integrate technology training with candidates' other courses, and to do this by assisting teacher educators to become more comfortable with using technology in their discipline. He sees the unwillingness of schools and school boards to change as symptomatic of the inert bureaucratic structures which lead to the downfall of many previously successful companies in the post-industrial age. The potential panacea for education's ills in the United States, he asserts, lies in the novel educational approach of 'Lesson Study'. Lesson Study, originally a United States approach adopted by the Japanese and which is now finding favour with some in the United States, involves teachers constructing lesson plans and units of work collaboratively, observing one another delivering the lesson, and providing feedback to each other on where and how to improve the lesson.

For teachers to successfully implement Lesson Study would require a change of culture. At the school level, teachers would have to come out from their classrooms and from behind standardised regimes to take responsibility for curriculum planning, schools and systems would have to cooperate with unions to design a workplace that caters for this collaboration, and innovation will need to be fostered in the classroom. Kendall argues the case for employing standards at preschool level, emphasising that research suggests that early childhood learning has a significant and beneficial impact on the child's educational career.

He suggests that preschool standards could take their lead from K standards, but that those devising them should not confuse standards with performance and curriculum goals, and should allow for emotional and social learning, as well as students' different developmental needs. With regards to the latter, he recommends that multi-age classrooms be employed, as performance based on standards would not require an age-differentiated grade structure. The 'Starting School Research Project' at the University of Western Sydney recently conducted research into what parents, teachers and students saw as important attributes for children starting school, or making the transition from preschool to primary school. The project surveyed parents, teachers and students, and found that there were eight areas which all three groups emphasised as important.

These included: knowledge; social adjustment to the school context; skills tying shoelaces, holding a pencil ; disposition towards school; understanding the necessity for rules; physical attributes health ; family issues; and education environment at school. Each group gave a different weighting to the eight areas, with children emphasing rules, while adults teachers and parents placed more importance on social adjustment. Skills and knowledge were rated low by all groups, including teachers.

The authors of this article have included a list of elements their research indicates as important in any transition to a school program. They stress the importance of children's voices and the need to take account of different social contexts when creating suitable transition strategies. As the title of this paper suggests, the author is concerned that school leaders have not, by and large, successfully incorporated 'market centred leadership' into their leadership 'portfolio'.

Market centred leadership, Drysdale explains, can be achieved through the use of four frames: the market as philosophy and orientation; the market as a function within the organisation; the market as strategy; and the market as a set of relationships. While Drysdale firmly and unhesitatingly situates school leadership within marketing theory and acknowledges his debt to that discipline, to his credit, he goes beyond the mantras and explains in an engaging and informative way the application of the four frames. He also reports on an assessment of a sample of schools in areas of Melbourne experiencing profound demographic shifts, which he surveyed to gauge their market centred approaches and their implementation of the four frames.

He concludes that for schools to implement the approach, the attitudes and leadership of the principal are paramount. Morgan looks at the changing role of the school principal in England, from the autocratic and 'spiritual mission' management style of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, through the 'professional and pedagogically progressive mission' phase of the post-war period, to the market-oriented and chief executive role of the present. His aim is to gauge whether the new market focus of the role of head and the rise of Senior Management Teams have seen a usurpation of the authority of the office.

After assessing the available literature on leadership in schools, and drawing on a survey of Senior Management Teams in schools in South-East London, he concludes that while the latter have changed the leadership style of heads, their existence has not undermined the authority of the role, and, in fact, may have strengthened it to deal with the new requirements of school governance. It objects, particularly, to the concept of a 'complementary solution' to the problem of LOTE teacher supply by using ethnic private schools to fill the shortfall, and to the notion of secondary school 'centres of excellence' which it sees as divisive and elitist.

The former is available on the Australian Education Union website. Working from the premise that gender is a social construct ie that it is learned behaviour, learned roles and assigned to the sexes , this article demonstrates how gender roles are perpetuated in children's literature. Through a survey of that literature, it estimated that males were more frequently depicted as capable, active and independent, while female characters were portrayed as passive, dependent and performing household tasks. To counter this phenomenon, the authors have produced a list of books which treat gender roles in a more complex fashion and a checklist whereby teachers and parents can assess children's books for gender bias. In a thought-provoking and informative article, McCrindle defines 'generation y' - those born between and - by their values, influences and motivations.

It is this generation which now populates schools. McCrindle asserts that teachers and school leaders need to understand how to communicate with generation 'y' if they are to be effective in the education of these students. Noting the increase in the proportion of school principals who do not serve out the length of their contracts at schools, Millikan examines the relationship between school heads and school boards so as to bring greater clarity to the specific roles of both.

His article clearly delineates the roles of members of the school board and that of the principal by describing the scope of the roles and attaching specific duties to each of them. For example, he sees school boards as performing the overall role of school governance which involves overseeing the employment and appraisal of the principal; the fiscal situation of the school; and the overview of the schools mission. Principals, on the other hand, should be left to manage the learning environment; manage their staff and students; ensure the professional development of staff; and implement the board's policies. This article provides a step-by-step approach to planning and managing the 'change process' in schools. Demonstrating, by means of a case study, the connection between the school's mission and articulated vision, and the 'faculty plan', it shows school principals how to give effect and practical meaning to those initial lofty ideals.

It claims that the Curriculum Evaluation of demonstrated that there was still a lot of confusion about schools' responsibilities in this area. The SSTUWA has advanced a six-point plan to address the situation which includes resourcing and support to make sense of the levels across the WA system, professional development to assist teachers develop assessment strategies which conform to the Curriculum Framework's requirements, and a review of curriculum policy. Although this article is addressed to teachers in the United States, much of it will be relevant to teachers outside of that country. The authors situate Global Education within its philosophical and pedagogical contexts, and provide practical advice to help teachers integrate it with the perspectives and voices of women from around the world.

One way in which this can be achieved is to recognise the lack of understanding of other cultures among students, and to remedy this by confronting stereotypes. Other approaches suggested by the authors are: introducing multiple perspectives using primary documents, teaching about the power dimensions of prejudices and providing students with opportunities for cross-cultural experiential learning. Working from the premise that students' beliefs about scientific inquiry influence their approaches to scientific learning, this United States study examined the beliefs held by students about the discipline as well as their learning strategies.

It found that there was, while complicated, a correlation between students' conception of scientific knowledge eg tentative, contested or factual and their learning strategies eg understanding or memorising; autonomous or dependent , and that this had profound implications for science pedagogy. In this paper, Cotter brings an overarching philosophical presence to the kinds of tensions with which school communities find themselves grappling.

Noting that schools have arrived at the juncture of two models of society, that is, the individual-oriented, contractual and market-driven model and the community or communitarian model, Cotter makes the argument for the legitimacy and relevance of the latter, with its values of unconditional generosity, self-sacrifice and service. He observes that schools, while increasingly besieged by the 'external model' of society based on contractual relations, are still based on 'covenants', the kinds of unconditional relationships found in families. It is in these kinds of communities, with their emphasis on generosity and service, that skills such as emotional intelligence and social capital, valued by organisations with a more market vision of the world, are fostered.

Cotter's paper is both thought provoking and inspirational, as it contains a synthesis of the relevant literature, and a sprinkling of 'real-life' scenarios and examples. But, even more than this, it offers school leaders a theoretical perspective on the organisational tensions operating within schools, gives them a framework within which to articulate that conflict and provides a reasoned argument for the intrinsic values at the heart of schools. Bhindi recognises the social, economic and political environment in which schools have to operate, and notes that now, more than ever, is the time for creative leadership in schools. Creative leadership, it is asserted, is not the preserve of 'the chosen few', but rather a dormant ability which has its roots in 'passion, commitment and energy', and which needs 'courage, imagination and exploration' for its release.

In the interview, Holden recounts his motivations for entering the teaching profession, and outlines his educational philosophy, educational priorities, management style and indicators of success. David Loader attempts to shift the terrain of the public versus private school debate by arguing that the real argument is about underlying values and not the means by which schools are funded. Schools can be deemed 'public', not by the way they are funded, but by whether they subscribe to a set of values which are perceived to be 'public values'.

To arrive at this set of values Loader uses Brian Caldwell's Scenarios for Leadership and the Public Good in Education in which the principles of choice, equity, access, efficiency, economic growth and harmony are outlined as elements of the public good. This shift towards values, it is argued, allows for a more accurate evaluation of the success of schools and for a more meaningful focus on ends instead of means. In this article she reports on how the efforts of teaching staff over a three-year period to 'describe the best classroom' have lead to a new and innovative building, a new philosophy on classroom practice - encapsulated in the document 'The Landscape for Learning' - and linked subjects which facilitate interdisciplinary learning.

She concludes, therefore, that some of the ingredients which go into creating a quality learning environment are: an educational philosophy that is owned by teachers and which values students' experiences; and a flexible building that allows for experimentation and does not inhibit choice. Acknowledging the plethora of 'values' and other moral guidance education programs now available to school students in the United States, Weissbourd seeks to recognise the role of teachers in students' moral development and argues the case for helping teachers to be more effective in this role.

Far from introducing yet another program, Weissbourd identifies disillusionment and depression as reasons for teachers not fulfilling this role. He asserts that teachers often become disillusioned about their capacity to make a difference in students' lives, and that this can often lead to a sense of hopelessness and 'passivity'. Helping teachers to better manage students' behavioural problems, assisting them in recognising signs of depression in themselves, instituting a mentoring strategy and allowing teachers time to reflect on their work are just some of the ways in which they become more enthusiastic and more effective as teachers and, as a consequence, better at shaping the moral development of those who often admire them most - their students.

The taskforce will report to the Commonwealth Minister for Education, Science and Training on the issues of teacher training and professional standards for the profession. The AEU's position is that standards should only apply to those entering the profession and should be generic; that any standards framework should be 'owned' by the teaching profession; that teaching standards should not be linked to student outcomes, which are affected by a range of variables not just teacher quality; and that standards should not be linked to performance management. His article provides an insight into one of the key initiatives in British education - the Blair Government's Investment for Reform program. Hart sees this program, a shift away from centralisation and towards self-managing schools, as an opportunity for 'transformational, pioneering and ambitious leaders' to re-model their schools.

He makes the plea that governments should unshackle schools and not drown them in bureaucratic red tape or have them balancing too may competing priorities. He cautions, however, that Heads should not lose sight of the 'vital role of schools' in communities. Among other things this role includes the development of the knowledge and skills of young people, maintaining schools as 'oases of calm' in young people's lives and social inclusion in an increasingly competitive environment. Using the metaphor of travel, Greene asks school principals and leaders to consider why they have not successfully implemented the reforms they initially intended to achieve.

By example, Green lists a series of measures implemented in schools which are anachronistic and of no real benefit to students. Some of these include: the concept of work experience for Year 10 students in an age of apprenticeships and adolescent part-time work; age cohort structuring of classes when it is widely recognised that students do not achieve the same outcomes at the same time; and using form groups as a kind of pastoral care.

He encourages principals to break with the past, as it is the 'excess baggage' of the old curriculum which often inhibits the achievements of the new. St Bedes Catholic College in Victoria is fortunate enough to have a full-time attendance officer at the school. Brother Brendan Crowe, a teacher of 27 years experience, implemented a computerised attendance register which is cross-referenced with parents' absentee notifications by 9.

While intended as a deterrent, it allows the school to stop the habit of truancy in its tracks, and to recognise cries for help of which truancy is often a manifestation. Students are initially counselled by Brother Brendan, and those considered to be at risk are referred to the school counsellor. After noticing a drop-off in boys' academic achievement and engagement at Year 3, the school started to address the situation with activities directed towards 'real world' outcomes such as their 'Making it real to make it work' program. Coincidence would have it that a teaching fellow from the United State was due to be hosted by the school. Noticing the similarities in what the school was trying to achieve and the Tribes initiative she was trained in, the teacher recommended it to the school.

The Tribes initiative involves small group work which sees students assigned to a group for a year. The groups are of mixed abilities so that students are compelled to recognise individual attributes. This allows the five principles of the Tribes Agreement to come into play, which include attentive listening, appreciation, a right to pass not to participate in some activities , mutual respect and personal best.

Agterhuis has noticed the changes in both the communication skills and self-esteem of the boys, as well as an appropriation of the principles of Tribes in their vocabulary and attitudes. The rural community of Goondiwindi in south-west Queensland had a convergence of problems: the retention rate at the local high school was falling, and local rural industries could not find enough high school graduates to employ. Goodiwindi High School and local business decided to co-ordinate to solve their problems simultaneously.

Together, the two programs have increased the school retention rate from Dixon implores teachers to 'get competent' with computers so that they can unleash the true learning potential of this, not so new, technology. Recognising that it has taken 35 years for computers to enter the classroom, and lamenting the fact that the vast majority of students still do not have school-based access to computers, he points out that teachers' attitudes and fears about their roles should not be an added obstacle to creating an exciting learning environment with computers - 'the instrument of ideas'.

Using the area of 'special education' as a case study for a wider theoretical statement, the author of this paper promotes a 'dilemmatic' approach to advancing education debates. He argues that, as can be seen in the conflict over the appropriate models and nomenclature in the area of special education, debates in education are often value laden and present options which, regardless of the paths taken, have negative outcomes. The social model of inclusion versus the individual needs model in special education is seen as representative of this kind of 'dilemmatic' situation. The way forward is to recognise the conflicting 'multiple values' the ambiguity and contradictions and to produce creative solutions which attempt to fulfill some values while not jeopardising the attainment of others.

In the above example, this would be recognising that the values of social inclusion should not override the need for an accommodation and recognition of individual needs and difference. With the increased pressure for schools to adopt a market approach to their work processes and resourcing has come many opportunities, but also stresses. This paper, primarily based on the recent British school reforms, surveyed the academic literature and data to weigh its hypotheses on the psychological wellbeing of school principals in the new era of 'marketisation of schools'.

Its findings call for more quantitative research to be conducted on the subject but, more importantly, the paper gives a clear analytical breakdown of the kinds of factors which lead to job satisfaction and self-renewal, as well as those in some cases the same factors leading to stress and burnout. This thoughtful and well-researched paper is a summary of an address given at the Australian Women Speak conference. Harris uses the core themes identified by the Commonwealth Government's Office for the Status of Women - economic self-support and security, optimal status and position, elimination of violence and maintenance of good health - as the organising principles for her description and explanation of the circumstances of young Australian women today.

She notes that young Australian women are increasingly finding themselves in a paradoxical situation - on the one hand with more opportunities than their peers a generation before, yet facing increased social and economic pressures on the other. Many aspire to motherhood before thirty-five and economic independence. But, while increasing numbers of young women have found their way to tertiary education, they still do not do as well with their credentials as young males, and those who do not go on to further study are less likely to find themselves in full-time work.

The study on which this paper is based drew on students, their teachers and parents, from 22 Brisbane schools. Through a series of surveys, it found that there was an adverse correlation between socio-economic status and 'temperamental aggression' - a category of aggression which excludes bullying. The authors contended that aggression was more likely to be exhibited in students who had inflated perceptions of their academic competencies, and who thus demonstrated a lack of maturation, a developmental trait usually associated with adolescents from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds. Connell takes a nostalgic, yet insightful, journey back to the time and issues which inspired Making the Difference Connell et al, , the ground-breaking publication on educational equity in Australia.

A by-product of this journey is a thought provoking survey of the last 20 years of the politics of Australian education. Mindful of what he terms the 'neoliberal' or economic rationalist dominance of the education debate, he refocuses attention to issues of class and gender inequality which, he contends, far from being solved, have become entrenched in Australian education and educational outcomes. Michael Apple reflects on the effects September 11 had on the his teaching personally, and on the implications for a critical pedagogy generally. He draws attention to what he sees as an 'authoritarian populism' which has emerged in the United States in the wake of September 11, and ponders the implications of this for a hidden curriculum of uncritical patriotism.

The package is aimed at combating truancy by obliging schools to create 'Attendance Improvement Plans' to encourage students to maintain their school attendance. Some schools have already introduced innovative initiatives which have met with some success. Professor Slee explains the aims of the Education Queensland reform agenda, as contained in Queensland State Education , against the background of its over-arching aim - 'redesigning schooling'. Some of the measures include creating a curriculum that is both relevant and engaging, examining and promoting good pedagogy and fostering a culture of inclusivity in educational practices and school environments.

The Third International Mathematics and Science Study - Repeat, under the auspices of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, demonstrated that Australian Year 8 and 9 students' mathematics and science competencies were among the best internationally. The assessment, conducted in Australia by the Australian Council for Education Research ACER , had Australian students performing above the average in both science and mathematics, with 19 per cent of Australian students making up the top 10 per cent in science, and 12 per cent in the top 10 per cent in mathematics.

While based on American experience, this article is a useful reminder to Australian curriculum leaders of the need to have policies and procedures in place to deal with challenges to books held in school libraries. It points out that the absence of such policies and procedures may lead to 'knee-jerk reactions' which neither consider students' educational requirements or the appropriateness of the resource. A number of teachers who have recently graduated in southern states are now teaching in remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory. They face problems such as high rates of student absenteeism, separation from their families, and the isolation of the communities.

Today's educational leader must add the roles of manager, marketer and entrepreneur to their more traditional duties, and they must be able to train others to lead. Their role is also likely to involve collaboration with other senior staff who specialise in one or more aspects of school leadership. Recruitment to school leadership positions can therefore be based on potential rather than achievements, with new leaders trained and helped by more experienced peers. A range of school leaders offer opinions. The authors report on the results of a random survey sent to primary schools in New South Wales in , designed to identify the most important factors that made novice teachers confident to teach science and technology.

The factors that new teachers rated most highly included: units on how to teach science and technology in their tertiary training; teaching practice and observation sessions during block practicums at schools; and the experience of teaching science and technology in their first year out. The teachers rated their own prior education in science and technology content as a minor factor.

Respondents indicated the need for more help from colleagues during first year of teaching. The results are seen to apply to novice secondary science teachers, too. Earlier research work is provided as context. Schools are familiar architectural designs to many people, and, perhaps, they should not be. Even though educational practices and student learning needs have changed many times over in the last fifty years, many school buildings are still designed according to the standard model - two rows of classrooms separated by a corridor. This article points out that even though financial constraints are overriding considerations in school design, many educators are also unaware of the impact of building design on learning. It provides a few North American examples of how better building design has successfully transformed teacher and student learning, and urges educators to become more aware of their use of space and its impact on teaching.

Mathematics in Indigenous Contexts K-6 is a project which aims to develop culturally appropriate teaching units to assist Indigenous students to achieve numeracy outcomes in New South Wales. This article is a brief description of the work of two primary schools - Crawford Public School and Walhallow Public School - in involving the local community and parents in the development of the mathematics units. The Office of the Board of Studies has collated the units developed by the schools, and will host them on an interactive website to help other schools emulate the work of the Crawford and Walhallow Public Schools in their endeavours to improve the numeracy outcomes for Indigenous students. The March edition of the Board Bulletin reported on a project being undertaken to identify issues and areas of support for primary teachers in delivering the K-6 syllabuses.

The project had surveyed 40 primary schools and received responses. These responses were categorised into five areas: use of existing syllabuses; comments on outcomes; comments on Key Learning Areas; comments on assessment; and other issues and recommendations. A second progress report appeared in the May edition of the Board Bulletin. This edition of AEU News contains a feature story on teaching and schools in two rural communities in western Victoria - Ararat and Stawell.

Teachers and principals of both primary and secondary schools share their stories of life and teaching in rural communities including issues such as resourcing, professional development, fundraising, school issues and workplace concerns. In New South Wales, nine new public schools are to be built and maintained by a private consortium in a public-private partnership similar to that in operation in Britain. Questioning the motivations of both the government and the private sector, Fiona Sexton suggests that this may be yet another step towards privatising education services and that public-private partnerships have not been as successful overseas as first imagined.

The longitudinal study, Achievement in Literacy and Numeracy by Australian Fourteen-year-olds, , managed by the Department of Education Science and Training and the Australian Council of Educational Research, has shown that the effect of socio-economic status on student learning over that period has become greater. While the gap between individual students has lessened, schools in which there is a high concentration of students whose parents occupy professional or managerial positions did better overall on comprehension and numeracy tests. The same study found that students from non-English speaking backgrounds had closed the gap in educational attainment measurements and that there was not a marked difference in educational achievement between metropolitan and non-metropolitan schools.

The widening gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous achievement, however, was still evident. The temporary protection regime means not only that a person must re-apply every few years and fear being returned to danger but also that the settlement supports available to other refugees who arrived via the Refugee and Humanitarian Program and other permanent residents are not available to them. People may live here for decades or even their entire lives but will not have access to the same supports and opportunities as other residents and citizens. The chances of success are made even smaller by the extremely short time that service providers have to transition people once they get a visa. When that happens, service providers have to exit them most often within mere days from the service that has been supporting them, while helping them to fill out the extensive paperwork and giving them a lot of new information.

There is considerable evidence that temporary protection for refugees is harmful and has a compounding negative impact on people lives and ability to settle. A study in comparing the mental health of refugees with temporary versus permanent protection visas found that while the levels of pre-migration trauma of both groups were not significantly different, the proportion of people holding TPVs who experienced difficulties exceeded that of permanent Protection visa holders on all items assessed.

I have seen the first-hand impacts of TPVs on people and people being left in limbo. I am really concerned about what we are doing to a whole population of people. We are creating a long-term negative legacy. The main premise for trauma treatment is safety, security, attachment, belonging and connection but that is not available. People are suffering. We are creating secondary trauma which will not be possible to treat. Economically, we are setting ourselves back. If we are detaining people and confining people to TPVs, we are creating more problems with mental health in the long term.

In addition, RCOA has heard regularly about the significant hardship faced by people seeking asylum who are forced to subsist on an inadequate level of income. Consultation participants across the country have emphasised that the basic income support available to people seeking asylum on Bridging Visas is insufficient for people to live in the Australian community, as the costs associated with leasing a property in the private market and paying for utilities, transport, food, medication, clothing and household goods were significantly higher than the modest payments.

Even with budgeting training, most people were struggling to live. The challenges faced by people seeking asylum living in the community are further compounded by the uncertainty resulting from prolonged delays in processing their claims. Consultation participants shared how this uncertainty impacted on people in different ways — young people in school who had difficulty concentrating and remembering information, and adults who often had difficulty engaging in activities or understanding where they were in the asylum process.

Concern has been expressed that, in the face of these myriad challenges, some people seeking asylum have turned to negative coping strategies, such as drug use and excessive alcohol consumption.