Grog-fuelled violence and drink-driving-deaths saturate our headlines to the point we are numb with indifference. But the cost to individuals and the wider community due to absenteeism, lack of productivity, accidents and subsequent mental health issues as a result of ‘one to many’ is often drowned out.

Obvious to some, it may come as a surprise it is those pouring the pints and concocting our cocktails that they are most susceptible to developing alcoholic tendencies.

One of Australia’s authorities on workplace alcohol and drug use, the National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction NCETA, reported in 2005: “the hospitality industry had the largest percentage of workers who frequently drank at short-term risk or high-risk levels (15.2%)” with long-term risky drinking at more than 13 per cent.

Director of the National Drug and Research Institute (NDRI), Professor Steve Allsop confirmed these concerns, saying that accessibility, social expectations, shift-work stressors and poor employer supervision were all contributing factors.

“With hospitality, in addition to physical availability, you have social accessibility, the perception of what’s normal and accepted: if everyone else around you is doing it then it must be ok,” Professor Allsop says.

“Plus, if you’re only closing up after midnight or early in the morning you can’t just come home and go to bed. You’re still a bit wired. That’s why a lot of people party and socialise after their shifts; it’s their time to unwind, and who else are you going to find at that time to join you other than your workmates.”

But Professor Allsop also says that those recruited into the profession may already have a predisposition to drinking, especially young people entering the workforce.

“Certain people may be attracted to working with alcohol because they have an interest in it already. If you like a drink and are often hanging out in bars, you may be more inclined to look for work in that environment – which means you’re already at risk.”

How do you know you’re at risk?

Brian Kearney, CEO of Australian Hotels Association Victoria is skeptical about the problem.

“I haven’t seen any research but it’s like saying: ‘do people who work in car yards, do they become more involved with speeding?’” Mr Kearney says.

“People who work in hospitality see both sides: the ugly effects of excessive consumption and the pleasure of those who responsibly consume.

“Like any employer we want healthy staff and we wont put up with people who take sick leave because they’ve got a hangover. They’ve got a job to do and should turn up to do it.”

Mr Kearney says because all hospitality employees are required to complete Responsible Service of Alcohol accreditation, they are more aware of the issues and dangers associated with problem drinking than most.

“It’s pure speculation on my part, but it could be fair to presume that greater exposure to unacceptable behaviour could moderate you. With heightened sensitivity to the consequences they see regularly, they could become more wary and less likely to abuse alcohol.”

Mr Kearney also says the issue lacks significance as “it doesn’t reflect in workers’ compensation premiums and is not factored into increased business costs for insurance purposes.”

WorkSafe Victoria, the state authority for occupational health and safety, has no specific training programs or preventative measures in place to combat this epidemic.

In their new campaign, launched prior to ‘Work Safe Week’ commencing the 27 October, they acknowledge that young workers are more likely to be injured at work than any other population.

They also say the hospitality industry is the single biggest employer of young and inexperienced workers.

But WorkSafe spokesperson Michael Birt says they haven’t focussed on problem drinking, instead: “we have focused more on traditional OH&S concerns like accidents and harassment.”

Some scary statistics…

Despite this, NDRI’s Professor Allsop says it has been on the national OH&S agenda for some time and all jurisdictions have engaged with finding responsible solutions.

“I’m cautious about recommending lockouts. We need to look at price; at liquor licensing enforcement; the practicalities of not selling across the bar to drunks or the under age; we need to look at the way it’s promoted and ensure it’s appropriate,” he says.

More importantly, he recognises the problem is real and needs to be addressed.

“The fact that the hospitality industry attracts and hence recruits from high risk groups, like youth which are the heaviest drinkers in the community, the possibility of developing alcohol problems, putting themselves and others at risk, is a major issue and should be on the front page of every OH&S induction manual.”

What are your thoughts?

Although reconstructive surgery was used in India in 800 BC, the history of plastic surgery moved very slowly for thousands of years.

In the late 19th century the American medical community embraced reconstructive surgery and the history of plastic surgery in the United States began.

World War I presented doctors with hundreds of victims suffering obscene facial wounds and burns, changing the history of plastic surgery.

Some of the greatest medical talent devoted themselves fully both to exploring the history of plastic surgery and creating new techniques to treat men maimed by the war.

Aesthetic surgery took its place in the history of plastic surgery at around this time, as surgeons fully realized the influence of ones appearance.

Cosmetic surgery is now a multi-billion dollar industry and the most common procedures are breast augmentations, face lifts and liposuctions.

• In March 2007 a 26-year-old Melbourne woman, Lauren James, died after her liposuction in January.
• Last year the nation watched as Claire Oliver told us of her battle with skin cancer and warned against the dangers of solariums. She passed away in August.
• The death rate among liposuction patients is higher than car crash victims (FDA Department of Health and Human services statistics)
• There are many risks associated with surgery such as infections and embolisms or clots.
• A small number of patients experience burns or toxic shock from certain substances injected into or used on the body.

Michael Buxton, Associate Professor of Environment and Planning at RMIT, has called Melbourne’s historic buildings protection process disgraceful.

“What’s basically happening is that there is an incremental erosion of Melbourne’s heritage buildings, one by one they are being knocked off and this is a slow but steady process so that one day we are going to wake up and there will be very little left,” he said.

Assoc Prof Buxton said the demolition of Lonsdale House was an example of government greed.

“It shows a callous disregard for heritage by the state government and a further example of how the state government cares only for big business and property interests,” he said.

Planning Minister Justin Madden has already approved the redevelopment, despite objections from community groups and the National Trust, the non-government organisation created to operate and protect Melbourne’s architectural heritage.

National Trust architectural historian Rohan Storey said appealing to the developers was the only option, but they were unlikely to listen.

“The organisers of the Save Lonsdale House campaign, which is happening on the internet as we speak, are planning on a protest on the 22nd of August,” he said

 Other buildings at risk

Mr Storey said Lonsdale House was not the only building under threat.

“The National Trust sees that currently there are a number of developments that ignore heritage and planning controls as being a serious threat to Melbourne’s heritage buildings,” he said.

But Assoc Prof Buxton said the National Trust was too narrowly focused on their charter and that more needed to be done to protect heritage buildings.

“Melbourne’s economic value as a liveable city and a tourist destination and as a place that attracts people will decline. Once we destroy these buildings we become just like any other glass and tower city, completely indistinguishable from the rest, and we’ll go the way that Sydney has, regrettably,” he said.

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The increase in fuel prices has meant a surge in petrol theft around Melbourne, costing some service stations in excess of $8000 a year.

Adel, manager of BP in Sunbury said the public don’t appreciate the effect petrol theft has on businesses.

“Nobody cares about the merchants,” he said. “It’s not fair for us, and it’s not fair for the community.”

“I am losing around $5000 a year, but I know it has gone up to around $8000 for some,” he said.

“We are lucky in Sunbury, it’s not so bad. But in areas like Deer Park, St Albans, Broadmeadows, Thomastown and Fitzroy, it’s a lot worse.”

His branch is working with local police to identify serial offenders, despite the installation of cameras on every bowser in the station.

“When someone does a drive-off, all we can do is get their number plates, call the police or chase them ourselves,” Adel said.

The average thief steals about $50 worth of fuel, and tends to be aged in their 30s.

“It’s always the same type of people, and the police know who to look for. Sometimes they work in a group, but mainly it’s just the driver.”

Adel is pushing BP to install 24-hour pre-pay bowsers, but he says his requests go unanswered.

“I can push only so much, there needs to be more stations pushing for this.”

“We can get approval for eight or nine hours a day with pre-pay, but a thief is a thief. They know the ways we work and the times where the pre-pay system is off – and it can happen at any time of day.”

THE FACTS

• Petrol theft costs the fuel industry about $63 million a year
• Victoria accounts for $12 million of this figure
• There were 6267 petrol drive offs in 2006-07 after a 40 per cent jump the previous the year
• More than 10,000 car registration plates were stolen in 2006-2007

Source: Victoria Police

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By Adele Holland

If it weren’t for all the noise, silence would not be as powerful as it has become. Following the recent mass protests around the world in regards to China, there has been plenty of noise, but in a stand against Chinese treatment of Tibet, one Melbourne woman is going against the trend.

Kesang, was born in Tibet and is currently undertaking a silent vigil outside the Chinese Consulate in Melbourne every Sunday for two hours, as part of her own personal protest against the treatment of her family, her friends and her country.

“It is a very peaceful vigil, and we do not want to create any problems for Chinese consulate members or the Australian police,” she said.

Although Kesang has lived in Australia for nearly 18 years, she still has strong links to her home country of Tibet. In 1959 her family moved to India, where Kesang grew up in exile, along with thousands of other Tibetan people. She moved to Australian with her husband in her mid-20s.

“For the first time in my life I experienced what real freedom means,” she said.

“What it means to be an individual, what power we have. So I thought, I have to do something. I knew that the Chinese were bullying our government, into believing they were willing to negotiate, but they had no intention of negotiation, and also I felt like I have a responsibility to stand up for the human rights issues and to push for the general autonomy.”

In an effort to make Australian’s aware of the lack of basic human rights in Tibet, Kesang sits at an altar outside the Chinese Consulate between 2pm and 4pm every Sunday, in the lead up the Olympic Games in Beijing.

Much controversy has surrounded the Free Tibet protests as many believe the Olympic Games should be kept separate from world politics.

The Olympic Torch relay has been the focus of media attention recently, and Kesang believes it is the perfect opportunity for Tibetans and supporters of the movement to get their word out.

“It’s not like now the torch has come and suddenly we are protesting, we were protesting before, but nobody was paying attention,” she said.

“People are saying the torch is sacred and asking why we are attacking it? What does the torch symbolise? It is a mark of civilisation, and in our culture we say, the torch symbolises wisdom. Because when light is shone, darkness is gone, and people can see the truth. The Games stand for equality and harmony… but that is not happening in Tibet.”

Although her protest is peaceful, Chinese Consulate members have not made it easy for Kesang to undertake her vigil.

Originally Kesang set her altar up under the branch of a tree outside the consulate. It gave her shade through the warmer months, and was a place she could hang her prayer flags. However one day she arrived to find someone had stripped the branches of the tree. Kesang believes this is a reflection of the bullying nature of the Chinese government.

“We Tibetans have nothing against the Chinese people; it is just the totalitarian government,” she said.

“At the same time I would like to thank all of the Australians, for so much love, for their understanding. There is not one Tibetan whose life hasn’t been touched by this tragedy. Sometime you feel like why did we live? Wouldn’t we have been better off dying and not having to go through this? But I heard a writer say once, ‘To live is to suffer but to survive to find a meaning’. So I think my purpose is that. I have met so many kind, compassionate people. Australian’s have such big hearts.”

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By Clayton Bennett

It would seem that if Yarra Trams and Connex had anything to do with re-writing children’s literature the new title for a classic book would be The Little Engine That Couldn’t.

Original author Watty Piper, now replaced by transport giants, may be rolling in his grave as the saying “I think I can, I think I can” is replaced by “we wish to apologise for any inconvenience caused”. While The Little Engine That Could was written as a moralistic tale of optimism it is suffice to say that the optimistic ones in public transport are the government bodies that renew their contracts.

There are three major problems with public transport in Melbourne, as outlined by the Public Transport Users Association (PTUA) of Victoria: the wait, the cost and the safety.

Wherever you see commuters bunched together at a tram stop, on a platform at a train station or even at a bus stop, what you are seeing is ‘the wait’ in action. Waits from 20 minutes up to one hour are common in Melbourne and it seems to be always when you need to be somewhere.

Price wise, public transport for Melburnians is a big issue with users of the system paying the highest fares of any public transport system in Australia, according to the PTUA. When speaking to The Age, president of PTUA Daniel Bowen explained, “for people who already have a car sitting in the garage, public transport is not cost-competitive, even with petrol prices rising again.”

However, Victorian Transport Minister Lynne Kosky defended the fares, saying that former premier Steve Bracks had reduced prices on public transport with action such as the abolition of Zone 3.

The figures though still show otherwise. These expensive trips with long waiting times cannot be justified by any safety record, as bashings and road collisions occur regularly. Despite Connex implementing its yellow ‘safety zones’, cases like that of a teenager being admitted to Royal Melbourne Hospital with stab wounds after being attacked at Bell train station in Preston earlier this year continue to be a grim reality.

Last year, two Yarra Trams travelling down St Kilda Road collided, leaving the driver of the second tram in a critical condition, the tram itself a write-off and 12 passengers injured.

Country travellers of V/Line are not omitted from danger. In June last year a semi-trailer crashed into a V/Line train at a level crossing in the central Victorian town of Kerang. Eleven died and many more were injured after being thrown about the carriages like rag dolls. The question begs, what safety is included in the price of a fare?

For the average Joe Citizen who is lucky enough to avoid these road crashes and knife attacks, riding on public transport is a frustrating hell at best. If there isn’t a chroming junkie, a group of obnoxious kids or a ranting old man sitting somewhere on your tram then you mustn’t get out much. As comedian Dave Callan would add, if you are travelling on public transport and you can’t find the token loony then chances are you’re it!

No one is ever going to be completely satisfied with public transport with such a differing opinion amongst the daily, weekly and bi-monthly commuters of the metropolitan melting pot. A new transport company may well just be as hopeless as any we have had in the past. Connex has etched a special place in the vernacular of the public however, with the Urban Dictionary giving one definition as being slang for late or delayed. Perhaps next time you are caught without a ticket and fined on a train, the excuse “Sorry I was running Connex and forgot my wallet” might work, or at least get a laugh.

Until the wait, the cost and the safety are improved however there will be nothing funny about using public transport in Melbourne.

New Services

Connex has attempted to appease commuters by adding new services running across the Melbourne metropolitan rail network. Scroll over your line to see the upgrades that have been made.

Click here for map of upgrades

Click here for the history of Melbourne’s rail network

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We ask two experts what they think about the street count, and how we can stop homelessness.

Sherri Bruinhout is manager of Front Yard, the youth division of Melbourne City Mission, who provide services to those under 25 who are at risk of homelessness.

Steve Perrson is CEO of the Big Issue magazine, which provides self-employment opportunities for the homeless and long-term unemployed.

Why do people become homeless?

Steve Persson: “It’s the reasons that go back to family, it goes back to drugs, it goes back to a whole range of potential problems that I guess we’re all so very familiar with.”

Sherri Bruinhout: “Homelessness happens when families break down.”

What do you think the street count will reveal?

Sherri Bruinhout:  “It’s going to be really interesting. There’s been street count in Adelaide and there’s another one coming up in Sydney. We’re really keen to get involved and we’re one of the partners on that. I’m actually really not sure, I think that it’s exciting because it’s benchmarking street homelessness in the city and we really haven’t had that before. We have homelessness in the census but it’s very hard to get people who are sleeping rough to participate in things like [the] census.

“I’m quite apprehensive because I think it’s going to be quite shocking what we find and I think that we should be shocked and we should be really appalled by what we find in the census”.

Do you think homelessness is an increasing problem or is it on the decline?

Sherri Bruinhout: “With the American sub-prime loan debacle, that’s having a trickle effect all across the world. The effect is that rents are increasing in Melbourne, the interest rates are going up significantly and that’s having a follow-on effect with real estate, with private accommodation.”

 “So a young person on Youth Allowance, by the time they’ve paid for an average sized rental property in Melbourne, they have less than $10 a day to live on and we just find that that’s not a viable option for young people, if they were to be successful for applying for a rental property anyway which is just not happening, the market’s too tight.”

Steve Perrson: “I’ve got a very unhappy feeling that we’ll see a rise, I think the pressure on housing is going to increase I think the gap between those people that can afford housing and the housing costs is going to mean that we’re going to see an increased number.”

“I know that there’s a number of great works to try and stem that and I can only hope it’ll be successful but I have a really uneasy feeling that we’re going to see an increase.”

Is there a solution to homelessness?

Sherri Bruinhout: “I don’t think that we can stop people from being homeless…I think we can aim to stop people having to sleep on the streets when they’re homeless, I think that we can aim to getting a really good solution to people’s homelessness, but I think what most people can do is if you can see someone, if you see a friend in trouble, if you see a family in trouble that you know, offer some sort of support or information.”

Steve Persson: “I think the range of strategies that they’re talking about to increase homes for homeless people is a key to it, you know, you’ve got to provide shelter to people and that’s one of the cores of anything, but I’d like to see a variety of solutions rather than a one size fits all.”

“I’d like to see a range of social ventures like the Big Issue established that people can engage in, in a business sense. I’d like to see case management and welfare services increased absolutely and better targeted, but I’d like to see a little bit more variety, I’d like to see something creative, and I’d like to see some business solutions to a social problem.”

Alice talks of a time she once completed a lesson plan on probability and “it’s probable to assume that there is little that can be done to retrieve text book arithmetic from the perils of classroom boredom”. But instead Alice weighed herself down with bags of colourful smarties – tools to be used in the probability exercise “how many smarties can you fit in your mouth”.

“While half the students probably fell into a diabetic coma or became hyper I think it is safe to say that they will never forget the basics of probability.”

Always looking for a creative alternative, Alice a first-year-out teacher was one of the first students to put her hand up to do volunteer teaching rounds in indigenous communities around Australia. But like the probability lesson Alice soon discovered that while things look attractive from the outset – the sometimes chaotic reality of the activity can be a lot to digest.

Selected from a panel of students Alice and a classmate saved and took to the top end of Australia to work in a remote Aboriginal community in Arnhem Land. Convoyed into the camp by 4WD the conditions of the community were immediately apparent to the Alice, a well travelled student had never seen anything like it.

“I won’t lie and say that it wasn’t intimidating and I was not prepared for the shock, but when I think about it nothing could have prepared me and that’s why I was there it was an unbelievably segregated community and the cultural and economic gaps were enormous.”

But Alice from the outset wanted to make a difference and launched herself into her role as a teacher’s assistant at the one and only local school. “As a teacher I wanted to know about Australia’s history and how history was being played out today.”

What Alice, the self confessed idealist was presented with was an education system and culture so flawed that even the most creative, spirited individual could not help feeling disheartened by.

“Oh there were so many challenges – the first where to start?”

Teachers did not work cohesively but it was understandable in a hopeless situation with no support. It was not uncommon for the teachers and members of the community to be bitter and combined with a sense of guilt and obligation to the community these seemed to be the only traits that united them.

While Alice admits that the problems were far reaching, small rewards in the classroom were enough to inspire and encourage her.

“It is a very traditional chalk and talk approach.”

Alice introduced lots of role playing, music and interactive activities. By default a student that was known to the teacher as ‘difficult’ took the lead role and excelled, was “a completely different child” and beamed.

Alice identifies the problems in indigenous education as being deep rooted and not widely understood.

“There were 20 students enrolled in our class but our daily average attendance was eight.”

“I made the most of my time there – I talked with all the locals and understand the situation better than I could imagine. But something drastic needs to be done, anyone who considers going should go and not just for the short term. Amazing and motivated people are really what is required if any sort of change at all will be achieved.”

And like the eager maths class, who ran-a-muck and got their hands and all surrounding surfaced covered in coloured dye – Alice will never forget the lessons of Arnhem Land.

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