A former Griffith University student is combining forces with a senior lecturer on a game-changing project with the potential to transform the not-for-profit sector.
Co-founder of Gold Coast start-up Little Phil and Griffith Business School (GBS) alumnus Josh Murchie is working with Dr Craig Cameron, a Senior Lecturer in Corporations Law with GBS, to make the use of Blockchain technologies more accessible to charities.
Non-profit micro philanthropy platform Little Phil started in 2017 to bring transparency to the charitable sector by enabling donors to track their donations from start to finish and prevent third-party fundraisers from taking a large share of the funds raised.
Dr Craig Cameron from Griffith Business School
Using Little Phil as a test case, Dr Cameron is conducting research on how a Decentralised Autonomous Organisation (DAO) – an online organisation controlled by its members and operated according to rules, typically code in smart contracts recorded on a blockchain – can be a potential new organisational template for charities – completely transforming the current business model.
“DAOs are a mechanism for organising like-minded communities, with many potential applications for transparently supporting charitable causes,” Dr Cameron said.
“This includes the community voting on the distribution of digital tokens following a charitable donation made using crypto, fiat money, or even property contributed by the community – with the technology then allowing them to direct to a specific cause(s) that best aligns with their objectives.
“A new DAO can also be quickly created for a specific event like the 2019/2020 bushfires, or a DAO can be established to only focus on a specific region – the usage applications are extensive, and the potential social impact is very positive.”
Dr Cameron’s current work focuses on the legal issues within the Australian context around crypto-assets, DAOs and crypto-philanthropy in the not-for-profit sector, as well as legal reform which recognises DAOs and facilitates crypto-philanthropy in a legislative environment where technology is fast outpacing existing law.
Josh Murchie, who is currently a Social Entrepreneur in residence at Griffith’s The Yunus Centre, says this work is critical given Little Phil’s position as one of the country’s first DAOs, specifically working with charities and within the not-for-profit sector.
“Our partnership with the Griffith University Yunus Centre – a unit within Griffith Business School that focuses on impact-led business – and Craig, has been absolutely vital in us understanding the existing and evolving legal framework for us to work within as one of the country’s first charitable DAOs,” said Mr Murchie.
“Our goal is to disrupt the not-for-profit sector using Web3.0 technologies such as DAO’s as we see its strengths in community building, transparency, flexibility, and connectivity as absolutely vital in effectively taking on the social and environmental challenges facing us as a country and planet.
“We have been at the forefront of applying Blockchain technology to charitable causes, but Craig’s work has ensured that we are at the forefront of working within the new legal frameworks that are beginning to emerge.”
Web 3.0 for business
Dr Craig Cameron will host an upcoming Griffith University webinar ‘Web 3.0 for business’ at which Josh Murchie will also present. The webinar will cover three key aspects of the Web 3.0 environment–Blockchain, Digital Assets, and the Metaverse.
Register for this exciting May 26 lunchtime event online.
The Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) and Griffith University’s Griffith Asia Institute (GAI) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to cooperate on economic development research and capacity building in Asia and the Pacific. Each institution brings a depth of expertise and regional networks which will be leveraged to enhance outcomes across a variety of potential cooperation opportunities. It is envisioned that the MOU will lead to the development of several new initiatives to support both policymakers and development practitioners across the region.
The economic downturn the region has experienced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic has heightened the importance of developing innovative solutions to support recovery; and in particular ensuring that economic recovery efforts support greater inclusion across multiple dimensions including social, economic and financial. In response, GAI has made great efforts to expand its partnerships and capabilities to address these issues.
Professor Caitlin Byrne, Director of GAI, remarked:
“We are delighted to enter into this new cooperation agreement with such an esteemed organisation and are excited about the opportunities it offers to Griffith University to progress our strategic objectives supporting inclusive growth and development in Asia and the Pacific.”
The initial collaboration between GAI and ADBI includes supporting the financial inclusion agenda of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), in cooperation with the Asian Development Bank and Griffith’s APEC Study Centre. This project will examine the potential role of central bank digital currencies to drive greater access and usage of formal financial products and services among the region’s unbanked. The project includes organisation of the annual APEC Asia-Pacific Financial Inclusion Forum which will bring together senior government officials and industry experts as part of a roundtable discussion on 17 June 2022.
GAI and ADBI are also currently developing a new major research initiative that will focus on ways to expand economic opportunities for the region’s poor and vulnerable populations stemming from COVID-19-driven digitalisation. The project will identify effective mechanisms to boost digital financial product and service usage and participation in the post-pandemic digital economy. It will draw upon diary-based surveys examining the use of smartphone-based financial services among households in Bangladesh and Indonesia, to be jointly conducted with MicroSave Consulting.
New research into Australia’s political party policies during the 2022 election indicates the increasing difference between the major political parties based on their alignment with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The recent report on political party policies based on SDG alignment revealed the gap between the Liberal Party and Labor Party/Greens has increased as a result of the Liberal Party aligning fewer policies with SDGs.
Led by Dr Robert Hales, the study examined the policies of Australia’s three major parties and rated them on a numerical scale from 1 (minimal evidence of alignment with SDGs) to 3 (significant evidence of alignment with SDGs).
The rating system also included a score of 0, for policies that showed no evidence of alignment with the SDGs, and a ‘negative’ score, which indicated opposition to the SDG in question.
The scoring system was designed to favour any party that had a policy on the topic of the SDGs.
“Our aim in the analysis was to determine if the policy was on topic and not to determine if it would be achieved by the policy,” Dr Hales said.
What are sustainable development goals?
The Sustainable Development Goals are a UN agreement – of which Australia is a signatory – which measures progress on economic, social and environmental performance.
There are 17 goals broken down into a further 169 specific targets. Australia is presently ranked No. 35 in the world for meeting the SDG’s.
“Support across all political parties for the Sustainable Development Goals would be an important step if Australia were to improve its ranking,” Dr Hales said.
As it stands, the Australian Greens and Australian Labor Party are the most closely aligned with the SDGs, ranking ‘significantly’ with the remainder of the goals ranking moderate.
The Liberal Party of Australia, conversely, ranked ‘significant’ for just one goal – Goal 3 – to ‘Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages’. For the remaining goals, 5 ranked moderate, 7 ranked minimal, and 3 ranked zero.
“The Labor Party and the Greens party policies both have mostly significant alignment with all the SDG targets, but there is still room for improvement in the quality of the policies to achieve greater outcomes,” Dr Hales said.
Rating of political party policies aligned with SDG targets.
Key: light green minimal contribution; green – moderate contribution; dark green significant contribution; A score + or – indicates movement from 2019 election analysis.
2019 versus 2022 results
Labor decreased in poverty alleviation as there were fewer specific initiatives and policies that aligned with the SDGs targets within that goal. Another decrease for Labor was in the area of climate change which appeared to be linked with a decrease in the espoused policies ranging across the climate change policy area for this election.
“The smaller parties were not included in the analysis as they did not have comprehensive policy platforms like the major parties. Additionally, some parties like One Nation actively opposed the SDGs in their policy platform,” Dr Hales said.
“In the case of Independents, they may have some comprehensive policies that align quite well with some SDGs but they tend not to have complete policy platforms that can cover all SDGs. The focus areas tend to include gender, climate change, inequality, peace justice and strong institutions.
“More broadly, it is evident that there is a significant variance in commitment to the SDGs, and the UN itself, among Australia’s parties, and it’s unlikely that we’ll see any genuine progress in these areas unless we’re able to achieve greater unity of vision in terms of the things that matter to us – and these goals should matter to us.
“The continued focus on economic development as the dominant measure and mode of progress in Australia needs to be broadened to include other aspects of progress. The SDGs are an important measure of ‘progress’ in Australia.”
His research interests include sustainable development goals (SDGs) in business and government, climate change policy and management, sustainable tourism and indigenous consent processes. He is also the program director of the Master of Global Development which is a rapidly growing development studies program at Griffith University. He teaches in the Department of Business Strategy and Innovation in such courses as Leadership for Sustainable Business and Research Methods.
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Professor Caitlin Byrne has been appointed as Griffith University’s Pro Vice Chancellor (Business) and will start the role in July.
Currently Director of the Griffith Asia Institute, Professor Byrne has been a member of the Griffith Business School since 2017.
She began her career as a diplomat with the Australian Government and has worked in a wide range of senior leadership roles in Government, industry, and community, focusing on advancing change and reform agendas.
Professor Byrne teaches regularly into the Diplomatic Academy and War College in Canberra and sits on the editorial boards of the East Asia Policy, and the Hague Journal on Diplomacy.
Queensland’s representative to the National Reference Group for the Australian Consortium for ‘In-Country’ Indonesian Studies (ACICIS), Professor Byrne is a member of the Australian Government’s Sports Diplomacy Advisory Council, a Fellow of the Australian Institute of International Affairs and a Faculty Fellow of the University of Southern California’s Centre for Public Diplomacy.
“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to lead a talented and dynamic community of academic and professional staff and students in the Griffith Business School,” Professor Byrne said of her appointment.
Griffith University researchers have discovered a new Hendra virus variant that may pass to horses and humans much more widely across Australia than previously known.
Published in Emerging Infectious Disease, the variant was detected in the urine of black and grey-headed flying foxes across an extended geographical distribution from mid-north coast NSW to southeast Queensland.
The new Hendra virus variant (HeV-g2) was recently discovered in samples from a horse that died in 2015 with acute illness and was previously detected in flying fox organs.
“Our study, by revealing associations with particular flying fox species, helps to identify the variant’s distribution in these animals and the risk of spill-over into horses and subsequently humans.
Lead researcher Dr Alison Peel, from the Centre for Planetary Health and Food Security.
“The distribution of grey-headed flying foxes extends into areas of NSW, Victoria and South Australia not typically considered as high-risk for Hendra spillover. But our evidence suggests that the risk of Hendra virus to horses and their carers should be a consideration wherever the ranges of flying foxes and horses overlap.”
Hendra virus is a pathogen that circulates naturally in Australian bats (flying-foxes). Spill-over of the original Hendra virus variant from bats to horses has been detected 65 times and four of seven people subsequently infected from horses have died.
In October 2021, the new HeV-g2 variant of the Hendra virus is known to have resulted in the death of a horse near Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, further south than previously detected in horses.
“Due to the highly-specific nature of the genetic tests to detect Hendra virus, variants with differing genetic sequences can remainundetected,” Dr Peel said.
“The new HeV-g2 strain of the virus would not have been detected by the types of genetic analysis used in previous large-scale surveillance of potential hosts.
“We used a new type of genetic test that can detect both variants, developed by our collaborators at the University of Sydney and CSIRO, to screen flying-fox urine samples collected over a large area of northeast NSW and southeast Queensland.”
The study screened more than 6000 flying fox urine samples collected between December 2016 and September 2020 as part of the Bat One Health research program conducted in collaboration with Montana State University and Rocky Mountain Laboratories.
“The HeV-g2 variant was detected across all seasons, however predominantly in the cooler months between late May—late August, which is consistent with the occurrence of the original Hendra virus variant in the same region,” Dr Peel said.
“Direct evidence of HeV-g2 was found in urine samples taken from individual bats; one from a juvenile female grey-headed flying fox and the other an adult male black flying fox.
“We also used DNA analysis on samples collected underneath flying fox roosts to show that both black flying foxes and grey-headed flying foxes were contributing and are potential reservoirs of the virus.”
Detection of the new Hendra virus variant ranged from Brisbane to Nambucca Heads in NSW. This extends the known range of this new variant, which had only been previously detected in South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia.
Video credit: Adrienne Dale
“This information will help horse owners and veterinarians across Australia consider the risk of Hendra virus and take steps such as vaccinating their horses to reduce this risk.
Dr Peel and team suggest that the development of a more comprehensive panel of diagnostic tools is needed to detect spill-overs from wildlife to domestic animals and people, in order to guide decisions on appropriate disease surveillance in horses, to underpin forecasts of spill-over risk, manage biosecurity, and inform advice given to horse owners, veterinarians, and others interacting with horses.
“But importantly, we also need to focus on supporting bats in their natural ecosystems,” Dr Peel said.
“They are protected species and healthy bats means less spillover and better health for people. Flying foxes travel large distances across the landscape and play a vital role in pollinating and maintaining our native forests. Protecting bats and their natural habitat across their large ranges, is a triple win for human health, nature conservation and for the bats.”
A childhood intrigue of Egyptian cultural history and the origins of our species has led archaeologist Professor Michael Petraglia on incredible journeys to captivating locations throughout his career.
The enduring mission shared by many archaeologists to answer the many unsolved mysteries of human evolution is one shared by Professor Petraglia, and he’ll continue to do so in his new role at Griffith University.
As the new Director of Griffith’s Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution (ARCHE), Professor Petraglia hopes to assist in providing the same opportunities he has enjoyed all over the world.
Founded in 2016 by former Director Professor Rainer Grün, ARCHE has been responsible for major archaeological discoveries that have rewritten or posed new questions regarding ancient human migrations and cultural practises among different hominin species. These discoveries include the world’s oldest known cave art found, and the discovery of ancestors of Homo floresiensis, aka the ‘hobbit’.
Notwithstanding the international profile that ARCHE has garnered from such discoveries and more, a growing focus on the study of Australia and the Asia-Pacific is a goal that Professor Petraglia said was consistent with Griffith’s mission.
Origin of fascination
ARCHE’s new Director Professor Michael Petraglia.
Growing up, a burning interest in the sandy landscapes of Ancient Egypt and the history and culture of its people was fostered by Professor Petraglia’s family, so much so that it set him on course to becoming a renowned leader in the field of archaeology globally.
“As long as I can remember, I wanted to be an archaeologist. At first I was obsessed with Egyptian cultural history, but in my teenage years I became increasingly interested in human evolution, and was glued to the book, Origins by Richard Leakey and Roger Lewin,” Professor Petraglia said.
“As a child I was fascinated by archaeology and archaeological discoveries. My mother was always supportive of me in pursuing my interests, and happy to buy me loads of books on the subject. My older sister Maria supported my dreams during my teenage and undergraduate years — taking me to museums and buying tickets to go see talks by some of the most famous personalities involved in the study of us and our evolution, such as Margaret Mead, Richard Leakey, and Jane Goodall.”
Professor Petraglia’s undergraduate years were spent at New York University in the heart of Manhattan, which provided him with the opportunity to volunteer at the American Museum of Natural History.
Graduate school at the University of New Mexico, in Albuquerque followed, where he was drawn to the teachings of Lewis Binford, the father of ‘new archaeology’. Here, Professor Petraglia obtained his MA and PhD degrees.
Lessons from the past
Going on to work for various institutions around the world — Cambridge University, Oxford University, the Human Origins Program at the Smithsonian Institution and the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History — has given Professor Petraglia a wealth of insights into ancient cultures and the conditions early human faced in different parts of the world at different times.
“The world-wide migration of our species, Homo sapiens, is one of the most important events in human evolutionary history,” he said.
“The consensus view was that human populations migrated out of Africa once, 60,000 years ago, moving swiftly along the coastlines to eventually reach Australia.
“Thanks, in part, to our research, this model no longer holds sway, and instead has been replaced by a more complex model which indicates multiple migrations out of Africa, and over a longer period of time, stretching back to 200,000 years ago, including the mixing and mating with our close relatives, the Neanderthals and Denisovans.”
A memorable moment during a field trip in Saudi Arabia.
It was Professor Petraglia’s work in Arabia that helped shape his views about how climatic change has influenced human demography and societal responses over the long term.
“Twelve years of research has shown that Arabia had savanna ecosystems, and up to 10,000 lakes in the past, attracting human populations over time as shown by abundant archaeological and fossil evidence,” he said.
“These wet periods were followed by arid periods, which led to regional abandonments and extinctions. This repeated cycle of wetting and drying over the last 500,000 years influenced human migrations and societal responses.
“I am convinced that lessons from the past can help us better appreciate the impact of climate change on societies today.”
Vision for ARCHE
As Professor Petraglia takes the helm at ARCHE, he is already building stronger research and teaching relationships across Griffith and its researchers in various schools and centres, as well as making plans to bolster relations with colleagues at nearby institutions such as the University of Queensland and the Queensland Museum.
With plans to maintain his research affiliations with the Smithsonian Institution and the Max Planck Institute and existing partnerships with scientists in Europe, Africa and Asia, Professor Petraglia envisages an increase in ARCHE’s research collaborations.
“But the history of the Indigenous peoples of Australia has always fascinated me and I am looking forward to learning more about their cultures and their views about the archaeology of the continent,” he said.
“The landscapes and environments of Australia from tropical forests to deserts are of great interest — so I would like to learn more about how these ecosystems are both different from, and similar to, the places that I have worked in around the world.”
New research suggests that a growing feral pig population supported the conservation success story of one of Australia’s largest carnivores, the estuarine crocodile.
Griffith University researchers contributed to the study published in Biology Letters which compared the diet of present-day crocodile populations in Kakadu and around Darwin with that of museum specimens collected in the same area about 50 years ago.
Professor Stuart Bunn, Director of the Australian Rivers Institute
Professor Stuart Bunn, Director of Griffith’s Australian Rivers Institute, said “the museum specimens were collected at a time when the crocodiles had been heavily hunted and their population was extremely low.”
The research suggests the hunting pressure that removed crocodiles from the river and floodplain systems, meant those remaining fed predominantly on marine prey. But results show over the last 50 years that there has been a significant, clear-cut shift in preference within the estuarine crocodile population in the Northern Territory, away from marine food webs.
“As the crocodile population has recovered, they’ve moved back into the extensive river/floodplain systems in the Northern Territory and now seem to be much more dependent on terrestrial prey,” Professor Bunn said.
“Competition for food resources within the recovering crocodile population, together with an increase in hoofed animals like feral pigs on the floodplains, are likely key drivers of this dietary shift.
“Without the local surge in feral pig abundance over the last 50 years and the crocodiles’ shift in diet, the substantial growth in their numbers would not have been possible.”
The crocodiles’ move back into river/floodplain systems like this in Kakadu, Northern Territory has driven their shift to terrestrial prey. Credit: Stuart Bunn
The work is based on a comparison of the carbon and nitrogen signatures in the bones of museum specimens with those of present-day animals.
“We measured the naturally occurring carbon and nitrogen isotopes extracted from the crocodile’s bones and other tissue which are derived directly from the animal’s diet,” said Professor Bunn. “This gives truth to the old adage ‘you are what you eat’.”
“Crocodiles in the Northern Territory today had significantly lower values of both carbon-13 and nitrogen-15 isotopes, reflecting a shift from marine food sources to terrestrial prey.
“Stable isotope analysis is a very powerful tool to understanding not only animal diets, but also the overall flow of energy in food webs within and between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.”
Given the growth in crocodile numbers and biomass in the Northern Territory, the authors suggest they are helping to control the feral pig population in that state.
“At the same time, these apex predators are increasing the flow of land-based nutrients into river, floodplain and estuarine aquatic ecosystems,” Professor Bunn said.
This study highlights the significance of prey availability in contributing to large carnivore population recovery.
“The sea appears to be warmer, which affects the type of fish I like to catch; also, the weather patterns seem to be less predictable.”
Climate Action and Australia
In September-October 2021, Griffith University’s Climate Action Beacon conducted the first of five annual Climate Action Surveys. In part longitudinal, these surveys discover *Australians’ thoughts and feelings about climate change and related environmental and climatic events, conditions, and issues. Significantly, this survey maps existing actions being undertaken by Australians alongside their ideas on further personal and societal based climate action. This article summarises how Australians think about, respond to, and significantly participate in climate action.
The story of climate action in Australia is much more complex than the usual broad-brush strokes of trust or not in climate science would suggest. We know from our survey results that most Australians agree that climate change is an urgent issue there is much more to their action, or inaction, on climate and associated environmental issues. Climate action is a part of the historical, political, cultural, social, economic and ecological milieu that defines Australia, its communities and its people. This complexity cannot be smoothed away and so our extensive Climate Action Survey was developed in consultation with diverse disciplines and stakeholders. We also examined existing and established climate change surveys in Australia and elsewhere, to avoid unnecessary replication and to distinguish our own – geared to climate action.
A Portrait of Climate Active Australians (and the not so active)
Across the wide range of climate change variables collected, a distinct profile emerged of who is Australia’s most climate change-concerned and climate change-active.
Generally, Australians displaying high levels of concern and activity typically fell into one or more of the following groups: aged 35 years or under; university-educated respondents; those currently studying; inner-urban residents; people residing in homes in which English is not the primary language spoken; respondents intending to vote for the Greens or Labor Party; and who have had prior experiences of extreme weather, natural disasters, or perceived manifestations of climate change. We do observe concern for climate change in nearly all other respondent segments, but at lower levels.
Women reported being more concerned and more active than men. Older people, rural residents, and school only-educated respondents tended to be the most climate change sceptical, unconcerned, and inactive.
Income was one of the few demographic variables that did not strongly differentiate between those with high and low levels of engagement in the issue of climate change. This selection of comparisons suggests that the findings from the current survey are broadly in line with those obtained in other recent Australian surveys.
57% of respondents believed that Australia has already started to feel the effects of climate change, 10% believed that the effects would be felt within the next ten years, and a further 13% believed that the effects would be felt within the next 50 years. Only 5% of respondents believed that Australia would never feel the effects of climate change
Most frequently cited reasons for not engaging in environmentally friendly behaviours
How important will climate change be at the federal election ballot box?
While some of the results surrounding climate change and the federal election were expected – like greater support for climate action amongst ALP and Green voters, there were some surprises. Liberal and National Party voters, due to the formation of coalition governments, are often coupled together. In this Climate Action Survey, and noting the sample are similar to 2019 Federal Election voting patterns, the distinction between the voters surveyed was noteworthy on a number of fronts.
Firstly, climate change was more important in the next Federal election to intending National Party voters (54%) than Liberal Party voters (45%). Not surprisingly, these National Party supporters were more likely to reside in regional areas than Liberal, Labor, and Greens supporters. That is, National Party voters were evenly split across metro and regional areas, Liberal, Labor, and Greens supporters were metro heavy (more than 70%).
There are a few possible explanations for the divergence in intending National and Liberal Party voters. Our survey found that Australian’s own observations are a principal source of information and trust on climate change, across all age groups but more so in older Australians. Proximity to drought, flood and changing weather is observed acutely by those living in regional and rural Australia, and so climate changes and impacts are lived and visible. Indeed, the difference between intending National Party and Liberal Party voters in reporting and acknowledging greater risk exposure to climate events and impacts is borne out in the survey results. Of course, some National Party voters could also be prioritising candidates unwilling to take action on climate although there was a consistent trend for National Party voters to answer in more pro-environmental ways than Liberal Party voters.
Overall, in this survey, the diversity in particular of regional National Party voters’ responses to climate change becomes apparent, marking their distinction from Liberal Party voters. These findings point to some of the cultural and political nuances of Australian voting and climate action, particularly in regional and rural communities. Further, our survey highlights younger voters, aged 35 and under, prioritising climate change at the federal election ballot box, being more concerned about climate change and more committed to climate action. This is significant given recent uptake of voter enrolment among younger Australians.
Mean levels of concern tended to be higher among intending National Party voters than intending Liberal voters, and the prevalence of recent increases in levels of concern about climate change was higher among intending National Party voters than among intending Liberal voter.
What climate action do Australians want from governments?
Demands for ‘Climate Action’ have become increasingly visible in Australian public debate. Environmental movement organisations and/or Environmental NGOs regularly call to abandon fossil fuels, ‘Stop Adani’, and phase out coal. These broad-brush strokes make for fitting media grabs and protest slogans but tell us little about what specific policies Australians are willing to support from governments, what Australians are prepared to do themselves and what their expectations are around who should pay for climate action.
When considering government policies across a range of climate action options, the findings show that there is support from the majority of Australians for policies regarding future energy sources (e.g., restricting the construction of new coal-fired power stations), imposing a price on carbon, facilitating the uptake of electric vehicles, and assisting those whose livelihood is threatened by the shift away from fossil fuels.
What are Australians prepared to do?
While it is clear that Australians want governments to take climate action, the actions they are prepared to take in their private lives are more complex. Australians are interested in adopting environmentally friendly behaviours, and many are already doing so. For example, 55% expressed future interest in installing a home solar battery system, and 47% were interested in getting an electric or hybrid vehicle. Somewhat predictably, those who were more interested in taking these kinds of actions tended to be students or employed full-time, aged 35 years or under, university-educated, residing in a home where English is not the primary language spoken, or intending to vote for the Greens of Labor Party – the same characteristics of those most concerned about climate change and already reporting higher levels of pro-environmental behaviours.
Again, we do observe a willingness to adopt pro-environment behaviours change in other respondent segments, but at a lower level.
Are Australians happy to pay for climate action?
The majority of Australians report a willingness to change their lifestyle in ways that help to address climate change, evident especially in their response to energy use and renewables. However, they are generally not willing to pay higher personal taxes or increased costs for essentials like fuel and electricity from their own pockets to address climate change.
Interestingly, over half of the survey respondents indicated a willingness to move if their current residence was deemed uninsurable due to its exposure to the risk of flooding, bushfires, or other natural disasters.
What motivates Australians to participate in climate action?
Understanding what motivates Australians to participate in climate action is critical to developing effective communication strategies and for guiding planning decisions and policy responses. ‘Motivation’ of people and communities to take climate action is as equally complex and wicked a problem as climate change itself, especially given the diversity of circumstances and standpoints that characterise the Australian public. This complexity acknowledged, the survey revealed some clear possibilities to better communicate climate change in ways that are more likely to motivate and/or address barriers and challenges to action.
Easiest to identify are Australians who held strong values and opinions about their personal responsibility to take action against climate change. These tended to be younger students, inner-urban dwellers, university-educated, intending Greens or Labor voters, or residents in homes in which English was not the primary language spoken.
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Around a third of Australians felt that their freedom to hold and express views on climate change was constrained. ‘Forceful’ communication tactics used by environmental groups and advocates received special mention. Australians responded more positively to empowering stories about partners/family/friends hope for our climate action. These stories may be more meaningful and less divisive than the ‘forceful tactics’ that some of our respondent’s perceived to be occurring.
Further, when asked about the likelihood that they would engage in six different types of climate change activism if a liked and respected friend asked them to do so, between 25% and 45% of respondents indicated they would or would definitely do so. Again, younger respondents, students, and intending Greens or Labor voters most often reported that they would engage in these types of activities.
Reported concern about threats to self, family or local environment in the forseeable future
Does a bushfire or flood experience make a difference to climate change concerns?
The recent flood crisis in Australia will deem the 2022 survey results particularly interesting. This survey, undertaken in late 2021, after the 2020 Black Summer bushfires, points clearly to the impact of disaster events on Australian responses to climate change, post a climate-related disaster event. Australians impacted by extreme weather events connected to climate change reported higher scores in their objective knowledge of climate change. Those who had experienced at least one natural disaster or extreme weather event (within the last year and over a year ago) expressed greater concern and distress about climate change. They were more likely to support government action to combat climate change, and they were more likely to engage in pro-environmental actions. Indeed, Australians who had experienced at least one natural disaster or extreme weather event, and those who had not experienced any such events, differed on nearly all the climate change variables.
Where do Australians get their information on climate change and who do they trust?
In the vast local and global media landscape, Australians have many choices about where to receive information on climate change. This can be both exciting and empowering and, conversely, overwhelming and confusing. Media literacy, particularly the capacity to identify reliable sources, is understandably and, at the very least, challenging at the current juncture.
Our survey highlights some important generational differences in the use of media to access climate change information. Interestingly, the five most trusted sources of climate change information were shared across all age groups. Concerningly, these five top sources of trust overwhelmingly represent scientific institutions and scientists and environmental organisations that often struggle for visibility in the mainstream news media – the very media from which most Australians access their climate change information. This speaks to the challenges scientists and scientific institutions confront in navigating the politics of climate change, where media processes and logics conflict with scientific reporting and communication of results.
Sources of knowledge and information about climate change
Health Crisis Meets Climate Crises: the COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic emerged during the creation and distribution of this survey. This presented an opportunity to ask our respondents about their level of concern for climate change or COVID-19. In response to one item, the same percentage (63.6%) of people reported being concerned about both. In response to other items, 72% expressed concern over climate change, whereas 80% expressed concern about COVID-19. A key point of this component of the survey is that people felt overwhelmed by the combination of global pandemic and the ongoing sustained climate crisis.
* A quota sample of resident Australian adults, stratified by gender, age group, and state of Australia, was recruited to conduct the survey. An online questionnaire was constructed through processes of consultation with stakeholders, review of the academic and opinion poll literature, and iterative pilot testing. The final version of the questionnaire comprised 188 single items/questions, approximately 30 multi-item composite scales, and nine open-ended questions. After removing cases that did not meet quality criteria, data from a final sample of 3,915 people (51.1% female, Mage = 46.6 years) were available for analysis. The survey broadly represents the Australian population based on markers of gender, age, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population and the distribution of Australian states and territories.
AuthorS
Dr Graham Bradley is an Associate Professor in the School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University. He is an applied social psychologist, with interests that cut across environmental, organisational, developmental, and health psychology. He has published more than 100 refereed journal articles and book chapters, and has been awarded research grant and consultancy funding in excess of AUD$2 million. For the past twleve years, his research endeavours have examined psychological aspects of climate change adaptation and mitigation, with a particular focus on the experiential, cognitive and affective correlates of pro-environmental behaviour. His expertise is in survey research methods and the analysis of large multivariate survey data sets. His work has been published in numerous journals including the Journal of Environmental Psychology, WIRES Climate Change, Ecological Economics, and Environment and Behavior.
Dr Sameer Deshpande has over two decades working in the area of ‘marketing for a better world,’ Sameer has taught, widely published in academic journals, books, and conference proceedings, reviewed, and trained and consulted with government and non-profit organizations in India, Canada, Singapore, Australia, and the U.S. He is the Editor of Social Marketing Quarterly and Managing Director of Social Marketing @ Griffith.
Sameer has published studies testing the effectiveness of behaviour change initiatives using social marketing frameworks with particular emphasis on consumer-insights approach in a variety of contexts, including financial services to disadvantaged women, alcohol abstinence during pregnancy, safe sexual practices, promotion of alternative rides, responsible drinking, water rights, and physical activity. His book, co-authored with Nancy Lee, Social Marketing in India, has been well-received by the Indian academic and practitioner social marketing sector.
Associate Professor Kerrie Foxwell-Norton lectures in journalism, media and communication studies. Her research interests oscillate around relationships between communication, communities, culture and country. She has consciously sought projects which involve a direct engagement with communities. As a result, she has worked extensively with Australia’s community media sector, various coastal communities and works for and with, Indigenous community throughout Australia. Kerrie is a program leader in Griffith’s Climate Action Program and member of the Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research.
Natasha Hennessey Natasha has a Masters degree in Environmental Management, works as a Senior Research Assistant and Program Coordinator with the Griffith University Climate Action Beacon. Her research focuses on policy and program development for climate change adaptation, sustainability and conservation. She also has a strong research interest in climate justice, Youth engagement for climate action, as well as social and ecological resilience.
Dr Melissa Jackson is a transdisciplinary researcher and ‘pracademic’ specialising in sustainable, inclusive and just responses to climate change and sustainable development. Her recent research focuses on the theory and practice of transformative governance of water in Indigenous communities across remote Australia, focusing on the Torres Strait Islands. I also research questions relating to applications of systemic thinking, futures thinking collaborative learning and governance for sustainable development, community engagement, stakeholder engagement, facilitation and capacity building for climate resilient futures. I have extensive experience in research and project management, strategy and policy development in relation to climate change mitigation and clean energy, sustainable water, waste, food and climate adaptation.
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Tasmania has become one of the first jurisdictions in the world to reduce their carbon dioxide (COâ‚‚) emissions and increase removals to become net carbon negative, according to new research.
The achievement is due to the decrease in the area of Tasmania’s native forests that were logged for pulpwood production. This is a change in forest management that could be applied in other states and territories to bolster Australia’s net emission reductions, experts say.
Lead author Professor Brendan Mackey, Director of Griffith University’s Climate Action Beacon, said forest management could help limit global warming and help the global leaders meet Paris Agreement targets.
“As our paper reports, a significant source of emissions is from deforestation and degradation due to logging native forest,” he said.
“It’s a remarkable achievement for Tasmania to be net carbon negative,” co-author Professor David Lindenmayer from the Australian National University said.
“We hear a lot about carbon neutral but not carbon negative. This is one of the first times on the planet that anybody has ever done this kind of reversal.
“There has been a massive change in the state’s carbon accounts. Tasmania has gone from being a net emitter of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases to now removing more than it is emitting to the atmosphere. Tasmania’s net emissions are now in the negative.
“It shows us that change in forest management can have a remarkable impact on climate change. In this case you can pin point the change since the decommissioning of wood chipping and paper pulp exports from Tasmania.”
Professor Mackey also noted that in the case of Victoria, the State Government acknowledged emissions from native forest logging were equivalent to the emissions from 730,000 motor vehicles every year.
“Changing forest management in native forests to avoid emissions from logging along with enabling natural forest growth is an effective strategy that can rapidly reduce emissions and simultaneously increase removals of COâ‚‚ from the atmosphere,” he said.
“It is vital we protect and enhance natural forest ecosystem carbon stocks and that the mitigation benefits of forest protection are properly accounted for and reported to help us achieve the deep and rapid cuts in emissions needed over the coming critical decade.”
The new paper, published in Environmental Research Letters, highlighted how storing carbon in forests could tackle climate change.
“Most of the climate discussions so far have been based on reducing emissions, but that is only part of the equation. We need to store a lot more carbon in the environment,” Professor Lindenmayer said.
“The most effective places to do that is in forests because they store the most carbon per unit area, particularly some of the wetter forests in southern Australia, where you get huge trees and enormous amounts of carbon.
“There is a real need to look at the true economic value of our natural assets and the value from protecting natural forests as national carbon reserves. This contributes way more economically than logging them for wood chips and other commodities.
“We do not need to be the world’s mine and quarry and buying it back as toilet paper, when there is clearly a better way.”
Professor Mackey said: “To make forest protection count for climate we need to change our carbon accounting and reporting so that we record the benefits of both avoiding emissions and allowing ongoing removals from the atmosphere by forest growth.”
A study into the management and attitudes of key stakeholders operating in the Great Barrier Reef region has found that past and current approaches do not adequately address climate change threats to the reef or likely losses of species, habitats and processes.
The study provides a critical evaluation of management plans and actions with respect to the Great Barrier Reef over the past 30 years, focusing on the degree to which climate change threats have been incorporated into those plans and actions.
A timeline of GBR management campaigns to address risks to its health.
With another mass bleaching event impacting the Great Barrier Reef and a United Nations push to list the reef as ‘in danger’, Dr Hadwen said current management approaches fell short of what was needed to provide the reef with any chance of remaining in good condition.
“In this study, we were able to review the management plans of key stakeholders in the GBR region and explore evidence of the willingness to accept environmental change – and the scientific evidence which has been talking about climate threats for almost five decades – through the lenses of environmental grief and resilience thinking concepts,” he said.
“Despite the huge ongoing investment in reef protection, few components of the reef management program have fully incorporated climate change and recognised that changes in the ecosystem are occurring now and are inevitable.
“This analysis highlights how the strategic planning environment for the GBR is lagging behind the state of knowledge.”
The researchers found that management efforts for the GBR had focused on ‘resilience as recovery’ and fell short of ‘resilience as adaptation’ and the opportunities created by ‘resilience as transformation’.
Despite the state of scientific understanding, Dr Hadwen said the study revealed how the prevailing individual or collective mindset could support or suppress a ‘resilience as transformation’ approach to management of the GBR.
“Over the past five years, the GBR has been exposed to several unprecedented climate-related events, including three coral bleaching events and impacts from severe tropical cyclones, poor water quality from catchment run-off, population increase and urbanization, port expansion, fishing, and habitat loss,” he said.
“Acceptance of a future change in state in terms of system structure and function, and related changes in environmental, social, and economic values, would lead to a significant shift in the way the GBR is managed, liberating agencies and stakeholders to let go of the past and plan for the future.”
Natasha Hennessey Natasha has a Masters degree in Environmental Management, works as a Senior Research Assistant and Program Coordinator with the 
