Scott Morrison’s first budget followed swiftly by Malcolm Turnbull’s double-dissolution election have sharpened public interest in issues like superannuation, negative gearing and tax thresholds like never before.
The sustained focus on matters of money during the election campaign has also brought to the fore the challenges Australians face in gaining and maintaining an understanding of the complexities of personal finance.
Perhaps at no time before have the skills and services of financial planning been more called upon.
“Personal finances are increasingly complex. There is a myriad of financial products on offer, differing tax treatment and increasing responsibility for one’s own retirement income.”
“Financial planning is a complex area, and requires planners to have a broad range of skills to successfully navigate their clients to a successful outcome.”
However, as those clients look to the future, they do so with an eye on the recent past and a decade where concerns about educational levels of financial planners, conflicts of interest and substantial losses due to the GFC have hindered the sector’s progress.
This client-planner relationship is the focus of new research at Griffith Business School.
“Financial planners are seen as a critical element in ensuring the financial security and success of many Australians,” Dr Hunt says. “However, what attributes contribute to an effective working relationship between financial planners and their clients, and is there a connection with successful planning?”
“We know little about what factors lead to good working relationships between financial planners and their clients.”
The research, which is supported by the Financial Planning Association, will also investigate if these factors have altered since 2009, with the financial planning sector affected by government reforms and continuing uncertainty with the global financial markets during this time.
“This research is important as it will bring to light whether such things as trust, education and empowerment are important to financial planning relationship — or whether it is just about the dollars achieved.”
If you would like to participate in this research, Griffith University is inviting both financial planners and their clients to undertake a short 15 minute online survey, which is anonymous. To undertake this confidential survey, click here.
For any queries about this research project contact Dr Katherine Hunt at [email protected] or on (07) 555 27789.
The Banking University of Ho Chi Minh City (BUH) visited Griffith Nathan campus on Tuesday 14 June 2016. The visit saw discussions centre on collaborations with Griffith Business School (GBS). As one of the top three banking and finance universities in Vietnam, BUH is an important partner for GBS.
BUH delegation leader, Mr Tan Phat Le, President, Student Services, was keen to point out that BUH lecturers and students are very interested in international cooperation with Griffith University.
During the meeting Professor Peter Best, Discipline Head of Accounting, Department of Accounting, Finance and Economics, spoke about Griffith’s Bachelor Commerce Accounting major. Professor Best gave a detailed explanation regarding articulation opportunities for BUH students within the Bachelor of Commerce. These include an embedded pathway to CPA Australia Associate Membership, and exemptions from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) Fundamental Level exams. Professor Best mentioned that both these qualifications are recognised throughout the world.
“Graduates can then return to Vietnam to complete their CPA or ACCA Professional Level exams”, Professor Best said.
With 129 countries currently being represented at Griffith, Vietnamese students rank eighth, demonstrating the importance of this region and in particular, this partnership in Griffith’s overall commitment to Asian engagement. Griffith now has a wide range of rich and diverse connections with Asia across many of its academic disciplines, engaging students and staff on all of its campuses.
A study targeting older men with low bone mass expects to see big improvements in bone and muscle strength without the need for drugs, say Griffith University researchers.
The Gold Coast study is examining whether high-load resistance training is a safe and effective strategy for improving bone and muscle strength in men over 50, aiding in the fight against osteoporosis.It follows a similar resistance training study in post-menopausal women.
Twenty-fiveper cent of people sustaining an osteoporotic hip fracture will die within a year and increased mortality risk persists for 10 years.
The study follows a story in the New York Times which claims that millions of Americans suffering from osteoporosis are riskingdebilitating fractures from weakened bones, because they’re terrified of exceedingly rare side effects from drugs that can help them.
“Although there are drugs available to improve bone strength, we have already shown with our women’s group that improvements can be made without the use of drugs by undertaking high-load resistance exercise training,” says lead researcher Professor Belinda Beck from Griffith’s Menzies Health Institute Queensland.
“We had some fantastic results with our women’s group who showed significant increases in bone strength as a result of the prescribed exercises and we are confident of replicating this now in our men.”
Lifting intervention
Called LIFTMOR-M (Lifting Intervention for Training Muscle and Osteoporosis Rehabilitation-for Men), the study is recruiting around 100 healthy men aged over 50 with low bone mass.
The men are being randomly assigned to either a high-load resistance training program or a high-load isometric training program on a novel device specifically designed to enhance bone health.
The LIFTMOR-M program takes 30 minutes twice a week for eight months, with participants undertaking a small number of exercises of gradually increasing intensity under full supervision.
All study participants receive free scans at the beginning and end of the study to assess changes in bone mass and muscle strength.
“People wrongly think that osteoporosis only affects women but the reality is that one in five men will also suffer an osteoporotic fracture over the age of 60. Unfortunately men are diagnosed much less frequently than women and are treated even more rarely,” says Professor Beck.
“The irony is that men suffer a greater loss of independence and are at higher risk of death following an osteoporotic fracture. Our goal is to provide the evidence for an effective therapy for men.”
Within 10years it is estimated that 6.2 million Australians over the age of 50 will suffer from osteoporosis or osteopenia and one fracture will occur every 2.9 minutes. The estimated cost of caring for those fractures will be $33.6 billion.
ï‚· For more information on the LIFTMOR for men study, please contact Amy Harding on 0410 616 596
Griffith Business School (GBS) students will take to the high seas next year aboard a luxury cruise liner for a 12-day South Pacific experience to study first-hand key aspects of the booming cruise industry.
According to Professor Weaver, the course will be among the first of its kind for an Australian university by delivering most of the lectures and seminars on board a cruise ship during a 12-day South Pacific cruise.
“This is really exciting because the students get to experience the cruise industry directly as a consumer, and at the same time they also get vital exposure to the production of the contemporary cruise experience,” said Professor Weaver.
He is expecting 24 students to sign up for the Cruise Industry Experience course, which will provide real-time exposure and insight into industry structure and trends, as well as supply chains, ship operations, revenue generation strategies, market segmentation, marketing, the passenger experience and risk management.
“The economic, environmental and sociocultural sustainability of the industry will also be assessed from diverse stakeholder perspectives,” said Professor Weaver.
Course open to all Griffith students
“For our HSL majors it’s an optional core course, but can be taken as an elective by other Griffith Business School and Griffith students.”
Students will have twin-share accommodation aboard Royal Caribbean’s MS Voyager of the Seas, which will depart Sydney on January 31 for a 12-day cruise that will stop at Noumea and Lifou in New Caledonia, Lautoka and Suva in Fiji and Mystery Island in Vanuatu.
“We chose Royal Caribbean because it is the second-biggest cruise operator in the world and has a reputation for producing the most innovative and largest ships,” said Professor Weaver.
Lectures at sea
Morning and afternoon lectures will be held during the six days at sea, while students will be encouraged to undertake on-shore excursions at each port of call to examine first-hand the impact on local communities of cruise ship tourism.
“Some students will take the history route while some will take an island tour to explore what each island has to offer,” said Professor Weaver.
“This is real-time learning. We want the students to explore as many aspects of the industry as possible, including the effects on local communities as passengers are encouraged to stay in the cruise bubble as they go onshore.
“We’d like our students to examine for themselves how this is played out at the local level. In the evenings, we will catch up with the students for a one-hour seminar to discuss their findings.”
Recent figures released by the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) indicate that 24 million passengers are expected to take a leisure cruise globally in 2016, up from 15 million 10 years ago. Since a typical cruise includes five stops, this results in over 100 million visits by passengers to ports-of-call.
World’s most enthusiastic cruisers
The latest statistics from the CLIA reveal that a record 1.058 million Australians took an ocean cruise (PDF 1.3mb) in 2015, up 15 per cent compared to the previous year. On a per capita basis, Australians are the world’s most enthusiastic cruisers, and South-East Queensland is a focus of interest given plans to expand Brisbane’s home port facilities and aspirations to make the Gold Coast a port-of-call.
Professor Weaver said the growth in the cruise industry provided a solid foundation for the Cruise Industry Experience course to become a popular subject for Griffith’s tourism degrees, the Bachelor of International Tourism and Hotel Management and the Bachelor of Tourism (Tourism Management).
The course is open to all Griffith students as a free-choice elective course and to exchange and study abroad students as a Griffith Global Mobility short-term course.
The cruise component of the subject will cost $1864 and financial aid through the OS Help loan and Griffith University Incentive Scheme Travel Grant is available to eligible students.
Registrations for the course are required before August 23, 2016.
Now in its eleventh year, the ISRF aims to attract the world’s brightest upcoming scientists. Attending the Forum provides Griffith students with an opportunity to forge relationships that can help positively yield scientific advances.
The multicultural Griffith delegation is from a broad range of research areas and countries, with all of the students this year being international.
Led by Professor Sarah Todd, Vice President (Global), and Professor David Shum, Dean of Research, Griffith Health, the delegation will be presenting on their PhD topics related to this year’s research theme – Life Science and Medicine.
Professor Todd said that the ISRF provides the opportunity for students to have their work critiqued by peers from around the world, as well as giving them the opportunity to build their own international networks for the future.
“Griffith is committed to all PhD students having an international experience as part of their studies, and the ISRF is an amazing event to be part of, with some of the brightest students in their respective disciplines coming together to discuss challenges that require a multidisciplinary and multinational approach to solve.”
Professor Shum also noted that it was exciting and pleasing to see young and enthusiastic researchers from all different parts of the world sharing their PhD projects.
The ISRF broader research parameters of Drug Discovery and Infectious Diseases, or Health and Chronic Diseases are highly consistent with Griffith’s research strengths and areas of strategic investment.
Since its inception in 2005, almost 120 Griffith University Higher Degree by Research (HDR) candidates have benefited from the ISRF, with some being lucky enough to attend more than once.
Griffith University has hosted the ISRF in 2009 and 2013 and is one of five founding members. This year’s event saw students and faculty from Australia, Scotland, China, the United States of America and Denmark participating.
From Covent Garden in London to The Metropolitan Opera in New York — Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University graduates are being beckoned by some of the world’s most famous stages.
For Kiandra, her passion for opera was ignited at a very young age.
“I think I was nine or ten, I can’t quite remember, but it was in QPAC’s Lyric Theatre where I saw a production of Tosca by Opera Queensland and I remember turning to my mum and saying that’s what I want to do!”
The Bachelor of Music graduate completed her studies in 2010 before taking a young artist position with Opera Queensland.
“From there I then moved to the young artists program at Opera Australia and then I went overseas to Salzburg for a year as a prize I won from the Australian Singing Competition, so I was really lucky in a sense to have those stepping stones.”
Samuel says the once in a lifetime opportunity to live and work in London placed him right in the heart of the opera world as he commenced his international career.
“The Royal Opera House is practically Mecca for the opera world, and for opera lovers we all make the journey at some point in our lives.
“This attracts all the world’s greatest singers and greatest artists within the realm of opera and I’ve been able to work with these fantastic people, the best coaches in the world, the best conductors, the best singers, the best directors. It’s been unbelievable.”
The ideal foundation
Tenor Kang Wang who is currently training at The Met
For Kang — who initially studied IT in Darwin before later pursuing his singing career — he credits his training at Queensland Conservatorium, particularly with Joseph Ward OBE, as giving him the ideal start.
“The training at the Con basically set up the foundation for me because before I came there I was very amateurish, but the training was great for me; it set up a great foundation for me.”
Baritone Samuel Johnson who has received expert coaching at The Royal Opera House
Samuel agrees, citing technique as a vital component of his training.
“It’s really incredible, the solid technique I learned has really helped me in my short professional career thus far, and for me I think this is the best place to go in Australia personally.”
Head of Opera Nicholas Cleobury says these skills don’t just happen, they must be learned.
“Opera has to be sung well but it isn’t just that, we need to give them good languages and wonderful stage presence,” he explains.
“I think we have a jewel in the crown here at the Con with Anna Sweeny who is a colleague of many years from back in the UK and so among the special things we give is that ability to move well on the stage.”
After completing two seasons at The Royal Opera House, Kiandra now has her sights set firmly on the future.
“After being fortunate enough to perform at Covent Garden, I think the next steps for me are to perform at La Scala in Milan, and the Met as well that’s always been a dream of mine, so hopefully in ten years’ time it will be amazing to be there.”
Learn more about studying opera at Queensland Conservatorium.
Representatives from four major South Pacific central banks, brought together by Griffith Business School, have explored ways to enhance research capabilities to better manage their countries’ economic growth.
The move is aimed at bolstering their capacity to cope with the dynamics of a world economy still grappling with the effects of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), volatile financial markets, fragile global growth and depressed commodity prices.
Leaders from central banks in Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and Australia attended the milestone symposium, hosted by the Griffith Business School’s Department of Accounting, Finance and Education and the Griffith Asia Institute in Brisbane on June 10.
The symposium, the first of its kind convened by an Australian tertiary institution, also attracted delegates from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, Australian Securities and Investments Commission, Asian Development Bank, World Bank, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia-Pacific Islands Business Council and major Australian banks.
Griffith University Vice Chancellor Ian O’Connor described it as a ‘signature event’ for the University that could lay the groundwork to improve research capacity for central banks in the region.
“It also opens the door to significant opportunity for other institutions to work together in key partnerships,” said Professor O’Connor. “We have a deep belief in this University that we have a shared future.”
The symposium is an initiative of Griffith Business School’s South Pacific Studies Group (SPSG) which was established in 2012 to promote broader engagement and collaboration with the region.
The initiative, led by the head of SPSG Dr Pamendra Sharma, began a few years ago with the Reserve Bank of Fiji (RBF) which has led to four joint research papers.
Professor O’Connor revealed that the collaboration effort might be expanded further to include Tonga and Samoa.
Changing landscape
Ariff Ali, the Deputy Governor of RBF, highlighted the challenges for reserve banks in the region in maintaining economic growth, particularly in the aftermath of the GFC.
“The landscape changed significantly because of the GFC,” said Mr Ali. “It highlighted the importance of (central banks) to be proactive and independent.”
He said it also brought into focus the need for timely economic data in developing a wide range of instruments for RBF to implement.
Mr Ali spoke of the rise of technology as one of the drivers of change, and listed volatility in financial markets, fragile global growth and depressed commodity prices among the challenges faced by central banks in the region.
However, he also said the role of the RBF often extended beyond the traditional roles of central banks, putting pressure on already limited resources.
Mr Ali saw opportunities in growing the RBF’s research capabilities, which until now had been very limited at best. He highlighted the value of the Memorandum of Understanding secured last year with Griffith University to deliver joint research policy papers on areas of interest.
Luke Forau, Advisor to the Governor of the Central Bank of Solomon Islands (CBSI), described the collaboration with Griffith University as an ‘exciting new frontier’.
“We are looking forward to a long-term relationship with Griffith University,” he said.
Mr Forau said the CBSI, which this year celebrates its 40th anniversary of foundation, was a smaller organisation but faced similar challenges to other central banks in the South Pacific region, many of which fall outside of the traditional functions of majors such as the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA).
Research capacity
Among them is the path to financial inclusion designed to engage the broader Solomon Islands community in the financial services sector.
“Additional resources will offer us an opportunity to serve more people at the bottom of the pyramid,” said Mr Forau. “We want to focus on domestic solutions by looking at the experiences of other countries.”
Peter Tari, the Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of Vanuatu (RBV), said improvements in research capacity were essential to develop policy solutions that would deliver ‘meaningful impact’ to the wider Vanuatu community.
He saw broad opportunities in developing the RBV’s research capacity beyond the traditional roles of monetary policy, and particularly in fields such as financial literacy.
Brett Winton, the Manager of Technical Cooperation of the RBA’s Financial Markets Group, said Australia’s central bank had developed a strong collaborative culture with its counterparts in the South Pacific.
He also saw Griffith University’s inaugural central banking symposium as an important initiative to further develop that culture and for all participants to hear first-hand the issues confronting the region.
Building community
Griffith Business School Pro Vice Chancellor, Professor David Grant, said the success of the symposium demonstrated the need to expand the event in future years.
“There is a need to build on this event and Griffith Business School drawing on its expertise in the finance and business sectors will be happy to assist in that role,” he said.
“Leadership is about building community and we see this event as an important means by which to do so. There is great benefit to be achieved from bringing the leading voices in the South Pacific region together in dialogue to consider and explore the themes of this symposium.“
Delegates to the symposium agreed during a round-table discussion to explore the opportunity of expanding the current Griffith-South Pacific central banks partnership to include other Australian and regional institutions, and to maintain regular contact to maintain the momentum created by the inaugural symposium.
A regular event bringing together the South Pacific central banks and others is also on the horizon. In the meantime, Griffith will continue collaborating with the central banks on individual as well as regional projects.
The Queensland swing required for Bill Shorten to oust Malcolm Turnbull on July 2 is not on the cards, a new federal election analysis shows.
The Conversation has today published the first instalment of its ‘State of the states’ election series where political scientists at Griffith University’s Policy Innovation Hub decide it’s ‘advantage Coalition’ in the battleground state.
“With two-and-a-half weeks of campaigning to go, there doesn’t appear to be the kind of mood for change that usually accompanies big swings in Queensland,” Professor Anne Tiernan, Director of the Policy Innovation Hub, says.
“There is also a developing consensus that the national swings reported in published opinion polls are not translating to the seats that matter.
“This, and historical experience, may explain why the Coalition looks less anxious in Queensland than some might have anticipated.”
The Griffith team has developed in-depth profiles of 10 marginal seats in Queensland since the marathon campaign started on May 8.
Professor Tiernan says the type of voter volatility that brought governments of Paul Keating, John Howard and Campbell Newman to its knees in the past is not expected to come into play in 2016 as the power of incumbency gives government candidates the edge in tight seats like Capricornia, Dawson, Herbert and Leichardt.
In The Conversation’s extensive analysis of the key issues likely to affect voters in far north Queensland and central Queensland, Professor Tiernan identifies unemployment, the closure of Queensland Nickel and negative equity on properties purchased during the mining boom as major factors come polling day.
“Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s much-vaunted ‘economic plan’ aims to transition Australia from the mining boom to the new ‘innovation economy’. But that means quite different things to voters in the north and west of the state, where unemployment is above the state average of 6.2%.
“The Great Barrier Reef is a hot topic statewide for voters concerned about the environment and climate change. But in these northern seats, protecting the reef is also about protecting vital jobs in tourism.”
Rethinking classrooms, positioning students as creators rather than consumers and enabling authentic learning experiences are some of the key issues facing today’s educators.
“There is a trend to reinvent the classroom and rearrange the school experience where students move from one learning activity to another more organically, removing the limitations of the bell schedule,’’ he says of the trend in reshaping traditional classrooms.
“As technologies such as tablets and smartphones are more readily accepted in schools, educators are leveraging these tools to connect the curriculum with real life applications.”
Students as creators
Dr Zagami (right) said in today’s classrooms student learners are able to explore subjects through the act of creation rather than mere consumption of content.
“There is a vast array of digital tools available to support this from kindergarten to Year 12. This can lead to deeply engaging learning experiences whereby students become the authorities on subjects through investigation, storytelling and production.
“In particular, the Digital Technologies curriculum enables the development of higher order thinking skills such as computational, design, systems, futures and strategic thinking in students.”
“Other components of this trend include game development and access to programming instruction that nurtures learners as inventors and entrepreneurs.”
Dr Zagami also advocates for authentic student learning experiences.
“It’s important to bring students in touch with the world outside school — where reflection and self-awareness are cornerstones to their learning. In this way students can experience the future that awaits them once they graduate.”
Bachelor of Musical Theatre and Italian language student, Jenna Dearness, knows the importance of ‘the whole package’ when it comes to the international music industry.
Jenna is now set for the study experience of a lifetime, receiving the 2016 Pellegrino Scholarship, to travel to Florence, Italy for an intensive music program, in December.
“I’m very lucky to receive this opportunity to travel to Italy and be part of a truly incredible intensive music program that trains singers not only in technique and performance but also language and diction with world renowned coaches, teachers and facilities,” Ms Dearness said.
Cav. Stephen John Pellegrino (SP) gifted the scholarship in conjunction with the Consulate of Italy in Brisbane. Mr Pellegrino formally awarded Jenna the scholarship at a special celebration event for the 70th Anniversary of the Foundation of the Republic of Italy, on 2 June at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC).
Undertaking a unique mix of study programs, Jenna says that Italian is one of the leading languages needed for a career within classical music.
“To study a diploma of languages alongside my music studies at the Queensland Conservatorium is wonderful, as I am able to add that to my skills for my career and it cuts years off my study time.
“Opera is sung only in a small number of languages around the world, and with Italy being the birthplace of the genre, it is vital that not only my Italian language is correct, but also my diction when I sing, read or write classical music in Italian.
“This will be a truly incredible experience, to build my understanding of the culture, language, music, arts and passion of Italy.”
Jenna will graduate in 2017, and hopes to pursue further work and study in Europe and the United States, creating and performing music.
Dr Zagami (right) said in today’s classrooms student learners are able to explore subjects through the act of creation rather than mere consumption of content.