Eminent contemporary artist and Griffith University alumna Davida Allen delighted the audience at a special screening of her acclaimed 1999 film Feeling Sexy at Griffith Film School.
Held to coincide with Griffith University Art Museum’s current exhibition Davida Allen: In the Moment, the night included a Q&A with Allen and the film’s producer Glenys Rowe where the two shared anecdotes about their careers and the film’s production.
Allen, who wrote and directed the film, spoke about what attracted her to adapting her art practice to encompass the cinematic, as well as her short novel Close to the Bone : The Autobiography of Vicki Myers, on which the film is loosely based.
“I’d been directing my children and husband for years” she said. “The book was published to a specialised audience, but I wanted to bring the story to the ordinary person. It was greed for an audience really.”
Rowe, a former General Manager of SBS Independent,
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Griffith musical theatre grad wins lead role in Aladdin
Queensland Conservatorium musical theatre graduate Shubshri Kandiah has had all of her wishes granted after winning the lead role of Princess Jasmine in Disney’s smash hit musical Aladdin.
The role will mark Shubshri’s professional musical theatre debut. The 22-year-old graduated from the Bachelor of Musical Theatre at the end of last year, and is now the star of the country’s biggest show.
She will play Princess Jasmine for the final weeks of the Brisbane run at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC), before wowing audiences in her hometown, Perth.
“I found out through my agent who flew to Brisbane and caught up with me over coffee. I was pouring honey into my chai when my agent broke the news and the honey just went all over the table!
“I was excited but a part of me didn’t really believe it. There are still times when I feel like its not real and I’ve now
Griffith launches free online course to open up disability discussion
‘Realising Career Potential: Rethinking Disability’ is a free MOOC (Massive Online Open Course) now open for enrolment that enables learners to see how rehabilitation counsellors help people with disadvantage or disability realise their vocational potential.
Griffith University’s Rehabilitation Counselling and Case Management experts, Dr Vanette McLennan and Dr Christine Randall lead the global discussion on the benefits of enabling people with disadvantage or disability to participate fully in society.
“Unfortunately there are many misconceptions regarding what disability actually is and what the barriers are for people with disability in the workplace and in the community. Discrimination and stigmatisation are still huge barriers for people and through this course, we want to challenge the myths and assumptions that exist.
“People don’t realise how much workplaces and communities benefit when everyone has the opportunity to participate fully in our society. Too often, misconceptions about disability get in the way. Workplace attitudes, flexibility and technologies can make a real
Helping young women in distress with cancer
Helping young women live well after a cancer diagnosis is the aim of a new program being developed by members of the Women’s Wellness Research Group at Griffith University.
Led by Professor Debra Anderson from Griffith’s School of Nursing and Midwifery and the Menzies Health Institute Queensland, the 12-week nurse-led intervention provides a structured eHealth lifestyle program designed to support women aged 20-40 years with cancer, and minimize lifestyle-related health risks.
“Younger women with breast, blood and gynaecological cancer need targeted and tailored health promotion programs as they can experience some unique health concerns after cancer treatment,” says Professor Anderson, who speaks this week in the lead up to International Nurses Day (Saturday 12 May).
“Younger women with cancer can experience some specific concerns associated with these types of cancer. Depending on the age group, these may include fertility concerns, treatment-induced menopausal symptoms, weight gain, body image issues and concerns about sexuality and intimacy.
“We
Albatross project among those to fly high at climate change adaptation awards
The woman behind an albatross conservation project was just one of the winners at this year’s National Climate Change Adaptation Conference held at the Crown Promenade in Melbourne.
Dr Rachael Alderman from Tasmania’s Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment was crowned a Climate Adaptation Champion by Griffith University’s National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility (NCCARF) at the biennial awards ceremony on May 9.
Dr Rachael Alderman from Tasmania’s Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment was crowned the Individual winner. Credit: Renee Chapman Photography
The award recognised Dr Alderman’s vital work to increase shy albatross numbers using innovative methods to help counteract the in effects of climate change, including artificial nests and disease treatments.
“We still have a lot to learn about how climate change will affect the shy albatross into the future but we know enough to know that it is a problem, so this work aims to develop tried
QCA student wins national art prize
Queensland College of Art doctoral candidate Robert Andrew has won the $40,000 Alice Prize, which recognises the country’s best contemporary art.
The biennial acquisitive prize is open to artists from across the country, attracting hundreds of entries.
Robert took out top honours with his work ‘Whitewash over the burn’, a striking textural piece that features burnt timber boards, aluminium, ochre and chalk.
Robert said he couldn’t believe his luck when a call came through from this year’s judge, Brian Ritchie – MONA FOMA curator and Violent Femmes bassist.
“It was a major surprise – I was absolutely speechless,” he said.
“The money will give me the opportunity to keep making art, and winning a prize like this also helps get your work out there and seen by the right people.”
Photo credit: Carl Warner
Robert’s prize-winning work was a tribute to his great-grandmother, a Yawuru woman from the Kimberley region whose struggles to gain citizenship in the early
Budget 2018 may not go far enough to save the Great Barrier Reef
By Associate Professor Albert Gabric, Director, Master of Environment Program, School of Environment and Science
Some indisputable facts about the Great Barrier Reef:
the world’s most significant coral reef ecosystem of immense biodiversity and global heritage value;
total economic, social and iconic value estimated in 2017 by Deloitte Access Economics at $56 billion;
under threat from multiple local stressors including, declining water quality, coastal zone development, and periodic invasions by the crown of thorn starfish;
compounding these local threats are a host of climate change related global problems, including bleaching and acidification and extreme weather events, viz. marine heat waves and cyclones.
These threats to the GBR have been the subject of several major government studies in the last 20 years, including the Industry Commission Report (2003) and Reef 2050 Long-Term Sustainability Plan (2017). The latter report stated:
The main source of the primary pollutants (nutrients, fine sediments and pesticides) from Great Barrier Reef catchments is diffuse source
What price banking misconduct? Implications for the 2018 Budget
By Professor David Grant, Pro Vice Chancellor (Business), Griffith Business School
Last year’s Federal Budget produced an unwelcome surprise for the major banks in the form of the Banking Levy. The cries of pain from those affected are now long since forgotten and any remaining sympathy for their situation has dissipated given what has been uncovered by the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry. With the Commission revealing what is seemingly a systemic problem in the industry, attention has now turned to whether and how the banks and other major financial institutions might be penalised and further regulated.
Against this background, the 2018 budget becomes all the more interesting; not because it does anything to single out the banks and others in the financial services sector for special (punitive) treatment as a response to their wrongdoings highlighted by the Commission, but rather because the budget is
The economics of the 2018-19 Federal Budget
By Professor Fabrizio Carmignani, Dean (Academic), Griffith Business School
The context of this federal budget is characterised by a favourable alignment of political and economic incentives. Given 2018 is an election year, the political incentive for the government is to strengthen its consensus by adopting “expansionary” budget measures such as lowering taxes and increasing expenditure (possibly targeted to key constituencies). At the same time, with the Australian economy still running below potential, these same expansionary measures will help stimulate aggregate demand and close the gap between actual and full-employment potential Gross Domestic Product.
This alignment of incentives means that the government does not have to choose between what is good for the economy and what is politically convenient. The only possible downside risk is that by engaging in expansionary measures, the government could compromise its fiscal consolidation strategy and hence disrupt the path towards a fiscal surplus. However, the estimates available from
Party like it’s 1999: Why Budget 2018 feels like a throwback
By Dr Andreas Chai, Director, Economic Policy & Analysis Program, Griffith Business School
1999 was a great year to be alive in Australia. Apart from Prince hitting the airwaves again, Powderfinger were still playing and topped the Hottest 100, the first Matrix movie was released, and you could still get a flat white for under three dollars. In terms of the Federal Budget, 1999 marked the start of a remarkable period in which the Federal Budget accumulated approximately $90 billion dollars between 1999-2008.
2018 is starting to look a lot like 1999, at least in terms of international commodity prices. While global growth remains sluggish and domestic business investment is stuck in a low gear, the underlying cash balance of the Federal Government is projected to reach surplus in the coming quarters thanks to the strong performance in commodity prices, such as an iron ore.
Rising iron ore prices drive up earnings in