Open Access Theses

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Access status: Open Access ,
IAEA safeguards : coping with uncertainty in international verification
(2015-06-30) Robertson, Kalman Alec
This thesis examines the process by which the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) verifies the compliance of non-nuclear-weapon states with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and comprehensive safeguards agreements. The verification process consists of two interlocking phases: (1) planning verification activities and allocating verification resources, and (2) analysing collected data and drawing conclusions. Approaches to the two phases of verification are of central relevance to current policy debates on the development of the IAEA’s ‘state level concept’ for safeguards and for the resolution of compliance issues in several countries, particularly Iran and Syria. The continued absence of a substantive definition of non-compliance, or even a well defined procedure for exposing non-compliance, coupled with the IAEA’s increasing differentiation between states in order to meet verification objectives with limited resources, leave the IAEA and its safeguards regime vulnerable to claims of being ineffective, inefficient, irrelevant or discriminatory. Safeguards experts acknowledge that the identification and clarification of principles for determining safeguards priorities and for deriving safeguards conclusions will be a crucial step in strengthening the non-proliferation regime. In addition to assisting the development of these missing principles, the results of this thesis have broader consequences for the structure and development of international verification organisations. The approach taken by the IAEA is constrained by uncertainties inherent in the nature of the information sources available, the nuclear choices of states, and international responses to alleged violations, as well as ambiguities in the choice of verification standard. This thesis argues that efforts to reform the structure and procedures of the IAEA should use these fundamental uncertainties as the logical starting point for critical analysis of the IAEA’s safeguards. From the standpoint of achieving the objectives of verification, these uncertainties can be effectively managed by applying the concept of risk governance. The result of application of risk governance is a procedure that acknowledges both the technical and the political components of verification, while simultaneously enhancing the transparency of the IAEA’s operation, the credibility of the verification assurance, and the timeliness of identification of violations. The concept assists with distinguishing the roles of the IAEA’s Secretariat (risk identification and risk analysis) and the international community of states (risk evaluation and risk treatment) in each of the phases of verification. The Secretariat should focus on the structured provision of technical information to states. This thesis proposes refinements to the state level concept and new ‘Automatic Notice’ procedure to transform the existing, potentially political bases for the allocation of safeguards resources into transparent and objective criteria. Once the Secretariat has reported the existence of unresolved anomalies in the implementation of a safeguards agreement, a declaration of non-compliance and any subsequent international enforcement action are political decisions and must be left in the hands of states. The Automatic Notice procedure clarifies the operation of the Secretariat when compliance issues arise. It also provides states, whether acting through the IAEA’s Board of Governors or otherwise, with opportunities to craft effective solutions to potential proliferation crises.
Access status: Open Access ,
English, Nationalism, and The Politics of Language Use: Language Ideologies in Media Criticism of Yoon Suk Yeol’s Speech
(2025) Cann, Rose
Within a speech community, language practices are informed by multiple, sometimes competing, ideological frameworks. In South Korea, language practices are shaped by long-standing linguistic nationalist sentiments surrounding the Korean language, alongside neoliberal orientations that position English as valuable global linguistic capital. Against this backdrop, former President Yoon Suk Yeol (2022–2025) was repeatedly criticised within the media for his apparent penchant for incorporating English-origin words into his Korean-language speech. Situated within these broader ideological tensions regarding language, national identity and pride, and the place of English within Korea, this thesis examines why the media criticised Yoon’s linguistic behaviour. Following a language ideological approach, this study analyses discourse within media texts that explicitly criticised Yoon’s use of English- origin words into his speech, with particular attention paid to metalinguistic commentary and evaluative framing. Treating such discourse as a site where language use is rendered socially and politically meaningful, these texts are analysed to identify how Yoon’s linguistic behaviour was discursively constructed within media’s criticism, which language ideologies underpinned these constructions, and how such ideologies shaped the discourse itself. The findings of this study show that the media’s criticism was structured predominantly through a linguistic nationalist framework, within which English was conceptualised as symbolically opposed to the Korean language itself and its associated values as the national language. While this framing enabled sustained critique of Yoon’s use of English-words at this symbolic level, it simultaneously constrained the focus of the media’s criticism to that level, leaving other ideologies of English that contribute to the reproduction of social and class inequalities in South Korea unchallenged. By demonstrating how linguistic nationalism both motivated and limited media criticism of language use in political discourse, this thesis contributes to research on language ideology, language use within political discourse, and the sociolinguistic context of English within South Korea.
Access status: Open Access ,
Care, Career, and Kinship: Essays in Labour and Family Economics
(2026) Pritadrajati, Dyah
This thesis comprises three empirical essays in labour and family economics that examine how childcare access, income support, and fertility shape labour-market behaviour and household welfare in low- and middle-income settings. Across the essays, I use quasi-experimental variation and large-scale microdata to study how households allocate labour and adjust to policy and demographic change under binding constraints. The first essay examines how access to part-day kindergarten affects maternal labour supply and intra-household time allocation in Indonesia, where female labour force participation remains low and childcare is predominantly informal. Using an instrumental-variable strategy based on statutory age-eligibility rules, the analysis shows that kindergarten enrolment increases mothers' employment and working hours, with larger responses among less-educated, rural, and lower-income women. These gains are not accompanied by displacement of informal care provided by co-resident adults. Adjustment instead occurs along intergenerational margins within households, with increased school participation and reduced labour force participation among older siblings, particularly girls. Additional work is concentrated in informal and flexible jobs, reflecting the short duration of kindergarten provision. The second essay studies how the design of unconditional cash transfer programmes shapes labour-market behaviour in Indonesia. Exploiting variation across programme phases implemented during periods of economic stress, the analysis compares transfers based on relatively static welfare indicators with later programmes that incorporated contemporaneous employment information into targeting. Using nationally representative panel data and difference-in-differences and event-study designs, the results show modest labour-market responses that vary with programme design. Programmes that incorporate employment-related information are associated with small reductions in employment and larger declines in formal-sector participation, reflecting behavioural adjustment along margins tied to observable employment characteristics, even when transfers are temporary and modest in size. The third essay studies how family size affects women's safety within households in Samoa, a high-fertility setting with limited reproductive autonomy. Using nationally representative survey data and an instrumental-variable approach based on same-sex sibling composition, the analysis shows that an additional dependent child increases the likelihood of intimate partner violence, with effects concentrated in physical and sexual abuse. The evidence points to heightened economic pressure, weaker bargaining positions, and constrained agency as important correlates of these outcomes. The findings highlight family size as a consequential, but often overlooked, dimension of intra-household power and welfare in high-fertility contexts.
Access status: Open Access ,
Applied Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases in the Western Pacific: Studies from Fiji, Tonga and Australia
(2026) Jian, Holly
This volume presents four projects and additional public health experiences, which satisfy the competencies of the Master of Philosophy in Applied Epidemiology (MAE) program. Between February 2024 and December 2025, I undertook an MAE field placement at The University of Queensland's Operational Research and Decision Support for Prevention, Control and Elimination of Infectious Diseases (ODeSI) team. In Chapter 1, I present an analysis of COVID-19 mortality in Fiji in 2020-22, where I conducted descriptive, statistical and spatial scan analyses of COVID-19 deaths. My statistical analyses showed that older Fijians and indigenous Fijians (iTaukei) were more likely to die of COVID-19, as well as more likely to die at home. My spatial scan analysis also found evidence of significant spatiotemporal clustering of COVID-19 deaths, again with marked differences between ethnic groups in the location and size of clusters over time. Chapter 2 presents an investigation of an outbreak of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections at a health facility, conducted with the Gold Coast Public Health Unit in Queensland, Australia. During this investigation, I was part of a multidisciplinary outbreak control team, which conducted environmental and epidemiological investigations to identify the cause of infection and prevent further cases. I determined that the likely cause of infection was the introduction of P. aeruginosa into cases' joints during intraarticular injection of contrast, which had been contaminated due to unhygienic handling and storage practices. In Chapter 3, I present a systematic review of global lymphatic filariasis (LF) post-validation surveillance (PVS) activities in 2025, which was conducted to inform my design of a PVS system for LF in Tonga. The review found considerable heterogeneity in the implementation of PVS. Financing and resource constraints underpinned many challenges to PVS implementation, while institutional commitment is a critical enabler of sustained surveillance. In Chapter 4, I present my design of a PVS system for LF in Tonga. I conducted a qualitative study where I interviewed key informants in the Tonga Ministry of Health to identify challenges and opportunities for establishing PVS, and synthesised my findings into recommendations for the development of a PVS strategy for Tonga. To be feasible, LF PVS must be designed for Tonga's unique systemic, organisational and operational environment; my proposed strategy consists of determining local risk level and context, and using this assessment to select from both active and passive surveillance methods. This thesis also describes other public health experiences that have contributed to my training in field epidemiology. This includes six weeks of fieldwork in Tonga, where I assisted with a serosurvey investigating resurgence of LF following its elimination seven years prior. I also investigated a Salmonella Typhimurium cluster with Queensland Health's OzFoodNet team. Lastly, I contributed to other publications within the ODeSI team. The work presented in this thesis demonstrates the role of applied epidemiology in public health decision-making in diverse settings across the Western Pacific region, from the Gold Coast to the Pacific Island Countries of Fiji and Tonga.
Access status: Open Access ,
Thermoresponsive polymer desiccants for water harvesting
Thanusing, Moki
Atmospheric water is a ubiquitous yet underutilised source of potable water. Polymeric desiccants are a particularly promising candidate for atmospheric water harvesting given their adaptability and scalability. However, the relative nascency of the field leaves many classes of polymers yet unexplored. This thesis details efforts into developing novel polymeric desiccants for atmospheric water harvesting while establishing frameworks for their rational design. The focus is primarily on thermoresponsive polymers, a particularly useful class of materials enabling the low energy release of sorbed water. Despite this property these materials have been largely overlooked for water harvesting applications. In Chapter 1, the current literature in atmospheric water harvesting is described, giving context to the experimental work reported within. In Chapter 2, a thermoresponsive copolymer library was synthesised to examine how differences in composition, crosslinker density and crosslinker length affected water harvesting properties. These insights into the relationship between polymer structure and water harvesting properties lay the groundwork for future rational design. Chapter 3 details the development of a novel desiccant utilising L-arginine post-functionalisation of a thermoresponsive polymer. The resulting desiccant was highly hygroscopic while retaining its thermoresponsive properties. The kinetics of its water harvesting allowed for rapid harvesting cycles and increased yield. Finally, Chapter 4 presents improved desiccants culminating from insights gained in the preceding chapters. The use of microgel structures and creatine functionalisation further improved water harvesting kinetics. In addition to highlighting the potential of microgels as a class of polymeric desiccants, these materials outperform many of those in existing literature.
Access status: Open Access ,
Tricky trends and toxicities: diverse applied epidemiology in NSW
(2026) Cavanagh , Kwendy
This thesis recounts the projects and experiences undertaken during my Master of Philosophy (Applied Epidemiology) program, which ran from February 2024 to October 2025. I was based in the Centre for Epidemiology and Evidence at the NSW Ministry of Health, working with two other centres, the Environmental Health Branch and the Centre for Alcohol and other Drugs, for two projects. Attaining the major competencies, I conducted an epidemiological study and data analysis of pneumonia emergency department presentations in NSW from 2015-2024, investigated per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in drinking water and performed an evaluation of the NSW Rapid Drug Surveillance and Early Warning System. Centred around these projects, minor competencies were reflected in a manuscript for publication, two oral conference presentations, a targeted literature review and a summary for a non-scientific audience. Teaching field epidemiology involved conveying concepts to, and facilitating learning activities with, peers and other health professionals. Additional experiences including performing routine business, human research ethics committee membership and participation in a range of learning activities further enhanced epidemiological skills development. Combined, these projects and experiences demonstrate my achievement of the required competencies for the award of this degree.
Access status: Open Access ,
Topological phase transitions in photonic hybrid metasurfaces
(2023) Graham, Emlyn
Topological photonics is a rapidly developing field that studies the application of topological concepts to devices that manipulate light. Topological photonic devices promise a pathway towards robust quantum computers and 6G technology. Photonic topological insulators (PTIs) are engineered materials that have a band gap in their spectra and can support edge states protected by the band structure topology. These edge states propagate around the system boundary and are immune to detrimental backscattering, with proposed applications in areas from signal transport to quantum computation. This thesis explores the potential for interaction-induced topological phase transitions in photonic systems. I review the basic concepts of PTIs and discuss the Bernevig-Hughes-Zhang model of a $\mathcal{Z}_2$ PTI. I then discuss the composition of this model with a simple material excitation that interacts with the BHZ model near the band gap. I show that this interaction induces topological phase transitions in certain circumstances. I apply this concept to a hexagonal-pattern hybrid metasurface, demonstrating the hybrid edge states associated with the interaction-induced topology. Finally, I delineate the potential avenues for experimental implementation of the system studied.
Access status: Open Access ,
Bayesian Framework for Bivariate Modeling, Longitudinal Socio-Economic Indices, and Spatio-Temporal Analyses of Childhood Vulnerabilities - A Methodological Framework for Improved Precision and Efficiency
(2026) Li, Mu
This thesis focuses on the development and application of advanced Bayesian hierarchical models with copula-based spatial effects to address complex issues in spatial epidemiology and socio-economic analysis. It presents two key studies: a bivariate Bayesian hierarchical model for disease mapping and the construction of a Longitudinal Index of Relative Socio-Economic Disadvantage (LIRSD) in Australia. The first study introduces a novel Bayesian hierarchical model for bivariate disease mapping, employing copula-based spatial effects to flexibly model spatial dependencies between multiple diseases making it effectiveness in capturing complex, non-linear relationships and improving risk estimation in regions with sparse data. By incorporating copulas, the model decouples the marginal distributions from the dependence structure, providing more accurate and nuanced insights into disease risks and their spatial correlations. An R package has also been developed and made available on GitHub to facilitate the implementation of the copula-based model, enhancing its accessibility for future research and applications. The second study constructs the LIRSD to capture socio-economic disparities over time, enhancing traditional socio-economic indices like SEIFA (socio-economic indices for Australia) through incorporating a longitudinal perspective. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is applied to create a temporally consistent measure of socio-economic status from multiple Australian censuses. The LIRSD reveals shifts in socio-economic conditions across regions, highlighting persistent challenges and areas of improvement - crucial for effective policy-making and targeted interventions. Additionally, the LIRSD serves as a valuable covariate in spatio-temporal small area estimation, allowing for more precise modelling of regional heterogeneity and dynamics. Together, these contributions offer a robust methodological framework for addressing challenges in spatial epidemiology and socio-economic analysis. By integrating copula-based spatial modelling and longitudinal socio-economic indices, this research enhances the understanding of spatial and temporal dynamics in socio-economic inequalities, providing valuable insights for public health policy and resource allocation.
Access status: Open Access ,
The population of Victoria, 1851 to 1901 : an appraisal of the statistical sources, together with some analysis of the growth of the population of the colony
(1960) Packer, D. R. G.
The thesis is concerned with the colony of Victoria taken as a whole. The first section of the thesis is concerned with investigating the nature, and examining the trustworthiness and usefulness, of the chief statistical sources relevant to the study of the Victorian population during the second half of the nineteenth century - the censuses, the vital statistics, and the migration statistics. We attempt to show that the censuses are the most reliable of these sources, and that therefore considerable use would have to be made of them even when it might be theoretically more desirable to use other sources. We suggest that the vital statistics become increasingly reliable as the century advances. We argue that the migration statistics are an untrustworthy and indeed dangerous·source. In the course of this, we try to make a contribution towards the history of Australian population statistics. In the second section we begin with a broad survey of the overall growth of population between 1851 and 1901. This serves to "define the problem": to indicate what it is, the contributing factors to which must be detected and described. We then proceed to a discussion of the role played by migration in bringing about demographic change. Here we begin by arguing that the migration statistics themselves cannot, at least in the beginning, help us in this discussion; and so we attempt, through use of the censuses and vital statistics, to establish approximate figures of net migration in each intercensal period. On the basis of these figures we enter into a consideration of the contribution of migration to intercensal population growth. We then call into question the usefulness of the concept of "net migration", and thereafter approach the whole problem in another way: by investigating what can be discovered and said about the numbers and characteristics of persons added to the population, by dint of migration, within intercensal periods. From that point, by and large, we are confined to indicating what we would have done had time and circumstances permitted.
Access status: Open Access ,
The press in Indonesia as exemplified in reactions to controversies on the basis of the state
(1968) Matthews, Philip D.
Access status: Open Access ,
Essays on the Microfoundations of Asset Liquidity and Resale Premia
(2026) Mishricky, Simon
Chapter 1 of the thesis reviews and synthesises the literature on the role of money and assets in models with trading frictions. The main focus of the chapter is on how liquidity and resale premia shape asset prices and monetary transmission. In frictionless Walrasian settings, neither money nor financial assets are essential for exchange, and asset values reflect only discounted dividends. Once search and decentralised trade are introduced, however, assets acquire additional value as media of exchange or as instruments of resale, leading to systematic deviations from standard asset pricing predictions. By comparing these two strands of theory, the chapter highlights the mechanisms through which frictions in asset exchange alter equilibrium valuations, monetary policy transmission, and the structure of risk premia in modern financial economies. Chapter 2 of the thesis examines asset pricing with collateral and resale premia. Asset prices respond ambiguously to monetary policy: easing sometimes lowers dividend yields, as in traditional and collateral/liquidity-based monetary-style asset models, and sometimes raises them, as in monetary resale premium models. This chapter reconciles these views by developing a monetary over-the-counter (OTC) model where assets serve both as collateral for goods and asset purchases and as resaleable securities. The framework generates both collateral and resale premia, explaining why dividend yields can move in opposite directions under monetary easing/tightening. Further, we show that policy remains effective in the cashless limit, and that the cashless limit equilibrium differs from the nonmonetary equilibrium, highlighting that money's role cannot be abstracted from asset pricing. Chapter 3 of the thesis considers asset price dispersion, monetary policy, and macroprudential regulation. Following the 2007-2009 Global Financial Crisis, sustained monetary expansion and tighter financial regulation have left financial markets thinner, less resilient, and more prone to instability. This chapter develops a monetary model of decentralised financial exchange to account for these outcomes. The framework links search frictions and costly posting to the joint effects of monetary and regulatory policy on asset prices, quoting behaviour, and market stability. Increases in inflation or posting costs reduce quoting intensity, widen the distribution of executable prices, and raise the probability of trading breakdowns. The model replicates key post-crisis patterns such as wider spreads, higher execution costs, and an increased likelihood of flash-crash events, showing that the interaction between monetary and regulatory policy can unintentionally increase financial market fragility.
Access status: Open Access ,
Psychophysiological Approaches for Assessing User States and Performance in Interactive Entertainment
(2026) Cao, Yufei
Psychophysiological approaches offer a powerful means to investigate the cognitive and emotional states that shape user experience, capturing both transient reactions and sustained dynamics in digital game environments. However, knowledge remains limited regarding how psychophysiological methods can be systematically applied to study user experience in games, spanning issues of methodology, ecological validity, analytical approaches, and integration with other measurement tools. This research investigated how multimodal psychophysiological signals can be used to evaluate user experience in terms of cognitive and emotional states, and to predict performance across diverse game contexts. In addition, the research examined how psychophysiological measures can be triangulated with self-reports and behavioural data to provide convergent and complementary insights. This investigation was realised through a multimodal psychophysiological approach, integrating ocular, cardiac, and neural measures with behavioural data, self-reports, and interviews to capture user experience in a comprehensive manner. I operationalised this approach across four empirical studies, each targeting different facets of user experience in interactive games. The first study (N=15) applied self-reports and behavioural observation to assess dynamic changes in emotional states and in-game actions under increasing difficulty, showing that higher difficulty elicited heightened arousal and negative emotions while also revealing substantial individual variability in coping strategies. To probe the cognitive mechanisms underlying these behavioural differences, the second study (N=35) employed eye-tracking to identify systematic differences in visual attention strategies between high- and low-performing players, establishing visual strategies as quantifiable indicators of cognitive processes underlying performance variation. Moving from explanation to prediction, the third study (N=35) integrated ocular and cardiac signals to prospectively predict performance outcomes across sessions. The models achieved reliable accuracy, demonstrating that anticipatory information about performance trajectories is embedded in the early dynamics of interaction. Extending beyond challenge-based play, the final study (N=13) employed EEG to examine narrative interaction mechanics, showing that mechanics requiring complex cognition and affective appraisal elicited stronger neural activity and underscoring the role of interactive structure, beyond narrative content, in shaping engagement and affective experience. In addition, I triangulated behavioural observations, physiological signals, self-reports, and interviews, integrating implicit physiological reactions with explicit self-appraisals and overt actions to offer a more holistic perspective on the multidimensional nature of experience. This research demonstrates that multimodal psychophysiological signals provide robust means to evaluate cognitive and emotional states and to anticipate performance outcomes in digital games, thereby advancing approaches for user state assessment in interactive systems. It provides an integrated empirical account of attention, engagement, affective responses, and performance in interactive game contexts. It also provides practical implications for the use of multimodal assessment in anticipatory user analytics, supportive feedback systems, and narrative design. Moreover, this work shows that effective multimodal assessment depends both on careful signal selection and on systematic triangulation across complementary measurement methods. In doing so, it advances the systematic integration and ecologically grounded application of psychophysiological approaches in interactive systems.
Access status: Open Access ,
Platelet phenotype distinguishes ITP from isolated thrombocytopenia
(2026) Ali, Sidra
Platelets orchestrate haemostasis through receptor-mediated adhesion, aggregation, and secretion. Platelet dysfunction can lead to bleeding and/or clotting disorders but is challenging to diagnose clinically. This thesis focuses on immune thrombocytopenia (ITP), a disorder marked by immune-mediated platelet destruction and impaired thrombopoiesis. Patients with ITP display heterogeneous clinical trajectories and bleeding severity, often poorly correlated with platelet count, necessitating new biomarkers beyond platelet count to predict bleeding risk. A comprehensive analysis of 103 ITP patients, 22 thrombocytopenic controls, and 123 healthy donors (HDs) revealed elevated expression of glycoprotein (GP) VI and platelet-bound immunoglobulin G in symptomatic patients. Soluble biomarkers, including soluble (s) GPVI, thrombopoietin, and citrullinated histone-DNA complexes, were elevated in patients with bleeding. Integrin aIIbb3 activation remained functional but viscoelastic assays showed significantly impaired clot formation parameters. The 'platelet A10' derived measure, reflecting platelet contribution to clot formation, correlated with bleeding severity irrespective of count, underscoring the importance of platelet quality. Immune profiling demonstrated increased circulating CD8+CD38+ T cells, reduced memory B cells, and increased classical monocytes, indicating broad immune disruption. Multivariable modelling using probabilistic principal component analysis generated composite scores that integrated platelet and immune markers, outperforming platelet count in bleeding prediction. Machine learning further improved accuracy (AUC 0.92), challenging thrombocytopenia-centric models and advocating a novel approach that integrates multidimensional platelet and immune data with machine learning to assess bleeding risk in ITP. To complement conventional platelet autoantibody detection methods, a functional assay was developed to evaluate autoantibody-induced platelet receptor shedding. To assess the molecular pathways of platelet-autoantibody engagement, soluble receptor release was measured in the presence of an FcgRIIa-blocking antibody or a broad-spectrum metalloproteinase inhibitor, revealing that shedding was primarily driven by metalloproteinase-dependent proteolysis downstream of platelet activation. An ELISA quantifying sGPVI, a marker of platelet activation, was refined, which demonstrated its robust sensitivity and reproducibility across clinical disorders. These refinements established a HD reference range, with intra- and inter-assay coefficients of variation below 15%, and stability across multiple freeze-thaw cycles. TLT-1 has emerged as a sensitive platelet activation marker due to its rapid surface upregulation during platelet stimulation. The mechanistic studies revealed that, while human GPVI is exclusively cleaved by a disintegrin and metalloproteinase domain (ADAM)10, TLT-1 shedding involved both ADAM10 and ADAM17. Results showed that TLT-1 release during coagulation was FXa-dependent, suggesting a coordinated FXa-driven shedding for GPVI and TLT-1 to modulate platelet activation. Elevated sTLT-1 levels were associated with trauma-induced coagulopathy, injury severity, and mortality, underscoring its relevance in thrombo-inflammatory platelet responses. These findings challenge conventional diagnostic paradigms and advocate for precision medicine approaches using integrated biomarker panels. Validating these biomarkers and developing streamlined assays are essential for clinical translation. By bridging platelet biology and immunopathology, this work contributes to evolving views of ITP as a disorder of integrated platelet-immune dysregulation and provides a framework for therapies that address both platelet dysfunction and immune abnormalities. This dual-axis approach harmonises mechanistic discovery with clinical innovation, paving the way for improved risk assessment in ITP and related disorders.
Access status: Open Access ,
Improving immunisation through data for decision-making in Pacific Island Countries and Areas
(2026) Patel, Cyra
Data and the systems that generate information are the foundation of evidence-based decision-making. High-quality, fit-for-purpose data on immunisation system performance can drive decision-making and subsequent improvements in vaccination coverage. Yet, there is limited evidence that data are used in decision-making, especially in low-resource settings. Pacific Island Countries & Areas (PICs) comprise 21 Small Island Developing States that face unique challenges to delivering immunisation. There is a paucity of evidence on immunisation information systems in PICs, including the processes for generating immunisation data, the extent of immunisation data use, and the drivers and barriers to using data in decision-making. This research aimed to examine the role of data for decision-making to strengthen immunisation systems in PICs. It addressed 3 key questions: 1. How is immunisation system performance measured, and what is the relationship between immunisation performance in routine versus emergency contexts? 2. What data are most important to measure to improve immunisation in PICs? 3. How are immunisation data used in decision-making in PICs? To address the first question, I identified indicators from existing monitoring and evaluation resources measuring the performance of immunisation systems (Ch 2). I found over 600 indicators, implying a large burden of data collection and reporting for countries. I then examined the association between routine immunisation and COVID-19 vaccination coverage in Small Island Developing States through a quantitative analysis of immunisation performance indicators (Ch 3). I found that higher COVID-19 vaccination coverage was associated with sustaining pre pandemic routine immunisation coverage during the pandemic, introducing and sustaining new vaccines in national immunisation programs, and higher workforce density. To answer the second question, I conducted an expert elicitation study, asking immunisation and health information system experts across PICs to identify the most important indicators for immunisation decision-making (Ch 4). Although experts' preferences for indicators varied, some common factors influenced their preferences. Health system factors, roles and influence of various health system actors, and country-level factors like population size and distribution affected perceptions of the relevance of different indicators to decision-making and feasibility of obtaining these data. These findings suggest that contextualising immunisation performance measurement could lead to greater use of evidence in decision-making while reducing the burden of data collection and reporting. To address the third question, I conducted a qualitative study to examine how vaccination coverage data are used by decision-makers in Vanuatu, examining use of data from paper-based systems for routine immunisation and an electronic immunisation register (EIR) for COVID-19 vaccination (Ch 5). I found limited use of routine immunisation data, but clear examples of use of COVID-19 vaccination data to monitor program rollout, allocate resources and plan actions to deliver the program. While the EIR facilitated data use, systemic factors such as increased resourcing, improved data management and greater accountability fostered an enabling ecosystem where data were demanded and data-driven decision-making was expected. This thesis highlights the complexity of factors influencing data use in PICs. The findings reaffirm the need to build and invest in strong health system foundations, especially workforce in PICs, where limited capacity constrains immunisation performance. Additionally, appropriate policies, management and supervision, and sufficient financial and technical resources are required to improve data generation and its use. Immunisation information systems that streamline data processes and focus on the most relevant data can drive improvements in overall immunisation system performance.
Access status: Open Access ,
Arbovirus replication in vertebrate cells : a comparative study
(1972) Dennett, Donald Paul
The investigations described in this thesis compare certain properties of two group A (Ross River virus and Semliki Forest virus) and one group B arbovirus (Kunjin virus). Chapter I examines aspects of the growth of these viruses in vertebrate cell culture. Plaque development, the effects of adsorption temperature on virus titre and the characteristics of single-cycle growth of these viruses are reported. Attempts were made to measure the kinetics of virus development, to determine virus yields, and to examine the relation between cytopathic effect and single-cycle growth. In Chapter II experiments to further characterize RNA replication in group A and group B arbovirus-infected cells are described. The time course and levels of RNA synthesis are compared in cells infected by these viruses. RNA species made during replication of Semliki Forest and Ross River viruses are compared and partially characterized by electrophoresis on agarose gels.
Access status: Open Access ,
Solar thermal energy conversion in high-temperature hierarchical solar absorbers
(2026) Guo, Yifan
Solar absorber coatings for high-temperature concentrated solar thermal (CST) systems are crucial for efficient solar-thermal energy conversion. This research focuses on hierarchical coatings, investigating light-matter interactions across nano-, micro-, and macro-length scales to understand how surface morphology and material properties influence energy conversion. It also evaluates the accuracy of Monte Carlo ray tracing (MCRT) and finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) modelling methods for multi-length scale structures, identifying the most suitable approach for various applications. Finally, experimental characterisation assesses the optical performance and durability of coatings under dynamic ageing, providing insights into their long-term stability and optimisation for CST systems. A comparison of MCRT and FDTD methods demonstrates their applicability to modelling light-matter interactions in hierarchical solar absorber coatings. MCRT effectively simulates macro-scale morphologies with characteristic lengths exceeding 20 micro meters, while FDTD captures detailed wavelength-dependent behaviour at nano- and micro-scales. These results highlight the importance of aligning modelling techniques with specific length scales to achieve accurate predictions of radiative properties. At the nano-scale, a scalable nanolayer architecture comprising monodispersed nanospheres embedded in a binding matrix demonstrates remarkable solar absorptance of up to 97.64% and excellent stability after 1000h of ageing at 900C. Both theoretical and experimental results confirm that this nanolayer enhances absorptance by more than 40%, even under extreme conditions. At the micro-scale, simulations show that deeper micropores with smaller diameters and moderate to high surface coverage significantly improve light-trapping effectiveness, achieving over 70% effectiveness on arbitrary materials. At the macro-scale, surface coverage emerges as the dominant factor in enhancing absorptance, with macro-scale protrusions delivering improvements in light trapping, regardless of configuration or diameter. Additionally, the development of a titania-based coral-structured coating highlights excellent optical performance and durability under high-temperature conditions. This coating effectively inhibits titanium cation diffusion, ensuring long-term stability and maintaining high solar absorptance even after extended ageing. By evaluating changes in optical properties before and after ageing, this study provides key insights into the time-dependent durability of hierarchical solar absorbers, offering a reliable and scalable solution for CST applications.
Access status: Open Access ,
Applied Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases in Western Australia
(2026) Dean, Marette
This thesis details projects undertaken during my Master of Applied Epidemiology (MAE) field placement between February 2024 to December 2025 in Population Health at WACHS Central office in Perth, Western Australia. The projects undertaken to meet the MAE competencies included: * A Western Australian Cluster of Salmonella Typhimurium 04-17-11-00-517 * Evaluation of the Western Australian Rheumatic Heart Disease Register * Seasonality of Respiratory syncytial virus in northern Western Australia * Public Health teaching activities This thesis also details other public health activities undertaken during my field placement including redesign and delivery of quarterly notifiable disease reports, the development of an acute rheumatic fever cluster and outbreak alert processes, a family and domestic violence case-control study, an environmental health site visit, and several presentations, education and training sessions. These projects and activities fulfil the requirements of the Australian National University Master of Philosophy (Applied Epidemiology) program.
Access status: Open Access ,
Understanding Facets of Instance Level Effects in Explainable Artificial Intelligence Tasks using Shapley Values
(2026) Liu, Tommy
Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) is reshaping the machine learning (ML) landscape and is a driving factor behind the adoption of these methods across the sciences. However, XAI research typically focuses on feature level explanations. In contrast, the instance level task of understanding the effects of instances upon a model are equally important. In the cases where instances are determined to be important, why they are important and how this importance manifests is relatively unexplored. The aim of this PhD thesis in computer science was to extend and develop methods to explain relationships between individual data instances and the model, in the context of Shapley Values. In particular, to build upon existing works to provide methods that offer justification of what made each data instance important and to use this information to generate actionable feedback to an ML workflow. This information can be used to critically analyse the model fitting process, and to inform future data acquisition to ensure that expensive and time consuming experiments are focused on data that will tangibly improve the models built for that application. A facet defines a distinct feature or component of a larger problem. This thesis explores three facets of what makes data important, where each facet represents a dimension or summary of how an individual instance impacted an ML model or data transformation. This thesis demonstrates how these methods can be applied in the materials and health spaces, by taking a project from theory, implementing methods by extending and building upon existing literature, and finally, demonstrating the impactful insights that can be derived from materials and health datasets. Chapters 4, and 5 demonstrate how breaking down existing concepts in instance importance can uncover facets of data importance. In particular, Chapter 4 introduces RSHAP which breaks down the instance contribution to loss, further into the instance contribution to the residuals of a model. Since loss terms are typically a function of the residual values, RSHAP provides a lower-level view of how data interacts with the model and each other. RSHAP was demonstrated to be particularly effective in materials datasets by quantifying that certain elements can have different impacts across the spectrum of elements present in the data. Chapter 5 demonstrates how breaking the loss term down into bias and variance can result in different types of instance importance. In particular, two equally important instances when talking about loss may affect bias and variance in different ways. These two quantities generate an axis of importance where data can fall into certain quadrants and presents an opportunity to distinguish the different impacts of data. Chapter 6 introduces what are known as behavioural space transformations, these transform- ations connect the XAI concept of Shapley Values with interpretable data transformations. By visualising patterns that emerge under these interpretable transformations, relationships can be inferred by identifying outliers or trends in the data. This thesis demonstrates that facets of data importance are useful to have in a data analysis tool kit and that it is a promising direction for future research. In particular, these kinds of method contribute to the understanding phase of XAI workflows by making us critically question what our models are doing with the data.
Access status: Open Access ,
The Gift: an archaeologist re-imagines the deep past
Paton, Robert
This thesis is a reflection on Australian Indigenous peoples' engagement with science-based archaeology from the perspective of an archaeologist who has worked alongside Aboriginal people for four decades. It asks two main research questions: why Indigenous views of the past are marginalised? and, what Indigenous knowledge might look like in interpretations of Australia's deep past that is dominated by archaeologists? To answer these questions the first part of the thesis involves an examination of the historic context of Indigenous involvement in the discipline of archaeology, acknowledging significant shortcomings. The second part provides two detailed case studies working alongside Indigenous people: one with the Mudburra and Jingili people from the Northern Territory, the other with the Western Wakka Wakka community from southeast Queensland. The research demonstrates that both Indigenous groups have highly sophisticated views of their deep histories. Their views are tied closely to objects that they regard as carrying parts of their histories. A close examination of these world views, through studies of some important objects, shows that their histories have signatures that can be recognised in the archaeological record. Both groups confidently feel that their Indigenous histories reflect their pasts and who they are as people. However, they would like to expand their knowledge by working alongside archaeologists and other scholars such as historians. The final part of the thesis examines the shape of such a collaboration.
Access status: Open Access ,
Moort danjoo kanyirninpa (relationality) and Boola kaadadjan doyntj doyntj baranginy (Indigenous knowledge exchange) as Collective Capability within Indigenist Evaluation in Australia
(2026) Maher, Bobby
Understanding what and how policies, programs and services work for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations requires effective evaluation. It is often assumed that what works in the non-Indigenous population will work for Indigenous Australians. Current evaluations tend to be shaped by settler-colonial perspectives, focusing narrowly on outcomes and not aligning with Indigenous worldviews. Additionally, evaluation designs are often predetermined and formulated by funders. Available evidence highlights that evaluations are philosophically and methodologically misaligned with Indigenous ways of working, knowing and doing. Feedback from Indigenous communities and leaders highlights the need for evaluations that support Indigenous leadership and decision-making. The "Closing the Gap" is a federal policy that aims to reduce inequality between Indigenous Australians and non-Indigenous Australians through targeted programs and policies, focusing on outcomes like life expectancy, education, housing and access to services. Reform is underway to improve Indigenous evaluation practices, to better understand how to design evaluations, including processes that support Indigenous leadership and decision-making, and ensure that Indigenous communities are the beneficiaries of such evaluations. Currently, Indigenist evaluations are not common and often have not been addressed or theorised in Australia. As the focus of Indigenous evaluation practice shifts to centring Indigenous methodologies, decision-making and participation, there is a need to establish evaluation approaches appropriate to the population. This thesis introduces the term 'collective capability', drawing on Amartya Sen's 'capability approach' to highlight the central role of collective values, perspectives and knowledge in shaping wellbeing as defined by the collective. Collective capability was conceptually defined and key attributes investigated as part of the development process of an Indigenist evaluation methodology that could enhance and improve practice in Australia. The aim of this research was to address the gap in Indigenist evaluations by defining collective capability using an Indigenous-led methodology. The thesis includes two peer-reviewed publications, and one manuscript under peer-review. The first publication, a protocol in BMJ Open, outlines the methods used to define collective capability using an adapted version of Rodgers' evolutionary concept analysis. Using that protocol, the second publication, which appears in the Evaluation Journal of Australasia, comprises of the process and results of developing the definition of collective capability through in-depth interviews with Indigenous Knowledge holders. Collective capability was defined as 'people coming together relationally to work toward a common goal in a collaborative learning environment, where cultural values are prioritised, knowledge is shared and the process is equally important as achieving the goal'. Two key surrogate terms for collective capability were also identified, Relationality and Indigenous Knowledge Exchange. The final manuscript is a concept analysis of those two surrogate terms. The results provide a foundation for understanding how Relationality and Indigenous Knowledge Exchange could be featured in Indigenist evaluation in Australia. In defining collective capability, this thesis contributes new knowledge by aligning Indigenous evaluation in Australia with Indigenous ways of knowing, doing and being. Future work will embed relationality and Indigenous knowledge exchange into an operational Indigenist evaluation framework. This research has key implications for policy, including informing commissioners of evaluations of the requirements to embed an Indigenist approach to evaluation within commissioning processes. For practice, it highlights how evaluators can take practical steps to undertake evaluations by, for, with and as Indigenous peoples.

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