Within the research field of urban water demand management, understanding the link between environmental and water conservation attitudes and observed end use water consumption has been limited. Through a mixed method research design incorporating field-based smart metering technology and questionnaire surveys, this paper reveals the relationship between environmental and water conservation attitudes and a domestic water end use break down for 132 detached households located in Gold Coast city, Australia. Using confirmatory factor analysis, attitudinal factors were developed and refined; households were then categorised based on these factors through cluster analysis technique. Results indicated that residents with very positive environmental and water conservation attitudes consumed significantly less water in total and across the behaviourally influenced end uses of shower, clothes washer, irrigation and tap, than those with moderately positive attitudinal concern. The paper concluded with implications for urban water demand management planning, policy and practice.

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The need to understand, model and predict urban water consumption is paramount, particularly with urban densities increasing throughout the world. Specifically, it is vital to determine potable water savings, daily demand patterns and actual end use water consumption experienced in diversified water supply schemes in order to verify planning estimates and justify the future application of such schemes. This paper details the results of a mixed methods (quantitative and qualitative) end use investigation, pre-and post-commissioning of recycled water, in a dual reticulated supply scheme in the master planned Pimpama Coomera region, Gold Coast, Australia. Recycled water, supplied for irrigation and toilet flushing, accounted for 59.1 L/p/d or 32.2% of total consumption post-commissioning, with irrigation being 28.9 L/p/d or 15.7%. Furthermore, developed end use diurnal patterns demonstrate the unique daily demand consumption within the region and significant reductions in peak potable water demand when compared with single reticulated supply areas. The paper concludes with discussions of implications for better informed water services infrastructure planning activities.

Admission rates for respiratory conditions were consistently higher among the Aboriginal population and in non-metropolitan areas. The overwhelming importance of infections among Aboriginal admissions has significant implications for the prevention and management of respiratory diseases among Aboriginal people.

The pandemic had a less severe impact on the general population than originally anticipated; 2 however, Aboriginal people were more likely to require admission to hospital and more likely to die from influenza than non-Aboriginal Australians. 1,3,4 In addition, the 2009 pandemic confirmed that Aboriginal people experience the complications of the influenza virus, whether pandemic or seasonal strains, more often than the non-Aboriginal Australian population. 1,4,5 Reasons for these disparities are multifactorial, including high prevalence of chronic diseases, high pregnancy rates and socioeconomic factors such as reduced access to health care and barriers to health-seeking behaviour. 1,5,6 Since causing the pandemic in 2009, the influenza A(H1N1) virus (abbreviated as A(H1N1)pdm09) 2,7 has been circulating in the Australian population and is now considered a seasonal strain. The strain has been incorporated into the trivalent seasonal influenza vaccine since 2010. 8 The general population is no longer considered to be A(H1N1)pdm09 naïve due to previous exposure or vaccination. 9 Thus, the strain is not expected to cause greater morbidity or mortality than other seasonal strains.As currently available seasonal influenza vaccines confer protection for about a year, annual vaccination is required for ongoing protection. 10Globally, Aboriginal populations are at higher risk of increased exposure, clinical infection, complications and consequences of influenza. Socioeconomic and cultural circumstances often determine that large families live together. 11,12 Overcrowding leads to increased transmission of the influenza virus, 13,14 resulting in high influenza attack rates in Indigenous populations internationally. 11,15,16 Aboriginal people in Australia also are known to be an at-risk group for influenza; 2,17 however, less is known about the natural history of the influenza virus within remote Aboriginal communities.In March 2013, a paediatrician reported a suspected outbreak of influenza-like illness (ILI) in a remote Aboriginal community in north-west Western Australia to the regional population health unit. An investigation was conducted by the regional population health unit with the following objectives: to describe and control the outbreak; to determine why the community had remained vulnerable to A(H1N1)pdm09 more than three years after Aust NZ J Public Health. 2015; 39:15-20; doi: 10.1111/1753 Abstract Objective: To describe a 2013 outbreak of pandemic influenza A (H1N1) virus in a remote Western Australian Aboriginal community; inform outbreak prevention and control measures and discuss the community susceptibility to H1N1, three years after the A(H1N1)pdm09 pandemic. An outbreak of influenza A (H1N1) virus in a remote Methods:Records at the local clinic were used to classify cases as 'confirmed' (laboratory test positive for H1N1 or temperature >38°C with cough and/or sore throat) or 'probable' (selfreported fever with cough and/or sore throat). Additional data were collected from medical records and public ...

During 1994During -1995 health conditions of about 13 760 persons in 155 remote and rural Aboriginal communities in 20 local shires in Western Australia (WA) were surveyed. A semiquantitative questionnaire sought data about the communities and their services, including water supplies, power, sanitation and disposal of solid and liquid waste; a separate section dealt with conditions of individual dwellings. Data were recorded by experienced local workers. Thirty-five communities considered to have the worst conditions were evaluated on-site by a team of senior personnel in mid-1995. Environmental health problems were prevalent and often serious: over one-third of the communities had water supply or sanitation problems and 70 per cent had housing problems, with overcrowding and substandard housing being commonplace. Thirty-six per cent had difficulties with waste water disposal, 37 per cent had no rubbish disposal, and in others, the methods of disposal were often inadequate; pests were problems in 44 per cent of communities and the hygiene and maintenance of communal toilets was unacceptable in 25 per cent. Seventy-two per cent had no on-site environmental health worker and 44 per cent had no on-site or visiting medical, nursing or health worker personnel. An action plan was developed and the highest-priority communities were targeted in a program of major works (for example, housing, drainage and sewerage) and minor works, which have been commenced. The remote-area environmental health workers' program is being expanded. Increased intersectoral collaboration and enhanced community involvement in decision making have occurred as a result of this work. (Aust N 2

During 1994-1995 environmental health conditions of about 13 760 persons in 155 remote and rural Aboriginal communities in 20 local shires in Western Australia (WA) were surveyed. A semiquantitative questionnaire sought data about the communities and their services, including water supplies, power, sanitation and disposal of solid and liquid waste; a separate section dealt with conditions of individual dwellings. Data were recorded by experienced local workers. Thirty-five communities considered to have the worst conditions were evaluated on-site by a team of senior personnel in mid-1995. Environmental health problems were prevalent and often serious: over one-third of the communities had water supply or sanitation problems and 70 per cent had housing problems, with overcrowding and substandard housing being commonplace. Thirty-six per cent had difficulties with waste water disposal, 37 per cent had no rubbish disposal, and in others, the methods of disposal were often inadequate; pests were problems in 44 per cent of communities and the hygiene and maintenance of communal toilets was unacceptable in 25 per cent. Seventy-two per cent had no on-site environmental health worker and 44 per cent had no on-site or visiting medical, nursing or health worker personnel. An action plan was developed and the highest-priority communities were targeted in a program of major works (for example, housing, drainage and sewerage) and minor works, which have been commenced. The remote-area environmental health workers' program is being expanded. Increased intersectoral collaboration and enhanced community involvement in decision making have occurred as a result of this work. (Aust N 2

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