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Southern Cross University

Southern Cross University is a contemporary and connected regional research university, with remarkable campus locations - Coffs Harbour and Lismore in New South Wales and the uniquely situated Gold Coast Airport campus in southern Queensland. Our regional environs provide living laboratories for learning and research and creative hubs for artistic endeavour. Southern Cross University has a growing research profile, with 24 research areas identified ‘at or above world standard’ in the most recent Excellence in Research Australia (ERA) national evaluation. Our research strengths include disciplines as diverse as plant genetics, zoology, geoscience, oceanography, engineering, nursing, and complementary and alternative medicine.

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Displaying 301 - 320 of 356 articles
Very little is known about the impact of gambling in regional and remote places in Australia, such as Alice Springs. Bruce Doran

A big deal? The far-reaching impacts of a remote casino

Bruce Doran, Australian National University; Francis Markham, Australian National University, and Martin Young, Southern Cross University

Although Australia is often portrayed as a nation of gamblers, we still know relatively little about the extent to which gambling affects our society. One blind spot in our knowledge is the impact of gambling…
Research has found that if you live closer to poker machines, you are more likely to gamble – and gamble more often – than if you lived further away. AAP/Tracey Nearmy

Too close to home: people who live near pokie venues at risk

Martin Young, Southern Cross University; Bruce Doran, Australian National University, and Francis Markham, Australian National University

Living close to a pokie venue is a risky business. This was a key finding from our comprehensive 2010 survey of gambling behaviour in the urban centres of the Northern Territory. Our research found that…
Despite the known social harms of problem gambling, Australian state governments are allowing more casinos to be built and expanded. AAP/Dan Peled

What are the odds new casinos lead to social harm?

Francis Markham, Australian National University and Martin Young, Southern Cross University

A new wave of casino liberalisation is sweeping Australia. The Queensland state government has announced that it is seeking expressions of interest for a casino development in Brisbane, and that it is…
Don’t you just want to hug him to death? Antoinette vd Rieth

Explainer: what is cute aggression?

Anna Brooks, Southern Cross University and Ricky van der Zwan, Southern Cross University

Humans respond to cute. Show us just about any little critter with a big round head and a pair of large, blinking-in-the-headlights eyes and cooing will ensue. Add to that a set of chubby cheeks, a button…
We all know what’s happened, but what happens next? Mitch Duncan/AAP

Election 2013 results and the future: experts respond

Stephen Duckett, Grattan Institute; Andrew Norton, Grattan Institute; David Zyngier, Monash University; Fabrizio Carmignani, Griffith University; Ian Lowe, Griffith University; Jo Coghlan, Southern Cross University; Merlin Crossley, UNSW Sydney; Nicholas Biddle, Australian National University; Rod Tucker, The University of Melbourne; Sinclair Davidson, RMIT University, and Stephen Leeder, University of Sydney

Australia has elected a Coalition government. So what will this mean for key policy areas? Our experts take a closer look at what’s in store for business, the economy, the environment, the National Broadband…
The intractable asylum seeker issue has dominated Australian politics like no other recently. Where will it play most in the coming election? AAP/Paul Miller

Stop the votes: the seats where the asylum issue resonates most

Jo Coghlan, Southern Cross University

The vexed issue of asylum seekers arriving by boat on Australian shores has dominated our political psyche for over a decade. Prime minister Kevin Rudd’s announcement shortly after returning to office…
There was a 257% increase in the decade from 1995 to 2005 in caravan registrations. suziesparkle

Grey nomads drive caravan boom but camp spots decline

Sunanda Creagh, The Conversation

Travelling baby boomers, grey nomads and younger, adventure-seeking families are driving a rapid resurgence in caravan registrations at a time when traditional caravan park spots are in consistent decline…
The psychiatrists’ bible, the DSM-5, recently added ‘gambling disorder’ to its list of ‘behavioural addictions’. But how true is its definition, and should it be changed? AAP/Mick Tsikas

Disordered gambling: focusing on more than just ‘problem gamblers’

Martin Young, Southern Cross University and Francis Markham, Australian National University

Since the issue of problem gambling was placed under the national spotlight by the Productivity Commission in 1999, we have witnessed ongoing public debate about Australia’s gambling industries. The commission…
We have to get more people into national parks if parks are to have a future. Flickr/Tatiana Gerus

Our national parks need visitors to survive

Susan Moore, Murdoch University; Betty Weiler, Southern Cross University; Brent D. Moyle, Southern Cross University, and Paul F. J. Eagles, University of Waterloo

Despite what many commentators on The Conversation have said, conserving biodiversity in our national parks isn’t the way to save them. Parks need visitors to get vital community and political support…
The notion that smaller pokies venues are more harmful than larger ones isn’t borne out in research. AAP

Size really does matter: big pokie venues are the most dangerous

Francis Markham, Australian National University; Bruce Doran, Australian National University, and Martin Young, Southern Cross University

With the NSW government rushing to approve a new casino in Sydney, the prospect of more casinos in Brisbane and the Gold Coast, and a planned expansion of Adelaide casino, a new wave of gambling proliferation…
Despite stated intentions otherwise, are poker machines at James Packer’s planned second Sydney casino at Barangaroo inevitable? AAP/Dean Lewins

Packer’s Barangaroo Casino and the inevitability of pokies

Francis Markham, Australian National University and Martin Young, Southern Cross University

When is a casino not a casino? According to NSW premier Barry O’Farrell, who last week approved James Packer’s Crown Limited bid to establish Sydney’s second casino, a casino isn’t a casino without pokies…
Polar bears were on thin ice, where are they now? ilovegreenland/Flickr

Don’t-care bears: should we be worried about polar bears?

Caroline A Sullivan, Southern Cross University

Polar bears were once the icon of global warming. Twenty years ago scientists raised the possibility that a world without Arctic sea ice would be a world without polar bears. Last year’s record polar melt…
Exposure to even a single fibre of asbestos dust can cause significant health problems. Image from shutterstock.com

Health harms of asbestos won’t be known for decades

Ricky van der Zwan, Southern Cross University and Julie Tucker, Southern Cross University

The digital age crashed into the bronze age when the roll out of Australia’s high-speed broadband network was disrupted by the discovery of asbestos in Telstra pits in recent weeks. Workplace relations…
The Antarctic blue whale was exploited to near extinction because it continued to be hunted opportunistically alongside other whale species. Isabel Beasley

How to hunt a species to extinction

Steven Purcell, Southern Cross University and Trevor A Branch, University of Washington

Exploitation is one of the major causes of extinction. More than 120 species have become extinct at least in part because of hunting, fishing and logging, including the famous Passenger Pigeon. Wildlife…
Babies’ milk teeth carry their early food history, and this remains stable for tens of thousands of years. Allygirl520

Got milk? Our breastfeeding habits are older than you think

Renaud Joannes-Boyau, Southern Cross University and Christine Austin, University of Sydney

We know at least six months of exclusive breastfeeding is the best start to a baby’s life. What’s amazing is it seems ancient hominids knew that too. In a paper published today in Nature, we analysed the…
Monitoring radon could reveal whether coal seam gas extraction is messing with the soil’s structure. Jeremy Buckingham

Earthquakes and coal seam gas

Douglas Tait, Southern Cross University; Damien Maher, Southern Cross University, and Isaac Santos, Southern Cross University

Two recent peer reviewed studies on opposite sides of the globe have shed light on how monitoring of earthquakes and determining greenhouse gas emissions from the coal seam gas (CSG) industry may be connected…
Storing and creating advanced care directives on mobile phones would give doctors easier access to end-of-life care wishes. Image from shutterstock.com

Mobile phones could carry end-of-life care wishes

Carley Tonoli, The Conversation

Mobile phones should be used to express and store our end-of-life medical care preferences, experts say. Advance care directives (ACDs) are legal documents that allow people to detail the quality of life…
More than 400 amphibian species are in decline, but at least one - the Fleay’s barred frog - is showing strong signs of recovery. Froggydarb/Wikimedia Commons

Are our frogs bouncing back?

David Newell, Southern Cross University and Ross Goldingay, Southern Cross University

Globally, amphibians have suffered serious declines and extinctions over the last 30 years. But our research, published today, shows that at least one subtropical rainforest frog is recovering. The most…

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