Annual Report 2011
www.monash.edu/miri
Preventing injuries,
Saving lives,
Building futures
2
www.monash.edu/miri
2011 Annual Report
A world leader
About
MIRI
T
he new Monash Injury Research
Institute is one of the world’s most
comprehensive injury prevention
research centres.
Underpinned by scientific and academic
excellence, MIRI incorporates the highly
respected Monash University Accident
Research Centre (MUARC) and other key
Monash researchers and groups.
While MUARC continues to lead
research in transport safety, this expertise
is now enhanced by our collaboration
with researchers from across Monash
University.
MIRI identifies emerging injury
problems, monitors progress, determines
and evaluates solutions and advises on
safety strategies.
MIRI’s structure allows our experts to
actively collaborate in solving pressing,
practical problems. This collaboration also
allows us to offer our external partners
access to expertise across their field of
interest.
These research areas are uniquely
designed to meet the range of challenges
that comprise injury prevention and
treatment.
We address the causes of both
intentional injury (violence and suicide
prevention research unit) and unintentional
injury (transport safety, home, sport and
leisure safety, workplace safety and
transport safety).
We address both the prevention of
injury as well as the treatment and recovery
from injury (injury outcomes, acute care).
And, we address issues of scale
(disaster resilience).
Our model is one of the world’s most
effective demonstrations of the public
health approach to a major health priority.
Our future is exciting, as we continue
to build on the substantial research and
leadership achievements of our first 24
years.
Our main research focus covers
• transport safety
• home, sport and leisure safety
• workplace safety
• patient safety
• violence and suicide prevention
• acute care
• injury outcomes
• disaster resilience
www.monash.edu/miri
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Contents
Chair’s Foreword
5
Directorate and MIRI structure
6
Australian Centre for Research into Injury in Sport and its Prevention
10
Child Abuse Prevention Research Australia
14
Injury Outcomes Research Unit
16
Falls Prevention Research Unit
19
Victorian Injury Surveillance Unit
21
MUARC Director’s Report
25
MUARC Behavioural Safety Science
26
Monash University Accident Research Foundation
33
MUARC Human Factors
34
MUARC Injury Analysis and Data
40
MUARC Safe System Strategies and Infrastructure
46
MUARC Europe
50
MUARC Malaysia
52
MUARC South Africa
56
Statement of income and expenditure
57
External project committee members
58
Research training
60
Publications72
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www.monash.edu/miri
2011 Annual Report
Chair’s
Foreward
I
am very pleased to present this first
MIRI report.
In January 2011 Monash established
the Injury Research Institute as a wholeof-university, interdisciplinary collective
focused on the primary, secondary and
tertiary prevention of injury in all settings.
Professor Edwina Cornish
Chair, MIRI Board
Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor &
DVC (Research)
Monash University
The Institute will
• integrate existing Monash research
centres with new research units to
establish a cross-university engagement
of interdisciplinary strength that
includes expertise from the social
and behavioural sciences, health
and medical sciences, business and
economics, engineering, law, arts, and
design, in a strategic integration of
Monash campuses on four continents
• develop the capacity of this enhanced,
integrated Monash activity by
supporting new researchers with
specialist education, training activities
and collaborative opportunities provided
by international leading experts in the
field
• initiate University, national and
international programs in all-cause
injury research, in cooperation with
state, national and international partners
across industry, community and
government, particularly focused on
advancing the evidence base to inform
public and private resource allocation,
policy development, and population
injury prevention and resilience
programs
• establish the environment, capacity
and mechanisms for translating allcause injury research into sustained
prevention practice and demonstrate
the effectiveness of multi-disciplinary
population-level prevention programs
addressing: violence and suicide
prevention, transport safety, workplace
safety, home, sport and leisure safety,
health care/patient safety, acute care,
rehabilitation and injury outcomes,
and disaster prevention, resilience and
community safety.
Reducing the burden of injury and
improving community safety requires an
integrated, solution-based collaboration
between high-achieving researchers and
end users of the new knowledge.
Monash will build on its substantial
track record and capacity and take
the leadership role in what is only now
becoming internationally recognised as
one of the grand public health challenges
of the century. MIRI aims to pursue
excellence in collaborative research
that focuses on achieving measurable
improvements in all-cause injury-related
health.
We look forward to performance
outlined in this 2011 report being just the
start of substantial escalation in injury
research capacity at Monash that will be
further demonstrated in the reports to
follow in future years.
5
Directorate
Professor Rod McClure
D
ecreasing the global burden of
injuries is one of the main challenges
for public health in the 21st century.
Every day, almost 16,000 people die from
injuries. Injury accounts for nine per cent
of the world’s deaths and 12 per cent of
the world’s burden of diseases (Disability
Adjusted Life Years lost). Injuries are a
threat to health of people of all ages and
socioeconomic strata and from every
country in the world. The consequences of
injury have been extensively documented
across the personal and societal measures
of wellbeing. Road traffic injuries, burns,
drowning, falls and violence (intentional selfharm and assaults) are the most common
cause of injury.
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Almost 7.4 per cent of all deaths in
Australia are from injury. Of the 10,000 injury
deaths each year, an average of 275 are
children and 1000 are young adults. Injury
is the leading cause of death in Australia
for individuals aged one to 44 years. More
than two in every three funerals for young
adults are the result of death by injury.
Injury accounts for more than one in 20
hospitalisations in Australia, with almost
426,000 injury hospitalisations per year.
Evidence suggests that there are $1.3
trillion of potential health gains to be made
from reducing injuries. In July 2005, the
Australian Health Ministers approved
release of the National Injury Prevention
and Safety Promotion Plan 2004–2014.
2011 Annual Report
However, without genuine cross-sectoral
involvement in an adequately resourced
whole of government evidence-based
commitment to implementation, the plan
has had little impact on population level
indicators of injury in Australia.
Existing structures, current reliance
on self-directed homogenous processes
and the isolated delivery of fragmented
interventions are not working. Current
interventions throughout the world are
developed in relative isolation by a variety
of issue-specific centres and are limited
in application and transferability. The gap
in the national and international arenas of
informed advocacy, multi-disciplinary action,
and effective deployment of finite resources
all contribute to the growing human and
financial costs resulting from preventable
injuries in all settings.
We need to harness existing knowledge
and expertise to build and deliver a more
focused, better coordinated and broadly
articulated approach to preventing injuries,
saving lives and building environments and
communities in which future opportunities
can be maximised.
The 60 per cent reduction in the road
toll achieved in Victoria in the past 30
years shows that focused, coordinated
investment across multiple domains can
pay dividends. Throughout the 1980s, the
Australian road toll averaged around 3000
deaths per year. The Australian road toll
is now around 1500 deaths per year. The
Monash University Accident Research
Centre (MUARC) has played an important
role in this achievement and has continued
to demonstrate the strategic thinking and
decisive leadership needed to grow the
science supporting positive injury prevention
and safety outcomes.
Rising to this challenge of the growing
global burden of injury, Monash University
established in 2011 the Injury Research
Institute (MIRI). By transferring the
approaches pioneered in the area of
road safety to applications across the full
spectrum of the causes of injury, the new
Institute will facilitate the breakthroughs
required to reduce all-cause injury death
and disability in Australia. The Institute will
build on the solid platform within MUARC
to provide the leadership, environment and
structure needed to deliver measurable
outcomes by the affiliated centres and units u
Professor
Rod McClure
Director
MBBS, BA, PhD,
FAFPHM, FAICD
Dr Lesley Day
Deputy Director
PhD, MPH, BSc(Hons)
Ron Smith
Business Manager
BA, DipEd
Lesley Rees
Executive Assistant
& Administration
Manager
Julie Suker
Administration
Officer
Noelene
Deveson
Senior Project
Officer
David Stroud
Computer Systems
Officer
Mr Ron Smith, Professor Rod McClure and Dr Lesley Day.
7
Number of journal articles
across all the major contributors to the
costs of injury.
This past year has, for MIRI, been a
wonderfully exciting year of growth and
opportunity. As always, our achievements
have been driven by staff excellence and
dedication.
In 2011 we relaunched our website
with its comprehensive information
regarding the full nature and extent of MIRI
endeavours. I invite you to keep in touch
with this dynamic website to monitor our
ongoing development. In the meanwhile,
look through this report for a sense of what
we all at MIRI have been doing this year. I
thank both the staff and partners for such
wonderful commitment to our goals and I
look forward to growing our efforts in 2012.
www.monash.edu/miri
Peer reviewed journal articles by
year of publication
100
80
60
40
20
0
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
Year of publication
Number of current grants
Number of current NHMRC/ARC grants by year
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
2005
2006
2007
2008
Year
8
www.monash.edu/miri
2009
2010
2011
2011 Annual Report
Institute Board
National Stakeholder Committee
International Scientific Committee
Director and Institute
Management Committee
Corporate Services
WHO Collaborating Centre for
Violence, Injuries and Disabilities
Intentional
Transport
VSPRU
Home, sport
& leisure
MUARC
CAPRA
VISU
Workplace
WIPRU
Patient
safety
Acute care
PaSaRU
Injury
outcomes
IORU
Disaster
resilience
MDRI
ACRISP
FPRU
Abbreviations
Christine Chesterman
(transferred to another part of
Monash University in February)
Finance Administration
Officer
VSPRU: Violence and Suicide Prevention Research Unit
CAPRA: Child Abuse Prevention Research Australia
MUARC:
Monash University Accident Research Centre
VISU: Victorian Injury Surveillance Unit
ACRISP:
Australian Centre for Research into Injury in Sport and its Prevention
FPRU: Falls Prevention Research Unit
WIPRU: Workplace Injury Prevention Research Unit
PaSaRU:
Patient Safety Research Unit
IORU: Injury Outcomes Research Unit
MDRI: Disaster Resilience Initiative
Kitie
Douanghoutha
Computer
support
Brenda Gibson
(until August)
Senior HR Advisor
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Australian Centre for Research into
Injury in Sport and its Prevention
T
he term ‘sports injury’ covers the full spectrum of injury that occurs to people during sport, physical
activity and active recreation, whether they are elite athletes, community sport participants or people
enjoying active leisure or play. This major research program is concerned with the distribution and
determinants of sports injury, evaluation of intervention strategies to prevent these injuries and the translation
of this knowledge to real-world safety behaviours.
Team Leader
Professor
Caroline Finch
ASTAT, PhD, MSc,
BSc(Hons).
NHMRC Principal
Research Fellow
10 www.monash.edu/miri
Dr Alex Donaldson
DHSc, MSc, BEd, DipT
Research Fellow
Dr Peta White
PhD, BA(Hons), BEd, DipTeach
Research Fellow
Kathy Diamantopoulou
MSc, BSc(Hons) Research Fellow/
Senior Research Statistician
2011 Annual Report
Expertise
Sports Medicine Australia, the NSW Sporting
Injuries Committee and JLT Sport.
The multi-disciplinary research team has
qualifications and specialist training in
areas including biostatistics, behavioural
psychology, health promotion and
physiotherapy.
Highlights and Outcomes
Adjunct appointments within ACRISP are
• Dr Paul McCrory, an expert on the
management and assessment of
concussion in sport.
• Dr Andrew McIntosh, an impact
injury biomechanist who is expert on
helmet design for sport, bicycling and
motorcycling.
• Dr Hugh Seward, a sports physician
with particular expertise in Australian
Football League (AFL Medical Officers
Association) injury prevention, treatment
and management.
• Associate Professor Evert Verhagen, a
sports injury prevention/physical activity
promotion epidemiologist from the
Netherlands.
Resources
National and international competitive
research funding funds ACRISP in-house
and collaborative research. The team
receives infrastructure support from the
International Olympic Committee (IOC).
A National Health and Medical Research
Council (NHMRC) Principal Research
Fellowship supports Professor Finch and the
NHMRC funds a number of projects.
Projects are also funded through
competitive grants from the Australian Sports
Commission and the Australian Football
League (AFL) Research Board. Additional
sector and industry relevant funding has
been obtained from the Victorian Health
Promotion Foundation, Department of
Planning and Community Development
- Sport and Recreation Victoria Division,
• Development of evidence-based
and expert-consensus informed
exercise training program (FootyFirst)
for preventing lower limb injuries in
community Australian Football as part
of an NHMRC Partnerships Grant –
Towards a national sports safety strategy
– addressing facilitators and barriers
towards safety guideline uptake (The
NoGAPS Project).
• Evaluation of a theory-informed
dissemination and implementation plan
for sports safety policy in community
rugby union through funding received
from the NSW Sporting Injuries
Committee.
• Professor Finch was a keynote speaker
at the 3rd World Conference on Sports
Injury Prevention held in Monaco in April.
• Jenny Jacobssen, a PhD student from
Linkoping University in Sweden, spent
five weeks within ACRISP for research
collaborations.
• Professor Finch was appointed as the
Inaugural Senior Associate Editor for
Implementation and Dissemination for the
British Journal of Sports Medicine.
• Professor Finch assisted in planning
and delivering a major talk, ‘Research
partnerships for prevention’ at a
Monash Breakfast Seminar, ‘Engaging
Communities and Industry Through
Sport’.
• Professor Finch commenced a new
cross-fertilisation editorial blog role to link
the journals Injury Prevention and British
Journal of Sports Medicine.
• The ACRISP team entered a formal
MOU with Department of Public and
Occupational Health and the EMGO
Institute for Health and Care Research
of the Vrije University Medical Center in
Amsterdam for research collaborations
between two research groups.
• First-year School of Physiotherapy
student Ben Tilley worked as a vacation
student on the NoGAPS project.
IOC Centre for Research into the
Prevention of Injury and Protection of
Athlete Health (funded by the International
Olympic Committee)
Following an international review, the
ACRISP team was supported as one of only
four international IOC Centres for Research
into the Prevention of Injury and Protection
of Athlete Health. The other centres are in
Norway, Canada and South Africa. The
team is led by Professor Finch and includes
Professor Jill Cook (Monash School of
Physiotherapy) and Dr Paul McCrory and Dr
Andrew McIntosh.
The National Guidance for Australian
Football Partnerships and Safety
(NoGAPS) project (funded by the
NHMRC, AFL Research Board, VicHealth,
Department of Planning and Community
Development - Sport and Recreation
Victoria Division, Sports Medicine Australia,
the NSW Sporting Injuries Committee,
JLT Sport)
The project aims to identify factors that
influence the translation of evidencebased injury prevention interventions into
practice in community sport, and to provide
specific evidence for the effectiveness of an
evidence-based exercise-training program
for lower limb injury prevention in community
Australian Football.
Training loads and injury risk in elite
athletes (funded by the Australian Institute
of Sport)
This project was in collaboration with the
Department of Physical Therapies and
Applied Research at the Australian Institute u
Adjunct Appointments
Christina Ekegren
Msc, PG Cert (Teaching),
BPhysio(Hons) PhD student
Peter Richardson
BApplSc, Dip Acu,BApSc(Hons)
PhD student
Samantha Bailey
Administrative Assistant
Dr Andrew McIntosh
Dr Hugh Seward
Dr Paul McCrory
Associate Professor
Evert Verhagen
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Australian Centre for Research into Injury in Sport (ACRISP)
The team worked on an Australian Rugby Union neck and spinal injury prevention intervention.
of Sport in Canberra. It involved data
linkage, and exploratory analysis, of several
databases of injury events, their treatment
and other outcomes which were matched to
both baseline profiles of the musculoskeletal,
psychological and training profiles of elite
athletes.
The Preventing Australian Football Injuries
through exercise (PAFIX) study (funded by
the NHMRC)
This is a randomised controlled evaluation
of the effectiveness of an exercise training
intervention for the prevention of lower limb
injuries in community Australian football
players. This year, signifcant database
management work was undertaken and
several papers submitted for publication.
Making a difference in sports safety: a
pilot study in applying theory informed
approach to the diffusion of safety
initiatives in community level sport (funded
by the NSW Sporting Injuries Committee)
Conducted with the University of NSW and
Australian Rugby Union (ARU), this research
explored ways of improving the adoption
and implementation of safety policies and
practices in community sport. It developed,
implemented and evaluated the impact
on community rugby union coaches of a
theory-informed disseminination plan for the
Mayday Safety Procedure – an ARU neck
and spinal injury prevention intervention.
A survey of knowledge and practice of
coaches of senior community rugby teams
in five zones/associations in NSW took place
at the end of the 2010 season. The project
team has developed a Mayday Safety
Procedure dissemination plan informed by
the Diffusion of Innovations theory, which the
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ARU development officers implemented in
one association during the 2011 season.
Presentations
• Andrew N, Gabbe B, Cook J, Lloyd D,
Donnelly J, Nash C, White P, Donaldson
A, Finch C. What is the evidence-base for
exercise as a lower limb injury prevention
strategy in community Australian Football?
Australian Conference of Science and
Medicine in Sport, Fremantle, Australia,
October.
• Donaldson A, Cook J, White P, Finch
C, Lloyd D, Gabbe B. Gaining expert
consensus on lower limb injury prevention
exercise guidelines for community
Australian Football – the NoGAPS project.
Australian Conference of Science and
Medicine in Sport, Fremantle, Australia,
October.
• Donaldson A, Poulos R, Searl J, Johnston
M. Is sports safety policy being translated
into practice: What do community rugby
union coaches know and do about the
Mayday procedure. Australian Conference
of Science and Medicine in Sport,
Fremantle, Australia, October.
• Donaldson A, Poulos R. Planning for
adoption and implementation – using
Implementation Mapping Step 5.
New South Wales Rugby Union 2011
Development Officers Planning Workshop,
Lake Macquarie, NSW August.
• Ekegren CL, Quested R, Brodrick A.
(Poster) Epidemiology of injuries among
elite preprofessional ballet students. IOC
World Conference on Prevention of Injury
& Illness in Sport, Monte Carlo, Monaco,
April.
• Finch C, Gabbe B, Lloyd D, Cook J,
Young W, Nicholson M, Seward H,
Donaldson A, Doyle T, White P. The
design of a study to better understand
facilitators and barriers towards safety
guideline uptake – the NoGAPS project.
Australian Conference of Science and
Medicine in Sport, Fremantle, Australia,
October.
• Finch C, White P, Andrew N, Lloyd D,
Donaldson A. Developing evidenceinformed exercise guidelines to prevent
lower limb injuries among community
Australian Football players –The NoGAPS
project. Australian Conference of Science
and Medicine in Sport, Fremantle,
Australia, October.
• Finch C. (Invited Speaker). Challenges
in implementing safety programs in
children and adolescents. In Symposium:
Injury prevention in child and adolescent
sport: international evidence-based
perspectives. International Olympic
Committee (IOC) World Conference on
Prevention of Injury and Illness in Sport.
Monaco, April.
• Finch C. (Invited Speaker). Knowledge
translation and establishing community
prevention programs for Australian
Football. In Symposium: Co-operating to
achieve injury reduction – how the “Whole
of Sport” approach has successfully
reduced injury risk in elite and community
Australian Football. International Olympic
Committee (IOC) World Conference on
Prevention of Injury and Illness in Sport.
Monaco, April.
• Finch C. (Invited Speaker). NHMRC
partnership grants. Deakin University
Early Career Researchers Workshop,
September.
• Finch C. (Invited Speaker). Why costeffectiveness and cost-benefit studies
need to be a critical component of sports
injury prevention research. In Symposium:
Cost analyses for sports injury prevention:
the how’s and why’s. International Olympic
Committee (IOC) World Conference on
Prevention of Injury & Illness in Sport.
Monaco, April.
• Finch C. (Invited Speaker). Working with
policy agencies and peak sports bodies.
In Symposium: From the field to the
politicians and back again – the challenge
of implementation. International Olympic
Committee (IOC) World Conference on
Prevention of Injury and Illness in Sport.
Monaco, April.
• Finch C. (Keynote Address). No longer
lost in translation – the art and science
of implementation research. International
Olympic Committee (IOC) World
Conference on Prevention of Injury &
Illness in Sport. Monaco, April.
• Finch C. (Keynote Address) Challenges
of implementation and dissemination.
Bone and Joint Decade Forum on road
and sports trauma. Parliament House,
Canberra, June.
• Finch C. (Poster) NoGAPS: The
design and evaluation plan of a large‐
scale implementation study. Global
Implementation Conference, Washington
DC, USA. August.
• Finch C. (Poster) Sports medicine
embraces implementation science. Global
Implementation Conference, Washington
DC, USA. August.
• Gosling C, Forbes A, Donaldson A,
Gabbe B. The perception of injury risk
and safety in triathlon: An exploratory
focus group. Australian Conference of
Science and Medicine in Sport, Fremantle,
Australia, October.
• Lloyd D, Cook J, Gabbe B, Young W,
White P, Donaldson A, Finch C.
Translating the scientific evidence for
preventing lower limb injuries into training
guidelines: the role of mechanistic versus
clinical versus epidemiological studies.
Australian Conference of Science and
Medicine in Sport, Fremantle, Australia,
October.
• Richardson P. (Poster) Translating theory
into practice (a practice into theory).
How does context influence sports
injury prevention research? IOC World
Conference on Prevention of Injury &
Illness in sport, Monte Carlo, Monaco,
April.
• White P, Finch C, Donaldson A, Gabbe
B, Cook J, Lloyd D, Seward H, Andrew
N. Where should community Australian
Football invest in injury prevention? A
review of over 30 years of injury reports.
Australian Conference of Science and
Medicine in Sport, Fremantle, Australia,
October
Delegates at the 3rd International Conference on Sports Injury Prevention, Monaco.
• White P. (Invited Speaker). Symposium
Title: Behaviour - a key factor for injury
prevention. Looking beyond the athlete peer behaviour and injury prevention. IOC
World Conference on Prevention of Injury
& Illness in Sport, Monte Carlo, Monaco,
April.
National and international
collaborations
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Australian Football League (AFL)
Australian Institute of Sport
Australian Rugby Union (ARU)
Australian Sports Medicine Federation
Bond University, Faculty of Law
Brunel University, London, UK
Department of Planning and Community
Development – Sport and Recreation
Division
• EMGO, Vrije University, Netherlands
• International Olympic Committee (IOC)
Medical Commission
• Jardine Lloyd Thompson Pty Ltd
• NSW Sporting Injuries Committee
• Sport Injury Prevention Centre, The
University of Calgary
• Sports Medicine Australia (Victorian
Branch and National Office)
• University of Ballarat, School of Health
Sciences
• University of British Columbia, Vancouver,
Canada
• University of New South Wales
• Victorian Health Promotion Foundation
Staff membership of boards and
committees
• Dance UK Physiotherapy Advisory Group
(C Ekegren)
• Sports Medicine Australia - Victoria
Branch Board (P White)
• British Journal of Sports Medicine. Senior
Associate Editor for Implementation and
Dissemination. 2011–present (C Finch)
• Editorial Board Member. International
Journal of Injury Control and Safety
Promotion (C Finch)
• Editorial Board Member. Injury Prevention.
2008-present (C Finch)
• Editorial Board Member. British Journal of
Sports Medicine (C Finch)
• Editorial Board Member. Journal of
Science and Medicine in Sport (C Finch)
• Ministerial nominated appointment to
Victorian State Government, Sports injury
Prevention Taskforce (C Finch)
• International Scientific Committee
Member. Eleventh World Conference on
Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion.
To be held in New Zealand in October
2012. (C Finch)
Left: The NoGAPS project aims to identify
the translation of evidence-based injury
prevention into practice.
13
Child Abuse Prevention
Research Australia
C
hild Abuse Prevention Research Australia (CAPRA) is a strategic collaboration between the Australian
Childhood Foundation and Monash University. The purpose of the research is to improve child protection
and to dramatically reduce the rate of child abuse, neglect and murder. We achieve this through
14
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•
providing evidence-based advice to government and child health organisations
guiding the development of policies and practice, and
promoting the rights and voices of children through child-centred research.
www.monash.edu/miri
2011 Annual Report
Expertise
CAPRA staff have a strong practice
background in child protection, health
and education settings. Our research
has contributed to major law reform
in child sexual abuse, child murder
and mandatory reporting. Most of our
research is published in books and
journals nationally and internationally. We
have a strong tradition of contributing to
public debate through opinion pieces in
major newspapers.
•
•
Highlights and Outcomes
•
CAPRA joined MIRI in mid-2011 from
Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and
Health Sciences. Research undertaken
by CAPRA has made significant
contributions locally, nationally and
internationally to the issue of child abuse.
This includes two books which promote
children’s voices: Physical punishment
in childhood: The rights of the child by
Bernadette Saunders and Chris Goddard
and The truth is no longer a lie: Children’s
experiences of abuse and professional
interventions by Neerosh Mudaly and
Chris Goddard. The latter was the first
book to give children’s views on child
abuse.
Janet Stanley’s and Chris Goddard’s
book on research on the high levels
of violence against professionals who
respond to child abuse was published
by Wiley in the UK and USA. In the
Firing Line: Violence and power in child
protection work made a significant
contribution to the international literature
on child protection. Recommendations
from this research have been adopted
internationally.
In November 2008 CAPRA with
Access Economics and the Australian
Childhood Foundation published a major
report on the cost of child abuse to the
Australian community.
Current projects include child
exploitation on the internet, the murder
of children, therapeutic responses to
traumatised children, and gaps in social
welfare provision. Highlights in 2011
included:
• The Honorable Philip Cummins in
March launched the report ‘It takes
me a little longer to get angry now’, a
preliminary evaluation report of animal
assisted education and therapy for
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•
children experiencing family violence
and homelessness.
Professor Goddard and Dr Frederick
met with the Victorian Minister of
Community Services in August
regarding CAPRA’s Gaps in Social
Welfare provision study.
Professor Goddard and Dr Newton
appeared before the Senate
Committee in March regarding the
CAPRA submission to the Senate
Legal and Constitutional Affairs
Legislation Committee: Inquiry into
the Commonwealth Commissioner for
Children and Young People Bill 2010.
Submission to the Protecting Victoria’s
Vulnerable Children Inquiry in April.
Professor Goddard was invited to and
served on the Reference Committee
of the Protecting Victoria’s Vulnerable
Children Inquiry. The Committee met
four times between April and October.
CAPRA hosted ‘Best Practice Issues
in Child Death Reviews’ by Dr John
Devaney, School of Sociology,
Social Policy & Social Work, Queen’s
University, Belfast, Northern Ireland in
July.
Dr Frederick and Professor
Goddard presented to the ISPCAN
regional conference in Finland in
September on ‘The need for multiprofessional cooperation between
government authorities and experts
in Non Government Organisations to
effectively meet social needs’.
Dr Mudaly presented to the AsiaPacific Conference on Child Abuse
& Neglect in New Delhi, India, in
October on ‘Protecting children in
the dissemination of research: ethical
obligations’.
Professor Goddard presented in
London in June on ‘The Complexities
of Caring for Child Protection Workers’.
Professor Goddard presented the
public address on ‘The silencing
of children’ at the Department of
Health and Human Services seminar
at the University of Tasmania in
December.
Team Leader
Adjunct
Professor
Chris Goddard
PhD, MSocWk(R)
Dr John
Frederick
PhD, BSW(Hons)
Dr Neerosh
Mudaly
PhD, BSW(Hons)
Dr Rebecca
Newton
PhD, MA(Hons),
LL.M
Research
Assistant
Karen Broadley
BA (youth affairs),
MSocSc (family
studies)
Research
Assistant
Susan Hunt
BSc(Hons)
Research
Assistant
15
Injury Outcomes Research Unit
I
njury imposes a major burden both to the injured person and society. Not all patients respond to treatment
in the same way, and not all treatments are equal. There is a wide variation in the speed and extent to which
people recover. Injury Outcomes Research Unit (IORU) researchers explore the reasons for variation in the way
people injured in workplace and road crash incidents respond to rehabilitation and treatment and recover. This
group’s research means we are gaining new insights into how best to care for patients in the Australian healthcare
system. Our researchers are working to understand the nature of the problem and establish trials to support
evidence-based improvements in care.
Team Leader
Professor
Rod McClure
MBBS, BA, PhD,
FAFPHM, FAICD
16
www.monash.edu/miri
Dr Michael Fitzharris
PhD, BSc(Hons), BA
Senior Research Fellow
Dr Janneke BereckiGisolf PhD, MD
Senior Research Fellow
Dr Dianne Sheppard
PhD, BSc(Hons)
Project Manager
2011 Annual Report
Expertise
Expertise in this group covers the disciplines
of medicine, epidemiology, statistics,
psychology, health promotion and population
health. Collectively these researchers
represent one of the largest population
health injury outcomes research groups in
Australia.
Resources
This unit has access to state, national
and international databases on injury
outcome including Compensation Research
Database, Australian National Crash In-depth
Study database and Australian Fatal Road
Crash Database. IORU researchers have
longstanding collaborative networks with
similar groups throughout the world.
The IORU researchers explore why people recover from injury at different rates.
Highlights and Outcomes
Evaluation of the TAC 2015 Strategy
Chief Investigators: Associate Professor Alex
Collie (ISCRR), Dr Michael Fitzharris (MIRI),
Associate Professor Belinda Gabbe (DEPM,
Faculty of Medicine)
Project team: Dr Carlyn Muir (MIRI), Dr
Swati Shourie (MIRI), Miss Emily Kerr (MIRI)
In 2010, the Victorian Transport Accident
Commission (TAC) embarked on a significant
and comprehensively revised claims
management model known as TAC 2015.
In doing so, the TAC has for the first time
explicitly specified improved client outcomes
as a key goal, along with improved client
satisfaction and scheme viability.
In collaboration with the Institute for
Safety, Compensation and Recovery
Research (ISCRR), the IORU is evaluating
the TAC 2015 strategy. The key objective is
to determine whether the TAC 2015 strategy
has been implemented as initiated, and
whether the strategy has had a measurable
impact on the three key goals of the TAC.
In addition to the overall evaluation, action
projects are informing the transition process.
The team has conducted staff surveys in
the claims teams to track staff attitudes
and impacts of the previous claims model
and the new claims model. Other projects
include the early identification of clients at
risk of differential pain, return-to-work and
psychological health difficulties post-crash, a
review of case and claims management best
practice, and an examination of outcomes
measures used to track client health.
The findings and recommendations of
the action projects, and of the staff survey of
the transition to TAC 2015, will provide an indepth understanding of the implementation
of the strategy, which in turn will permit
a greater understanding of the process,
impacts and outcomes of the TAC 2015
strategy in the long run.
A vocational rehabilitation intervention
of chronic compensated
musculoskeletal disorders
Chief Investigators: Professor Niki Ellis
(ISCRR), Professor Gwen Jull (UQ), Dr
Venerina Johnston (UQ), Professor Jenny
Strong (UQ), Dr Sue Gargett (ISCRR),
Professor Malcolm Battersby (Flinders
University)
Project team: Dr Dianne Sheppard (MIRI)
Musculoskeletal disorders are common,
costly and a national health research priority.
Dr Sharon Newnam
Dr Swati Shourie
Research Fellow
Research Fellow
PhD, BPsych(Hons)
PhD, MDS, BDS
Dr Carlyn Muir
PhD, MA (SocSci) Psych(Hons)
Research Fellow
The intervention adds self-management
training to usual care/vocational rehabilitation
for workers with chronic injuries. Selfmanagement training has been effective in
improving health and quality of life in chronic
diseases but has not yet been examined in
work disability prevention. Self-management
provides the worker with opportunities to
manage the impact of pain. Findings intend
to show the acceptability, effectiveness (job
readiness, health efficacy and pain) and
cost-effectiveness of the intervention and will
model a client-centred, prevention-focused
health service.
ARC-Linkage: Determining the individual,
community, workplace and societal
impacts of compensable injury in Australia
Chief investigators: Dr Alex Collie (ISCRR),
Dr Adam Vogel (University of Melbourne),
Professor Helen Keleher (Monash), Professor
Rod McClure (MIRI), Professor Alan Petersen
(Monash), Professor Nike Ellis (ISCRR)
Project team: Dr Sharon Newman (MIRI)
This three-year project, which commenced
in 2011, aims to develop a standardised
assessment of the individual, community,
workplace and societal impacts of
compensable injury and incorporate this
into the existing performance monitoring
Dr Eva Alisic
PhD, MA, MSc,
Research Fellow
Emily Kerr
BAppSc(Psych)(Hons)
Research Fellow
17
u
Injury Outcomes Research Unit
practices of partner organisations TAC,
Comcare (the worker’s compensation
insurer for the Australian Government) and
WorkSafe Victoria.
We have completed a meta-review
of the published literature in the area of
injury outcome in order to describe the
nature of reported injury outcomes at the
level of individuals, the community, society
and workplace. This is the first stage in
developing a conceptual framework and
instrument for assessing the broader impacts
of compensable injury, including health
outcomes. WorkSafe, the TAC and Comcare
and the Australian Research Council fund
the project.
The findings from the project will (1)
expand our knowledge of the impact of
compensable injury beyond the individual
level impacts to community, societal
and employer impacts, (2) inform client
and injured worker outcome surveys of
WorkSafe, the TAC and Comcare and (3)
develop and validate survey instruments that
WorkSafe, the TAC and Comcare may use in
future outcome surveys.
Outcomes of Compensated Injury in
Victoria: A Longitudinal Approach
Chief investigators: Dr Janneke BereckiGisolf (MIRI), Alex Collie (ISCRR), Professor
Rod McClure (MIRI)
The purpose of this study is to explore how
pre-existing health conditions impact workand transport injury rates and outcomes.
This will be done by collecting WorkSafe
Victoria and TAC claims data linked to
Medicare and Pharmaceutical Benefits
Scheme records, to provide a knowledge
base for research on injury prevention and
injury outcomes.
Return to work after work-related injury
or illness
Chief investigators: Dr Janneke BereckiGisolf (MIRI), Alex Collie (ISCRR), Professor
Rod McClure (MIRI)
Retrospective analysis of WorkSafe Victoria
claims and payments data from the
Compensation Research Database has led
to two major findings. First, the incidence
of work-disability due to work-related injury
or illness increases with age, as does the
duration of time off work. Because the
ageing of the workforce is ongoing, we
can expect the lost-time claim burden to
increase, if policy and practice remains
otherwise unchanged. Second, work
disability recurrences are common and have
considerable impact on sustained return to
work outcomes. A policy focus on education
about secondary prevention may help to
improve long-term return to work outcomes,
18
www.monash.edu/miri
Research has found that work disability recurrences are common.
particularly for workers with musculoskeletal
disorder. Additional analysis of TAC early
interview and payments data has led to a
model for the early identification of clients at
risk for delayed return to work.
Health service use after work-related injury
or illness
Chief investigators: Dr Janneke BereckiGisolf (MIRI), Alex Collie (ISCRR), Professor
Rod McClure (MIRI)
Anderson and Newman’s model of health
service use determinants was adapted
for a compensated population. This
framework provides a conceptual basis for
analysis of determinants of service use after
compensable injury.
Presentations
• Ellis, N. Futures in WHS: Implications
for physios in work-related practice.
Australian Physiotherapy Association
conference (Brisbane). October.
• Fitzharris, M. The role of crash
investigations in promoting vehicle safety
and road safety policy. Victoria Police,
Academy Seminar Series, Melbourne.
September.
• Fitzharris, M. Making our vehicles safer how do we get there quickly? (Workshop)
Australian College of Road Safety,
Melbourne Convention and Exhibition
Centre, Victoria. September.
• Fitzharris, M. Data analysis to investigate
the injury profile of near-side, side
impact crashes: a comparison of injury
risk between pole and vehicle-vehicle
impacts. WP29 Informal Group on
Development of Pole side impact Global
Technical Regulation. Department of
Transportation, Washington, DC. June.
• Fitzharris, M. Prioritising vehicle safety
injury prevention countermeasures: the
need for robust SCI incidence data. 50th
Annual Scientific Meeting 2011: USA
(combined meeting with ASIA; The 2011
International Conference on Spinal Cord
Medicine and Rehabilitation), Washington,
DC. June.
• Berecki-Gisolf J. 1st Australasian
Compensation Health Research Forum
in Melbourne (2011). Poster presentation
titled ‘The Impact of Ageing on Work
Disability and Return to Work’ which won
the poster award for research ‘most likely
to make a difference’
• Berecki-Gisolf J. Accident Compensation
Seminar in Brisbane (2011). Oral
presentation titled ‘Predictors of
Sustained Return to Work after WorkRelated Injury or Disease’.
• Berecki-Gisolf J. Older Workers & Work
Ability Conference in Melbourne (2011).
Oral presentation titled ‘Ageing and
Return to Work after Work-Related Injury
or Disease’.
• Gargett, S et al. Evaluating the
effectiveness and efficiency of a selfmanagement intervention to improve
return to work outcomes. Work Disability
Prevention Training Program Toronto,
Canada, 8 June.
• Ellis N, et al. (2011). Disempowerment of
workers in vocational rehabilitation: would
self management help? Journal of Health
Safety and Environment, 27(3), 171-184
2011 Annual Report
Falls Prevention Research Unit
F
alls remain a significant threat to the safety, health and independence of our older citizens. It is estimated
that every year around one in three people aged over 65 and living in their own home will have a fall, and
this rate increases with age. Preventing falls is an important part of promoting healthy and independent
ageing, and reducing medical and support service costs. The Falls Prevention Research Unit (FPRU) assesses the
effectiveness of falls interventions for older people, examines the population-level impact of proven interventions
and works to maximise the translation of research to policy and practice.
Photo supplied courtesy of Platinum Physio
u
19
Falls Prevention Research Unit
Expertise
Team Leader
Dr Lesley Day
PhD, MPH
Senior Research
Fellow
Voula Stathakis
BSc(Hons),
MPH, GradDip(Epi/
BioStats)
Research Fellow
Jane Hayman
M Psych, BSc
Research Fellow
The FPRU team has training in public
health, epidemiology, psychology, applied
statistics, and nursing, and expertise in
undertaking randomised controlled trials,
program evaluation, survey research and
modelling population level effects. The
team has a long history of providing policy
and strategy advice to government on falls
prevention programs.
Resources
FPRU research is supported by a strong
track record of obtaining nationally
competitive research funding, in addition
to health sector government contracts.
As a MIRI unit, FPRU has access to the
state injury surveillance health sector
databases through the Victorian Injury
Surveillance Unit.
Highlights and Outcomes
Trang Vu
MPH, MHSc
PhD candidate
Margaret
Trotter
BA(Hons)
Research
Assistant
Samantha Bailey
Administrative
Assistant
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www.monash.edu/miri
Reducing falls among older people in
Victoria: better evidence, better targeting,
better outcomes
The aim of this project is to enable a
more effective policy response to the
falls prevention challenge in Victoria. It is
designed to underpin a re-orientation of
the Department of Health falls prevention
program and evaluate its delivery. Despite
the robust evidence base on effective falls
interventions for community dwelling
older people, translation into falls
reductions has not yet been fully realised.
The challenge is to deliver the most
effective interventions efficiently at a
population level, and for these interventions
to be taken up by older people. Project
highights include
• identification of characteristics of older
fallers most frequently admitted to
hospital and factors associated with
increased length of stay
• identification of factors influencing the
uptake of four proven falls interventions
by older people
• research results informed and shaped
the 2010/11 Department of Health
falls prevention program submission
guidelines
• provision of a summary of these
characteristics and factors to agencies
funded to deliver falls prevention
programs by the Department of Health
• development of a survey for the
Hospital Admission Risk Program to
identify barriers and facilitators for
incorporation of falls interventions into
this program
• testing and finalisation of sustainability
guidelines for community falls
prevention programs, which were made
available to agencies funded to deliver
falls prevention programs
• development of a plan for the evaluation
of falls prevention interventions being
delivered by six consortia of agencies in
metropolitan Melbourne.
The project is funded by the NHMRC
and Victorian Department of Health, and
includes collaborators at the National
Ageing Research Institute, La Trobe
University, Southern Health, University
of Sydney, and the Victorian Department
of Health.
Presentations
• New evidence on the roles of threat
appraisal and self-efficacy in falls
prevention. Terry Haines, Lesley
Day, Caroline Finch, Keith Hill, Lindy
Clemson, Margaret Thomas, Catherine
Thompson. Oral presentation:
Physiotherapy Conference 2011,
Brisbane, October.
• “Good for others but not for me”:
why older adults who see the value
of group exercise to prevent falls
choose not to participate. Terry Haines,
Lesley Day, Caroline Finch, Keith Hill,
Lindy Clemson, Margaret Thomas,
Catherine Thompson Oral presentation:
Physiotherapy Conference 2011,
Brisbane, October.
• A research and policy partnership for
reducing falls among older people in
Victoria. Lesley Day, Caroline Finch,
Keith Hill, Terence Haines, Lindy
Clemson, Margaret Thomas and
Catherine Thompson. Oral presentation:
10th National Conference on Injury
Prevention and Safety Promotion,
Brisbane, November.
• New evidence on the roles of threat
appraisal and self-efficacy in falls
prevention. Terry Haines, Lesley
Day, Caroline Finch, Keith Hill, Lindy
Clemson, Margaret Thomas, Catherine
Thompson. Poster Presentations:
IAAG, 9th Asia/Oceania Regional
Conference, Melbourne, October 2011;
and 10th National Conference on Injury
Prevention and Safety Promotion,
Brisbane, November.
2011 Annual Report
Victorian Injury Surveillance Unit
T
he Victorian Injury Surveillance Unit (VISU) is funded by the Victorian Department of Health and other
agencies to perform five core functions related to injury surveillance data analysis and information
dissemination.
Erin Cassell
MPH, BA
Senior Reseach Fellow
Angela Clapperton
M(Counselling), GradDip Ed Psych,
BSC(Behav) Reseach Fellow
Karen Ashby
MPH, GradDipHealth Science, BA
Research Fellow
Emily Kerr
BHSc
Research Assistant u
21
Victorian Injury Surveillance Unit
The functions of the Victorian Injury
Surveillance Unit (VISU) are to
• provide a mostly free-of-charge data
and information service to government
departments and bodies, community
health and safety organisations,
business, the media, education
institutions, researchers and the
community
• produce VISU publications Hazard,
which focuses on serious and emerging
injury issues and E Bulletin, which
provides the latest available data and
information on the frequency, rates,
causes and patterns of injury in Victoria
• maintain and develop the VISU web
page (www.monash.edu.au/miri/visu)
containing injury reports, fact sheets,
Hazard and E-Bulletins
• provide special data reports to underpin
government injury prevention policies
and programs, safety regulations and
laws, and government and community
injury prevention project planning and
evaluation
• provide data to stimulate and support
injury prevention research and
evaluation projects.
Expertise
Resources
The team’s major strengths are our
knowledge, skills and expertise in
maintaining and manipulating three
very large injury surveillance datasets
containing millions of cases as well as our
ability to interpret, report and disseminate
these data for prevention and research
purposes. The team’s work includes
Databases
• epidemiological research, mainly
descriptive studies, related to the
analysis and interpretation of injury
surveillance data
• call-back studies (case or case control
studies) involving injury patients
recruited through a selection of the 38
hospitals contributing injury data to the
Victorian Emergency Minimum Dataset
(VEMD)
• evaluation studies utilising injury
surveillance and other quantitative and
qualitative data.
Injury Deaths Dataset: (Source: Australian
Bureau of Statistics Death Unit Record
File - ABS-DURF)
De-identified Victorian injury death records
are supplied to VISU by the ABS annually
from their mortality unit record data
collection and loaded onto the VISUheld ABS-DURF (Injury Deaths) dataset.
The ABS sources their deaths data from
deaths registrations administered by the
various state and territory Registrars of
Births, Deaths and Marriages. VISU holds
unit record data on injury deaths (deaths
due to external causes) for 1970, 1975,
1980, 1985, 1990-2006. There has been a
delay in the supply of Victorian death data
for 2007-2009 but these years should be
available in 2012. The VISU ABS-DURF
dataset contains 166,000 cases.
Hospital admissions (Source: Victorian
Admitted Episodes Dataset-VAED)
The VAED records admissions
(hospitalisations) to all Victorian public
and private hospitals. Hospital admissions
for injury and poisoning that contain
The VISU team provided injury data to a NSW inquiry into the safety of trampolines. The inquiry led to the NSW government calling for
mandatory Australian safety standards for trampolines.
22
www.monash.edu/miri
2011 Annual Report
an external cause of injury code are
extracted from the VAED by the Victorian
Department of Health and supplied in
de-identified unit record format to VISU
every six months. The file is cleaned,
checked and loaded onto the VISU-held
VAED dataset. This dataset holds injury
hospitalisations from 1985 and currently
contains 3.7 million cases recorded from 1
July, 1987 to 30 June, 2011 (24 years).
Emergency Department (ED)
presentations (Source: Victorian
Emergency Minimum Dataset (VEMD)
The VEMD records Emergency
Department (ED) presentations to all
38 Victorian hospitals that provide 24hour ED services. Injury and poisoning
cases are extracted from the VEMD by
the Victorian Department of Health and
supplied six-monthly in de-identified unit
record format to VISU (prior to 2004 VISU
collected injury surveillance data directly
from hospital EDs). The VISU-held VEMD
injury surveillance dataset holds some data
from 1989 and currently contains 4 million
cases recorded from 1 January, 1996 to
30 June, 2011 (15.5 years).
Highlights and Outcomes
Injury surveillance research reports
Through our Data and Information Service,
VISU staff produced and disseminated 236
short injury research reports on: (1) injuries
in specific health regions e.g Injury in
Hume Region; Indigenous injury by health
regions and local government areas e.g.,
Bicycling injury in Geelong and Surf Coast
residents; (2) specific causes of injury e.g.
falls, transport such as bicycling, dog bite,
child driveway runovers, quad bike injury,
juvenile fire play-related injury, assaults,
self-harm, child abuse and neglect, (3)
injury in specific settings e.g. home,
school, workplace; (4) injury during
specific activities for example, work,
sports; and (5) injury in specific groups
e.g. older people, children and Indigenous
Victorians).
A major component of VISU’s work
is providing research reports on specific
consumer product-related injuries to the
Australian Competition and Consumer
Commission (ACCC), state consumer
departments and government and
parliamentary committees to support the
development and monitoring of consumer
regulations and standards and to identify
hazardous products. In 2011, VISU
provided detailed reports to these bodies
on a range of topics including injury relating
to trampolines, TV and other furniture
tipovers, jolly jumpers, prams and strollers,
VISU collects data about emergency department presentations in Victorian hospitals.
hydraulic trolley jacks and ingestion of
magnets.
VISU clients included federal and state
government departments and agencies
(including health, education, transport
and consumer affairs), local councils,
parliamentary committees, state coroners,
non-government bodies including safety
organisations, industry, graduate students,
researchers, the media and community
members. Data reports were used for
injury prevention and research purposes,
evaluations and for population health
monitoring.
Hazard and E-Bulletin
VISU published one issue of Hazard and
two E-Bulletins in 2011. In Hazard 73 data
on deaths and hospital-treated injury due
to assaults on young people aged 15-34
years in public places were analysed and
evidence-based recommendations on the
prevention of these assaults were made.
In the first of the VISU E-Bulletins, the
latest available year of hospital-treated
unintentional injury data (2009) was
extracted from the VISU-held hospital
injury surveillance datasets and analysed
by age group to identify priority issues for
prevention.
More than 1500 hard copies of each
issue of Hazard are distributed through
our general and special mailing lists and
current and past issues of Hazard and
the E-Bulletin are available for download
from the VISU web page: www.monash.
edu/miri/visu. At least 178,000 copies of
Hazard were downloaded from the VISU
webpage in 2010-2011 and the E-Bulletins
were accessed 10,000 times over the
same period.
Contributions to government policy and
safety regulations
In July 2010, the Victorian Department
of Health advised injury prevention
organisations that approval had been
gained to develop a new Victorian Injury
Prevention Plan (VIPP). This commitment
was confirmed in the Victorian Public
Health and Wellbeing Plan 2011-2015,
released in 2011. In the second half of
2011, VISU provided two in-depth injury
surveillance reports to the department —
Injury causes, trends and burden, Victoria
2009 (published on VISU webpage, see
below) and Injury in Victoria by setting:
home, sports, road, work etc.— to
support the development of the VIPP,
particularly in relation to deciding the
priorities and directions for prevention.
In November 2011 the Director of VISU
gave the keynote address to the Victorian
Safe Community Network (VSCN)
u
forum: Informing future directions for
23
Victorian Injury Surveillance Unit
injury prevention, which was attended
by approximately 40 stakeholders from
government and non-government
agencies to discuss future directions
for injury prevention. All agencies in
attendance, including VISU, were keen
to be engaged in the development of the
VIPP and to work in partnership on its
development and implementation in 2012.
In November, the Victorian Minister
for Sport and Recreation announced a
new taskforce to investigate the issue of
sports injury prevention. The Victorian
Sports Injury Prevention Taskforce (SIPT)
is supported by leading organisations,
including Sports Medicine Australia,
VicHealth and VicSport, and prominent
academics in the sports injury field
including MIRI’s Professor Caroline
Finch. The taskforce will deliver a report
in 2013 to support sporting bodies,
sports management authorities and
local government with risk management
strategies and sports injury prevention
plans. To underpin the taskforce’s initial
work, in December 2011 VISU provided a
baseline report on sports injuries in Victoria
— Hospital-treated sports injury among
Victorians by Local Government Area
(LGA) of residence, 2009/10 — and will
continue to support the SIPT with sports
injury data reports through 2012.
In March, the ACCC released the report
‘Targeted study of injury data involving
motorised mobility scooters’ completed
by the Monash University Department of
Forensic Medicine and Monash University
Accident Research Centre (Victorian
Injury Surveillance Unit). Our research
indicated that there were 442 motorised
mobility scooter fall injury hospitalisations
in Australia between July 2006 and June
2008. However, the total number of
hospitalisations was likely to be greater
than 700 if other accidents, such as road
crashes, were included. The ACCC has
started working with stakeholders to
develop and implement strategies for a
united approach to minimise deaths and
injuries related to mobility scooters. These
stakeholders include representatives from
the mobility scooter industry, health, injury
prevention and aged care organisations,
and other government agencies.
VISU provided Victorian trampoline
injury data to the NSW Product Safety
Committee inquiry into the safety of
trampolines. As a result of this inquiry, the
NSW government called for a review of
existing Australian safety standards for
trampolines, after the committee found
unacceptable hazards and dangers
associated with some products in the
domestic market. As a result of the NSW
referral, the Product Safety Branch of the
24
www.monash.edu/miri
ACCC has taken action to develop a draft
Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) for
domestic trampolines, featuring VISU data,
to be released for public comment in early
2012. Standards Australia concurrently
announced a revision of the voluntary
trampoline standard as a precursor to
making the standard mandatory, which
will allow the development of further safety
regulations. The Director of VISU has been
invited onto the Trampoline Standards
Committee.
Presentations
• Cassell E, Clapperton A. Injury profile by
settings and age group, Victoria 2009.
Invited keynote presentation to Victorian
Safe Communities Network (VSCN)
Forum: Informing future directions for
injury prevention. City of Melbourne,
November.
• Ashby K. Call back study investigating
child dog bite injury that occurs in the
domestic setting. Oral presentation to
the 10th National Conference on Injury
Prevention and Safety Promotion, held
at Brisbane Convention & Exhibition
Centre, November.
• Cassell E. Traffic related pedestrian
fatalities in Victoria. Oral presentation to
the 10th National Conference on Injury
Prevention and Safety Promotion, held
at Brisbane Convention & Exhibition
Centre, November.
• Clapperton A. Rock fishing deaths and
injury in Australia. Poster presentation to
the 10th National Conference on Injury
Prevention and Safety Promotion, held
at Brisbane Convention & Exhibition
Centre, November.
Staff Membership on Committees
• Victorian Safe Communities Network
(VSCN), Executive (E. Cassell)
• Kidsafe Victoria, Board (E. Cassell)
• Victorian Child and Adolescent
Monitoring System (VCAMS) Data
Management Committee convened by
the Department of Education and Early
Childhood Development (DEECD) (E.
Cassell)
VISU staff also produced short injury research reports on injuries from child driveway runovers.
Photo: iStockphoto.
2011 Annual Report
Professor Mark Stevenson,
PhD(Distinction), MPH, FACRS
MUARC Director
Odette Barrie
Executive Assistant
to Director
Professor
Ian Johnston
AM, PhD, BA (Hons), FTSE
Adjunct Professor
Professor
Peter Vulcan
AM DEng(honoris causa),
PhD, MSEM, MechE, BA
Honorary Professor
Over the past 12 months MUARC has
become an entirely transport safety
focused research centre. It is the largest
research grouping within the newly
established Monash Injury Research
Institute.
This change has given MUARC an
opportunity to reflect on its past and to
position itself for the future to ensure we
can deliver innovative transport safety
solutions. Given the entirely transport
safety focus, it was an opportune time to
establish an ambitious research strategy
for the next five years.
Over the first two quarters of 2011
the senior staff worked on developing a
comprehensive forward-looking five-year
strategy. The development of this
strategy culminated in our hosting of a
stakeholder day in which transport and
road safety stakeholders from across
Australasia were invited to an interactive
session in which we presented our
research agenda for the future. It also gave
us the opportunity to hear from the various
agencies and to calibrate our research
strategy to ensure we will be well placed to
provide the innovative transport solutions
into the future.
This year was also a successful year
for MUARC on a number of counts. We
continued to increase our portfolio of
nationally competitive grants, obtaining two
new grants totalling more than $800,000;
I congratulate the teams headed by Dr
Jude Charlton and Dr Paul Salmon. We
also continued to secure competitive
contract research with our funding
increasing by 35 per cent from the
previous year. These are just a few
indicators of the ongoing success of
the MUARC staff. As well, our doctoral
program continues to mature with three
students graduating with Doctor of
Philosophy degrees having undertaken
their dissertations in transport safety.
We commenced this year a large
population-based study investigating
motorcycle injury, funded through an
ARC Linkage Grant. This research will
establish the evidence on rider risk
factors relevant to the contemporary rider
population as well as explore the role of
road infrastructure and travel speed in
serious motorcycle crashes. The project
staff are drawn from across MUARC
research teams to harness the broad multidisciplinary skill base required for such an
ambitious project.
My first year as the Director of MUARC
has been challenging but very fulfilling. I am
fortunate to have talented and dedicated
staff who have contributed much this year
and I would like to thank all of them for
their ongoing commitment to our (recently
established) Mission namely,
“through excellence in research
we will inform policy and practice
to eliminate serious injury in the
transport sector and we will
focus our efforts nationally and
internationally where we will
• understand and deliver
innovative transport safety
solutions
• contribute scientific evidence
to public discussion on
transport safety
• translate the scientific evidence
into policy and practice and
• build research training
programs.”
25
Injury Analysis and Data
Behavioural Safety Science
T
he research activity of the Behavioural Safety Science team focuses on understanding and managing human
behaviour to meet the challenge of preventing injury and improving safety, primarily in the transportation
context. Under the leadership of Associate Director Dr Jude Charlton, the team’s research priorities centre
on the vulnerable road user groups, drivers and vehicle occupants, pedestrians and cyclists, older road users,
youth and children. Reducing road users’ risk of death and serious injury as a result of exposure to excessive crash
forces, is a key platform of the Safe System approach. The team’s overriding objective across all projects is to
research and recommend strategies either to prevent crash involvement in the first instance, or to ensure better
road user protection when crashes do occur. A significant feature of the team’s activity is the safe transportation
and mobility of the ageing population and those with impairments that impact on their safety as road users.
A variety of research methods and technologies are used including driving simulation, instrumented vehicles and
real-world observation, survey and interview techniques and mass data analysis.
Associate
Director
– MUARC
Dr Judith
Charlton
PhD, MSc, BEd,
MAPS
Senior Research
Fellow
26
www.monash.edu/miri
Dr Sjaan Koppel
PhD, BAppSc(Hons),
BA
ARC Post
Doctoral Fellow
Dr Jennie Oxley
PhD, BSc(Hons)
Senior Research
Fellow
Jim Langford
MEdSt, BA(Hons)
Senior Research
Fellow
Dr Marilyn Johnson
PhD, MAppSocRes,
BA(Hons)
2011 Annual Report
Expertise
The team’s disciplinary expertise includes
psychology, applied health sciences,
epidemiology, education and social
sciences. Their research also relies on
strong links with engineering, neuroscience
and gerontology researchers and students
within MIRI as well as in other faculties and
institutions. The researchers engage with
government, industry and professional
groups locally, nationally and globally
through the projects described below.
Resources
Simulation Research
The team employs the MUARC advanced
driving simulator and portable simulator
laboratories in much of its research. A
range of driving environments have been
generated for both experimental and
training purposes, including intersection
gap selection tasks and hazard
avoidance for a range of road types,
traffic and signage, and light and weather
conditions. The portable simulator offers a
unique capacity for off-campus research
and is easily transported to community
and clinical settings. The simulator
offers a safe and efficient method of
collecting information on how drivers
behave in challenging traffic situations
and provides collision and near-collision
data that cannot easily be observed in
the real world. Using evidence from crash
data, experimental traffic scenarios are
skilfully designed to simulate real world
driving situations which pose a significant
challenge for seniors or other groups
of interest such as drivers with early
dementia, Parkinson’s disease and vision
impairments.
Michelle Scully
BBSc(Hons), BMus
Research Associate
The team has developed a training package to teach children to select safe gaps in traffic when
crossing roads.
Simulator validation: A critical question in
simulation research is the extent to which
the simulator elicits the same driving
behaviours that occur when driving in the
real world – called behavioural validity.
This research compares performance of
drivers in simulators with their performance
in instrumented vehicles under similar
traffic/road conditions. This is important
for simulator acceptance and credibility,
and is vital when simulator performance
influences real world outcomes, such
as designing roads and road signs and
Louise Beasley
Elizabeth Jacobs DipAppSci
Research Associate,
Ozcandrive Project
Research Associate,
Ozcandrive Project
BEdSt, Cert Res Aged
Services Mngt
(Nursing Mngt), BNursing,
GradCert (DiabEd & Hlth Care)
making decisions about fitness to drive.
MUARC’s reputation in simulator validation
work is highly regarded and the team has
contributed an invited chapter on this
topic in a significant driving simulation
book, Handbook of Driving Simulation for
Engineering, Medicine and Psychology
(edited by Fisher et al., published in 2011).
Pedestrian simulation: The team has
extensive experience in applying simulation
techniques in other road user settings
u
including evaluation of pedestrian
Lorraine Atkinson
Administrative
Manager,
Ozcandrive Project
Elizabeth Varvaris
Administrative
Assistant
27
Behavioural
Safety
Science
Injury Analysis
and Data
behaviour. Recent work also includes
the development of a successful training
package to teach children to select safe
gaps in traffic when crossing roads.
Instrumented cars, naturalistic driving and
road user observation methods
For many research questions, it is
important to make real-world observations
of drivers, cyclists and pedestrians. These
studies use covert monitoring of behaviour
with various technologies including
• sophisticated instrumented vehicles
equipped with cameras, eye-tracking
equipment and data
• acquisition units which monitor speed,
braking and steering
• in-vehicle camera systems to study
child passenger out-of-position
• status and driver distraction
• fixed cameras to study cyclist and driver
behaviour at intersections
• bicycle helmet-mounted cameras
to study cyclist-driver behaviour on
designated cycling routes.
Using these techniques, the team has
gathered a rich data bank of behavioural
and vehicle-based information. The team
has rapidly expanding capabilities in this
area and has completed world-leading
research using naturalistic driving methods
to evaluate seniors’ intersection driving,
cyclists’ red-light running and involvement
in near-crash and crash events, and
children’s out-of-position status in child
restraints.
Highlights and Outcomes
2011 was a productive year for the
Behavioural Safety Science team.
Significant funding was attracted through
the Australian Research Council Linkage
Grant scheme to expand our work in an
international collaboration on safety of
children in cars (led by Jude Charlton,
Sjaan Koppel and Missy Rudin-Brown).
Grants were also awarded to the team
through the NRMA ACT Road Safety
Trust to expand our research on a training
resource for older drivers (led by Jennie
Oxley) and in the area of cycling safety
(led by Marilyn Johnson).
The team also secured a prestigious
grant as part of a collaboration with
European colleagues through the EU
Erasmus Lifelong Learning Programme
Grant Scheme for a project entitled
DEVICE: DEsign for Vulnerable
generatIons: Children and Elderly. The
aim of the project is to identify and
develop opportunities to enhance
28
www.monash.edu/miri
educational programs with ergonomics,
usability concepts and user experience
approaches to better address the needs
of vulnerable generations, with a specific
focus on children and older adults.
Ongoing projects included the
Ozcandrive cohort study of older drivers;
Return to driving following Traumatic Brain
Injury; cycling safety; and, jointly with the
Injury Analysis and Data Team, a survey of
consumer choices of vehicles for MUARC
Baseline sponsors.
Dr Charlton also contributed to
the NHMRC ‘National Best Practice
Guidelines on the safe restraint of children
travelling in cars’ as an expert advisor on
the Steering Committee. In November,
with Jim Langford, Jude hosted a
Round Table on Restricted Licenses in
Perth, WA, attended by key road safety
jurisdiction managers of older driver
licensing, resulting in the development
of a proposal for a national evaluation of
the effectiveness of licensing restrictions
for managing the safety of older (and
impaired) drivers. In addition to her role
of managing the Behavioural Safety
Science Team’s research activities, Jude
contributed to MIRI’s education and
training as Coordinator of the Graduate
Studies Program and supervised six PhD
students
Jim Langford continues to contribute
to research in the older driver area:
In addition to his participation in the
Ozcandrive older driver cohort study,
he was a senior investigator on several
research projects for Austroads, VicRoads
and the New Zealand Transport Agency.
Jim contributed as expert advisor to a
review of licensing and medical review
practices with the Missouri Department
of Transportation. Jim is currently
completing PhD studies as a Monash
staff candidate.
Dr Jennie Oxley contributes to
research activities as a significant member
of the team, through her supervision
of postgraduate students, Marilyn
Johnson, Roszalina Ramli, Saraswathy
Venkataraman and Kelly Bryden. Jennie
also continues to play a leading role
internationally in older driver research
through her activities as co-chair of the
United States Transportation Research
Board (TRB) Sub-committee on
Enhancing Older Women’s Safe Mobility.
At the same time, Jennie maintains
her primary role in advancing injury
prevention research activities in Malaysia
and throughout the region, as Associate
Director, Regional Engagement.
The team’s achievements included
the completion of a major report on
medical conditions and driving (MUARC
Report 300), commissioned by VicRoads.
This research has informed the recent
revisions of the Austroads Fitness to
Drive guidelines and resulted in an invited
presentation by Jude Charlton at the 5th
International Fit to Drive, Traffic Expert
Congress in The Hague in 2011. The
team also contributed to major projects
in the young driver area for Queensland
Transport and VicRoads.
An important feature of the team’s
work is knowledge translation, achieved
through scientific publications. In 2011,
team members co-authored eight peer
reviewed publications in journal papers,
conference proceedings and edited
book chapters. Team researchers also
communicated their scientific findings
through seminars and workshops
to the motor vehicle industry and
health practitioners, presentations
to teachers and parents, and regular
communication with relevant State and
Federal government departments. The
media regularly asked team members
to comment or write on older drivers,
children, novice drivers and cyclists.
PhD students supervised by Dr Jude
Charlton, Dr Jennie Oxley and Dr Sjaan
Koppel also contributed to the team’s
research activities in vulnerable road
user behaviour: Hafez Alavi (pedestrian
safety), Lisa Molnar (older driver self
regulation), Marilyn Johnson (cycling
safety), Carlyn Muir (vision impairment
and driving), Rachel Mence (managing
older driver safety); and PhD (Psychology)
and DPsych candidates: Kelly Bryden
(older drivers and wayfinding strategies),
Karen Scally (Parkinson’s disease and
driving); David Ralph (psychiatric illness
and driving), James Gooden and Pam
Ross (Traumatic Brain Injury and return to
driving).
2011 Annual Report
The team researches exposure to risk
of recreational boaters, measured in
trips and hours spent on the water.
Research Highlights
Older drivers
With the baby boomer cohort about to
enter old age, there is an urgent need to
understand more about the next wave of
older road users and how to effectively
manage their safe mobility. The team’s
research is centred around three broad
research questions:
• How do we identify at-risk older
drivers?
• What are the most effective solutions
for managing at-risk older drivers?
• What is the full societal impact of
reducing/stopping driving on the
mobility, health and economic wellbeing
of older drivers?
The following highlights a significant
program of work addressing older driver
safety:
ARC Linkage Grant: Ozcandrive
The broad aims of the project are to
reduce vehicle-related injuries and deaths
and improve the quality of life of older
Australian drivers by extending their
safe mobility. The project builds on the
knowledge generated by two decades
of older driver research at MUARC and a
key outcome will be the development of
evidence-based screening for safe driving.
The project is a collaboration between
MUARC, Monash University Department
of Medicine, La Trobe University, the
University of Ottawa in Canada, VicRoads,
the Victorian Department of Justice, the
Victorian Transport Accident Commission,
the New Zealand Road Safety Trust and
Eastern Health.
Using a longitudinal study design, the
project will track a cohort of 300 drivers
aged 75+ in Australia and NZ and 1000
drivers aged 70+ at seven research
centres throughout Canada, assessing
changes in functional abilities, driving
patterns and driving performance over five
years.
Together, the two projects will involve
about 1300 drivers and will study their
health and driving patterns over five years.
A novel component of the project is the
use of in-vehicle data recording devices to
assist in documenting the natural driving
patterns of seniors.
Investigators are Drs Jude Charlton, Jim
Langford, Sjaan Koppel, Morris Odell and
Petris Darzins from Monash University, Drs
Marilyn DiStefano and Wendy Macdonald
from La Trobe University and Dr Shawn
Marshall from Ottawa Hospital Research
Institute.
The project team made significant
achievements this year.
• By mid-2011 the team had achieved
the target number of 250 drivers
at the Melbourne site and in June,
commenced Year 2 assessments.
• In addition to the Melbourne project
site, Ozcandrive hosts a site in
Wellington, New Zealand, coordinated
by Opus International. Bill Frith and
Jared Thomas lead the Wellington
team with researchers Kate Mora,
Abi Harding, Bob Stevenson and
Grace Rive conducting participant
assessments and installing vehicle GPS
units. The NZ Team reached their full
complement of 45 participants in midMarch.
• Dr Jude Charlton and Jim Langford
travelled to Ottawa, Canada to attend
the annual Candrive/Ozcandrive project
meeting with international collaborators.
• Biannual Project Meetings of Partners
and Investigators were held at MUARC
in April and November.
• Undergraduate students Emma Owen
(Monash Psych Hons), Amy Allen
ACU Psych Hons), Duncan Joiner and
Jason Manakis (Monash Aerospace
Engineering students) joined MUARC
on Vacation Research Scholarships and
Fourth Year Engineering placements
over the 2010-2011 summer. Monash
undergraduate students Cara Dawson
(Psychology), Kevin Mascarenhas and
Johan Davydov (Engineering) also
commenced as vacation research
scholars in the summer of 2011-2012.
The students have made an invaluable
contribution on tasks including data
quality control, GPS unit installations in
participants’ vehicles and development
of an electronic checklist for Driving
Observation Schedule - the DOS
App. Several of the students continue
to work as valued members of the
Ozcandrive team.
• The team hosted Candrive team visitors
including Professor Michelle Porter
and Glenys Smith from University of
Winnipeg.
Postdoctoral Fellowship to study safe
mobility of seniors
Dr Sjaan Koppel holds an Australian
Research Council Australian Postdoctoral
Fellowship – Industry. The fellowship is
linked to the five-year older driver cohort
study. The broad aim of Ozcandrive is to
reduce vehicle related injuries and deaths
and improve the quality of life of older
Australian drivers by extending their safe
mobility. However it is also important to
note that growing evidence has identified
a range of negative psychosocial and
health consequences following driving
cessation for older adults, including
increased health problems and a higher
likelihood of depression. As part of her
fellowship, Sjaan will develop a parallel
research program to improve the quality
of life of older Australians following driving
cessation. Sjaan will identify the key
factors associated with psychological
wellbeing following driving cessation to
develop evidence-based guidelines to
inform licensing authorities and healthcare
professionals so they are able to assist
older adults and their families in preventing
or alleviating negative consequences
following driving cessation, while assisting
in a healthier transition from older driver to
non-driver.
Australian Postgraduate Award – Industry
Scholarship to study safe mobility of
seniors
Rachel Mence commenced PhD
candidature at MIRI in March 2011, taking
up the Australian Postgraduate AwardIndustry scholarship with the Ozcandrive
project. Rachel’s project will focus on
on-road driving performance, measured by
the Driving Observation Schedule (DOS).
The task is designed to reflect
a naturalistic driving experience,
incorporating a 30-minute drive over
familiar routes in the driver’s own
vehicle. Rachel will refine the methods
for recording and quantifying on-road
driving behaviours, providing a snapshot
of participants’ everyday driving. This will
allow investigators to examine how driving
behaviours change over time.
Children in cars: What children are really
doing in the rear seat of cars and are they
a source of distraction in the vehicle
Child restraints systems (CRS) for vehicles
are designed to provide specialised
protection for child occupants in the
event of a crash. However, children do
not sit perfectly still and upright while
travelling in vehicles, potentially leading to
inappropriate seating positions throughout
their journey. This behaviour may
compromise the safety benefits associated u
29
Behavioural Safety Science
with CRS and may distract the driver from
the driving task and therefore affect driving
performance.
In a world-first study, this project trialed
a naturalistic, observational approach to
examine how children are restrained and
seated in their CRS while travelling in their
car. The study was funded through the
AutoCRC in partnership with GM Holden.
Families with children aged between one
and eight years old drove an instrumented
‘study vehicle’ on their regular trips for
three weeks. All children used their regular
CRS. A discrete video recording system in
the vehicle provided images of the driver
and front seat passenger, the rear seat
child passengers and the traffic ahead.
The recordings inside and outside
the vehicle were analysed to examine
the children’s behavior in their CRS and
identify potential distracting activities,
where ‘distraction’ was broadly defined
as any activity that distracted the driver
or competed for their attention while
driving. Analyses revealed that children
were out-of-position, and hence likely to
be sub-optimally restrained, for around
60 per cent of the time during trip and 12
per cent of all distracting activities were
child-occupant related (such as turning to
look at children in the back seat, checking
in the rear vision mirror, or passing items
to their children). The findings highlight
the need to raise awareness amongst
parents that sub-optimal restraint use
has serious implications for their child’s
CRS effectiveness in the event of a crash.
Parents need to be educated about the
potential crash and injury risks associated
with both child occupant-related and
non-child occupant-related activities while
driving their children. The preliminary
research resulted in two publications.
In 2011 Dr Jude Charlton, Dr Sjaan
Koppel and Dr Missy Rudin-Brown
(Human Factors Team) assembled an
international team of researchers to
expand the child safety research program.
Significant funding was secured through
the ARC linkage scheme and the project
was expected to commence in early
2012. The collaboration brings together
researchers from MUARC, the Children’s
Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute,
University of Michigan Transportation
Research Institute and Chalmers University
of Technology and industry partners
Britax ChildCare, Autoliv, VicRoads,
Transport Accident Commission, RACV,
Proquip and General Motors Holden. The
project will build on the findings of the
pilot study using innovative naturalistic
driving methods to observe and quantify
the positions of child occupants in
cars, identify the injury effects of out-of30
www.monash.edu/miri
MUARC research highlights the need to raise awareness among parents that sub-optimal
restraint use has serious safety implications for their child.
position status and evaluate the impact
of child passengers on driver distraction.
Outcomes will be used to optimise vehicle
and CRS design and develop targeted
safety education strategies to mitigate
injury to children in car crashes.
Medical conditions and driving
Following the successful first edition
MUARC Report 213, a second edition of
‘The Influence of chronic illness on crash
involvement of motor vehicle drivers ’
(MUARC Report 300), was commissioned
by VicRoads. The report provides a
comprehensive review of the literature
pertaining to the influence of chronic illness
and impairments on crash involvement.
A risk rating system was applied to
all medical conditions of interest. This
provided a means of identifying those
conditions that presented the greatest
risk. Based on both new evidence and
evidence cited in the 2004 first edition,
MUARC Report 213, eight conditions
were found to have at least a moderately
elevated risk of crash involvement (relative
risk greater than 2.0) compared with the
irrelevant control group: alcohol abuse
and dependence, dementia, epilepsy,
multiple sclerosis, psychiatric disorders
(considered as a group), schizophrenia,
sleep apnoea and cataracts. Guidelines
regarding fitness to drive from selected
jurisdictions were also considered in the
light of evidence for crash risk. These
comparisons revealed a number of
differences across the jurisdictions and
highlighted some inconsistencies with
the available evidence for crash risk. A
number of recommendations were made
for managing the risk of injury crashes
associated with medical conditions. The
findings of this review also highlighted
the need for a cooperative international
2011 Annual Report
approach to future research using
population-based, prospective studies
to advance scientific knowledge linking
impairment from medical conditions and
crash risk.
The report, released in late 2010, led
to invited consultations for the revision to
the Austroads, Assessing Fitness to Drive
Guidelines and an invited paper presented
at the Fit to Drive, 5th International Traffic
Expert Congress, The Hague, April 2011.
Return to driving following Traumatic
Brain Injury
More than two-thirds of persons with a
traumatic brain injury (TBI) return to driving.
Despite this, limited research investigating
driving performance following TBI has
been conducted. Dr Jude Charlton
and colleagues from Monash School
of Psychology, the Epworth Hospital,
Lakehead University and the University
of Ottawa formed a collaboration to
examine the nature and causes of
driving difficulties following TBI as a basis
for developing more reliable and valid
assessment procedures for readiness
to return to driving. Funded through the
joint Transport Accident Commission Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation funding
scheme, the project, ‘Safer roads to
recovery: Assessing readiness for driving
after traumatic brain injury, will study
driving performance of young drivers with
brain injury’ in simulated, on-road and
naturalistic driving conditions. Findings
from this study will contribute to evidence
for rehabilitation clinicians assessing driver
readiness. This research will guide the
development of more sensitive driving
evaluation procedures and driver retraining
programs, thereby contributing to
improved safety and mobility for those with
TBI who return to driving.
DEVICE: DEsign for Vulnerable
generations: Children and Elderly
The overall aim of the DEVICE project
is to bridge traditional industrial design
programs with ergonomics, usability
concepts and user experience approaches
with a specific focus on vulnerable
generations. The MUARC team will
contribute to the project by reviewing
innovative practices, defining gaps
and identifying educational priorities
in design for vulnerable generations in
education, training and industry in the
Australian context. The team will also
explore opportunities for translation of
best practice educational models in
design for vulnerable groups to other
geographic contexts. The project is
funded under the EU Erasmus Lifelong
Learning Programme Grant Scheme.
Partners include U Bologna, U Modena et
Reggio Emilia, Politecnico di Milano and
Politecnico di Torino (ICOOR Consortium)
and Loughborough, ReLab, Chalmers,
Innovate4Future, Reggio Children, and
Monash University.
Presentations
Dr Charlton presented on child safety
and older driver issues at the several
international conferences and symposia
including
• Charlton, JL, Catchlove, M, Scully,
M, Koppel, S. (2011). Older Driver
distraction: A naturalistic study of
behavior at intersections. The Eye and
the Auto, 12-14 September, Detroit,
USA
• Charlton, JL Odell, M, Muir, C,
Devlin, A, (2011) Visual field loss and
intersection gap selection, The Eye and
the Auto, 12-14 September, Detroit,
USA
• Charlton, JL (2011). Naturalistic Driving:
Insights from the Australian experience.
Invited keynote: AA Research
Foundation Inaugural Symposium.
Staying focused at the wheel: Driver
inattention, distraction and fatigue.
5-6 September, Wellington NZ.
• Charlton, JL, Koppel, S, Odell, M,
Devlin, A, Langford, J, Edquist, J,
Muir, C, Scully, M (2011). Influence of
chronic illness on crash involvement of
motor vehicle drivers. Fit To Drive, 5th
International Traffic Expert Congress,
The Hague, 7-8 April.
• Participation in Steering Committee for
the NHMRC ‘National Best Practice
Guidelines on the safe restraint
of children travelling in cars’, 29
November, 2011. Port Melbourne.
• Investigators’ and Partners’ Meeting
for the ARC Linkage Ozcandrive Older
Driver Cohort Study, 22 November,
2011, Monash University Accident
Research Centre.
• Charlton, JL (Forum leader) CrossCutting Research, MUARC Seminar,
Older and Impaired Road Users.
Monash University Accident Research
Centre. 21 November.
• Charlton, JL and Langford, J.
Restricted Licenses Round table for
jurisdictional managers, licensing. 10
November, Perth Convention Centre,
Perth, WA.
• Charlton, JL. How do children really
behave in restraint systems when
travelling in cars? Center for Injury
Research and Prevention at The
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, 20
October. Philadelphia, PA, USA.
• Charlton, JL Ozcandrive Project
Update. Presentation to Candrive
Investigators meeting. 24-25 October,
Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, Canada.
• Charlton, JL. Presentation on MUARC
Behavioural Safety Science Research.
University of California, Berkeley,
PATH: Human Factors Research and
Development, 14 October. Richmond,
CA, USA
• Charlton, JL (2011). Children in Cars:
A Naturalistic Observation Study.
Presentation to GM North America
12 September, 2011 at The GM
Renaissance Learning Centre, Detroit,
MI. USA
• Charlton, JL. Keeping children safe
in cars. Presentations to ReLab
and University Modena e Reggio
Emilia and Reggio Emilia School,
Pedagogist Group, 11-12 April,
Reggio Emilia, Italy.
• Charlton, JL. Older Driver research
at MUARC. Research meeting and
presentation to SWOV Researchers. 6
April, SWOV, Duindoorn, The Hague,
The Netherlands.
• Charlton, JL (2011). Managing older
driver safety. Presentation to Aged Care
Assessment team, Eastern Health,
Peter James Centre, Burwood, Victoria,
11 May.
• Charlton, JL (2011) Managing older
driver safety. Presentation to Victorian
Postgraduate Medical Foundation
(VMPF) Seminar, Warrnambool Hospital,
24 March.
• Koppel, S (2011). Children as a
potential source of distraction. Setting
the Future Agenda for Child Occupant
Protection. 12-13 September, Prato,
Italy.
• Koppel, S (2011). Giving up the
keys: Psychosocial and Health
Consequences of Driving Cessation for
Older Adults. Directions in Road Safety
Research Forum, Adelaide, Australia.
• Oxley, J, Charlton, J, Venkataraman, S,
Yusoff, R, Bagat, F, Rashid, S (2011).
Comparison of older driver crash risk
and travel patterns: Malaysia and
Australia. Emerging issues in safe and
sustainable mobility for older people.
Paper presented at Transportation
Research Board Conference on
Emerging Issues on Safe and
Sustainable Mobility of Older People, 30
August - 1 September, Washington DC.
• Oxley, J. Occupational Safety and
Health Conference – OSH Excellence
in the Manufacturing Sector, Federation
of Malaysian Manufacturers. Invited
Presentation: ‘Advanced Technology to
Improve OSH in the Workplace’, Bukit
Kiara, Kuala Lumpur, 20 April.
31
Behavioural Safety Science
• Oxley J 5th National Conference for
Clinical Research, Ministry of Health.
Invited Presentation: ‘Development of
innovative measures using a registry’,
Sunway Pyramid, Selangor, 20-22 June
• National Convention on Forensic
Medicine and Science: Road Safety,
National Institute of Forensic Medicine,
21-22 November, Kuala Lumpur.
Invited presentations
• ‘Injury prevention programs: The
Australian experience and lessons we
can share’ (Oxley)
• ‘Fitness to drive and mobility’ (Oxley)
• ‘Effect of alcohol and drugs on road
safety’ (Oxley)
• Jamaludin & Oxley Injury Symposium
(Institute of Health Management,
Ministry of Health), Invited Presentation:
‘Reducing injuries: The role of research
in developing and evaluating evidencebased solutions, November, Kuala
Lumpur (Jamaludin & Oxley)
• Ramli AEA-PHAA post-graduate
student conference, ‘Effectiveness of
motorcycle helmets for preventing head
and facial injuries, December WINNER:
Best presentation for policy and
practice (Ramli)
Staff membership of Boards and
Committees
• Amy Gillett Foundation, Road Safety
Advisory Committee (M. Johnson)
• Association for the Advancement of
Automotive Medicine, Chicago, Illinois,
Scientific Program Committee, Member
(S. Koppel, J. Oxley)
• Australasian College of Road Safety
(Victorian Chapter) Committee
(J. Charlton, J. Oxley)
• BrainLink, Board of Directors
(J. Charlton)
• Monash University Clayton Bicycle
Strategy Steering Group (M. Johnson)
• Monash University Human Research
Ethics Committee (MUHREC),
Management Committee (M. Johnson)
• Technical Working Group and Steering
Committee, NHMRC ‘National Best
Practice Guidelines on the safe restraint
of children travelling in cars’ (J. Charlton)
• US Transportation Research Board
(TRB) Sub-committee on Driver Medical
Review (J. Charlton)
• US Transportation Research Board
32
www.monash.edu/miri
(TRB) Sub-committee Enhancing Older
Women’s Safe Mobility
(Co-chair: J. Oxley)
• International Advisory Panel, Institute
for Mobility, Activity, and Participation
(I-MAP) College of Public Health and
Health Professions, University of Florida,
USA (J. Charlton)
• Scientific Committee, International
Conference (Elsevier) on Aging, Mobility
and Quality of Life (AMQoL)
(J. Charlton)
Top:
Liz Jacobs and Louise Beasley, Ozcandrive
Research Associates, changing the data
cards in the in-car recording device in
participants’ car.
Above:
Dr Sjaan Koppel and Ozcandrive participant
undertaking annual assessment for
Ozcandrive project at the Eastern Health
Peter James Centre.
2011 Annual Report
Monash
University
Accident
Research
Foundation
The Monash University Council established the
Accident Research Foundation on 16 December
1996.
As stated in the Regulations, the objects of the
Foundation “shall be to support, encourage and
promote the work of the Accident Research Centre
generally, and to provide funds for research by the
Centre aimed at preventing accidents and reducing
injuries on the road, in the home, in sport and
recreation, at work and in other places or activities ...”
The Monash University Accident Research
Foundation has made scholarships available for
students at MUARC for study in any of the principal
research areas.
The Foundation supported two MUARC scholars
during 2011.
John Lane Memorial Scholarship
Dr John Lane, recognised as the father of aviation
safety in Australia, and a leader in road safety, died in
January 1999. In recognition of Dr Lane’s contribution
in the field of injury prevention, and as a personal
tribute, the Trustees of the Foundation established the
John Lane Memorial Scholarship. Robin Hutchinson
held this scholarship in 2011 (see page 62).
Peter Vulcan Scholarship
Professor Peter Vulcan retired in 1998, bringing to an
end 11 years of outstanding service as the champion
and Founding Director of the Accident Research
Centre. This award recognises his unique and
distinguished contribution both to injury prevention and
the Centre. No scholarship was awarded in 2011.
Safe Family Research Scholarship
The Amy Gillett Foundation was established in
recognition of the champion Australian cyclist who
died while training in Germany in 2005. Amy’s
parents, Mary and Denis Safe, recognise that a
growing number of cyclists are killed and injured
on Australian roads each year. The Amy Gillett
Foundation offers, in conjunction with the Monash
University Accident Research Foundation, this scholarship to encourage
research in this field. Marilyn Johnson held this scholarship in 2011 (see
page 63).
C-MARC Curtin Monash Accident Research Centre
CMARC was established in late 2008-early 2009 as a partnership between Curtin University of Technology (Western
Australia) and Monash University supported by the State of Western Australia. The Centre’s activities include
•
investigation of, and research into, the causes of road crashes and resulting injuries in Western Australia
•
identification and evaluation of existing and potential measures in Australia and worldwide to prevent road crashes and
resulting injury
•
development of data and research findings on road crashes and their causes
•
development of road safety strategies
•
making recommendations to the State and its agencies in connection to road safety
•
making public its findings and recommendations
•
ensuring that all possible means of, and methods for, improving road safety in Western Australia are considered.
Associate Professor Brett Hughes took up his appointment as Director in 2010.
33
Human Factors
H
uman Factors is concerned with the application of what we know about people, their abilities,
characteristics, and limitations to the design of equipment they use, environments in which they function,
and jobs they perform. The Human Factors team applies models of system safety to the analysis of
transportation and other safety-related issues to provide robust research outputs and policy guidance for
our stakeholders and clients. Team members have backgrounds in experimental psychology, human factors,
ergonomics, computer science, epidemiology, biomedical engineering, sports science, military and defence, and
road safety policy.
MUARC’s Nebojsa Tomasevic in the control room of the advanced driving simulator.
Associate
Director
– MUARC
Dr Michael
Lenné
PhD, BSc(Hons)
Senior Research
Fellow
34
www.monash.edu/miri
Professor Tom Triggs
PhD, MEngSci, BE, BSc
Dr Christina RudinBrown PhD, MA, BA(Hons)
Senior Reseach Fellow
Dr Paul Salmon PhD,
MSc, BSC(Hons)
Senior Research Fellow
2011 Annual Report
Expertise
Sound, theoretically-based models of
system safety underpin our research,
which focuses on a broad range of
factors that shape and constrain operator
behaviour, and how task, environmental
and organisational factors influence
performance.
Team projects in 2011 covered
• the road environment and its influence
on speed selection and crash risk
• the safe system approach to collision
investigation
• driver distraction
• road user situation awareness
• the design and evaluation of in-vehicle
warning and information systems
• Human Machine Interface guidelines
development
• motorcycle conspicuity and novice rider
licensing systems
• speed and the effectiveness of speed
countermeasures
• organisational influences on worker
safety
• occupational safety
• safety of police vehicles
• perceptions and attitudes towards
testing for alcohol and other drugs
(AOD) in the aviation industry
• human factors and the safety of
outdoor activities.
Resources
The team uses a variety of methods
to support projects, including on-road
testing, simulation, surveys, focus
groups, structured interviews, stakeholder
consultation, and human factors
methods such as task and cognitive
task analysis, and interface and usability
assessment. While the MUARC suite of
driving simulators (advanced, portable,
and desktop varieties) continue to be the
Dr Eve MitsopoulosRubens PhD, BA, Sc(Hons)
Research Fellow
primary research platforms used by the
team, the recent acquisition of on-road test
vehicles has provided team members with
the means to measure driver performance
in naturalistic settings.
• The MUARC ORTeV (On-Road Test
Vehicle) is a state-of-the-art mobile
data acquisition system installed in
a 2008 GM Holden VE Commodore
sedan. Developed with the Cooperative
Research Centre for Advanced
Automotive Technology (AutoCRC),
ORTeV collects data for both controlled
and naturalistic studies. Vehicle, driver
and eye tracking data are recorded via
a sophisticated network of sensors and
computers, while unobtrusive cameras
record forward, peripheral, and
rearward views of the road scene, and
interior views of the driver and controls.
A combined lane position and headway
detection system has recently been
implemented.
• The MUARC advanced driving
simulator consists of a 2009 GM Holden
VE Commodore sedan mounted on
a three degrees-of-freedom motion
base platform, with a curved projection
screen providing a 180° horizontal and
40° vertical field-of-view. Forward vision
is produced by three image generators
using seamless blended projection onto
a cylindrical screen, while a separate
projection screen at the rear of the
vehicle provides rear vision. Collection
of driver performance and eye-tracking
data is accomplished via a network of
sensors and computers.
• The MUARC portable simulator is one
of the world’s most advanced portable
PC-based driving simulators, featuring
three forward scene LCD monitors,
an adjustable vehicle seat, pedal
assembly, dashboard and steering
wheel. The simulator uses state-of-theart 3D visuals creating an exceptionally
detailed driving scene that can replicate
Nebojsa Tomasevic
MEngSc(Biomed), BEE,
Technical Officer
Dr Kristie Young
PhD, BAppSc(Psych)
(Hons) Research Fellow
the full range of driving conditions.
• The desktop simulator is a low-fidelity,
PC-based system equipped with three
17-inch LCD monitors, a computer
gaming steering wheel and brakes. It is
well suited to methodologies that assess
the driver distraction associated with
performing in-vehicle tasks while driving,
such as the lane-change test.
Highlights and Outcomes
In 2011 the team continued to refine its
road safety human factors program while
also strengthening its research in other
areas of transportation and system safety.
National Competitive Grants
Level crossing research
Collisions between trains and vehicles at
rail level crossings represent a significant
issue that has safety, efficiency, and
economic implications for the road and rail
networks in Australia. In 2010 Mike Lenné,
Paul Salmon and Tom Triggs (MUARC) and
Neville Stanton (University of Southampton)
received $560,000 over four years from
the Australian Research Council for a study
on level crossing safety which is supported
by Victoria’s key rail safety stakeholders
including VicTrack, Public Transport Safety
Victoria, Department of Transport Victoria,
Transport Accident Commission, VicRoads
and V/Line. The team’s research aims
to provide an in-depth understanding
of the road user, environmental and
infrastructure-related factors that influence
safety and performance at rail level
crossings. The contracts were signed in
2011 and a number of studies began,
many using our driving simulator and
on-road test vehicles to better understand
driver behaviour at passive and active
crossings. Findings will be used to develop
innovative countermeasures that will
u
improve safety.
Karen Stephan GradCert
Biostats, MPH, BSc(Hons)
Research Fellow
Dr Vanessa Beanland
PhD, BAppSc (Psych), BSc
(Hons), GradCertInfMgt
Research Fellow
35
Human Factors
Situation Awareness Across Road
User Groups
In 2011, Paul Salmon, Mike Lenné and
Dr Guy Walker (Heriot Watt University, UK)
obtained funding through the Australian
Research Council’s Discovery program to
explore situation awareness across
drivers, cyclists, motorcyclists and
pedestrians and how road design can
better support awareness across these
four distinct road user groups. The threeyear research program involves the use
of on-road and simulator-based studies
to generate a model of situation awareness
for road systems and produce and test
new road designs, such as intersections,
which facilitate awareness across all
road users.
Motorcycle Safety
The 2-wheeler behaviour and safety
(2-be-safe) project is a collaborative
European Union study that aims to
design and implement a broad-ranging
research program that produces in-depth
knowledge of motorcycle rider behaviour,
performance, and safety. Funded by
the European Commission, the project
is coordinated by the French National
Institute for Transport and Safety Research
(INRETS) and administered by European
Transport Research. It involves researchers
from 26 European institutes and
universities, all of whom have extensive
experience with, and expertise in,
motorcycle safety and access to existing
motorcycle crash databases. MUARC
involvement in the project is supported by
an NHMRC-EU grant obtained by Mike
Lenné in 2009.
MUARC involvement in two major
activities was completed in 2011. The
first was the report on effectiveness of a
range of treatments to improve motorcycle
conspicuity. The second work package,
led by MUARC, involved the exploration
of rider attitudes and experiences with
on-board technologies. These reports are
being finalised for delivery to the European
Commission.
Dr Jessica Edquist
PhD, Grad Dip(Psych), BSc
Research Fellow
36
www.monash.edu/miri
The UPLOADS project is developing and trialling an injury surveillance system for the outdoor
activity industry.
Prescription drugs and road safety
Collaborating with researchers at the
University of Sydney and Royal Prince
Alfred Hospital, Mike Lenné is a chief
investigator on an NHMRC funded
project that is exploring the effects
of therapeutic doses of prescription
codeine and benzodiazepines, alone
and in combination with alcohol, on
simulated driving performance. Analysis
of the pilot study results from 2011
revealed significant impairment in driving
performance in a dose-related manner
and with poly-drug use. These preliminary
results were presented at the Australasian
Professional Society on Alcohol and other
Drugs (APSAD) conference in Hobart in
November.
Understanding and Preventing Led
Outdoor Accidents Data System
(UPLOADS)
Led by chief investigators Paul Salmon and
Mike Lenné, and Erin Cassell and Caroline
Finch from MIRI, the UPLOADS project
is a collaboration between MUARC and
the Australian led outdoor activity industry
funded through the ARC Linkage program.
The project, which began in 2011, involves
the development and trial of an activity
accident and injury surveillance system,
the conduct of an in-depth study of led
outdoor accidents and the development
of a systems model of led outdoor activity
accident causation. The overall aim of
the project is to provide the led outdoor
activity industry with a valid, theoretically
Dr Ashleigh Filtness
Dr Natassia Goode
Margaret Trotter
Ashley Verdoorn
Research Fellow
Research Fellow
Research Assistant
Technical Officer
PhD, Grad Dip(Psych), BSc
PhD, BA
BA(Hons)
BSc
2011 Annual Report
the errors made when distracted did not
differ substantially from those made when
not distracted, suggesting that, rather than
making different types of errors, distracted
drivers simply make a greater number of
the same error types they make when not
distracted.
The Human Factors team is involved in a four-year level crossing safety study project. Newspix/
Bruce Magilton.
underpinned system for collecting and
analysing accident and injury data,
the outputs of which will enhance the
industry’s understanding of injury and
injury causing incidents and inform the
development of more effective
accident and injury prevention efforts.
During 2011 the research team began to
build the surveillance system by examining
the potential use of various theoretical
frameworks and accident analysis
methods. This research was presented
at the Australia Camps Association
National Conference and also the
International Camping Congress in
Hong Kong.
Monash Researcher Accelerator Program
The Monash Researcher Accelerator
Program (MRAP), which supports
a cohort of Monash’s leading early
career researchers, provided a valuable
opportunity for Paul Salmon and Kristie
Young to conduct fundamental research
during 2011. Paul and Kristie conducted
on-road studies to examine the relationship
between driver distraction and driving
errors and the compatibility of situation
awareness across different road users.
Distraction and Driving Errors
Despite an immense research effort
devoted to studying driver distraction over
the past two decades, there is still much
to understand about its relationship with
other aspects of human cognition and
behaviour, such as its relationship with
driving errors. Using MUARC’s advanced
On-Road Test Vehicle (ORTeV), the project
examined the types of driving errors that
distraction contributes to and the role of
system-wide factors (for example, road
design) in moderating the distraction and
error relationship. A total of 23 participants
drove a pre-determined nine-kilometre
urban route whilst their behaviour was
recorded using methods including
observation, verbal protocol analysis,
FaceLAB eye tracking, and various driving
performance measures. The study found
that drivers were significantly more likely
to make errors when distracted, although
driving errors were also prevalent when
not distracted. Interestingly, the nature of
The Compatibility of Situation Awareness
Across Road Users
It is becoming evident that current
approaches to road safety, road
system design, and indeed research,
are reductionist, individualistic, and do
not acknowledge the fact that today’s
road systems are used by a variety of
diverse road user groups. Paul Salmon’s
research is underpinned by the notion
that further road safety achievements
can only be made through a systems
approach to road safety that considers
all road user groups, not one in isolation.
This study investigated the nature and
compatibility of situation awareness across
four road user groups: drivers, cyclists,
motorcyclists and pedestrians. The aim
was to test the assumption that different
road users interpret the same road
situations differently, and to explore the
extent to which these interpretations are
compatible with one another. The study
involved participants from each group
negotiating the same pre-defined route
using an instrumented car/motorcycle/
bicycle (pedestrians negotiated three
intersections along the route on foot).
Based on verbal protocols provided enroute, a network analysis procedure was
used to describe and analyse participants’
situation awareness. The analysis revealed
important differences both in the content
and structure of each road user groups’
situation awareness, along with evidence
of incompatibilities at intersections
whereby drivers, motorcyclists and cyclists
may come into conflict with one another.
NHMRC Fellowship
Paul Salmon was awarded an NHMRC
post-doctoral training fellowship (public
health) in 2010. This prestigious fellowship
will provide the support for Paul to
continue his innovative research into
situation awareness and to explore its
measurement and application across many
areas in road transport. In 2011, Paul
continued his fellowship research, which
involved using on-road studies to examine
situation awareness across a range of road
user types.
Simulation and On-Road Testing
Repeat Speeders Trial
Another on-road trial continued in 2011
was the Repeat Speeders Trial, which was
37
Human Factors
sponsored and coordinated by VicRoads.
The project is due to be completed in the
first half of 2012. The aim of the trial is
to test and evaluate two interventions to
assist recidivist speeders to reduce their
speeding behaviour. The first intervention is
the fitting of an advisory Intelligent Speed
Adaptation (ISA) system, which is fitted
along with a data logger to approximately
50 participant vehicles for three months.
The data logger will remain in place for a
further two months to assess if any effects
of the ISA system persist after its removal.
A control group comprising approximately
50 participants will also participate. These
drivers will have their vehicle equipped with
the data logger only for five months. The
second intervention involves approximately
250 drivers attending a two-part
behavioural intervention program to assist
drivers to develop strategies and plans
to reduce their speeding behaviour. A
control group of approximately 250 drivers
is being used to compare the effects of
the behaviour change program on selfreported speeding. All participants involved
in both interventions will complete pre- and
post-intervention surveys designed to
detect changes in self-reported speeding
behaviour and attitudes as a result of the
interventions.
Strategic advice and
consultancies
work on the Operational Pilot, as it moves
into the broader Stage Two.
Police appointment belts, police vehicle
seating systems and cabin layouts,
and their roles in injuries to police –
Phase Two
MUARC has been engaged by the Police
Association of New South Wales over
the past three years to conduct research
into the contribution of police vehicle seat
design, vehicle cabin layout, and police
appointments to musculoskeletal injuries
and pain in police officers who must travel
in a vehicle for work. Work completed
in 2011 included a literature review of
vehicle cabin layouts and the placement
of in-vehicle police equipment on driving
safety and operational effectiveness, as
well as a review of vehicle seat features
in terms of their contribution to occupant
comfort and safety. A survey of experts
in vehicle seat design, ergonomics, and
crashworthiness was also conducted to
explore optimal features of driver and front
passenger vehicle seat design, in order to
best accommodate occupants’ carriage of
police appointments, and minimise injuries
from the interaction between vehicle
crashworthiness features and police
appointments in the event of a crash.
Driver Distraction Regulatory Reform
In 2011, the team developed for VicRoads,
a set of evidence-based recommendations
for distraction regulatory reform in Australia
to improve safety outcomes. This project
used a range of methods to formulate
evidence-based recommendations for
regulatory change. These include a brief
review of MUARC’s previous distraction
reviews, a review of current distractionbased legislation in place in Australia, and
consultation with representatives from
state and federal jurisdictions, including
members of the Australian Road Rules
Maintenance Group (ARRMG), to discuss
the suitability and enforceability of current
legislation and the feasibility of proposed
changes and additions to existing
legislation.
Investigation into the effects of lowlevel blood alcohol content (BAC) on
motorcycling performance
Throughout the year, the Human Factors
team conducted research on behalf of
Queensland’s Department of Transport and
Main Roads looking at the effects of lowdose (e.g. less than .05% BAC) alcohol
on motorcycling performance and the
associated crash risks. The purpose of the
overall research project was to investigate
the effects of low doses of alcohol on
motorcycle riding performance and
behaviour, in order to explore the potential
benefits of introducing a zero, or reduced,
blood alcohol content requirement for all
riders in Queensland. There were three
components to the research: 1) a literature
review and review of hospital emergency
department admissions relating to low
dose BACs, 2) a motorcycle simulator
study and balance assessment with
novice and experienced riders, and 3) the
development of motorcycle rider crash
risk curves and estimation of cost-benefits
of introducing a reduced legal BAC
requirement.
Operational Pilot of Electronic Work
Diaries (EWDs) in heavy vehicles
The Human Factors team was engaged
to provide both quantitative and qualitative
research methodologies to address the
broad aims of the Operational Pilot of
Electronic Work Diaries (EWDs), which
is being administered by NSW’s Roads
and Maritime Services. The broad aims of
the Operational Pilot are: 1) to assess the
usability of the process and procedures
for EWD systems by key user groups,
including drivers, transport operators,
enforcement officers, and back office
auditors; 2) to investigate and inform the
unresolved technical issues and questions
related to the proposed specifications
and policies; and 3) to assess the
effectiveness, in terms of compliance to
heavy vehicle driver fatigue regulations,
of the EWD systems currently used by
drivers and transport operators. During
2011, the Human Factors team conducted
activities including: 1) attitudinal surveys
of heavy vehicle drivers, operators, and
enforcement officers, 2) focus groups
with a selection of NSW and Victorian
enforcement officers, 3) driver/operator/
EWD system provider targeted interviews
with heavy vehicle drivers, operators,
and EWD device manufacturers, and 4)
an expert heuristic evaluation of available
EWDs. In 2012, the team will continue
38
www.monash.edu/miri
Defence operations and training
The Human Factors team continued to
conduct research and provide advice in
support of the Australian Army, through the
Land Operations Division of the Defence
Science and Technology Organisation.
Using our on-road test vehicle the team
evaluated the impact of motion on the
operation of in-vehicle touch screen
battle management systems. Through
understanding how motion influences
operator interaction with the interface it
was possible to make recommendations
for enhanced use of the system and
future design improvements. In a
second activity the team conducted a
preliminary analysis of the likely training
gap between vehicle training programs
and the projected new armoured vehicle
capability. Through the application of
contemporary human factors methods,
and our own novel training technology
model, it was possible to indicate where
the training gaps would be, including the
training requirements associated with new
technologies and systems and the nontechnical and teamwork skills required for
crews to effectively operate. Due to various
constraints imposed on training delivery
this preliminary research indicates that
training technologies, such as computerbased training and simulation, could play a
key role in supporting training outcomes.
Presentations
Team members presented results from
their research at many national and
international conferences, including the
2011 Australasian Road Safety Research,
Policing and Education Conference
2011 Annual Report
(Canberra, ACT), the Second International
Conference on Driver Distraction and
Inattention, and the 55th Annual Meeting
of the Human Factors and Ergonomics
Society. Team members presented many
conference and journal papers which
are available in another section of this
Annual Report. Several presentations that
were not associated with peer-reviewed
publications included the following:
• Beanland, V., & Pammer, K. (2011).
Minds on the blink: The relationship
between inattentional blindness and
attentional blink [Abstract]. In A.
Politis, V. Mrowinski, & N. Voudouris
(Eds.), Combined Abstracts of 2011
Australian Psychology Conferences
(p. 5). Melbourne, Australia: Australian
Psychological Society.
• Beanland, V., & Pammer, K. (2011).
Failures of visual awareness:
Inattentional blindness and attentional
blink [Abstract]. i-Perception, 2(4), 227.
doi:10.1068/ic227
• Pammer, K., Beanland, V., Carter, I., &
Allen, R. (2011). Distraction improves
visual attention in inattentional blindness
and attentional blink [Abstract].
Perception, 40(ECVP Suppl), 190.
• Edquist, J. Roadside advertising:
guidelines around the world. Invited
presentation to Austroads workshop on
roadside advertising regulation, Sydney,
NSW, 14 December.
• Edquist, J. Puffin crossing technology:
risks, benefits, and recommendations
for implementation. Presentation to RTA
NSW, Sydney, 23 May.
• Filtness, A. J., Reyner, L. A., & Horne,
J. A. (2011 October). One night CPAP
withdrawal impairs performance at a
driving simulator task faster than sleep
restriction to five hours with treatment
in OSA patients. Poster presentation,
World Sleep Conference, Kyoto, Japan.
• Filtness, A. J., Reyner, L. A., & Horne,
J. A. (2011 October). Prevalence of risk
factors for undiagnosed obstructive
sleep apnoea is high in truck drivers on
UK roads. Poster presentation, World
Sleep Conference, Kyoto, Japan.
• Filtness A.J., Rudin-Brown, C.M.
(2011, July) Injuries to police officers
associated with police vehicle travel:
Vehicle seat design. International
MasterClass 2011 in Biomechanics
for Design for Injury Prevention,
Loughborough University.
• Goode, N., Lenné, M. & Salmon, P.
(2011). The impact of on-road motion
on BMS touch screen device operation.
Poster. Defence Science Symposium,
Melbourne, Australia.
• Goode, N. & Beckmann, J.F. (2011).
The relationship between structural
knowledge and controlling a dynamic
system: The effect of system
complexity. Oral Presentation. Australian
Conference on Personality and
Individual Differences, Hobart, Australia.
• Salmon, P. M., Young, K. L.,
Cornelissen, M. (2011). Connect 4?
The compatibility of driver, motorcyclist,
cyclist and pedestrian situation
awareness. HFES Euro, Leeds, UK,
October.
• Salmon, P. M. (2011). Understanding
and preventing accidents during led
outdoor activities in Australia: Where
have we been, where are we now, and
where are we going? Australia Camps
Association Conference, Bacchus
Marsh, 2 June.
• Salmon, P. M. (2011). Understanding
and preventing accidents during led
outdoor activities in Australia. CC
Congress, Hong Kong, 7 November.
Team members have presented at a number of conferences on the prevention of accidents in led outdoor activities.
39
Injury Analysis and Data
T
he collection, management, analysis, interpretation and presentation of data underpin a wide range
of critical research areas in the safety sciences. The Injury Analysis and Data (IAD) Team comprises
researchers with specialist training in the fields of numerical and behavioural sciences and has a strong
focus on safety science research requiring a high degree of numerical acumen. The team focuses primarily on
road safety research but also has broad experience in many other areas of safety research.
Associate Director
– MUARC
Dr Stuart Newstead
PhD, MSc, BSc(Hons)
Senior Research Fellow
40
www.monash.edu/miri
Professor Max
Cameron PhD, MSc, BSc
Adjunct Professor
Dr Michael Fitzharris
PhD, BA, BSc(Hons)(Psych),
Senior Research Fellow
Belinda Clark
BA, BBSc(Hons)
Research Fellow
2011 Annual Report
Expertise
The IAD team has high-level specialist
training in numerical sciences
including applied statistics and applied
mathematics as well as training in
mechanical engineering and psychology.
The team has specific topic-related
expertise in
• safety program and policy evaluation
• provision of policy and strategy advice,
particularly in police enforcement
programs
• vehicle safety rating evaluation and
monitoring through analysis of realworld data
• the design, collection, management,
linkage and high-level statistical
analysis of injury data systems.
The team also has expertise in providing
high-level statistical analysis and research
design advice both within and outside
MUARC.
Resources
The IAD team has physical and intellectual
resources at its disposal to facilitate
high-quality quantitative safety research.
The team also has a range of highlevel methodological expertise in safety
research including
• experimental design and sample size
estimation
• design and conduct of surveys
• database design, management and
processing
• database linkage
• high-level statistical analysis including
the full range of modern statistical
techniques
• economic analysis
• statistical consulting and statistical
software.
The team also has significant topic-based
expertise in a range of safety issues with
particular focus on
• road safety program evaluation
• vehicle safety evaluation, monitoring
and policy setting
• police enforcement programs including
policy and practice advice
• vulnerable and high-risk road user
safety and countermeasures
• injury data analysis.
Databases
The IAD team holds or has used a wide
range of databases relevant to road
safety and broader public health research.
Researchers have also developed an
in-depth knowledge on the content,
management, manipulation and analysis
of these data sources along with a clear
understanding of the strengths and
limitations in the use of each for safety
research. Databases include
• comprehensive police reported road
crash data from each Australian state
and territory and road crash databases
from New Zealand, United Kingdom,
France, Germany, Finland and the
United States. Police databases from
Australia and New Zealand have been
enhanced with detailed vehicle make
and model information via an IAD
team developed process of vehicle
identification number decoding
• database of claims to the Transport
Accident Commission for injury
compensation from transport-related
crashes. This data has been linked
to the Victorian police reported crash
data to enhance the capability to relate
crash circumstances with detailed
injury outcomes from the claims data
• driver licensing and infringement data
linked to police reported crash data
• snapshots of vehicle registers from
some Australian jurisdictions and New
Zealand enhanced with detailed vehicle
make and model information via the
IAD VIN decoding process
• vehicle inspection data from the
New Zealand Warrant of Fitness test
that can be used to estimate vehicle
travel through odometer readings and
related to broad registered owner
characteristics such as age, gender
and broad postcode of residence.
This data has also been enhanced
with detailed vehicle make and model
information from the New Zealand
vehicle register
• the MUARC road safety
countermeasure monitor data system,
which collects information on key road
safety activity outputs, socio-economic
and exposure, factors in Victoria
influencing road safety outcomes.
Road safety activity output data covers
major enforcement programs such as
alcohol breath testing, camera-based
automated enforcement and road
safety-related publicity data. Socioeconomic and exposure data include
labour force statistics, an alcohol
consumption index, population data
and travel estimates derived from fuel
sales data.
NB: Use of many databases is governed
by approvals from the authorities
supplying the data. Permission from the
data supplier is generally required for use
of any data in new research projects.
Highlights and Outcomes
Vehicle safety research
The Vehicle Safety Research Group
Program
During 2011 the IAD team continued
to conduct a strong program of vehicle
u
Angelo D’Elia
Michelle Scully
Karen Stephan GradCert
Linda Watson
Kathy Diamantopoulou
Research Fellow
Research Fellow
Research Fellow
Research Fellow
Senior Statistician
BE(Hons), BSc(Hons)
BBSc(Hons)
Biostats, MPH, BSc(Hons)
BSc(Hons)
MSc, BSc(Hons)
41
Injury Analysis and Data
safety focused research, based on the
analysis of extensive real world data
sources including police crash reports
and injury insurance compensation claims
across Australia and New Zealand. The
program is supported by 15 sponsors
comprising federal and state government
agencies and motoring clubs across
Australia and New Zealand now working
under the title of the Vehicle Safety
Research Group (VSRG). Major 2011
outcomes include the annual Used Car
Safety Ratings, research into novice
drivers, and the Australasian New Car
Assessment Program.
The annual Used Car Safety Ratings
are a major output from the IAD Team
research program that provides consumer
advice on relative vehicle safety in the
event of a crash. The Used Car Safety
The Used Car Safety Ratings brochure
provides consumers with information on the
safety of vehicles in the event of a crash.
Laurie Budd
MBiostat
Research Officer
42
www.monash.edu/miri
Ratings rate vehicles by make and
model on three major dimensions of
injury protection, (1) their ability to
protect their own occupant in a crash
(crashworthiness), (2) their ability to
protect other road users with which
they collide (aggressivity), and (3) the
total secondary safety index which gives
the combined crashworthiness and
aggressivity performance of a vehicle
with appropriate weighting given to
each component based on its relative
importance in leading to overall trauma
outcomes in a crash.
Australian and New Zealand road
authorities and motoring clubs make the
ratings available for consumers intending
to purchase a used vehicle to encourage
safety as a priority in selecting a vehicle.
In Victoria, the ratings contribute
significantly to the vehicle safety
information available at the Transport
Accident Commission’s howsafeisyourcar.
com.au. The 2011 ratings update was
launched in July in Victoria by the State
Government Minster for Youth Affairs,
Ryan Smith, senior members of Victoria
Police and representative from RACV,
VicRoads and the TAC who jointly
sponsor the research program along with
the other 12 partner organisations from
across Australia and New Zealand.
Many Australasian jurisdictions
restrict novice drivers from driving highpowered vehicles in their first few years
of driving, while those that do not, such
as Western Australia and New Zealand,
are considering the benefits of doing so.
To date, justification for imposing vehicle
restrictions on novice drivers has been
based on extremely limited evidence
as to the likely road trauma reductions
that would result from the initiative.
Using police reported crash data from
across Australia and New Zealand and
travel exposure data from New Zealand,
MUARC completed a comprehensive
evaluation of the likely road safety benefits
of restricting novice drivers from driving
high powered vehicles. It established
that the risk of a novice driver being
Debra Judd
DipEd, BAppSci
Data Entry
Kim Woolley
in a crash involving injury was almost
doubled when in a vehicle designated
as high-powered even after controlling
for the generally elevated crash risk of
high-powered vehicles when driven by
experienced drivers. Despite establishing
the elevated crash risk of novice drivers
in high-powered vehicles, the road safety
benefits of restricting novice drivers
from these vehicles was estimated to
be small due to the low prevalence of
novice drivers driving such vehicle in
jurisdictions currently without restrictions
and before introduction of the restrictions
in jurisdictions where they are currently
imposed. Both the Western Australian
and New Zealand Governments have
used key findings from the study in
deciding whether novice driver vehicle
restrictions will be implemented in these
jurisdictions.
The Australasian New Car Assessment
Program (ANCAP) is a key source of
information to consumers on the relative
safety of new vehicles available in the
Australasian market. It assesses relative
vehicle safety through conducting a series
of controlled laboratory crash tests using
anthropomorphic dummies in the vehicles
to assess injury outcomes. Significant
research has been undertaken to assess
the relationship between the ANCAP
assessments of relative vehicle safety and
those derived from the analysis of real
world data. A number of papers identified
the potential to improve the relationship
through changing the ANCAP scoring
protocol. Responding to this, the IAD
team completed a project during 2011
examining the different ways of re-scoring
the results of the ANCAP test procedures
to derive a summary measure that better
correlated with vehicle crashworthiness
assessments based on real world data.
Results of the analysis identified a new
summary ANCAP score that had a
substantially better correlation with real
world crashworthiness assessments but
also considered the potential conflicts
adopting such a scoring system might
have with the broader objectives and
CCRN, MN (Critical Care),
BN(Hons) Research Nurse
Ron Laemmie
Crash investigator
2011 Annual Report
mechanisms of influence of the ANCAP
program. Results of the research were
presented to the ANCAP Board in
July where they generated significant
discussion about the future directions and
marketing of the ANCAP program and
its relationship with the Used Car Safety
Ratings program.
Understanding key mechanisms
influencing private buyer vehicle selection
Based on MUARC research (Newstead et
al, 2004), the 2008-2010 action plan for
the road safety strategy states that if all
Victorian motorists updated their vehicles
to the safest in market group, road
trauma would be immediately reduced
by up to one-third. Encouraging all new
vehicle buyers to purchase the safest
possible vehicle in each class, coupled
with natural improvements in overall
vehicle safety seen over time, offers the
potential for vehicle safety improvements
to contribute to over half the targeted
savings in deaths and serious injuries
aimed for in state and national road safety
strategies.
In the past decade surveys have
shown that there has been a significant
increase in the level of private consumer
interest in the safety performance of
vehicles. This is likely to be at least in
part due to campaigns such as ANCAP
and the UCSRs along with associated
campaigns and information. Despite this
increased interest, the role that vehicle
safety plays in consumers’ purchase
decisions and the ultimate priority it is
given is poorly understood.
This project aimed to better
understand the key mechanisms that
drive consumer choice in vehicle selection
and validate this against known profiles
in vehicle ownership identified in vehicle
registration patterns.
The project was conducted under the
MUARC Baseline Research Program and
was conducted in four phases:
Phase 1 was an analytical phase
to establish the profile of new vehicle
purchases by private buyers through the
analysis of relevant registration and crash
data sources.
Phase 2 involved a survey which
targeted private new/used vehicle
consumers both in the pre and post
vehicle purchase phases to establish
purchasing behaviours and priorities and
how these change across the time of
vehicle purchasing activity.
Phase 3 involved a review of the
Swedish situation, where they appear
to have achieved a good safety culture
amongst private consumers, as well as
manufacturers, to explore how such a
culture might be established in Australia.
Phase 4, the final phase, was a further
analytical phase to validate the results of
the survey against real world consumer
behaviour as well as examine the potential
benefits of changing key buyer behaviours
with respect to safety.
Results of the analysis have
established some important disconnects
between private vehicle buyer intentions
and ultimate behaviour. Although private
consumers often give high priority to
vehicle safety in their pre-purchase
priorities, all too often this does not
translate into an actual safe vehicle
purchase. The research results identify
a number of priority areas for action in
marketing vehicle safety information that
will be fed into strategies being prepared
by the key agencies.
Road safety data systems
Establishment of a Linked Road Safety
Database with Serious Injury Measures
for Victoria: This project involved MUARC
collaboration with the TAC to establish
a linked TAC claims and Victoria Police
crash dataset for use in road safety
research and for monitoring trends
in serious injury in Victoria. Following
specification of the content of the
database, an ongoing linkage process
by the TAC was established. In addition,
a review of available measures of injury
severity was completed and the most
appropriate measures of serious injury
that can be derived from the TAC linked
dataset were identified. It was clear
that more than one measure is required
to properly articulate the full range of
important injury outcome aspects and to
monitor trends consistently over time.
Development of an Enhanced Road
Safety Information System for Western
Australia: This project focused on
developing a framework for a road safety
database system to inform the full range
of data focused road safety questions.
Specifically, the project aimed to define
the content and scope of an ideal road
safety data system based on the current
“Safe System” paradigm for developing
road safety policy and countermeasures,
to compare this with the current road
safety data systems available in WA and
to map a path for translating the current
system into the ideal one. As part of
meeting these objectives, the team
• developed a conceptual framework for
defining an ideal, comprehensive and
integrated road safety data system to
support the Safe System paradigm
• determined specific road safety
requirements for WA from the
contextual framework
• previewed existing road safety data
systems in WA including linkages
between datasets
• identified key requirements for moving
from the current WA road safety data
system to the ideal system
• developed requirements for a multiuser database accss system based on
the ideal system proposed.
Moving towards a comprehensive and
integrated road safety data system should
result in improvement in the quality,
completeness, relevance and timeliness
of road crash and injury data collection,
including the consistency of information
from various sources and elimination of
bias due to organisational responsibilities.
Other benefits of an enhanced road safety
information system as defined by this
research include
• the ability to easily monitor and report
on key performance targets endorsed
by Government as part of WA’s
“Towards Zero” Road Safety Strategy
2008-2020
• facilitation of a range of new cutting
edge research to inform Safe System
practice capitalising on the enhanced
scope and improved linkage of the
available data
• assisting the development of new
and highly informed road safety policy
through the enhanced evidence base,
additional reporting and improved data
quality
• the capacity to answer ad hoc queries
by key agencies, researchers, policy
makers and members of the public
• the ability to use for specific planning
and research purposes beyond road
safety including infrastructure and
transport planning.
Results of the project were presented
to the Western Australian Road Safety
Council in November and are already
in use assisting the Office of Road
Safety to identify a comprehensive list of
intermediate outcome measures to give
leading measures of road safety strategy
performance in WA.
Countermeasure evaluation
Evaluation of the Crash Effects of the
Fixed Digital Speed and Red Light
Camera Program
During 2011 the team completed
a world-first evaluation of the crash
effects of combined speed and red light
enforcement at intersections using fixed
digital technologies based on a sample of
cameras operating at 79 intersections in
Melbourne since the mid-2000s. Previous
u
international studies had queried the
43
Injury Analysis and Data
efficacy of camera-based red light only
enforcement given they led to reductions
in some crash types but increases in
others. It was of interest in this study to
see whether the combination of speed
and red light enforcement at intersections
produced more consistent benefits
Analysis results estimated 26 per cent
reduction in casualty crashes associated
with the fixed digital speed and red light
cameras and their associated signage
across the whole intersections where
they are located. Reductions on the
intersection leg where the camera is
located were estimated to be almost
double this whilst a 44 per cent
reduction in red light running related
crashes specifically was also estimated.
Importantly, the study identified no
increase in any crash types, particularly
rear end crashes as had been observed in
the previous red light camera studies.
Results of the study were quoted
extensively in the review of the Victorian
traffic camera program undertaken by the
Attorney General of Victoria. Results from
the study have been directly responsible
for a Government decision to expand the
fixed digital speed and red light camera to
a further 80 intersections.
Evaluation of the Crash Effects and
Economic Benefits of Victoria’s Safe
Roads Infrastructure Program
In May 2004, the Victorian Government
announced $130 million funding for the
first stage of the Safer Road Infrastructure
Program (SRIP1) to support the “Arrive
Alive” road safety strategy that aimed for
a 20 per cent reduction in fatalities and
serious injuries by 2007. In recognition
that SRIP1 alone would not achieve the
20 per cent target, in 2005, the Victorian
Government announced $110 million
funding for a second stage (SRIP2),
focusing on intersection crashes. SRIP2
involved the treatment of 250 sites.
Following the successful implementation
of the Safer Road Infrastructure Program
Stages 1 and 2, in May 2006 the Victorian
Government announced the allocation of
funds to implement the third stage of the
Safer Road Infrastructure Program. SRIP3
is a 10-year program (2007-2017) with an
indexed funding of $722 million.
The IAD team has undertaken a
comprehensive evaluation of the crash
effects and economic benefits of each
of the SRIP stages representing final
evaluation for Stages 1 and 2 and
preliminary evaluation of the initial projects
in Stage 3. Evaluation has focused on
estimating the effectiveness of SRIP by
measuring the extent to which treatments
were associated with reduced number
of casualty crashes and serious casualty
crashes at treated sites and comparing
the monetary value to society of these
crash savings to the cost of implementing
and maintaining the SRIP treatments
to derive net economic worth. As well
as providing program level estimates of
effectiveness, the study also estimated
reductions in crash frequency for different
types of specific treatments.
Results have been presented to key
VicRoads managers responsible for
formulating and implementing the
SRIP program. These managers will
use the results to formulate future road
infrastructure improvement programs,
including the remainder of SRIP3,that
deliver the largest crash reductions from
the available funds.
The annual Used Car Safety Ratings are a major output from the Injury Analysis and Data team. The research program provides consumer
advice on relative vehicle safety in the event of a crash.
44
www.monash.edu/miri
2011 Annual Report
A targeted review of the links between
blood alcohol limits, alcohol sales and
advertising on road trauma
The Royal Automobile Club (RAC) of
Western Australia contracted the CurtinMonash Accident Research Centre
(C-MARC) to provide a critical review of
the relevant literature on the links between
blood alcohol limits, alcohol sales and
advertising on alcohol-related road
crashes. The aims of the review were 1)
to document the effects of lower (less
than the current legal 0.05 % BAC) doses
of alcohol on road user performance and
behaviour; 2) to document the effects of
low doses of alcohol on road crash rates
and outcomes; and 3) to review national
and international published research
studies linking the influence of alcohol
trading hours, sales, and advertising on
road crash rates and outcomes.
It was concluded that alcohol-related
crash risk and the associated costs
are significant and ongoing road safety
issues in Australia. With the successful
adoption of zero BAC limits for learner
and probationary drivers and riders
across Australia, it may now be an
opportune time to consider a longerterm solution: to extend the zero BAC
legislation for all drivers into their full
licence period. Such a solution would only
be effective, however, if the public were
supportive of such legislation and if it was
effectively enforced. Further research into
appropriate social marketing messages
would be needed before such restrictions
could be put in place.
Police enforcement
Identifying traffic enforcement practices
and opportunities in Western Australia
During 2011 the Office of Road Safety
in Western Australia contracted the
Curtin-Monash Accident Research
Centre (C-MARC) to conduct a threephase project that aimed to identify
traffic enforcement practices in Western
Australia and the opportunities for
improvement reflecting best practice
elsewhere and scientific evidence of
effectiveness. Phase 1 was a review
of effective Australian and international
practice in traffic enforcement. It
also reviewed the extended role that
traffic police could play in the Safe
System approach to road safety. IAD
team members made a substantial
contribution to this phase based on the
extensive reviews they had conducted
in 2008-2009 to develop a new traffic
enforcement model for the Victoria Police.
Phase 1 led to a number of
recommendations for WA Police based
on the major operational conclusions from
the research.
Phase 2 was workshops with
WA traffic police to identify issues
and opportunities based on practice
elsewhere, as well as the unique
characteristics of WA traffic policing.
Workshops were conducted in Albany,
Karratha and Perth (two). Phase 3
brought together the external and local
experience to identify opportunities for
improved traffic enforcement practice and
any further research and investigation
necessary in WA. The workshops were
exploratory research of a qualitative
nature and the findings were not
necessarily representative of the whole of
WA Police.
Policy advice on speed cameras
Professor Max Cameron was engaged by
the NSW Audit Office to provide expert
advice to the audit team during their 2011
review of speed cameras in NSW.
Presentations
• Clark, B, ‘Hooning’ around: A focus
group exploration into the effectiveness
of Vehicle Impoundment legislation.
Presentation, Australasian Road Safety
Research, Policing and Education
Conference, November, Perth
• D’Elia, A, Alternative measures of
serious injury for national road safety
strategy target setting, Presentation,
Australasian road safety research,
policing and education conference,
November, Perth.
• D’Elia, A, Establishment of a robust
measure of serious injury, Presentation
to Chinese road safety delegation,
October, Melbourne.
• Newstead, S. Evaluation of the
Effectiveness of Vehicle Side Impact
Airbag Systems in Australasia,
Presentation at the Monash Injury
Research Institute Researcher
Seminar, June
• Newstead, S. Potential for Improving
the Relationship between ANCAP
Ratings and Real World Data Derived
Crashworthiness Ratings Presentation
to the ANCAP Board, July
• Newstead, S. Overview of the
MUARC Injury Analysis and Data
Team, Presentation to Indonesian
Government Delegation, Monash Injury
Research Institute, August
• Newstead, S. Quantifying the Effects
of Safer Fleet Vehicle Purchases,
Presentation to the Innovation Group
Fleet Risk Seminar, August
• Newstead, S. Overview of the MUARC
Injury Analysis and Data Team,
Presentation to Chinese Government
Road Safety Delegation, Monash Injury
Research Institute, October
• Newstead, S., Potential for Improving
the Relationship between ANCAP
Ratings and Real World Data
Derived Crashworthiness Ratings,
Presentation, Australasian road safety
research, policing and education
conference, November, Perth.
• Newstead, S., Measuring the Influence
of the Road & Roadside in the Safe
System, Presentation, Australasian
road safety research, policing and
education conference, November,
Perth.
• Newstead, S. Evaluation of the Crash
Effects of Victoria’s Fixed Digital Speed
and Red Light Cameras, Presentation
to the TAC MARSCO Sub Board,
November
• Newstead, S. Evaluation of Victoria’s
Safer Roads infrastructure Program:
Stages 1, 2 and 3, Presentation to the
TAC MARSCO Sub Board, November1
• Newstead, S. Priorities in Vehicle
Safety – MUARC Perspectives
Presentation to the 2011 VicRoads
Vehicle Safety Planning Workshop,
December
45
Safe System Strategies
and Infrastructure
T
he Safe System Strategies and Infrastucture team strives to conduct high quality injury prevention
research for translation into practical policies, programs and actions capable of delivering major
reductions in severe trauma.
The safety performance of barriers is
one of the team’s research interests.
Associate
Director
MUARC
Dr Bruce
Corben
PhD,
MEngSc
(Trans), BSc
46
www.monash.edu/miri
Effie Hoareau
Dr Peter Hillard
PhD, BEng(Hons), ARSM
Senior Research Fellow
Dr David Logan
PhD, BE(Hons) Senior
Research Fellow
Nimmi Candappa
BEng(Civil)(Hons), BA(Jap)
Research Fellow
GradDip
(Stats&OpRes),
BSc,
Research
Fellow
2011 Annual Report
The main areas of focus for the team’s
work in 2011 were
• developing scientifically-based
management systems for practical,
efficient and strategic application of
high-impact initiatives
• creating low-risk traffic environments
for the most vulnerable road users,
namely, pedestrians, motorcyclists and
bicyclists
• identifying development and training
needs for newly-licensed and returning
motorcyclists.
The SSSI team comprises professional
and administrative support staff spanning
a variety of relevant backgrounds and
areas of expertise including
• road infrastructure design and
operation
• psychology
• mechanical engineering
• biomechanics and vehicle safety
• industrial traffic management and
safety
• statistical analysis
• physics, and
• strategy development and target
setting.
The team’s work includes identifying training needs for new and returning motorcyclists.
Expertise
The SSSI Team is a multidisciplinary
team comprised of a range of engineers
(including transport, civil, vehicle safety
and biomechanics), psychologists and
statisticians. The team has experience
in areas including identifying and
understanding road safety injury
mechanisms and risk factors, designing
and evaluating countermeasure programs
and translating new research knowledge
into policy and practice. The team
has specialist expertise in the areas
Sara Liu
BBSc, GradDip(Psych),
PostgradDip(Psych)
Research Assistant
of pedestrian and motorcyclist safety,
and collaborates on in-depth crash
investigations. Striving to meet the
principles underpinning the Safe
System vision ensures a high degree
of innovation in the team’s research
outputs. The infrastructure development
and Safe System approach adopted
by the team has allowed many
professional relationships to form. It
has also allowed the development
of international projects in countries
including the Netherlands, New Zealand,
Canada and Saudi Arabia.
Christine Mulvihill
BBSc(Hons)
Research Fellow
Sujanie Peiris
BSc(Hons), BE(Hon)
Research Assistant
Resources
The team typically utilises a variety of
study methods including simulation,
mathematical modelling, database
development, survey administration
and analysis, on-road countermeasure
development and before-after evaluations
of treatments.
A key strength of the team is its
endeavours to develop practical ways to
meet the aspirations of Australasia’s Safe
System road safety vision. Opportunities
continue to be developed in the areas of u
Anna Devlin
BAppSc(Psych)(Hons)
Research Assistant
Elizabeth Varvaris
Administrative
Assistant
47
Safe System Strategies and Infrastructure
The team has worked on enhancing intersection design to meet Safe System standards.
road safety strategy development and
target-setting, infrastructure design and
the more effective management of travel
speeds. Translating new research findings
into practice also continues to receive
special attention to assist decisionmakers and system implementers derive
the maximum safety value from their
investments.
Highlights and Outcomes
The team’s focus on road safety strategy
development and target-setting continued
strongly in 2011, with work taking place at
international, national and individual state
and territory levels. Strategy development
for the new Australian National Road
Safety Strategy was completed mid-year.
A process of modelling allowed a series of
countermeasure packages to be compared
in terms of cost and safety impact.
Armed with this information, government
stakeholders were well placed to make
strategic decisions that helped to shape
the strategy. A project was also completed
for the New Zealand Transport Agency
that involved the creation of a new subset
of the METS model targeted specifically
at optimising road and roadside safety
investment strategies for the New Zealand
national and local road networks. Finally,
in conjunction with the George Institute in
NSW, a strategy modelling exercise was
carried out for the Northern Territory.
The SSSI team, in collaboration with
the Human Factors team, has continued
its work on enhancing intersection design
and operation with a view to meeting Safe
System standards. Having reviewed a
number of current and new intersection
designs to assess their compatibility
with Safe System principles, work is well
48 www.monash.edu/miri
advanced on assessing several promising
new designs, using MUARC’s driving
simulator, as well micro-traffic simulation
modelling to estimate operational impacts.
Other designs already in use overseas
have been endorsed for real-world trial and
suitable trial locations are being sought.
The trial will be evaluated according to
the extent to which Safe System design
criteria are being met.
Discussions have been held with
representatives of the Capital Region
Intersection Safety Partnership (CRISP)
based in Edmonton, Canada on the SSSI
team’s research activities in the area of
Safe System intersection design. These
discussions are expected to lead to the
commencement of a research translation
project with CRISP in 2012, the aim being
to identify new designs capable of making
a large and lasting reduction in injury
risk at Edmonton’s many major urban
intersections.
Together with Honda Australia Rider
Training, the team continued to recruit
motorcyclists for an on-road coaching
program for new motorcyclists. The
Motorcycle Safety Levy funded program
was developed by the team for Victorian
riders to assist in improving safety, and
is the first of its kind in the world. The
four-hour coaching program involves small
groups of riders receiving feedback and
advice on their riding by an experienced
rider coach. The George Institute will
evaluate the impact of the program on
safety outcomes following completion of
the trial in 2012.
Other team highlights in 2011 included
• significant editorial assistance to the
OECD in the completion of a major
report on making better provision
for walking within the context of a
sustainable transport system. The
OECD funded project brought together
the views of international experts from
a number of highly motorised European
countries. The report will make an
important contribution to safe, healthy
and sustainable forms of transport
• continuation of phase two of the
Enhanced Crash Investigation project.
This five-year VicRoads-funded
project entails in-depth investigation of
motorcycle and passenger car crashes
and focuses on the collection and
assessment of potential contributory
factors in crashes; collaborators on
the project include Victoria Police,
Ambulance Victoria, Country Fire
Authority, State Emergency Service,
Department of Health, local government
authorities and VicRoads regional staff.
Strategic advice and
consultancies
Members of the team continue to provide
high-level advice on traffic safety to our
clients and stakeholders in Australia and
New Zealand, as well international visitors
to MUARC.
A number of such activities were
undertaken in 2011 in NZ, with a particular
focus on innovation in motorcyclist
safety, and in road infrastructure design
and operation in ways that will drive
down the severe levels of road trauma
across the country. Among the most
promising opportunities to advise on
road safety challenges within Australasia,
was a collaboration with NZTA and Mr
Torsten Bergh of the Swedish Transport
Administration, who is an expert in
applying ‘Vision Zero’ road design
philosophy and practices. The outcomes
of a series of workshops show great
potential to cut road trauma if implemented
on a system-wide scale.
Further expert advice was required of
the SSSI Team for a major project funded
by the Transport Accident Commission.
Funds committed to the project amount to
approximately $700 million over 10 years.
It was deemed critical, therefore, that best
practice is brought to bear in terms of
effective innovative treatments and efficient
implementation procedures. To this end,
team members have continued to provide
support to local road safety agencies
based upon the best, most innovative and
impactful measures known to be in use
around the world.
Other activities, in addition to
infrastructure investment strategies,
included road safety strategy development
and target-setting in two Australian
2011 Annual Report
The team’s investigators regularly travel to crash scenes to inspect traffic environments.
states, and speed management advice to
agencies and interest groups, directly or
indirectly, responsible for the achievement
of road safety targets.
Presentations
• Candappa, N. Road Safety
Presentation, Lecture, Presentation to
second year civil engineering students,
Melbourne
• Candappa, N. Wire Rope Barrier
Effectiveness on Victorian Roads,
Australasian Road Safety Research,
Policing and Education Conference,
Perth, 6-9 November
• Corben, B. Fast Facts for Road Myths:
Speed limits are always safe speeds,
RiAus Road Safety Science Public
Event, Adelaide, 24 November
• Corben, B. Progress with Meeting
Victoria’s Intersection Safety Challenge,
Presentation to VicRoads, Melbourne,
• Corben, B. Safe Roads and
Roadsides: A glimpse into the future,
Australasian College of Road Safety
National Conference’, Melbourne, 1-2
September
• Corben, B. Safe Roads and Roadsides:
A glimpse into the future, Metropolitan
Traffic Education Centre AGM’,
Melbourne, 25 October
• Corben, B. The Critical Nature of Speed
and Speeding, Presentation to VicPol,
Melbourne, 14 July
• Corben, B. Towards a Safe Speed in
Inner Melbourne, Monash University
Accident Research Centre, Melbourne,
26 October
• Corben, B. Towards a Safe System:
The Challenge of Implementation,
Tranfinz Conference 2011: “Action”,
New Zealand, Hamilton, 16-18
November
• Hillard, P. Managing Increasing
Challenges in Motorcycle Safety: A
motorcycle crash case control study,
Australian Motorcycle Council Annual
Conference, Melbourne, 13 -14 August
• Hillard, P. & Peiris, S. The Feasibility of
Deriving Injury Assessment Reference
Functions Using Real World Crash
Data, Lecture, First International
MasterClass in Biomechanics
for Design for Injury Prevention,
Loughborough University, UK, July
• Liu, S. Application of a Two-Stage
Evaluation Process in the Development
of a Road Safety Action Plan for
Tasmania, Australasian Road Safety
Research, Policing and Education
Conference, Perth, 6-9 November
• Logan, D.B. Real World Crash
Investigations, Lecture, Presentation to
3rd year Paramedic Studies students,
Monash University Peninsula Campus,
July
49
Professor Brian Fildes
PhD, CProdE, BSc(Hons)
Professor
Matteo Rizzi
MEng, MTrans
PhD candidate
MUARC Europe (Prato)
Expertise
As an Adjunct Professor based at Monash
Prato Centre, Italy, Professor Brian Fildes
was engaged in various European, North
American and Middle East research and
associated activities during 2011.
Professor Fildes has a long history
of research and teaching in vehicle
engineering and driver behaviour. Since
moving to the Monash Prato Centre, he has
been involved in a number of international
injury prevention research, evaluation and
teaching activities in Europe.
Resources
MUARC Europe’s resources include people
based in Prato, as well as others based
in Melbourne who provide support for
MUARC Europe’s research activities. The
Italian team comprises Professor Fildes and
50
www.monash.edu/miri
local support and administration services in
Italy with dedicated research assistance in
Australia.
Highlights and Outcomes
Collaborative research
MUARC Europe aims to work
collaboratively with other research
organisations in Europe to enhance
available resources and ensure that its
activities are focused on critical issues in the
region. A number of ongoing projects were
undertaken and completed during 2011.
Benefits of ABS for Motorcycles: This
project was undertaken in collaboration with
Dr Jennie Oxley in Malaysia for VicRoads
in Melbourne during 2010 to review
likely effectiveness of Antilock Braking
Systems (ABS) for motorcycles. Earlier
research suggested ABS could provide a
positive impact upon serious motorcycle
accidents in Australia and elsewhere, and
the study set out to explain the technology
and the benefits already reported on its
effectiveness at preventing crashes and
injuries. A final report was presented to
VicRoads early in 2011 containing study
findings and recommendations including
the need for further international research.
The MUNDS Study: Work continued on
finalising the feasibility study analysis with
additional data provided by other partners.
In addition, a number of submissions
were prepared and submitted for future
funding through the ARC Linkage program
in Australia and the FIA Foundation in
France and the UK. Unfortunately, these
submissions were unsuccessful and
alternative sources of funding were explored
for further technology analyses to be
commenced in 2012.
2011 Annual Report
Euro NCAP Review: The consumer
advocacy group for new safer vehicles
in Europe (Euro NCAP) commissioned
Professor Fildes to undertake an analysis
of the safety potential of their whiplash
test protocol. A Stage 1 report was
submitted to Euro NCAP outlining possible
improvements and the need for additional
research. This study is expected to continue
into 2012.
UK Transport Study: Professor Fildes is
a team member of the UK Collaborative
Study aimed at ‘Improving Safety for Older
Public Transport Users’. The study is
managed by the Transport Safety Research
Centre (TSRC) at Loughborough University
and sets out to examine the scope of
injuries to older people while using public
transport. MUARC’s management of the
Victorian Emergency Medical System has
helped identify key issues of relevance
in Australia and is especially useful for
comparison with local data held in the UK.
Licensing Demerits: MUARC Europe
is also a partner in the Canadian study
examining young and older driver licensing
issues internationally. Professor Fildes
has provided a chapter of the report on a
jurisdictional overview to the report to help
guide the Ontario Ministry of Transport in
their present deliberations in these areas.
Academic activities
A key strategy for establishing MUARC in
Europe was to become engaged in a series
of academic activities in Europe.
Professor Fildes was offered a threeyear Visiting Professorship at the TSRC
at Loughborough to assist with research
projects and their graduate studies teaching
program in road safety. Consequently, he
visits the TSRC three times each year and
assists as required.
During 2011, Professor Fildes was
involved in the supervision of international
and local PhD graduate students. These
comprised Matteo Rizzi in Europe, Moza
Tahnoon in the UAE, and Clay Douglas
and Carlyn Muir in Australia. Two of these
students have since graduated.
Professor Fildes was involved in the
establishment of a Masters degree course
in automotive engineering at the University
of Loughborough during 2011 and will be
a guest lecturer in several of the course
modules when it commences in 2012.
Conferences and meetings
Professor Fildes participated in a number
of conferences during 2011 to engage
with European and international networks.
These included the Enhanced Safety of
Vehicles (ESV) conference in Washington
DC, the Association for the Advancement
of Automotive Medicine (AAAM)
Conference in Paris, France, the Canadian
Multidisciplinary Road Safety Conference
(CMRSC) in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and the
8th International Conference Protection of
children in cars in Germany in December.
Professor Fildes was instrumental in
helping to arrange a two-day Child Safety
workshop at the Monash Centre in Prato,
Italy, in conjunction with the Children’s
Hospital of Philadelphia. The workshop
involved more than 20 international experts
from seven countries. The workshop aimed
to identify research needs and priorities in
child safety in automobiles. The findings
from the report were presented as a
keynote address at the 10th Child Safety
conference in Munich in December.
Strategic advice and
consultancies
A research project was undertaken for the
Australian Institute of Motor Sport Safety
(AIMSS) to examine the potential safety
benefits of new safety technologies for
V8 Supercars in Australia and overseas.
Several progress reports were submitted to
AIMSS and FIA (France) and a final report
was submitted to the client early in 2011
with a recommendation of the need for a full
detailed benefit analysis to be conducted
on the likely savings in injuries for proposed
new safety technologies.
One of the benefits that MUARC
Europe offered is to work with the local
community on helping them achieve real
societal benefits from rigorous scientific
research and best practice solutions to
priority safety problems. Professor Fildes
and other MUARC officers met with the
local Commune and Provence in Prato to
help them develop a Strategic Safety plan
for the region. While development has been
slow given changes in government and
councillors, steady progress towards this
objective was achieved this year.
In addition, several meetings were held
with officers of the Automobile Club of Italy
(ACI) on obtaining access to national and
local road crash databases, necessary to
help the local community identify the scope
and details of the safety problem in Italy.
Consequently, a number of joint papers
have now been prepared and published at
local and European meetings, showing the
problems to Vulnerable Road Users in the
area.
Presentations
•Fildes; The Prato strategy, Provincial
Offices, Prato, Italy, January
• Fildes & Keall; MUNDS Feasibility:
ESC effectiveness, MUNDS Meeting,
Brussels, January
• Fildes; Biomechanics of Injury, FORD
Victoria, February
• Fildes, et al.; A Comparison of Older
Pedestrian Safety in Australia, Canada,
Italy and Malaysia CMRSC Conference,
Halifax, May
• Fildes; Good to Great, Workshop
presentation, Abu Dhabi, UAE May
• Fildes; Child restraint in a far side crash,
Prato Workshop, September
• Fildes; A Review of Injury Scoring
Systems, Injury Biomechanics course,
AAAM Conference, Paris, October
• Fildes; Human Factors Research in
Vehicle Safety, Guest Lecture, Chalmers
Engineering students, Gothenborg,
Sweden, November
•Fildes; Assessing the Benefits of Vehicle
Safety Technologies, Guest Lecture,
Chalmers Engineering students,
Gothenborg, Sweden, November
• Fildes; Protection of Occupants in
Far side Impacts, Invited Address,
SAFER Centre, Gothenborg, Sweden,
November
• Fildes et al; Child restraint in a far side
crash, Child Conference, Munich,
December
51
Dr Jennie Oxley
PhD, BSc (Hons)
Associate
Director
Ginarthini Pachalai
Dr Roszalina Ramli
BBiomedicine (Hons)
BDS, MSc, FDSRCS, FFDRCS, AM
MUARC Malaysia
Since its inception in 2008, MUARC
Malaysia has established itself as a
research-intensive node of MIRI/MUARC
in the Asian region. Through its formative
years, MUARC Malaysia has established
networks and collaborations with key
stakeholders and has developed a suite of
research activities that focus on achieving
real improvements in the injury-related
health of the population in the Asian region.
2011 has been a significant year for
MUARC Malaysia in terms of growth,
continuing high-impact research activities
and outcomes, capacity building and
enhancing partnerships and networks
with key stakeholders, organisations and
researchers.
Expertise
Our staff and students
MUARC Malaysia’s capacity building
activities remain a core undertaking at the
centre and have continued in 2011. During
52
www.monash.edu/miri
2011 we welcomed a new staff member,
Ms Ginarthini Pachalai, who joined our
team as a Research Assistant. Gina holds a
Bachelor of Biomedicine (Hons) (University
College of Technology and Management
Malaysia) and previously worked as a
Research Assistant at Emergency Trauma
Department, Hospital Tengku Ampuan
Rahimah, Klang, on the National Trauma
Database.
Our HDR students are continuing and
are progressing well with their projects.
Dr Roszalina Ramli is in her final year of
PhD candidature. Her study examines
issues contributing to motorcycle injuries,
particularly the effect of helmet design and
wearing rates on craniomaxillofacial injuries,
using a prospective case-series study
design of injured motorcyclists presenting
to major hospitals in the Klang Valley
(Supervisors: Professor Rod McClure, Dr
Jennie Oxley, Dr Peter Hillard, Professor
Sadullah Farhan). Major achievements in
2011 include
•
•
•
•
completion of data collection
data analysis underway
visit to Melbourne
presentation: AEA-PHAA Post-graduate
Student Conference, Latrobe University.
Winner of the best paper on translating
research into policy and practice.
Ms Saraswathy Venkataraman joined
the team as a PhD candidate in May.
Saraswathy has a background in
Occupational Therapy and her research
interest is in falls in the elderly. Her research
program examines the risk factors for falls
and long-term consequences amongst the
elderly, particularly those living in nursing
and shelter homes in the Klang Valley.
Saraswathy has commenced the first
phase of her research, a survey aimed to
understand the broad nature of nursing and
shelter home facilities in the Klang Valley.
The outcomes of this phase will guide the
development of subsequent phases of her
research. (Supervisors: Dr Jennie Oxley,
Professor Louise Farnworth, Dr Lesley Day,
Professor Rusli bin Nordin).
2011 Annual Report
Mr Edwin Sim also joined the team as
a PhD candidate. He is enrolled in the
School of Engineering, Sunway Campus
and co-supervised by MUARC Melbourne
academics. Edwin’s interest is vehicle
safety and his research addresses issues
surrounding design of Electronic Stability
Control (ESC). Detection of the handling
limit of the tri-dynamics effects of the three
parameters is crucial. There is a need
for substantial improvements to existing
systems via integration of the driver, ESC,
robust control technique using sliding
mode observer and practical vehicle mode
detection scheme to significantly increase
the contribution to the main goal of crash
prevention. (Supervisors: Dr Edwin Tan, Dr
David Logan and A/Prof Yang Soo Siang).
Ms Wan Mahirah Balqis is an Honours
student, enrolled in School of Community
Health, Department of Medicine, Universiti
Putra Malaysia. Balqis’s thesis addressed
fatigue and sleepiness amongst truck
drivers in Malaysia. She used survey
techniques, a sleep log and measures of
BMI and sleepiness amongst 86 truck
drivers. The findings revealed some
characteristics of truck drivers who may
be at increased risk of crash involvement
such as lack of sleep, poor diet, and driver
experience. The thesis was examined
and passed in July 2011. (Supervisors: Dr
Kulanathan K C Mani, Dr Jennie Oxley)
Mr Mohammad Najmudin Bin Mansor
also joined our team as a Masters student,
enrolled at Universiti Technologi Malaysia,
Johor Bahru. Najmudin’s research project
addresses cultural differences in behaviour
and attitudes toward road safety and
crash risk in JB. Najmudin commenced his
studies in September and data collection
is planned to commence early 2012.
(Supervisors: Professor Megat Mohamed
Ghazali, Dr Jennie Oxley)
Highlights
Research activities and projects
During 2011, the MUARC Malaysia office
made a significant move within Sunway
Campus from the School of Engineering
to the School of Medicine and Health
Sciences, Global Public Health Unit.
The support from the Sunway Campus
Research Committee and the Schools has
made this a smooth transition and has
provided enhanced support and resources
for our staff, students, research activities
and outputs.
In addition, during 2011 MUARC
Malaysia entered into a transition phase to
be a wholly Sunway-based research centre,
managed, staffed and funded within the
Sunway Campus, and maintaining strong
intellectual links with MIRI and MUARC
Melbourne. This has involved development
of strategic documents for the long-term
success and viability of MUARC Malaysia,
extensive discussions and agreements with
the Campus Research Committees, and
advertisement for a Sunway-based Head,
Injury Prevention Unit.
This transition is ongoing and we
anticipate that, in 2012, our critical mass
will have increased, with the appointment
of Head, Injury Prevention Unit, and we
will continue to increase research income
and research activities, staff and student
numbers and capacity building activities
with the development of high-impact lecture
series and short courses.
Through our collaborations with key
stakeholders and our research activities,
we have been given access to a number
of important injury databases, such as
the M-ROADS, Police-reported crash
database, maintained by the Malaysian
Institute of Road Safety, the National
Trauma Database, as well as a Child
Injury Database developed by the
Institute of Health Management, Ministry
of Health.
During 2011 work continued on existing
projects and some new projects
commenced.
Evaluation of Child Injury Prevention
Interventions in Viet Nam (UNICEF, Viet
Nam): UNICEF Viet Nam, in conjunction
with the Vietnamese Government and
non-Government organisations and
community groups implemented a
large-scale Child Injury Prevention (CIP)
program in six selected Provinces. The
CIP program addressed key injury priority
areas in Viet Nam, using a human rights
based approach within communities
and engaging key national and provincial
groups. The output of the CIP project
involved four key areas of intervention,
namely i) increased public awareness,
positive attitude change and skill building, ii)
strengthened capacity of national and local
authorities, iii) development, improvement
and enforcement of appropriate legislation,
and iv) provision of a safer environment to
mitigate injury risks.
MUARC Melbourne and MUARC
Malaysia undertook an evaluation of the
CIP initiatives with the overall aims to i)
measure the effectiveness of the program
in achieving its main aims and objectives,
that is, to reduce the morbidity and mortality
caused by injuries among children in Viet
Nam, ii) understand the key facilitators and
barriers in the process of implementation
for each of the program phases (planning,
implementation, delivery, capacity building,
etc), and iii) provide recommendations for
future programming of CIP interventions.
A two-staged evaluation was undertaken
to assess the above aims and included i)
a review of documents and publications
outlining the implementation of the
program and interviews with key partners
and organisations, and ii) a comparative
u
analysis of injury mortality and morbidity
Anne Jamaludin
Su Mei Lee
Research Associate
Administrative Officer
BHS, MPH Public Health
B Business
Saraswathy Venkataraman
B Occupational Therapy,
M Health Sciences (Gerontology)
Edward YS Sim
BEng(Hons), MEng
53
MUARC Malaysia
2007-2010, and ii) case-control study to
understand contributing factors to crash
risk.
• Paper in preparation analysing crash
data
• Case-control study data collection to
commence 2012
Contributing factors to child pedestrian
collisions (Ministry of Higher Education,
Fundamental Research Grant Scheme):
This study addresses child pedestrian
collisions and aims to understand
contributing factors to crashes by analysing
crash data and in-depth interviews.
• Paper submitted for Special Issue on
Child Injury, Journal of Australasian
College of Road Safety, 2012.
Sunway PVC Award for Excellence in Research team.
data, comparing injury data between
the intervention and non-intervention
communes pre- and post-intervention. The
findings highlighted important information
related to the effectiveness of the CIP
program in Viet Nam.
• Report: Oxley, Cuong PV, Jamaludin &
Stevenson (2011). Evaluation of Child
Injury Prevention interventions in Viet
Nam.
Keeping children safe in vehicles (Sunway
Campus Major Internal Grant): This study
addressed issues of child protection in
vehicles, particularly the contribution of nonwearing of seatbelts and helmets amongst
children, through observational and survey
techniques. The findings revealed extremely
low seatbelt and helmet use amongst
young children in the Klang Valley as well
as lack of knowledge amongst parents
of the importance of and ways to protect
children while travelling. Preliminary findings
and recommendations were presented
at the Injury Workshop, Ministry of Health
Malaysia.
Motorcycle-related crashes amongst
children (Australia-Malaysia Institute and
Universiti Kebangsaan Internal Research
Grants): This study, in collaboration with
Hospital University Kebangsaan Malaysia
(HUKM), was conducted to understand
more fully the contributing factors to child
injuries as a result of a motorcycle crash, by
examining mass crash data between 20072010 (data provided by MIROS), extracting
data from hospital records and interviewing
parents of a sample of children admitted
to hospital. Data collection and analysis
is ongoing. MUARC ran a two-day short
54
www.monash.edu/miri
course: ‘Introduction to statistics – from
principles to practice’ (Michael Fitzharris),
held at Sunway Campus and attended by
UKM clinical and research staff, MUARC
Malaysia research staff and PhD students.
A paper is in preparation analysing crash
data.
Development of videos on workplace
safety issues (SOCSO and FMM): These
activities, in partnership with SOCSO, FMM
and the Sunway Occupational Health and
Safety Branch, involved the production
of four educational videos targeting
employees. The videos addressed three
high-priority areas of workplace injuries in
Malaysia, following examination of claims
data and developed to raise the awareness
of issues amongst employees and provide
strategies and tips for improved policies,
practices, behaviour and environments in
the workplace with regard to i) slips, trips
and falls, ii) motorcycle commuting crashes,
iii) hazardous chemicals, and iv) ergonomic
injuries.
Video on motorcycle commuting
crashes was submitted to the International
Film and Multimedia Festival, 19th World
Congress on Safety and Health at Work,
Istanbul. From over 170 international
entries, the video won second placing.
The team won a Sunway PVC Award for
Excellence in Research, Teaching and
Administration for the production of the first
three videos.
Contributing factors to young driver/
rider crash risk (MIROS): In partnership
with MIROS, this study addresses young
driver safety and involves two phases: i)
examination of mass fatality crash data
Effect of cultural differences on road
safety, driving behaviour and crash
risk (Universiti Teknologi Malaysia [UTM]
Internal Grant, Johor Bahru). This project,
a collaboration between MUARC Malaysia,
Business Department of Management,
Faculty of Business and Economics
Monash University and UTM, takes a first
major step in addressing road safety in
Johor Bahru. It will provide much needed
information on cultural differences in
attitudes to road safety, driving behaviour,
crash experiences and crash risk and will
identify high-risk populations. A major
component of this project is for Monash
University to provide a suite of short
courses during 2012, including Ethics
in Research, Interview Techniques and
Introduction to Statistics.
IPEN: International Study of Built
Environment, Physical Activity and
Obesity (National Institute of Health, US): In
collaboration with SHARM, Institut Sukan
Negara (Sports, Health Activity Research
Malaysia, National Institute of Sport), San
Diego State University and international
collaborators, we have attracted funds
from NIH (US) to include Malaysia as a
contributing country to this study which
aims to examine the role of the built
environment on level of physical activity
amongst adults. Funding will be provided
for the project to commence in 2013.
Publications and presentations
• Oxley, J, Fildes, B, Sadullah, F,
Lahausse, J, & Newstead, S (2011).
Vulnerable road user safety: a
comparison between a middle-income
and a high-income country. Journal of
the Australasian College of Road Safety,
22(2), Special Issue: Road Safety in Asia.
• Ramli, R, Ng, L, Ng, F, Rahman, N, &
2011 Annual Report
Oxley, J (2011). Helmet use among
injured and non-injured motorcyclists
in Malaysia. Journal of the Australasian
College of Road Safety, 22(2), Special
Issue: Road Safety in Asia.
• Oxley, J, Cuong, P-V, Jamaludin, A, &
Stevenson, M 2011, ‘Evaluation of Child
Injury Prevention programs in Viet Nam’,
Report to UNICEF, Viet Nam.
• Jamaludin, A, & Oxley, J 2011,
‘Reducing injuries: The role of research
in developing and evaluating evidencebased solutions’, [Invited presentation],
Injury Symposium, Institute of Health
Management, Ministry of Health
Malaysia, December, Kuala Lumpur.
• Oxley, J 2011, ‘Advanced technology to
improve OHS in the workplace’, [Invited
presentation], Occupational Safety and
Health Conference: OSH Excellence in
the Manufacturing Sector, Federation
of Malaysian Manufacturers, April, Bukit
Kiara,
Kuala Lumpur.
• Oxley, J 2011, ‘Development of
innovative measures using a registry’,
[Invited presentation], Fifth National
Conference for Clinical Research,
Ministry of Health Malaysia, June,
Bandar Sunway, Selangor.
• Oxley, J, Charlton, JL, Venkataraman,
S, Yusoff, R, Bagat, F, Rashid, S 2011,
‘Comparison of older driver crash
risk and travel patterns: Malaysia and
Australia. Emerging issues in safe and
sustainable mobility for older people’,
Transportation Research Board
Conference on Emerging Issues on
Safe and Sustainable Mobility of Older
People, August, Washington DC.
• Oxley, J 2011, ‘Injury prevention
program: The Australian experience
and lessons we can share’, [Invited
presentation], National Convention on
Forensic Medicine and Science: Road
Safety, National Institute of Forensic
Medicine. November, Kuala Lumpur.
• Oxley, J 2011, ‘Fitness to drive and
mobility’, [Invited presentation], National
Convention on Forensic Medicine and
Science: Road Safety, National Institute
of Forensic Medicine, November, Kuala
Lumpur.
• Oxley, J 2011, ‘Effect of alcohol
and drugs on road safety’, [Invited
presentation], National Convention on
Forensic Medicine and Science: Road
Safety, National Institute of Forensic
Medicine, November, Kuala Lumpur.
• Ramli, R 2011, ‘Effectiveness of
motorcycle helmets for preventing head
and facial injuries’, AEA-PHAA postgraduate student conference. [WINNER:
Best presentation for policy and
practice], December, Melbourne.
Establishing networks
Capacity building
An important step in establishing the office
has been to engage local groups to both
support research activities financially and to
collaborate as research partners. The office
has continued to expand our collaborations
with government, local organisations and
stakeholders involved in various injury
prevention activities. Establishing these solid
networks has ensured a strong presence
in the region, fostered clear partnerships
and success in attracting funding sources.
Some of the key organisations with which
we have relationships are:
Government: Ministry of Transport;
Ministry of Health; Social Security
Organisation; National Institute of Sport;
Ministry of Women, Family and Community
Development; Royal Malaysian Police;
Office of Road Safety; Malaysian Institute
of Road Safety; Australia-Malaysia Institute;
Standards and Industrial Research Institute
Malaysia; and Johor State Investment
Centre.
NGOs and industry: UNICEF; Malaysian
Global Road Safety Partnership; Federation
of Malaysian Manufacturers; AAA; Shell
Malaysia; Perodua; and Proton.
University and other research bodies:
Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia;
Centre for Vehicle Technology; Universiti
Tunku Abdul Rahman; Iskandar Malaysia
UTM Research Centre (IMREC); and
Universiti Technology Malaysia (Johor);
National Trauma Database and Sungei
Buloh Trauma Hospital; General Hospital
KL; Universiti Putra Malaysia, Universiti
Sains Malaysia, University Malaya, Sunway
Campus researchers (Schools of Medicine
and Health Sciences, IT and Engineering),
Monash Australia researchers (e.g., Child
Abuse Prevention Research Australia,
Department of Occupational Therapy).
Encouragement and promotion of
MUARC’s Higher Degree Research
program continues and the Malaysia office
supports ongoing applications to undertake
HDR candidature. A number of activities
have been undertaken to achieve this
including contributions to short courses,
minor undergraduate research projects, and
presentations to various organisations
2012 and beyond
MUARC Malaysia has made good
inroads in 2011 to consolidate itself as a
collaborative injury prevention research unit
in Malaysia, undertaking funded research
activities in priority injury prevention areas in
Malaysia and the region. This will continue
and expand in the coming years. The
goals for MUARC Malaysia in 2012 and
beyond are to consolidate the progress we
have made with the aim to become a fully
functional, self-sustaining research centre
comprising long-term research partnerships
with local organisations and stakeholders,
as well as translating these collaborations
into large-scale research programs.
55
Dr Michael Fitzharris
PhD, BA, BSc(Hons)(Psych)
Foundation Associate Director
Maatje Scheepers
BA(Psych & Comm), BA(Hons)(Psych), MA
Research Fellow/Program Co-ordinator
MUARC South Africa
with analysis to follow in 2012. Project
partners include the University of Botswana
Trauma Working Group (Dr Andrew Kestler,
Dr Miriam Sebego) and the Botswana
Police Service (Mr Brunoh Paledi, Director,
Traffic Division). The program in Botswana
was initially developed with the support of
a Monash University International Strategic
Grant, awarded to Dr Diana Bowman,
Faculty of Law, and Dr Fitzharris, with
further funding being sought from a range
of international partners.
Since its establishment in mid-2008 on the
Monash South Africa campus at Ruimsig
(Johannesburg), the Injury Prevention and
Safety Promotion (IPSP) Research Node
of MUARC has been active in developing
collaborations throughout southern Africa.
Activities have been focused on the
conduct of evidence-based road safety
research and data systems strengthening.
While the IPSP entered a short hiatus
after the return of its Foundation Associate
Director, Dr Michael Fitzharris, to the
Monash University Clayton Campus,
the IPSP continued to receive significant
support from the Deputy Pro-Vice
Chancellor of Research, Associate
Professor Dina Burger, and Monash South
Africa more broadly.
During 2011 the IPSP was fully
integrated into the newly established
Monash Africa Centre. With this local
commitment and engagement with
MUARC in Australia, the academic program
continued to develop, with priorities set
56
www.monash.edu/miri
around those identified during the Monash
Africa Centre Road Safety Forum, held in
late 2010.
Research activities and
collaborations
Program in Tanzania
Following the signing of the Memorandum
of Understanding with the Ministry of
Home Affairs, the development of the
research program remained the core
focus. Collaborative project concepts
were developed relating to areas of
crash statistics, health data systems and
enforcement. Funding is being sought to
support these projects.
Program in Botswana
Research continued on a longitudinal study
of the association between road laws and
regulations and road traffic crashes. Much
of the time was spent on data gathering
Program in Namibia
Following the success of the injury
surveillance program pilot study conducted
in 4 hospitals in Windhoek, further practical
research programs aimed at informing
road safety policy and the activities of the
Motor Vehicle Accident Fund of Namibia
were developed and prioritised for 2012. Dr
Fitzharris continued to provide support to
the MVA Fund in their annual reporting of
crash statistics.
Community Relationships
During 2011, the IPSP and Monash
University continued to support the activities
of the Global Road Safety Partnership,
which works with a range of stakeholders in
South Africa to promote road safety.
2012 and beyond
The goals for 2012 are to secure research
grants and commence a number of the
identified projects in Namibia, Botswana
and Tanzania, while continuing to develop
educational programs through the Monash
South Africa Campus and the broader
Monash family. The enrolment of at least
2 higher degree students is expected in
early 2012, underlining the commitment to
building road safety knowledge capacity on
the continent.
Statement of Income
and Expenditure
From 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2011
Notes
$$$
Balance as at 1st January 2011 1,113,083
Add: Adjustment to Opening Balance
1
302,013
Adjusted Opening Balance: 1,415,096
INCOME 9,771,439
DEEWR
500,442
Research:
6,452,810
Australian Research Council
633,757
National Health and Medical Research
980,987
3,761,872
State Government Research
Commonwealth Government Research 166,369
Local Government Research
83,385
Industry Australia Contracts 311,847
Industry Australia Grants 106,992
Australian Industry Donations
71,250
Industry International Research
199,965
Industry International Competitive Research
121,386
Co-operative Research Centres
15,000
Commercial
740,259
21,950,508
Internal Grants (Mon Research Support/Strat Initi)
Other (Incl Sale of Assets, Student Fees,Transfers) 127,420
EXPENDITURE Salaries and Related Expenditure
6,286,813
3
Financial and Administration 632,871
Student Related
109,261
Infrastructure Related
207,201
Central Support Services – Overhead Costs
2,072,966
Other Operating Expenditure
742,038
10,051,150
1,135,385
Balance as 31st December 2011
Notes:
1 CAPRA funds as at 1 January 2011 transferred from Faculty of Medicine to MIRI
2 Accommodation and other services which were previously supplied as in-kind support have been replaced as Central Support
Services-Overhead Costs. The University has also provided a transfer of funds to part offset these charges
3 Includes payments to consultants
The Institute’s Statement of Income and Expenditure has been certified to be in accordance with the University’s Accounting and
Financial Reporting System by the Office of the Vice-President (Finance). Where required as a condition of funding grants, accounts
will be audited by independent external auditors. They have been subjected to Government audit as part of the University’s annual
accounts for the calendar year 2011.
Footnote: It should be noted that the Institute operates on a calendar financial year and its revenue and expenditure are, for the
most part, project related and several projects cross fixed reporting periods and financial years. The apparent “surplus” mostly
reflects grant and contract income received in 2011 for expenditure that will be incurred in 2012.
Certified Correct
JOEL CHIBERT
Director, Research and Revenue Accounting Services
57
External project
committee members
MIRI would like to thank the following people for their valuable contribution to the research program as external
members on Project Advisory Committees, Project Steering Committees and Project Working Groups.
Assessing community attitudes to
speed limits
• Colin Anderson
Department for Transport, Energy and
Infrastructure, South Australia
• Samantha Cockfield
Transport Accident Commission, Victoria
(TAC)
• Angela Conway, David Edmiston,
Jonathan McGuffie
Department of Infrastructure, Energy &
Resources, Tasmania
• Julie Holmes
Department for Transport, Energy and
Infrastructure, South Australia
• Sue Hellyer
Office of Road Safety, Western Australia
• James Holgate VicRoads
• Damian MacDonald
Department of Justice, Victoria
Observers
• Mike Hammer GM-Holden
• Steve Cutis GM-Holden
• Bill Bridgens
Ford Motor Company of Australia
• Angela Conway
Department of Infrastructure, Energy and
Resources, Tasmania
• Craig Newland
Automobile Association of Australia
(AAA)
• James Hurnall
Federal Chamber of Automotive
Industries (FCAI)
• Mark Morarty
Toyota Motor Corporation
• Robert McDonald
Insurance Australia Group (IAG)
• Robert Judd Autoliv
Baseline Program Committee
Australian National Crash In-Depth
Study (ANCIS)
Members
• Michael Case RACV
• Michael Nieuwesteeg, Samantha
Cockfield TAC
• Sue Freeman, Christine Baird
Motor Accidents Authority of NSW
(MAA)
• Chris Jones VicRoads
• Dan Leavy
Roads and Traffic Authority NSW
- Chair
• Mark Terrell, Thomas Belcher
Department of Infrastructure and
Transport (DIT)
58
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•
•
•
•
Robert Stork Victoria Police
Antonietta Cavallo VicRoads
Samantha Cockfield TAC
Damian MacDonald
Department of Justice
Baseline: Consumer choice,
nonfleet vehicles
• Nick Platt RACV
• Samantha Cockfield, Jessica Truong
TAC
• Chris Jones VicRoads
• Christine Livingstone
Department of Justice
Baseline: Road design factors and their
interaction with speed and speed limits
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Bob Stork Victoria Police
Antonietta Cavallo VicRoads
Samantha Cockfield VicRoads
Ken Hall VicRoads
Damian MacDonald
Department of Justice
Con Stasinos VicRoads
Jessica Truong TAC
Stuart McGregor Victoria Police
Baseline: Strategy modelling and
data systems
• Antonietta Cavallo VicRoads
• William Gibbons, Damian MacDonald
Department of Justice
• Wendy Kimber Victoria Police
• Michael Nieuwesteeg TAC
• Neil Richardson Victoria Police
2011 Annual Report
Baseline: Toward zero pedestrian
deaths
• Samantha Collins, Liz Knight
TAC
• Catherine Scott, Kenn Beer,
Antonietta Cavallo, Juliet Reid
VicRoads
• Kirsten Lynch, Fiona Strong
Victoria Police
• Mindy Coupe, Helen Poke,
Kathy Towsty Department of Justice
Exercise for independent living
• Flavia Cicuttini, Damien Jolley,
Department of Epidemiology and
Preventive Medicine, Monash University
• Leon Flicker
University of Western Australia
• Keith Hill
National Ageing Research Institute and
La Trobe University
• Leonie Segal
University of South Australia
MUARC Europe Scientific Advisory
Committee
•
•
Loretta Baldassar
Monash University, Prato
Anne Guillaume
Laboratory of Biomechanics &
Accidentology, (LAB), France
• Tom Genneralli
Medical College of Wisconson, US
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Marjan Hagenzieker
SWOV, The Netherlands
Anders Lie
Swedish Road Administration
Astrid Linder VTI, Sweden
Jean Pierre Medevielle
INRETS, France
Laurie Sparke
L. Sparke Pty Ltd
Pete Thomas
Vehicle Safety Research Centre, UK
Claes Tingvall
Swedish Road Administration
Alberto Tesi
University of Florence, Italy
Andre Vits
European Commission, Brussels
Multi-National National Vehicle Safety
Mass Data Study
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Manuel Aviles, Anna Ferrer
Spanish Ministry of Transport
Louis Fernique
French Ministry in charge of Transport
Anders Kullgren
Folksam Insurance, Sweden
Mike Keall MUARC – Subcontractor
Anders Lie
Swedish Road Administration
Kalle Parkkari
Finnish Motor Insurers Centre, VALT
Lucia Pennisi
Italian Automobile Association (ACI)
Claus Pastor
Section Passive Vehicle Safety,
Biomechanics, BASt, Germany
• Esa Raty
Finnish Motor Insurers Centre, VALT
•
•
•
•
•
Matteo Rizzi, Vectura Consulting
Henk Stipdonk
SWOV, the Netherlands
Pete Thomas
Loughborough University, UK
Claes Tingvall
Swedish Road Administration
Martijn Vis
SWOV, The Netherlands
Used Car Safety Ratings
Members
• Michael Case RACV – Chair
• Samantha Cockfield TAC
• Chris Jones VicRoads
• Mark Borlace RAA SA
• John Cartwright DTEI, SA
• Jon Gibson ORS WA
• Alex Forrest RAC WA
• Jack Haley
NRMA Motoring and Services
• Dan Leavy RTA NSW
• John Goldsworthy, Mark Terrell
Commonwealth DoTI
• Steve Spalding RACQ
• Anant Bellary TMR QLD
• Stella Stocks AA NZ
• Paul Gimblett ACC NZ
Observer
• Craig Newland AAA
59
Research Training
MIRI is committed to research training for the development of new leaders in the field of injury prevention. PhD students at MIRI study in an
energising and collaborative environment with a diverse range of highly skilled researchers and injury prevention practitioners.
The program is vibrant and staff and students participate at all levels in mainstream Monash higher degree activities including MRGS
Expert Seminar Series, awards and competitions (e.g. Three Minute Thesis), and the Monash Postgraduate Student Association services.
The academic program reflects the unique multi-disciplinary nature of MIRI. Students pursue topics that reflect the breadth of research
themes across the centre including road safety, occupational health and safety, injury prevention program evaluation, human factors, sports
and recreation injury, injury economics and injury biomechanics.
State-of-the-art facilities and expert supervisory capacity in areas such as population injury and crash databases, simulation and
instrumented vehicles, and statistical analysis/modelling provide students with wide scope for their choice of research methods and
approaches. Through their research activities, many students have had opportunities to engage with the international research community
in short courses, data collection, conferences and other exchanges. The PhD program has two components. The major component
comprises research presented in the form of a thesis and a minor component involving participation in the MIRI Graduate Studies Seminar
program, MIRI Research Seminars and Journal Club.
Dr Jude
Charlton
MIRI Graduate
Studies
Coordinator
Lesley Rees
Administrative
Assistant to the
MIRI Graduate
Studies Program
Program highlights
In 2011, the Institute welcomed five new
postgraduate students, making a total of
26 postgraduate students enrolled through
MIRI. Rachel Mence and Gemma Read
were awarded Australian Postgraduate
Awards – Industry with ARC Linkage grants
in the Behavioural Safety Science team
and Human Factors team, respectively.
Rachel’s project focuses on managing older
driver safety, with the Ozcandrive Project
while Gemma’s research addresses level
crossing safety. Christina Ekegren holds
a scholarship with the NoGaps NHMRC
Partnerships Project. Christina’s research
will examine the feasibility of online injury
60
www.monash.edu/miri
surveillance in community Australian
football. Christine Mulvihill was awarded
an Australian Postgraduate Award and will
undertake her PhD research in motorcycle
safety. Adding to our student group
on the Sunway Campus, Saraswathy
Venkataraman will study under the
supervision of Dr Jennie Oxley in the area of
falls risk factors in nursing home residents
in Malaysia.
MIRI also celebrated a record number
of PhD completions, with six candidates
graduating during 2011.
Congratulations to MIRI 2011 graduates:
• Lyndal Bugeja ‘The role of coroners’
recommendations in injury prevention
and control in Victoria’ (Supervisors:
Joan Ozanne-Smith, Jennifer Coate,
Joseph Ibrahim)
• Carlyn Muir ‘Vision and driving with
Hemianopia’ (Supervisors: Judith
Charlton, Brian Fildes, Joanne Wood,
QUT)
• Clay Douglas ‘Development of an
occupant computer model for a far-side
vehicle crash’ (Supervisors: Brian Fildes,
Tom Gibson)
• Marilyn Johnson ‘Cycling safety from
the perspective of all road users’
(Supervisors: Judith Charlton, Jennie
Oxley)
• Adam McKinnon ‘Optimising the
utility of injury surveillance systems
for injury control in active populations’
(Supervisors: Joan Ozanne-Smith, R
Pope)
• Damian Morgan ‘Modelling risk factors
for unintentional drownings of beach
swimmers’ (Supervisors: Joan OzanneSmith, Tom Triggs)
The study program
The MIRI PhD program strives to deliver a
well-rounded multi-disciplinary experience,
with opportunities for connections
with stakeholders (through seminars,
scholarships and industry-based projects),
international experiences (data collection
and conferences) and broad career skills
development (through seminars), ensuring
that students complete their degree having
achieved more than just a thesis.
Students are part of the academic
community at MIRI and are actively
engaged in centre-wide researcher
meetings and writing workshops (organised
by Associate Director, Research Dr Lesley
Day), Journal Club (organised by PhD
Candidate and Research Fellow Karen
Stephan) and a multi-disciplinary HDR
seminar series in Injury Prevention Research
Issues. The HDR seminar sessions are
interactive and involve a presentation and
overview by a content area expert, selected
student readings and discussion. Senior
researchers facilitate sessions and topics
cover the key disciplinary areas relevant
to Injury Prevention Research. Other skills
and career development topics such as
communication, knowledge translation
and ethical research practice are also
included. Informal lunch meetings with
2011 Annual Report
candidates and supervisors are held
monthly and offer a regular forum for raising
matters of concern and interest relating to
postgraduate studies in general and career
issues.
Seminar topics offered in 2011 were:
April
Orientation to MIRI PhD
– Dr Jude Charlton
June Knowledge Translation
– Prof Caroline Finch
July Systematic Reviews
– Prof Rachelle Buchbinder
(DEPM)
August Human Ethics and Ethical
Practice in Injury Prevention
and Safety Research
– Dr Lesley Day /Janet Cohen
(SCERH)
conference in Paris; and at two symposia at
TNO in the Netherlands, and the University
of Southampton in the United Kingdom.
Trang Vu attended the Australasian
Epidemiological Association (AEA)
Annual Scientific Meeting in Perth, WA,
in September. Her presentation entitled
Comparison of linked and unlinked data
for estimating incidence and comorbidities:
A case study using hip fracture data
was well received by the audience in
the methodological issues session. She
also presented a poster entitled A cluster
analysis to identify patterns of comorbidity
in community-dwelling older people
hospitalised for fall-related injury.
PhD Student Publications
December Injury Research in Developing
Countries
– Prof Mark Stevenson
MIRI candidates also make a significant
contribution to the body of scientific
evidence on safety issues and injury
prevention through scholarly writing.
In 2011, students authored nine peer
reviewed scientific publications based on
their PhD research. Trang Vu was awarded
the MIRI Best Student Paper for her
publication.
PhD Student Presentations
Candidates and Thesis Topics
September Qualitative Research Methods
– Dr Paul Salmon
MIRI encourages and supports students’
participation in conferences as an important
way to connect with experts in their field
and to gather feedback on their own work.
Marilyn Johnson and Karen Stephan
represented MIRI at the MUARC Strategic
Road Safety Forum in June. Marilyn also
gave presentations at the Australian Cycling
Conference in Adelaide in January, with
a paper on Naturalistic cycling study: risk
factors for collisions and near-collisions; and
gave an invited presentation to the Inner
City Road Safety Group in Melbourne in
September, Research priorities for cyclist
safety in the CBD, focus on cyclist collisions
with unexpectedly opened vehicle doors.
In April, Peter Richardson attended
the IOC World Conference on Prevention
of Injury & Illness in Sport in Monte Carlo,
where he presented a poster entitled
Translating theory into practice (and practice
into theory - How does context influence
sports injury prevention research?
Christina Ekegren also attended the
IOC conference in Monte Carlo where she
presented a poster entitled Epidemiology
of injuries among elite preprofessional ballet
students.
Miranda Cornelissen presented at two
conferences: the 55th Annual meeting
of the Human Factors and Ergonomics
Society in Las Vegas, and AAAM
Hafez Alavi
Supervisors: Dr Judith
Charlton and Dr Stuart
Newstead
Assessing pedestrian crash risk and
injury severity in concentrated urban
areas
This research, adopting the underpinning
philosophy of the Victorian Safe System,
develops a systematic conceptual
framework to investigate the pedestrian
safety problem in concentrated urban
areas. It applies the framework to identify
pedestrian data needs for safety analyses,
which in turn, informs the design of a
pedestrian data system for the Melbourne
CBD. An extensive interrogation of the
existing data sources is designed to fulfil the
needs of the pedestrian data system. Next
a rigorous and generalisable methodology is
developed to estimate pedestrian exposure,
which is missing in the existing data.
Pedestrian crash risk and injury severity
are subsequently investigated to identify
influential risk factors. Hafez expects to
submit his thesis in mid-2012. (Australian
Postgraduate Award).
Lyndal Bugeja
Supervisors: Professor
Joan Ozanne-Smith,
Professor Joseph E
Ibrahim (Department of
Epidemiology and Preventive
Medicine) and Judge Jennifer Coate (State
Coroners Office, Victoria)
Determinants of coroners’
recommendations on external cause
death in Victoria, Australia
This study examined the frequency,
nature and determinants of coroners’
recommendations on external cause
deaths in Victoria for the period July
2000 to June 2005. The research design
comprised: a retrospective cohort study
comparing recommendations cases to
non-recommendations cases; in-depth
analysis of recommendations cases; and
key informant interviews. The findings
showed that there were limitations with
the frequency and formulation of coroners’
recommendations when examined in
accordance with the principles of injury
causation and prevention.
Results of this PhD research contributed
in part to the rationale for legislative
strengthening of the prevention role of
the coroner in Victoria by providing an
evidence base as to the significance of
coroners’ recommendations as a vehicle
for prevention. In addition, the research
findings contributed to the establishment
of the Coroners Prevention Unit at the
Coroners Court of Victoria and furthered the
consideration of public health and public
policy principles to inform the development
of coroners’ recommendations on public
health and safety.
Lyndal was awarded the degree of PhD
in 2011.
Miranda Cornelissen
Supervisors: Professor Rod
McClure, Dr Paul Salmon
and Professor Neville
Stanton (UK)
How can they do it? A structured
approach to capturing performance
variability
Varying performance is part of everyday
activities and work. Performance variability
was believed to be erroneous and thus a
negative phenomenon but is now regarded
to be a positive phenomenon as well.
Therefore a shift is needed from restraining
all variability to supporting and encouraging
performance variability leading to positive
outcomes, and discouraging performance
variability leading to negative outcomes.
u
Currently there are no structured
61
Research Training
methods to determine the outcomes
of performance variability a priori, and
therefore it cannot be supported effectively.
The aim of this PhD is to propose and
evaluate such method based on Human
Factors principles. Currently this method
is being developed and tested studying
performance variability of road users.
The resulting method will be a theoretical
contribution to the Human Factors domain,
but will also be a practical contribution
to road safety providing insight into
performance variability of road users,
which consequently allows supporting
performance variability for a safer road
system. (Monash Graduate Scholarship
& Monash International Postgraduate
Research Scholarship).
Miranda coordinates the Honours
and Student Vacation Scholar program at
MIRI and was also appointed to the role
of Student Affairs Officer for the Cognitive
Engineering and Decision Making task
group for a two-year term.
Clay Douglas
Supervisors: Professor
Brian Fildes and Dr Tom
Gibson (Human Impact
Engineering)
Modelling far-side occupants in side
impact crashes
Regulations and interventions to protect farside occupants in crashes do not currently
exist, despite these occupants accounting
for over 30 per cent of the seriously injured
persons and harm in side impact crashes.
Furthermore, no suitable crash dummies or
mathematical models have been developed
to investigate far-side occupant dynamics
during such a crash. This study aimed to
develop and validate a computer model
capable of mimicking human response in
far-side impacts. The model was then used
to investigate the influence of seat belt
properties, impact direction and potential
countermeasures on occupant loading
and injuries. Therefore, this model may aid
researchers and designers in improving
safety features currently in vehicles. The
PhD fell under the umbrella of a larger study
aimed at improving protection to far-side
vehicle occupants. It was an ARC Linkage
study involving a collaboration of universities
in Australia and the USA as well as industry
partners GM Holden and Autoliv. (Australian
Postgraduate Award (Industry).
Clay was awarded the degree of PhD in
2011.
62
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Christina Ekegren
Supervisors: Professor
Caroline Finch (Monash
Injury Research Institute)
and Associate Professor
Belinda Gabbe (Department
of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine,
Monash University)
Evaluation of an online injury
surveillance system in community
Australian football
The main objective of this project is to
evaluate the implementation of an online
injury surveillance system in community
Australian football. Australian Football
(‘Aussie Rules’) is one of the most highrisk sports played in Australia. Despite
this, there is currently no ongoing injury
surveillance system in place. As a result,
we do not have sufficient information about
football injuries to enable us to design
effective injury prevention programs. Setting
up an injury surveillance system at the
community level is challenging because
there is not as much funding and support
as there is in professional sport.
An opportunity to implement an injury
surveillance system arose with the recent
launch of a large study in community
Australian football. The ‘NoGAPS’ project
is an NHMRC Partnership Project Grantfunded study about implementing injury
prevention strategies with coaches.
Five large Australian football leagues
from Victoria have agreed to participate
in the project and from these leagues,
approximately 4000 players will be included.
The NoGAPS project will provide an ideal
context for trialling and evaluating an
online injury surveillance system in order to
determine its feasibility at a broader level.
(NoGaps Project Scholarship).
Richard Fernandez
Supervisors: Professor
Joan-Ozanne-Smith
(Department of Forensic
Medicine), Associate
Professor Raphael Grzebieta
(UNSW), Associate Professor Nigel Wreford
(Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology)
and Dr Lesley Day
A novel approach to the prevention of
fall-induced hip fracture: the anatomical
and functional basis to improve hipfracture preventing devices
Hip fractures are one of the most serious
health problems facing the ageing
population. There is substantial evidence
to suggest that most hip fractures are a
result of a fall directly onto the ‘greater
trochanter’, or top part of the thigh bone.
Furthermore, the risk of re-fracture following
a second fall is very high. The development
of the external hip protector has served
as a promising avenue for hip-fracture
prevention; however, its effectiveness
is limited by low wearer compliance in
the target population. This PhD project
investigates the feasibility of a novel
implanted hip fracture-preventing device
and also develops further specifications
for a new generation of external hip
protecting devices in an attempt to increase
wearer compliance. The project includes
an anatomical and surgical evaluation of
potential implant sites, examination of hip
musculature morphology using computed
tomography and computer based imaging
techniques and biomechanical testing of
muscle tissue.
Robin Hutchinson
Supervisors: Emeritus
Professor Tom Triggs,
Dr Gavan Lintern (General
Dynamics), Dr Paul Salmon
Supporting lane change behavior with
an ecological interface
The high demands placed on drivers
in the road environment can lead to
errors in judgement and breakdowns in
situation awareness. These deficits can
lead to deleterious consequences. Lane
changing is a particularly challenging driving
manoeuvre because of the need to make
simultaneous judgements concerning
multiple vehicles located in polar directions.
A variety of driver assist systems have been
developed to aid the driver in monitoring
the road way and to alert the driver to
potentially hazardous situations. While
these systems have been demonstrated to
generally have a positive impact on driving,
they are still in their infancy and require
further development.
Ecological Interface Design (EID) is an
approach to display development that may
offer solutions to some of the limitations
associated with current driver support
systems. The aim of this project is to
develop EID for the automotive domain
and to use the principles of EID to develop
a driver assist system to support lane
change behaviour. This project aspires to
enhance the design philosophy behind
the development of driver assist systems
and thereby positively impact road safety.
Naturalistic driving data is being analysed
in order to better understand the dynamics
of lane change associated headway. This
information will inform the design of the
interface. (Monash University Accident
Research Foundation John Lane Memorial
Scholarship)
2011 Annual Report
Marilyn Johnson
Supervisors:
Dr Judith Charlton and
Dr Jennie Oxley
Cycling safety from the perspective of
all road users
This research project aims to identify
strategies to improve safety for cyclists
who ride on the road. Investigations
have included a series of fixed point
observational studies at intersections
across Melbourne and the development of
a new methodology that involves attaching
a compact video camera to commuter
cyclists’ helmets to gain the cyclists’
perspective of riding on the road. The final
data collection stage was a national online
survey that was completed by Australian
drivers and cyclists. Findings have focused
on cyclist and driver behaviours, how both
groups use cycling infrastructure and an
in-depth analysis of risk factors involved in
collisions and near-collisions. (Joint Monash
University Accident Research Foundation
and the Amy Gillett Foundation Safe Family
Research Scholarship).
Awards
Monash University Postgraduate
Publications Award (PPA) June 2011: The
PPA supports high-achieving students to
prepare publications arising from their PhD
research while thesis is under examination.
ARRB-Monash Transport Research Prize,
September 2011: To promote excellence in
postgraduate research in transport.
Marilyn was awarded the degree of PhD
in 2011.
Jessica Killian
Supervisors: Professor
Joan Ozanne-Smith and
Professor Olaf Drummer
(Department of Forensic
Medicine)
The correlation between forensic
toxicology and unnatural death
Injury is an important public health problem
and a major cause of death, particularly in
young people. Drug induced impairment
and interactions are known to cause an
increased risk of mortality. However, the
full extent of involvement across the whole
range of injury deaths is mostly unknown.
Data on 7400 unnatural deaths reported
to the Victorian coroner from July 2000 to
June 2005 were extracted from the
National Coronial Information System
(NCIS) and cases with toxicology reports
were analysed to determine the drugs,
other than alcohol, detected at toxicology
screening. Exclusion criteria were applied
to minimise error in interpretation of the
results.
Of the cases with attached toxicology
reports (85%), half were positive for a drug.
After exclusions, for example, of potentially
post-injury administrations, the toxicological
evidence indicates that benzodiazepines
(24%), opioids (18%) and anti-depressants
(14%) are the most frequently occurring
in unnatural deaths. For all mechanisms,
the most frequently detected drugs were
at potentially poisonous and/or impairing
concentrations in about 30% of cases.
Drugs occurred most frequently in
poisoning, fires/burns/scalds, intentional
self-inflicted (ISH), and inflicted by other
(violent) causes.
For the first time, with the use of NCIS,
this study describes the extent of drugs
involved in unnatural deaths in Victoria.
Further research is needed to determine the
risks and levels of impairment for the drugs
detected. (Australian Postgraduate Award)
Adam McKinnon
Supervisors: Professor Joan
Ozanne-Smith (Department
of Forensic Medicine) and
Dr Rodney Pope (Charles
Sturt University)
Optimising the utility of injury
surveillance systems for injury control
in active populations
The main objective of this project is to
optimise the utility of injury surveillance
systems for injury prevention in active
populations. Expected outcomes of the
research include: a qualitative examination
of procedural and socio-cultural factors
affecting injury surveillance systems in the
Australian Army and the Victorian civilian
community; the identification and evaluation
of new methods of injury data analysis (for
example, statistical process control charts,
data mining techniques) to facilitate injury
prevention; and the examination of user
preferences toward current and innovative
modes of information dissemination
adopted by an injury surveillance system.
The results of this research will be
particularly important to the Australian
Defence Force and the Victorian civilian
community as well as broader application
across injury surveillance systems
worldwide. (Australian Postgraduate Award
(Industry), Department of Defence)
Adam was awarded the degree of PhD in
2011.
Rachel Mence
Supervisors:
Dr Judith Charlton and
Dr Sjaan Koppel
Managing older driver safety
Rachel Mence commenced PhD
candidature at MIRI in April 2011, taking up
the Australian Postgraduate Award-Industry
scholarship with the Ozcandrive project, a
five-year prospective cohort study of older
driers aged 75+ years. The PhD project
will focus on on-road driving performance,
measured by the Driving Observation
Schedule (DOS). The DOS driving task is
designed to reflect a naturalistic driving
experience, incorporating a 30-minute
drive, conducted over routes familiar to
and chosen by the driver and in the driver’s
own vehicle. The PhD project will refine the
methods for recording and quantify on-road
driving behaviours, providing a window on
the way in which driving behaviours change
over time. Rachel took maternity leave in
the second half of 2011 and will return
to her studies in May 2012. (Australian
Postgraduate Award-Industry).
Lisa J. Molnar
Supervisors: Dr Judith
Charlton and Dr David W.
Eby (UMTRI)
Self-Regulatory Practices by Older
Adults
Self-regulation of driving (that is, reducing
one’s overall driving exposure or avoiding
specific driving situations) shows
considerable promise as a strategy for
helping older drivers compensate for
functional declines and extend the time
period over which they can safely drive.
Study findings on the extent and nature
of self-regulation have been mixed, due in
part to differences in how self-regulation is
measured, characteristics of study subjects,
and inclusion of measures thought to
influence self-regulation. This research aims
to better understand the process of selfregulation and how it relates to perceived
and actual impairments in functioning, and
other driver characteristics such as gender
and driving confidence. The research will
be conducted in two phases. In Phase
1, a questionnaire instrument to measure
self-regulation was developed and pilot
tested with a sample of 137 drivers age 70
and older in the United States. In Phase 2,
which commenced in late 2010, outcomes
from the instrument will be compared with
objective driving data from instrumented
vehicle monitoring of real-life, naturalistic
u
63
Research Training
driving, as part of the Ozcandrive study.
(Partial support for this research comes
from the Michigan Center for Advancing
Safe Transportation throughout the Lifespan
at the University of Michigan, US).
Damian Morgan
Supervisors: Professor Joan
Ozanne-Smith (Department
of Forensic Medicine) and
Emeritus Professor Tom
Triggs
Risk factors for unintentional drowning
at surf beaches
The PhD study identifies and assesses
factors that contribute to the risk of
drowning at surf beaches as well as
providing estimates of exposure to that
risk. Methods used include analysis of
coronial data, observation of beach users,
self-report, and expert risk assessment.
Data gathered in this study is used firstly
to develop a predictive model of exposure
to drowning risk, and secondly, to quantify
the risk posed to beach users according
to swimming ability, surf beach experience
and beach conditions. Selected results are
published in Injury Prevention, The Journal
of Science and Medicine in Sport, and the
Australian and New Zealand Journal of
Public Heath.
Damian was awarded the degree of PhD
in 2011.
Carlyn Muir
Supervisors: Dr Judith
Charlton, Professor Brian
Fildes and Professor Joanne
Wood (Department of
Optometry, Queensland
University of Technology)
Visual attention in hemianopic visual
field loss: Application to screening for
fitness-to-drive
Hemianopic visual field loss is blindness
or reduction in one half of the visual field
caused by damage to the visual pathways
in the brain. There is limited evidence
regarding the ability to drive safely with
hemianopia, however some studies have
suggested that hemianopic field loss may
not impair driving ability enough to warrant
licence refusal. Research suggests that
individuals with hemianopic field loss appear
to compensate for their deficit to varying
degrees by employing altered scan paths
and excessive fixation in the blind region.
However, fixation does not necessarily imply
attentional processing, therefore identifying
whether these altered scan paths actually
correspond to attentional processing in the
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blind region would provide evidence as to
whether this is an effective compensatory
strategy.
The primary aims of this PhD are to
investigate the extent to which individuals
with hemianopic field loss compensate on
a visual attention task, and to investigate
the relationship between performance on
a visual attention task and cognitive and
vision tests commonly used in driving
assessment. Outcomes of this research
will be useful for developing a suitable
screening assessment for visual fitnessto-drive in individuals with hemianopic
field loss. (Australian Postgraduate Award
(Industry)
Carlyn was awarded the degree of PhD
in 2011.
Christine Mulvihill
Supervisor: Dr Michael
Lenné, Dr Paul Salmon
An examination of the nature and
development of safety critical skills in
motorcycling
It is well known that motorcyclists are
overrepresented in road trauma statistics,
particularly inexperienced motorcyclists
aged under 25. The elevated crash risk for
inexperienced motorcyclists would suggest
that rider experience is important in the
development of factors that contribute
to lower risk riding and that may assist
in crash avoidance. Little systematic
research has investigated skill differences
between experienced and inexperienced
motorcyclists that might contribute to their
differential crash risk. Similarly, there is little
understanding about how the skills develop
(or decay) over time. The broad aim of
the proposed research is to help address
this gap in the research. Specifically, the
research questions will be:
1. Are inexperienced motorcyclists deficient
in vehicle handling skills compared to
experienced motorcyclists?
2. Are inexperienced motorcyclists deficient
in higher order cognitive and perceptual
skills compared to experienced
motorcyclists?
3. Are inexperienced motorcyclists more
likely to encounter critical incidents
during their riding than experienced
motorcyclists?
4. How rapidly do vehicle handling skills
develop or decay over time (if at all) in
inexperienced motorcyclists?
5. How rapidly do higher order cognitive
and perceptual skills develop or decay
over time (if at all) in inexperienced
motorcyclists?
It is anticipated that the results of
the proposed research will enable
recommendations to be made about the
types of skills that could be included in
future motorcycle rider training programs
and when training for different skills is likely
to be most beneficial.
Roszalina Ramli
Supervisors: Professor Rod
McClure, Dr Jennie Oxley,
Dr Peter Hillard, Professor
Ahmad Farhan Sadullah
(MIROS)
Effectiveness of motorcycle helmet for
preventing craniomaxillofacial injuries
Malaysia is a rapidly developing South-East
Asian country. As part of this development,
motor vehicle ownership is dramatically
increasing, as is the burden of serious injury
and death related to road traffic crashes.
Crashes have become one of the major
causes of mortality and morbidity and
the second leading cause of deaths in
males (Malaysian Department of Statistics,
2009). For the past 10 years, motorcyclists
have registered the highest road deaths
compared with other road users. In
2005, motorcycle fatalities represented
approximately 60% of the total road
fatalities in Malaysia (Radin Umar, 2006).
Head injuries had been shown to be the
most frequent fatal injuries (Kraus, 1989)
while facial injuries were shown to occur
in one-fourth of all injured riders (Kraus et
al, 2003). Moreover, facial injuries tend to
occur simultaneously with head injuries (Tsai
et al, 1995; Pang et al, 1999; Ankarath et
al, 2002).
This study aims to quantify the
association between helmet wearing
status and helmet design (controlling for
impact speed and collision partner), and
the incidence, distribution and severity of
craniomaxillofacial injuries in motorcycle
riders in Malaysia.
There are three components of
this research. The first will involve a
questionnaire on riding experience and
behaviour and injury severity profile.
The second will involve helmet analysis
and finally, full crash investigation will be
performed on a sub-set of participants.
2011 Annual Report
Gemma Read
Supervisors:
Dr Michael Lenné and
Dr Paul Salmon
Application of systems-based methods
to reduce trauma at pedestrian level
crossings
Accidents at rail level crossings represent
an important public safety concern. In the
past the approach to improving rail level
crossing safety has been both reactive and
driven by reductionist thinking. Further,
the design of rail level crossing treatments
has tended to be engineering-led with
minimal consideration of human factors.
This research project argues that a new
approach is required and will test and
showcase such an approach by applying
contemporary human factors theory
and methods that support a systems
approach to understanding cognition and
behaviour at pedestrian level crossings.
This understanding will be used to propose
new and innovative design concepts to
improve performance and safety. The
research undertaken will also focus on
the development of a more structured link
between human factors analysis outputs
and the specification of system designs/
redesigns. The contribution of this research
thus lies in the enhancement of rail level
crossing safety and also to the area of
human factors methods more generally.
The PhD research is part of a wider ARC
Linkage study that will apply these
methods to road-rail level crossings,
prioritise current countermeasures and
propose and evaluate new designs. The
grant involves collaboration between
MUARC, the University of Southampton
and six key Victorian rail and road industry
stakeholders.
(Australian Postgraduate Award
(Industry)).
Peter Richardson
Supervisor: Professor
Ray Ison and Professor
Caroline Finch
Contextual and ecological influences in
sports injury prevention research theory
and practice
The primary aim of this proposed study is
to explore the relationship between theory
and practice – how theory informs practice
and practice informs theory – in sports
injury prevention research. Sports injury
prevention research, like many other fields,
has experienced some difficulty translating
empirical evidence-based theory into real-
world practice. Historically portrayed as a
‘one-way’ knowledge transfer issue, the
ubiquitous theory-practice gap has recently
been conceptualised as a knowledge
production problem, suggesting a
mismatch between the strategies research
and real-world practitioners use to deal
with complexity and context. ‘Critical’ and
‘soft’ systems perspectives will inform an
ecological investigation of the interactions
between theory and practice throughout the
research process aimed at injury prevention
in female football (soccer).
(Australian Postgraduate Award)
Matteo Rizzi
Supervisor: Professor
Brian Fildes and Professor
Claes Tingvall
The implementation of safety measures
for PTW with a safe system approach
The research program for this PhD thesis
will aim at understanding the issue of
motorcycle stability more deeply, its role
in crashes and the implications for crash
and injury prevention. Critical factors in fatal
motorcycle crashes will be analysed with a
Safe System approach in order to identify
and recommend solutions at the various
critical points leading up to crash prevention
and injury mitigation. The main working
hypothesis is that improved motorcycle
stability can prevent crashes and mitigate
injuries. With improved stability it should be
possible to change the events leading to a
crash by either preventing the crash itself or
mitigating its consequences.
Carolyn Staines
Supervisors: Professor Joan
Ozanne-Smith (Department
of Forensic Medicine) and
Professor Graeme Davison
(School of Historical Studies,
Faculty of Arts)
The Victorian experience of drowning
and its prevention: historical ecoepidemiological study of drowning
prevention in an economically
developing community
Victoria, along with other economically
developed communities, has had
considerable success in reducing drowning
death rates. However, drowning continues
to be a major cause of unintentional injury
deaths in developing countries. This study
aims to inform drowning prevention in
developing countries by determining how
Victoria reduced its drowning rate.
The study investigates the causes of
drowning deaths and the patterns of
change by reviewing the records of a
sample of almost 1500 coroners’ inquests
dating from the 1860s to the 1970s. This
research, supplemented by additional
information from other historical sources
and newspaper archives, is producing a
rich picture of the drowning risk profile of
Victoria’s early settlers and the evolution of
this over the period of the State’s economic
and social development.
(Monash Research Graduate
Scholarship)
Karen Stephan
Supervisors:
Dr Stuart Newstead and
Dr Michael Lenné
Crash risk and driver behaviour in
complex urban settings: effect of road
design and surrounding environment
Karen’s research is designed to investigate
the effect of the design of the road and the
surrounding environment (including speed
limit) on the risk of a crash occurring. The
first component of the project involves
using statistical modelling techniques to
identify the characteristics of the road
design and surrounding environment that
impact on the risk of a crash occurring.
Identifying these characteristics will lead to
the development of countermeasures. The
second component of the research involves
conducting experiments in the MUARC
driving simulator to determine how driver
behaviour changes in the presence of risk
factors identified during phase one and to
evaluate potential countermeasures. The
focus of the research will be on complex
urban environments, in particular, strip
shopping centres.
This project will identify road design
and environmental factors that affect crash
risk in complex urban environments and
recommendations for the design of urban
environments to reduce crash risk. The
results of this research may also
contribute to more effective methods
for setting speed limits. At a broader
methodological level, the research will
contribute to developing a rigorous
scientifically valid process for measuring
crash risk using real world data and the
evaluation of countermeasures developed
as a result of these models, which can be
applied to any road environment. (NRMAACT Road Safety Trust Postgraduate
Scholarship).
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Margaret Trotter
Supervisors:
Dr Michael Lenné and
Dr Paul Salmon
Organistational resilience: a new model
and study methodology
Led outdoor activity instructors operate in
an environment that involves elements of
risk and uncertainty. Outdoor education
organisations, like organisations across
many domains, attempt to mitigate these
risks and ensure the safety of their staff
and clients by developing, training, and
enforcing standard operating procedures;
however, despite organisations’
preparedness, situations will always arise for
which no procedure has been developed,
or existing procedures cannot be executed.
In such situations the ability to improvise
appropriately can be the difference between
survival of staff and clients and catastrophic
failure. Improvisation is the spontaneous
and real-time conception and execution of
a novel response to an event that is beyond
the boundaries for which an organisation
has anticipated or prepared. There is
currently no clear conceptual model of the
factors that support or hinder improvisation
in complex sociotechnical systems. As
a corollary, our understanding of how to
support appropriate, efficient improvisation,
whilst limiting inappropriate improvisation,
is limited. This research examines the
factors influencing improvisation in the led
outdoor activities domain from a systems
perspective, using cognitive task analysis
methods, including critical decision method
interviews, to elicit information about
incidents involving improvisation from led
outdoor activity instructors, supervisors,
and managers. By understanding the
relationships between improvisation and
its influencing factors it will be possible to
determine ways for organisations to support
appropriate, effectiveness improvisation
so that when faced with novel, safety
critical situations instructors, teams, or
organisations, can improvise in appropriate
ways that will prevent or minimise harm to
those involved.
(Australian Postgraduate Award).
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Saraswathy
Venkataraman
Supervisors: Dr Jennie Oxley
Dr Lesley Day and Associate
Professor Louise Farnworth
Risk factors for falls among older
residents of nursing homes in the Klang
Valley, Malaysia
The population of Malaysia is ageing. With
the increasing numbers of the elderly in the
population, we expect an increase in agerelated functional disability, the incidence of
falls and the need for aged-care facilities.
Given the importance of reducing falls
and their long-term consequences on the
overall health and wellbeing of the elderly, it
is important that a good understanding of
risk factors for falling amongst the elderly
living in aged care facilities is developed.
This qualitative research study aims to
identify, determine and analyse the effects
of possible risk factors that could contribute
towards sustaining fall incidences among
the older population seeking support from
shelter homes or nursing care facilities in
the Klang Valley area in Malaysia. It will
identify the influence of perceptions towards
ageing, engagement in functional abilities
and other factors on risk of falls occurring
among those residing long-term in shelter
home or nursing care settings.
Trang Vu
Supervisors: Dr Lesley
Day and Professor Caroline
Finch
Fall prevention in community-living
older people affected by co-morbidity:
a targeted approach
This project is part of an NHMRC
Partnership Grant Application entitled
‘Reducing falls among older people in
Victoria’ (which was subsequently funded).
The thesis research examines the effects
of co-morbidity on hospital resource use
by community-dwelling older people
hospitalised due to falls, using the Victorian
Admitted Episodes Dataset for fiscal
years 2005–06, 2006–07 and 2007–08.
Co–morbidity has been found to influence
health care resource utilisation and costs
by a number of studies involving a diverse
range of populations including people with
trauma, hip fractures and diabetes mellitus.
This finding has financial implications for
resource–constrained health systems. It
is this excess economic burden beyond
what might be expected based on the
primary diagnosis that this thesis will
aim to investigate. The thesis will seek
to demonstrate the potential value of a
targeted risk reduction approach focusing
on older people with co–morbidity.
Trang traveled to New Zealand in July to
conduct a validation study of evidencebased criteria for identifying an incident hip
fracture in the absence of the date of injury.
This study was a collaboration between
MIRI and the Injury Prevention Research
Unit, University of Otago. The accuracy
of commonly used criteria for identifying
incident hip fractures from hospital
discharge data has been investigated by a
limited number of studies. However, none
of these studies used a reference standard
containing date of injury information. The
study is therefore the first to examine the
accuracy of evidence–based criteria in
comparison to a reference standard of
identifying incident hip fractures using date
of injury.
Trang was awarded the 2011 MIRI
Best Student Paper Award for her paper
‘Patterns of comorbidity in communitydwelling older people hospitalised for fallrelated injury: A cluster analysis’ published
in BMC Geriatrics.
(Australian Postgraduate Award)
Linda Watson
Supervisors:
Dr Lesley Day and
Dr Stuart Newstead
Dog bite injury: an investigation into the
effectiveness of regulation
In recent years, many state regulations
in Australia have focused on restricting
particular breeds, despite there being
sparse scientifically-sound evidence to
suggest that the targeted breeds feature
disproportionally in dog bite injury statistics.
Within Australia there are no reliable
statistics available on the breed of dogs
involved in injury events, mainly because
breed identification based on phenotype
is reported to be inaccurate, even when
experienced observers are involved. Further,
accurate breed denominator data are
not available to allow estimation of breed
specific bite injury rates. The effectiveness
of breed specific regulatory measures has
not been clearly demonstrated, nor has
any literature been identified where this
approach has been examined for potential
harmful effects. The evaluation of injury
interventions is critical to ensure that health
gains are made and finite public resources
are used effectively. Breed-specific
regulatory measures may reflect a simplistic
and unrealistic appreciation of the causal
factors.
It is well recognised that a dog’s reaction
in any situation depends on at least six
2011 Annual Report
MPhil candidate
Will Kerr
Supervisor:
Dr Michael Lenné
Part of the problem of dog breed regulation
is that it is not always possible to identify the
breed on appearance alone
interacting factors including heredity, early
experience, socialisation and training (or
lack of), health (medical and behavioural),
current environment and victim behaviour.
Current breed specific regulation removes
responsibility for dog-biting incidents from
dog owners and places the focus on dogs.
It may also engender a false and dangerous
perception that breeds not included will not
show aggression. A fundamental principle
of injury prevention is that the most effective
solutions involve a multi-dimensional
approach, which in the instance of dog bite
injury would involve dog owners, parents,
children, the community at large, local
authorities and legislators.
This thesis will examine these issues
relating to breed specific regulatory
interventions, within a conceptual
framework based on established injury
prevention and health promotion principles
using the Australian and Victorian context.
(Monash Graduate Scholarship).
Review of level crossing data
The responsibility for rail safety in Australia
is shared by government and industry. As
part of this process of shared responsibility,
industry reports rail safety occurrences
to the regulators. The regulators and
operators use this data to assist with
their safety analyses and programs. Rail
regulators provide data to the Australian
Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) for
national publications. In April 2010, the
ATSB released the Australian Rail Safety
Occurrence Data from 1 January 2001
to 31 December 2009. In this period
there were 654 reported collisions with
road vehicles at level crossings. While
the Australian Rail Safety Occurrence
Data suggests that level crossing safety
is improving, it does not provide a
sufficient evidence base and there is no
clear understanding of what, why, when
and to whom it is happening, and what
countermeasures are effective. As a result
the ATSB has established a research
investigation with the aim of collating
level crossing accident, incident and
assessment data to provide an evidence
base for further research and to improve
the understanding of level crossing
accidents and ultimately the improvement
of level crossing safety. In summary, the
conduct of this research will enable
detailed national level crossing occurrence
data to be collected and analysis of
this data to be performed to provide
an evidence base and potentially
recommended where resources may be
best targeted to reduce the risk of level
crossing occurrences.
Staff candidates
Jim Langford
To assess and manage older drivers’
crash risk
The mainstay of the thesis is a series of
peer-reviewed publications, consisting of
• an examination of older drivers’ distinct
crash and driving patterns, especially to
identify different exposure aspects and
characteristic risk factors
• an evaluation of older drivers’ extent of
crash involvement, their responsibility
for crashes and the extent to which they
represent a risk to other road users;
• an evaluation of licensing authorities’
and others’ options for determining older
drivers’ fitness to drive, including detailed
examination of the commonly used
assessment protocols;
• the presentation of promising
countermeasures aimed at maintaining
acceptably safe driving. These
countermeasures have been based on
Safe System principles and include more
accurate targeting of at-risk older drivers,
more strategic licensing options, the
promotion of more crashworthy vehicles
and improved highway design tailored to
older drivers’ needs.
2011 supervised or co-supervised
PhD candidates from other
faculties and institutions
MUARC staff also co-supervise PhD
candidates who are enrolled in other
Monash faculties and departments as
well as other Australian and overseas
institutions.
Monash University candidates
Kelly Bryden
DPsych (Clinical
Neuropsychology)
School of Psychology
and Psychiatry, Faculty
of Medicine, Nursing and
Health Sciences, Monash University
Supervisors: Dr Judith Charlton, Dr Jennie
Oxley and Dr Georgia Lowndes (Psychology)
Wayfinding while driving: differences
between age groups and with and
without dementia
This research project is investigating the
changes in a driver’s ability to find their
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way to unfamiliar areas with increasing
age and with the onset of dementia. The
researchers are also interested in the
changes in cognitive functions that may
predict difficulties with wayfinding. The
overall project consists of three studies: a
questionnaire to find out more information
about those who report difficulty with
wayfinding and the strategies they use
to help; a stimulator study comparing
wayfinding ability and driving safety when
using a paper map and a passenger to
help navigate; and a GPS utilisation study
to determine whether senior drivers believe
that navigational units are helpful when
finding their way in unfamiliar areas.
Karen Scally
Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health
Sciences, Monash University
Supervisors: Associate Professor Nellie
Georgiou-Karistianis (Psychology), Emeritus
Professor Tom Triggs and Dr Judith Charlton
Factors influencing driving performance
in Parkinson’s Disease
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a movement
disorder that causes physical symptoms
such as resting tremor and difficulty initiating
and executing movement. Research has
shown that driving ability is compromised
by PD and in particular, cognitive changes in
PD are linked to poor driving performance.
No effective screening methods currently
exist to assess and predict driving ability
in PD. Previous research has shown that
drivers with PD have significantly poorer
driving performance than ‘non-PD controls’
and rely heavily on external cues (for
example, static warning signals) to regulate
driving performance.
This study aims to further investigate PD
drivers’ responses to selected ‘ecologically
valid’ external cueing conditions during
simulated driving performance. The driving
scenario for this study includes a flashing
‘prepare to stop’ signal used at potentially
hazardous intersections where there is
a high speed zone or low visibility on
approach to the traffic lights.
Moza Tahnoon Al Nahyan
Faculty of Business and Economics,
Monash University
Supervisors: Professor Amrik Sohal
(Business and Economics) and Professor
Brian Fildes (MUARC)
Management of transport infrastructure
projects in the United Arab Emirates
(UAE)
The overall aim of this research program is
to develop a framework and guidelines for
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the effective management of transportation
infrastructure projects to ensure their
success in the UAE. Three key objectives
have been identified to achieve this aim:
(1) identify major management issues
impacting on transportation infrastructure
projects in the UAE; (2) identify aspects
of communication, coordination and
stakeholder relations that contribute
to transportation infrastructure project
outcomes; and (3) develop a framework
for decision-making to enhance project
success.
External candidates
Peta Hitchens
University of Tasmania
MUARC Co-supervisor: Dr Lesley Day
Epidemiology of falls to professional
thoroughbred racing jockeys in
Australia
The aims of this study are to investigate the
epidemiology of jockey falls in Australia and
to identify modifiable risk factors associated
with them. It is estimated that between
25– 40 per cent of all jockeys in Australia
suffer a significant injury each year and
that an average of two jockeys are killed
annually, yet the evidence base from which
to develop preventive strategies is minimal.
This PhD has three main components:
establish a national jockey falls database;
analyse the database to describe the
epidemiology of jockey falls and potential
risk factors; and investigate the role of
jockey physiology and performance
characteristics in falls aetiology. Using data
from the national jockey falls database,
the epidemiology of flat and jumps racing
in Australia has been described and
published. Important contributing factors
to falls by jockeys in flat and jumps racing
included inexperience of the jockey,
inexperienced or less accomplished horses,
and competitive racing. In a pilot study, data
were obtained on physiological attributes
of jockeys and track-work riders. Important
factors found to be associated with falls
were lower aerobic and anaerobic fitness,
greater muscular strength and power, and
riding with the full foot in the stirrup irons
compared to riding on the ball of the foot.
Being a jockey carries a substantial risk
of injury and death. This thesis identified
a range of factors associated with falls to
thoroughbred racing jockeys riding in flat
and jumps races that adds to the evidence
base for formulating strategies to improve
occupational health and safety standards
in the thoroughbred racing industry. Peta
graduated in 2011 with her thesis receiving
high commendations from the examiners.
Peta is now a postdoctoral scholar in the
JD Wheat Orthopedic Research Laboratory
at the University of California, Davis.
Michael Lucas
University of Western Australia
MUARC Co-supervisor: Dr Lesley Day
Injury among Australian veterinarians
This project is a component of the Health
Risk of Australian Veterinarians (HRAV)
study of a cohort of veterinarians who
graduated from Australian universities from
1960-2000. The aim of the HRAV study
is to determine whether this cohort is at
increased risk of cancer, injury, zoonoses
(diseases that are transferable from animals
to humans) or adverse reproductive
outcomes and to determine the risk factors
for these conditions in veterinary practice.
The aim of this PhD study is to identify
the prevalence of, and risk factors for,
injuries among Australian veterinarians and
to develop a relevant prevention model
for occupational settings. The study has
identified that injury is extremely common
among the cohort with about half reporting
a significant work-related injury over their
career, and a quarter reporting any injury
in the previous 12 months. Only about
half the respondents reported using safety
precautions at the time of injury. Recent
graduates were found to be more likely to
report recent injury than earlier graduates.
Veterinarians in large animal and mixed
practices were found to be more likely to
have sustained a significant injury. Facial
injuries are more common than previously
recognised, and have the potential to cause
distressing physical and psychological
consequences.
Honours and vacation scholar
programs
Every year MIRI hosts a number of
undergraduate students. This allows
undergraduate students to gain experience
in research as well as get familiar with
the injury prevention domain. MIRI hosts
honours, engineering 4th year projects and
a vacation scholarship programme.
Students who are enrolled in their
honours year can apply for co-supervision
with MIRI and thus chose injury prevention
as their topic of research for the year, and
perhaps their future career.
In 2011 MIRI welcomed honours student
Genevieve Hughes from the Faculty of
Psychology. Genevieve conducted a driving
simulator study to investigate how singing
while driving affects driver performance.
Students in the senior years of their
2011 Annual Report
undergraduate programs can apply for a
summer vacation scholarship. Top students
are selected to undertake a twelve week
position at MIRI in order to gain research
experience and decide whether a research
career is something they would like to
pursue. This year MIRI welcomed Jerome
Le, Justin Carroll, Ben Tilley, Cara Dawson,
Kevin Mascarenhas and Johan Davydov.
Jerome, Justin, Kevin, Johan and Cara
all joined the Behavioural Safety Science
team and provided invaluable assistance
on a naturalistic cycling study identifying
risk factors for cyclists in the ACT, the
Ozcandrive older driver study and the
Child safety in Cars study. Ben worked
with the Australian Centre for Research
into Sports Injury and its Prevention on
National guidance for Australian (football)
Partnerships and Safety (NoGAPS).
All 2011 honours and summer
vacation students were successful in their
endeavours and are looking forward to a
great career in research. Both programmes
were very successful for 2011. The vacation
scholarship proved more successful
than ever thanks to the enthusiasm of
supervisors in proposing and supervising
projects and the high number of quality
applicants who showed an interest in
spending the summer gaining research
experience at MIRI. We are looking forward
to hosting students for both programmes
as well as engineering 4th year programs
again in 2012.
Honours program
In 2011, Dr Missy Rudin-Brown and Dr
Kristie Young co-supervised an Honours
student from the Monash School of
Psychology, Ms Genevieve Hughes.
Throughout the year, Genevieve conducted
a driving simulator study to investigate
how singing while driving affects driver
performance. Participant completed three
Vacation student Cara Dawson assessing one of the participants in the Ozcandrive project.
trials of a simulated drive concurrently
while performing a secondary task; each
trial was conducted either without music,
with participants listening to music, or with
participants singing along to music. As
expected, singing while driving was rated
as more mentally demanding, and resulted
in slower and more variable speeds, than
driving without music. Listening to music
was associated with the slowest speeds
overall, and fewer lane excursions than the
no music condition. Collectively, results
suggest that singing while driving impairs
driving performance and hazard perception
while at the same time increasing subjective
mental workload. However, singing while
driving does not appear to affect driving
performance more than simply listening to
music. The results have been submitted to
the peer-reviewed journal, Accident Analysis
and Prevention.
Singing while driving has been shown to impact on driving performance.
Vacation scholarship program
Cara Dawson
Spending an entire summer working
at uni might not be what everyone
anticipates for their holidays, but when
within 10 minutes of arriving on my first
morning I was already out having coffee
with some other researchers, I knew I would
survive.
During my time at MUARC I have
had the opportunity to work on a range
of different research projects, which has
allowed me to gain an understanding of
the type of work that goes on at MUARC.
I have been involved in Ozcandrive, a
collaboration of Australian and Canadian
researchers working with older drivers, as
well as a younger driver study and also
research involving the safety of children in
cars and as pedestrians.
Working at MUARC over summer has
been a great way to learn about the entire
research process. Being involved in more
than one project, I’ve been able to jump
in at each step and learn about what
happens at the various stages of research.
I have completed literature searches for
all the projects I’ve been working on and
also helped prepare an ethics application.
I have been involved in the data collection
stage, which has included both telephone
interviews and face to face assessments
with participants. Meeting participants who
are interested and willing to be a part of
the studies has helped show me that our
community believes in the importance of
transport research.
Once data is collected, but before it
can be analysed, it needs to be cleaned.
As well as learning that a lot of people do
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own car, this assignment confirmed for me
that data cleaning is not a step that should
be skipped for successful data analysis.
Although I did have to pull out and dust
off my stats text book during some data
analysis, it was a great opportunity to work
with a large data set to see what findings I
could come up with.
Not only have I survived the summer, but
I have also enjoyed it! I would like to thank
all those researchers at MUARC who have
allowed me to be a part of their projects.
For anyone interested in further study, or
if you are just unsure about how to spend
your summer, I would definitely recommend
trying three months in
the life of a researcher.
Ben Tilley
I was fortunate enough to be
accepted into the summer vacation
student program. I had the privilege of
working with Dr Alexander Donaldson (a
Research Fellow for ACRISP and MIRI)
and Dr Jill Cook (a Principal Research
Fellow in musculoskeletal injuries), as well
as spending time with members of their
respective research teams. With Alex, I
was able to be involved in the exciting
launch of the NoGaps FootyFirst program
at the Geelong Football Club, refining the
exercises in the program, researching
various principals and ideas that will help
with its implementation, preparing data
sheets and surveys for the collection of
the results and organising the images that
were to be in the final copy of the program.
Alex was a fantastic colleague and mentor,
allowing me to be involved in all aspects of
the program, to sit in on important meetings
and always finding something interesting for
me to work on. Jill showed me how to scan
an Achilles tendon with a new ultrasound
machine called a UTC, as well as being
able to perform a detailed analysis of the
tendon. I also was involved in recruiting
people to be involved in certain studies and
completing work on a Quality Assessment
Score as part of a systematic review. Jill
also allowed me to sit in on important team
meetings and always ensured I understood
the discussions. Jill also introduced me to
Dr. Jeremy Lewis, a leading musculoskeltal
researcher in the UK.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time with both
Alex and Jill and would like to thank them
for giving me this incredible opportunity. I
have learnt research skills that are going to
be of significant advantage as I continue
my Bachelor of Physiotherapy as well as
beginning my work in the Honours stream. I
urge anybody with an interest in this field to
apply for any vacation
scholarships that arise.
Ben Tilley doing NoGAPS exercises.
Researcher meetings
Convenor: Dr Lesley Day
The aim of the Researcher Meetings
is to provide an internal forum for the
presentation of current and future
projects, facilitating discussion
on methodological issues, study
interpretation, and policy and practice
implications. Every second meeting takes
the form of a journal club. Presentations
included:
• Evaluation of the WorkSafe Victoria
Employer Performance Management
• Program – preliminary results
(Lesley Day)
• Experiences from a sabbatical at SWOV
(Dutch National Road Safety Research
Institute) (Michael Lenne)
• From battlefields to freeways: distributed
situation awareness and road safety
(Paul Salmon)
• SWOV- projects, outcomes, benefits
(Nimmi Candappa)
• Assessing vehicle side airbag
effectiveness in Australia and New
Zealand (Stuart Newstead)
• How do children really behave in restraint
systems when travelling in cars?
(Jude Chartlon)
• Heavy vehicle crash study: a casecontrol study investigating risk factors
for crash in long distance heavy vehicle
drivers in Australia (Mark Stevenson)
• Managing increasing challenges in
motorcycle safety: a case-control study
investigating factors associated with
speed in motorcycle crashes
(Trevor Allen)
• The development of a delivery plan for
the NoGAPS lower leg injury prevention
program in community-level Australian
football (Alex Donaldson)
• Predictors of sustained return to work
after work-related injury or disease:
insights from workcover claims records
(Janneke Berecki-Gisolf)
Writing workshops
Writing skills development among students
and early career researchers was facilitated
through three workshops covering turning
a report into a journal article, dealing with
rejection of manuscripts by journals, and
grant writing for NHMRC project grant
applications.
70
www.monash.edu/miri
2011 Annual Report
Emily Kerr staffing the MIRI booth at the Tenth National Conference on Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion conference in Brisbane.
Professor Caroline Finch, PhD candidate Trang Vu and Dr Lesley Day.
71
Publications
MUARC report series
Siesmaa, E, Blitvich, J & Finch, CF 2011.
‘A systematic review of the factors that are
most influential in children’s decisions to drop
out of organised sport’ in Farelli, AD (ed.),
Sport participation: health benefits, injuries,
and psychological effects, Nova Science
Publishers Ltd. pp. 1-45.
Newstead, S, Watson, L & Cameron,
MH 2011, ‘Vehicle safety ratings estimated
from police reported crash data: 2011
update. Australian and New Zealand crashes
during 1987-2009’, report 304.
Siesmaa, E, Blitvich, J, Telford, A & Finch,
CF 2011. ‘Factors that are most influential
in children’s continued and discontinued
participation in organised sport: the role of
injury and injury risk perceptions’, in Farelli
AD (ed.), Sport participation: health benefits,
injuries, and psychological effects, Nova
Science Publishers Ltd. pp. 47-84.
Newstead, S, Watson, L & Cameron,
MH 2011, ‘Trends in crashworthiness of
the New Zealand vehicle fleet by year of
manufacture: 1964 to 2009. Supplement to
report 304 Vehicle safety ratings estimated
from police reported crash data: 2011
update’, report 304 supp.
Candappa, N, Symmons, M & Becker,
L 2011, ‘Descriptive Analysis of Victorian
Motorcycle Count Data’, report 305.
Scully, J & Newstead, S 2011, ‘Follow Up
Evaluation of Electronic Stability Control
Effectiveness in Australasia’, report 306.
Budd, L, Scully, J & Newstead, S 2011,
‘Evaluation of the Crash Effects of Victoria’s
Fixed Digital Speed and Red-Light
Cameras’, report 307.
Books
Salmon, PM, Stanton, NA, Lenné, MG,
Jenkins, DP, Rafferty, L & Walker, GH 2011
Human factors methods and accident
analysis: practical guidance and case study
applications. Ashgate, Aldershot, UK.
Book chapters
Cook, J & Finch, CF 2011. ‘The long-term
impact of overuse injuries on life-long
participation in sport and health status’, in
Farelli, AD (ed.), Sport participation: health
benefits, injuries, and psychological effects,
Nova Science Publishers Ltd. pp. 85-104.
Finch, CF, Williamson, A & O’Brien, B
2011 ‘An overview of the epidemiological
72
www.monash.edu/miri
evidence linking injury risk to fatigue in
sport. Identification of research needs and
opportunities’, in Marino, FE, Regulation of
fatigue in exercise, Nova Science Publishers
Ltd. pp. 155-176.
Jenkins, DP, Stanton, NA, Salmon, PM
& Walker, GH 2011 ‘Constraint-based
approach to design’, in Karwowski,
W, Soares, MM & Stanton, N A (eds),
The Handbook of Human Factors and
Ergonomics in Consumer Products, Taylor &
Francis, London, pp. 257-270.
Mullen, N, Charlton, JL, Devlin, A, Bédard
M 2011 ‘Simulator validity: Behaviors
observed on the simulator and on the road’,
in Fisher, D, Rizzo, M, Caird, J, Lee JD
(eds.), Handbook of Driving Simulation for
Engineering, Medicine and Psychology. CRC
Press, Boca Raton, FL, pp. 13-1.
Salmon, PM, Stanton, NA, Walker, GH
& Jenkins, DP 2011, ‘User trust in new
battle management technology: the effect
of mistrust on situation awareness’, in
NA Stanton (ed.), Trust in military teams,
Ashgate, Aldershot, UK, pp. 183-196.
Trotter, MJ, Mitsopoulos-Rubens, E &
Lenné, MG 2011, ‘Usability testing of three
prototype in-vehicle entertainment systems’,
in Karwowski, W, Soares, MM & Stanton,
NA (eds.), Human Factors and Ergonomics
in Consumer Product Design: Uses and
Applications (Handbook of Human Factors
in Consumer Product Design), CRC Press,
Boca Raton, FL, pp.199-212.
Peer review journal articles
Beanland, V, Allen, RA & Pammer, K 2011,
‘Attending to music decreases inattentional
blindness’, Consciousness and Cognition,
vol. 20, no. 4, pp. 1282-1292.
Boufous, S, Ivers, R, Senserrick, T &
Stevenson, M 2011, ‘Attempts at the
practical on-road driving test and the Hazard
Perception Test and the risk of traffic crashes
in young drivers’, Traffic Injury Prevention, vol.
12, pp. 475-482.
Brown, J, Finch, CF, Hatfield, J & Bilston,
L 2011, ‘Child restraint fitting stations
reduce incorrect restraint use among
child occupants’, Accident Analysis and
Prevention, vol. 43, no. 3, pp. 1128-1133,
Bugeja, L, McClure, RJ, Ibrahim, JE &
Ozanne-Smith, J 2011, ‘The public policy
2011 Annual Report
approach to injury prevention’, Injury
Prevention, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 63-65.
Chen, H, Cao, L & Logan, DB 2011,
‘Investigation into the effect of an
intersection crash warning system on driving
performance in a simulator’, Traffic Injury
Prevention, vol. 12, pp. 529-537.
Day, L, Finch, CF, Hill, K, Haines, T, Clemson,
L, Thomas, M, & Thompson, C 2011,
‘A protocol for evidence based targeting
and evaluation of state-wide strategies for
preventing falls among community dwelling
older people in Victoria, Australia’, Injury
Prevention, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 1-8.
De Rome, L, Ivers, R, Fitzharris, M, Du,
W, Haworth, N, Heritier, S & Richardson,
D 2011, ‘Motorcycle protective clothing:
Protection from injury or just the weather?’,
Accident Analysis & Prevention, vol. 43, no.
6, pp. 1893-1900.
De Rome, L, Ivers, R, Haworth, N, Heritier,
S, Du, W & Fitzharris, M 2011, ‘Novice
riders and the predictors of riding without
motorcycle protective clothing’, Accident
Analysis & Prevention, vol. 43, no. 3, pp.
1095-1103.
Douglas, C, Fildes, B & Gibson, T 2011,
‘Modelling occupants in far-side impacts’,
Traffic Injury Prevention, vol. 12, no. 5, pp.
508-517.
Edquist, J, Horberry, T, Hosking, S &
Johnston, I 2011, ‘Effects of advertising
billboards during simulated driving’,
Applied Ergonomics, vol. 42, no. 4, pp.
619-626.
Ellis N, MacKenzie A, McLeod, R, Battersby,
M 2011, ‘Disempowerment of workers
in vocational rehabilitation: would self
management help?’, Journal of Health
Safety and Environment, vol. 27, no. 3, pp.
171-184.
Filtness, AJ, Reyner, LA & Horne, JA 2011,
‘Moderate sleep restriction in treated older
male OSA participants: greater impairment
during monotonous driving compared with
controls’, Sleep Medicine, vol. 12, no. 9, pp.
838-843.
Finch, CF 2011, ‘No longer lost in translation
– the art and science of sports injury
prevention implementation research’, British
Journal of Sports Medicine, vol. 45, pp.
1253-1257.
Finch, CF, Gabbe, BJ, Lloyd, D, Cook,
J, Young, W, Nicholson, M, Seward, H,
Donaldson, A, & Doyle, T 2011, ‘Towards a
national sports safety strategy – addressing
facilitators and barriers towards safety
guideline uptake (the NoGAPS project)’,
Injury Prevention, vol. 17, no. 3, pp. 1-10.
Finch, CF, Ullah, S, & McIntosh, A 2011,
‘Combining epidemiology and biomechanics
in sports injury prevention research - a new
approach for selecting suitable controls’,
Sports Medicine, vol. 41, pp. 59-72.
Finch, CF, White, PE, Twomey, D, &
Ullah, S, 2011, ‘Implementing an exercise
training program to prevent lower limb
injuries – considerations for the
development of a randomised controlled
trial intervention delivery plan’, British
Journal of Sports Medicine, vol. 45, pp.
791-796.
Fitzharris, M, Yu, J, Hammond, N, Taylor,
C, Wu, Y, Finfer, SR & Myburgh, J 2011,
‘Injury in China: a systematic review of injury
surveillance studies conducted in Chinese
hospital emergency departments’, BMC
Emergency Medicine, vol. 11, no. 18, pp.
1-16.
Goddard, C, & Hunt, S 2011, ‘The
complexities of caring for child protection
workers: the contexts of practice and
supervision’, Journal of Social Work Practice,
vol. 25, no. 4, pp. 413-432.
Harvey, LA, Barr, M, Poulos, RG, Finch, C
F, & Sherker, S 2011, ‘A population-based
survey of knowledge of first aid for burns
in New South Wales’, Medical Journal Of
Australia, vol. 195, no. 8, pp. 465-468.
Hitchens, P, Blizzard, L, Jones, G, Day, L &
Fell, J 2011, ‘Are physiological attributes of
jockeys predictors of falls? A pilot study’,
BMJ Open, vol. 1, no. 1, e000142.
Jenkins, DP, Salmon, PM, Stanton, NA,
Walker, GH & Rafferty, L 2011, ‘What could
they have been thinking? How sociotechnic
system design influences cognition: A
case study of the Stockwell shooting’,
Ergonomics, vol. 54, no. 2, pp. 103-119.
Jenkins, DP, Stanton, NA, Salmon, PM &
Walker, G 2011, ‘A formative approach to
developing synthetic environment fidelity
requirements for decision-making training’,
Applied Ergonomics, vol. 42, no. 5, pp.
757-769.
Jenkins, DP, Stanton, NA, Salmon, P
M, & Walker, GH 2011, ‘Using work
domain analysis to evaluate the impact of
technological change on the performance
of complex socio-technical systems’,
Theoretical issues in Ergonomics Science,
vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 1-14.
Johnson, M, Newstead, S, Charlton, JL &
Oxley, J 2011, ‘Riding through red lights:
the rate, characteristics and risk factors of
non-compliant urban commuter cyclists’,
Accident Analysis & Prevention, vol. 43, pp.
323–328.
Keall, MD & Newstead, S 2011, ‘Passenger
vehicle safety in Australasia for different driver
groups’, Accident Analysis & Prevention, vol.
43, pp. 684–689.
Koppel, S, Bohensky, M, Langford, J, &
Taranto, D 2011, ‘Older drivers, crashes and
injuries’, Traffic Injury Prevention, vol. 12, pp.
459-467.
Koppel, S, Charlton, JL, Kopinathan, C &
Taranto, D 2011, ‘Are child occupants a
significant source of driving distraction?’,
Accident Analysis & Prevention, vol. 43, pp.
1236-1244.
Langford, J & Koppel, S 2011, ‘Licence
restrictions as an under-used strategy in
managing older driver safety’, Accident
Analysis & Prevention, vol. 43, pp. 487-493.
Hitchens, P, Blizzard, L, Jones, G, Day, L &
Fell, J 2011, ‘Predictors of race-day jockey
falls in jumps racing in Australia’, Accident
Analysis and Prevention, vol. 43, pp. 840847.
Hollis, SJ, Stevenson, MR, McIntosh, AS,
Li, L, Heritier, S, Shores, EA, Collins, MW, &
Finch, CF 2011, ‘Mild traumatic brain injury
among a cohort of rugby players: Predictors
for time to injury’, British Journal of Sports
Medicine, vol. 45, pp. 997-999.
Lenné, MG, Groeger, JG & Triggs, TJ 2011,
‘Contemporary use of simulation in traffic
psychology research: Bringing home the
bacon?’, (editorial), Transportation Research
Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour
(Special issue: Driving Simulation in Traffic
Psychology), vol. 14, pp. 431-434.
Ivers, R, Keay, L, Brown, J, Bilston, L,
Hunter, K, Simpson, J & Stevenson, M 2011,
‘Buckle Up Safely: A cluster randomized trial
to evaluate the effectiveness of a pre-school
based program to increase appropriate use
of child restraints’, BMC Public Health, vol.
11, no. 16, pp. 1-6.
Lenné, MG, Liu, CC, Salmon, PM, Holden,
M & Moss, S 2011, ‘Minimising the risks
and distractions for young drivers and their
passengers: An evaluation of a novel driverpassenger training program’, Transportation
Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and
Behaviour, vol. 14, pp. 447-455.
73
Publications
Lenné, MG, Rudin-Brown, CM, Navarro, J,
Edquist, J, Trotter, MJ & Tomasevic, N
2011, ‘Driver behaviour at rail level
crossings: Responses to flashing lights,
traffic signals and stop signs in simulated
rural driving’, Applied Ergonomics, vol.
42, no. 4 (Special Issue on Transportation
Safety), pp. 548-554.
McMeniman, E, Moore, R, Yelland, M &
McClure, RJ 2011, ‘Childhood obesity: how
do Australian general practitioners feel about
managing this growing health problem?’,
Australian Journal of Primary Health, vol.17,
pp. 60-65.
Milner, A, McClure, RJ, Sun, J & De Leo,
D 2011, ‘Globalisation and suicide: an
empirical investigation in 35 countries over
the period 1980-2006’, Health and Place,
vol. 17, pp. 996-1003.
Mitsopoulos-Rubens, E, Trotter, MJ &
Lenné, MG 2011, ‘Effects on driving
performance of interacting with an in-vehicle
music player: a comparison of three
interface layout concepts for information
presentation’, Applied Ergonomics, vol. 42,
pp. 583-591.
Mitsopoulos-Rubens, E, Trotter, MJ & Lenné,
MG 2011, ‘Usability evaluation as part of
iterative design of an in-vehicle information
system’, I E T Intelligent Transport Systems,
vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 112-119.
Newstead, S, Keall, M & Watson, l 2011,
‘Rating the overall secondary safety of
vehicles from real world crash data: the
Australian and New Zealand total secondary
safety index’, Accident Analysis & Prevention,
vol. 43, pp. 637–645.
Oxley, J, Fildes, B, Sadullah, F, Lahausse,
J & Newstead, S 2011, ‘Vulnerable road
user safety: a comparison of middle- and
high-income countries’, Journal of the
Australasian College of Road Safety, vol. 22,
no 2, pp. 63-70.
Petrass, L, Blitvich, J & Finch, CF 2011,
‘Observations of caregiver supervision of
children at beaches: Identification of factors
associated with high supervision’, Injury
Prevention, vol. 17, pp. 244-249.
Petrass, L, Blitvich, J & Finch, CF 2011,
‘Self-reported supervisory behaviour and
beliefs, validated against actual observations
of caregiver behaviour at beaches’,
International Journal of Aquatic Research
and Education, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 199-209.
Pickett, W, Hagel, L, Sun, X, Day, L, Day, A,
Marleng, B, Brison, RJ, Pahwa, P, Crowe,
74
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T, Voaklander, D & Dosman, J 2011,
‘Socioeconomic status and injury in a cohort
of Saskatchewan farmers’, Journal of Rural
Health, vol. 27, no. 3, pp. 245-254.
Ramli, R, Ng, L, Ng, F, Rahman, N & Oxley, J
2011, ‘Helmet use among injured and noninjured motorcyclists in Malaysia’, Journal
of the Australasian College of Road Safety,
(Special Issue: Road Safety in Asia), vol. 22,
no. 2, pp. 71-76.
Routley, V, Ozanne-Smith, J, Qin, Y & Zhao,
M 2011, ‘Comparison of the post-regulation
seatbelt-wearing experience in China and
Australia’, Road and Transport Research, vol.
20, no. 4, pp. 28-41.
Salmon, PM, Lenné, MG, Triggs, TJ,
Williamson, A, Goode, N, Cornelissen, M,
Tomasevic, N & Demczuk, V 2011, ‘The
effects of motion on in-vehicle touch screen
system operation: a battle management
system case study’, Transportation Research
Part F, vol. 14, pp. 494-503.
Stanton, NA & Salmon, PM 2011, ‘Planes,
trains and automobiles: contemporary
ergonomics research in Transportation
Safety’, (editorial), Applied Ergonomics
(Special issue: Transportation Safety), vol. 42,
no. 4, pp. 529-532.
Stephan, K, Kelly, M, McClure, RJ,
Seubsman, S, Yiengprugsawan, V, Bain, C,
Sleigh, A, and the Thai Cohort Team 2011,
‘Distribution of transport injury and
related risk behaviours in a large
national cohort of Thai adults’, Accident
Analysis & Prevention, vol. 43, no. 3, pp.
1062-1067.
Taylor, CB, Stevenson, M, Jan, S, Liu, B,
Tall, G, Sinclair, G, Middleton, PM, Fitzharris,
M & Myburgh, J 2011, ‘An investigation
into the cost, coverage and activities of
Helicopter Emergency Medical Services in
the state of New South Wales, Australia’,
Injury-International Journal of the Care of the
Injured, vol. 42, pp. 1088-1094.
Salmon, P M, Stanton, N A, Jenkins, D P
& Walker, G H 2011, ‘Coordination during
multi-agency emergency response:
issues and solutions’, Disaster Prevention
and Management, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 140158.
Twomey, DM, Finch, CF, Doyle, TLA, Elliott,
BC & Lloyd, D 2011, ‘Level of agreement
between field-based data collectors in a
large scale injury prevention randomised
controlled trial’, Journal of Science and
Medicine in Sport, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 121125.
Salmon, PM, Young, KL & Regan, M
2011, ‘Distraction ‘on the buses’: a novel
framework of ergonomics methods for
identifying sources and effects of bus driver
distraction’, Applied Ergonomics, vol. 42, no.
4, pp. 602-610.
Twomey, DM, Otago, L, Ullah, S & Finch, CF
2011, ‘Reliability of equipment for measuring
ground hardness and traction’, Proceedings
of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers,
Part P: Journal of Sports Engineering and
Technology, vol. 225, pp. 131-137.
Schluter, P, Turner, C, Huntington, A, Bain, C
& McClure, RJ 2011, ‘Work/life balance and
health: the nurses and midwives e-cohort
study’, International Nursing Review, vol. 58,
pp. 28-36.
Verhagen, E, Huuperens, M, Finch, CF &
van Mechelen, W 2011, ‘The impact of
adherence on sports injury prevention effect
estimates in randomized controlled trials:
looking beyond the CONSORT statement’,
Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport,
vol. 14, pp. 287-292.
Senserrick, T, Yu, J, Du, W, Stevenson,
M & Ivers, R 2011, ‘Development of a
supplementary education and training
program for novice drivers in China’, Journal
of the Australasian College of Road Safety,
vol. 22, no.2, pp. 36-41.
Sharwood, L, Elkington, J, Stevenson, M
& Wong, K 2011, ‘Investigating the role
of fatigue, sleep and sleep disorders in
commercial vehicle crashes: a systematic
review’, Journal of the Australasian College
of Road Safety, vol. 22, no. 3, pp. 24-29.
Sobhani, A, Young, W, Logan, DB &
Bahrololoom, S 2011, ‘A kinetic energy
model of two-vehicle crash injury severity’,
Accident Analysis & Prevention, vol. 43, no.
3, pp. 741-754.
Vu, T, Finch, CF & Day, L 2011, ‘Patterns
of comorbidity in community-dwelling older
people hospitalised for fall-related injury: A
cluster analysis’, BMC Geriatrics, vol. 11, no.
45, pp. 1-10.
Walker, GH, Stanton, NA & Salmon,
PM 2011, ‘Cognitive compatibility of
motorcyclists and car drivers’, Accident
Analysis & Prevention, vol. 43, no. 3, pp.
878-888.
Williamson, A, Young, KL, Lenné, MG &
Navarro, J 2011, ‘Music selection using a
touch screen interface: Effect of auditory
and visual feedback on driving performance
and usability’, International Journal of Vehicle
2011 Annual Report
Proceedings Australasian Road Safety
Research, Policing and Education
Conference, November, Perth.
Cornelissen, M, Salmon, PM & Jenkins, DP
2011, ‘How can they do it? A structured
approach to the strategies analysis phase
of Cognitive Work Analysis’, Human Factors
and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting
Proceedings, vol. 55, September, Las Vegas,
pp. 340-344.
D’Elia, A & Newstead, S 2011, ‘Alternative
measures of serious injury for national road
safety strategy target setting’ Proceedings,
Australasian Road Safety Research, Policing
and Education Conference, November,
Perth.
Dommes, A, Langevin, S, Cavallo, V, Oxley,
J & Vienne, F 2011, ‘The effects of traffic
complexity and speed on young and elderly
pedestrians’ street crossing decisions’
Proceedings 6th International Driving
Symposium in Human Factors Driving
Assessment, Training and Vehicle Design,
June, California.
Dr Jennie Oxley presented a paper on risky street-crossing decisions in older pedestrians at a
California conference in June.
Design, vol. 57, no. 4, pp. 391-404.
Watson, W, Clapperton, A & Mitchell, R,
2011, ‘The burden of fall-related injury
among older persons in New South Wales’,
Australian and New Zealand Journal of
Public Health, vol. 35, no. 2, pp. 170-175.
Yiengprugsawan, V, Somkotra, T,
Seubsman, S, Sleigh, AC, Kelly, M, McClure,
RJ, Bain, C and the Thai Cohort Team 2011,
‘Oral health-related quality of life among a
large national cohort of 87,134 Thai adults’,
Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, vol. 9,
no. 42, pp. 1-4.
Yoganandan, N, Fitzharris, M, Pintar, F,
Stemper, B, Maiman, D & Fildes, B 2011,
‘Demographics, velocity distributions and
impact type as predictors of AIS 4+ head
injuries in motor vehicle crashes’, Annals of
Advances in Automotive Medicine, 2011,
vol. 55, pp. 267-280.
Young, KL, Lenné, MG & Williamson, A
2011, ‘Sensitivity of the Lane Change Test
as a measure of in-vehicle system demand’,
Applied Ergonomics, vol. 42, no. 4, pp.
611-618.
Peer review conference papers
Al Nahyan, M, Sohal, A, Fildes, B & Hawas,
Y 2011, ‘Transportation infrastructure
project management in the United Arab
Emirates: current practice and improvement
opportunities’, Global Business and
Technology Association Thirteenth Annual
International Conference Readings Book,
July, Istanbul.
Cameron, MH 2011, ‘Rationalisation
of speed limits within the Safe System
approach’ Proceedings, Australasian
Road Safety Research, Policing and
Education Conference, November, Perth.
Edquist, J, Horberry, T, Hosking, S &
Johnston, I 2011, ‘Advertising billboards
impair change detection in road scenes’
Australasian Road Safety Research,
Education & Policing Conference, November,
Perth.
Edquist, J, Rudin-Brown, C M & Lenné, M G
2011, ‘Speed choice and hazard perception
in complex urban road environments’
Australasian Road Safety Research,
Education & Policing Conference, November,
Perth.
Fildes, B, Langford, J, Lahausse, J, Keall, M,
& Van Nes, N, 2011, ‘Motorists’ attitudes to
speed limits in Australia’ Proceedings of the
21st Canadian Multidisciplinary Road Safety
Conference, Transport Canada, Canada, pp.
1-14.
Clark, B, Scully, M, Hoareau, E & Newstead,
S 2011, ‘Hooning around: A focus group
exploration into the effectiveness of vehicle
impoundment legislation’ Proceedings,
Australasian Road Safety Research, Policing
and Education Conference, November,
Perth.
Fitzharris, M, Stephan, K, Newstead, S,
Truong, J, Collins, S, Healy, D & Rowe, G
2011, ‘Final analysis of the TAC ISA heavy
vehicle trial: effects of ISA and fuel efficiency
training on speed choice’, Australasian Road
Safety Research, Education and Policing
Conference, November, Perth.
Hughes, BP, Newstead, S & D’Elia, A 2011,
‘Outcomes-based national road safety
performance measures’ Proceedings of the
2011 Australasian College of Road Safety
National Conference, Mawson, ACT.
Candappa, N, D’Elia, A, Corben, B &
Newstead, S 2011, ‘Wire rope barrier
effectiveness on Victorian roads’
Langevin, S, Dommes, A, Cavallo, V, Oxley,
J & Vienne, F 2011, ‘Cognitive, perceptual
and motor decline as predictors of
75
Publications
risky street-crossing decisions in older
pedestrians’ Proceedings 6th International
Driving Symposium in Human Factors
Driving Assessment, Training and Vehicle
Design, June, California.
Langford, J, Dow, J & Turmell, E 2011,
‘Ageing and medical conditions: Implications
for managing older driver safety’ Proceedings
of the 21st Canadian Multidisciplinary Road
Safety Conference, May, Transport Canada,
Canada, pp. 1-14.
Lenné, MG & Mitsopoulos-Rubens, E,
‘Drivers’ decisions to turn across the path
of a motorcycle with low beam headlights’,
Human Factors and Ergonomics Society
Annual Meeting Proceedings, vol. 55, United
States, pp. 1850-1854.
Lenné, MG, Salmon, PM, Triggs, TJ,
Cornelissen, M & Tomasevic, N, ‘How does
motion influence the use of touch screen
in-vehicle information systems?’, Human
Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual
Meeting Proceedings, vol. 55, United States,
pp.1855-1859.
Inattention, September, Gothenburg,
Sweden.
Rudin-Brown, CM, Koppel, S & Charlton,
JL 2011, ‘Are children more distracting
than technology? Using naturalistic data
to explore rear seat child occupants as
a source of driver distraction’ Electronic
Proceedings of the Second International
Conference on Driver Distraction and
Inattention, September, Chalmers University,
Sweden, pp. 1-24.
Salmon, PM, Lenné, MG & Young, KL
2011, ‘Experienced and novice driver
situation awareness at rail level crossings: an
exploratory on-road study’, (Special session
on situation awareness and transportation
safety), Engineering Psychology and
Cognitive Ergonomics, Orlando, FL.
Salmon, PM, Young, KL & Lenné, MG 2011,
‘Investigating the role of roadway
environment in driving errors: an on road
study’, Human Factors and Ergonomics
Society Annual Meeting Proceedings, vol.
55, United States, pp.1879-1883.
Liu, S 2011, ‘Application of a two-stage
evaluation process in the development
of a road safety action plan for Tasmania’
Australasian Road Safety Research, Policing
and Education Conference, November,
Perth.
Scully, M & Newstead, S 2011, ‘Vehicle
Safety and Crash Risk Factors Relating
to Newly Licensed Drivers in Queensland’
Proceedings 2011 Australasian Road Safety
Research Policing Education Conference,
November, Perth.
Newstead, S & Scully, J 2011, ‘Potential
for improving the relationship between
ANCAP ratings and real world data derived
crashworthiness ratings’ Proceedings
2011 Australasian Road Safety Research
Policing Education Conference, November,
Perth.
Sobhani, A, Young, W & Logan, DB 2011,
‘Exploring the relationship of conflict
characteristics and consequent crash
severity’ Proceedings of ATRF 2011 – 34th
Australasian Transport Research Forum,
September, Adelaide.
Oxley, J & Charlton, JL 2011, ‘Gender
differences in attitudes to and mobility
impacts of driving cessation’, Transportation
Research Board Conference Proceedings
46, Women’s Issues in Transportation,
Summary of the 4th International
Conference, Technical papers, pp. 64-73.
Rudin-Brown, CM, Clark, B, Allen, A,
Mulvihill, C & Filtness, AJ 2011, ‘Do drinking
and riding mix? Effects of legal doses of
alcohol on balance ability in experienced
motorcyclists’ Australasian Road Safety
Research, Policing and Education
Conference, November, Perth.
Rudin-Brown, CM,Young, KL, Patten,
C, Lenné, MG, & Ceci, R 2011, ‘Driver
distraction in an unusual environment:
Effects of text messaging in tunnels’
Proceedings of the Second International
Conference on Driver Distraction and
76
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Stephan, K & Newstead, S 2011, ‘Measuring
the influence of the road and roadside in the
Safe System’ Proceedings 2011 Australasian
Road Safety Research Policing Education
Conference, November, Perth.
Symmons, M & Mulvihill, C 2011, ‘A
simulator comparison of riding performance
between new, returned and continuing
motorcycle riders’ Proceedings 6th
International Driving Symposium in Human
Factors Driving Assessment, Training and
Vehicle Design, June, California.
Symmons, M & Mulvihill, C & Collins, M
2011, ‘On-road comparison of returned,
continuing and new motorcycle riders’
Proceedings 2011 Canadian Multidisciplinary
Road Safety Conference, May, Halifax, Nova
Scotia.
Walker, GH, Stanton, NA & Salmon,
PM 2011, ‘Cognitive compatibility of
motorcyclists and drivers’, (Special session
on situation awareness and transportation
safety), Engineering Psychology and
Cognitive Ergonomics, Orlando, FL.
Young, KL, Mitsopoulos-Rubens, E, RudinBrown, CM & Lenné, MG 2011, ‘Driver
behaviour and task-sharing strategies
when using a portable music player’, in
proceedings of the Second International
Conference on Driver Distraction and
Inattention, September, Gothenburg,
Sweden.
Young, KL, Salmon, PM & Lenné, MG
2011, ‘An on-road examination of driver
errors at intersections’ Proceedings of the
Australasian Road Safety Research, Policing
and Education Conference, November,
Perth.
Other conference presentations
and publications
Andrew, N, Gabbe, BJ, Cook, J, Lloyd, D,
Donnelly J, Nash, C, White, PE, Donaldson,
A & Finch, CF 2011, ‘What is the evidencebase for exercise as a lower limb injury
prevention strategy in community Australian
Football?’, Australian Conference of Science
and Medicine in Sport, October, Fremantle.
Ashby, K, 2011, ‘Call back study
investigating child dog bite injury that occurs
in the domestic setting’, (oral presentation)
to the 10th National Conference on
Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion,
November, Brisbane.
Beanland, V 2011, ‘Implications of visual
attention research for looked-but-failed-tosee traffic accidents’, Directions in Road
Safety Research Forum, May, Adelaide.
Beanland, V & Pammer, K 2011, ‘Failures of
visual awareness: Inattentional blindness and
attentional blink’, Asia-Pacific Conference on
Vision, July, Hong Kong.
Beanland, V & Pammer, K 2011, ‘Minds
on the blink: The relationship between
inattentional blindness and attentional blink’,
Australasian Experimental Psychology
Conference 38th Annual Meeting, April,
Auckland.
Cassell E 2011, ‘Traffic Related pedestrian
fatalities in Victoria’, oral presentation to
the 10th National Conference on Injury
Prevention and Safety Promotion, November,
Brisbane.
Charlton, JL 2011, ‘Naturalistic Driving:
Insights from the Australian experience,
‘Staying focused at the wheel: Driver
2011 Annual Report
inattention, distraction and fatigue’, AA
Research Foundation Inaugural Symposium,
September, Wellington.
do about the Mayday procedure’, Australian
Conference of Science and Medicine in
Sport, October, Fremantle.
Charlton, JL, Odell, M, Muir, C & Devlin,
A 2011, ‘Visual field loss and intersection
gap selection’, The Eye and the Auto,
September, Detroit.
Edquist, J 2011, ‘Puffin crossing technology:
risks, benefits, and recommendations for
implementation’, (Presentation), RTA NSW,
May, Sydney.
Charlton, JL, Catchlove, M, Scully, M &
Koppel, S 2011, ‘Older Driver distraction:
A naturalistic study of behaviour at
intersections’, The Eye and the Auto,
September, Detroit.
Edquist, J 2011, ‘Roadside advertising:
guidelines around the world’, Austroads
workshop on roadside advertising regulation,
December, Sydney.
Charlton, JL Koppel, S, Odell, M, Devlin, A,
Langford, J, Edquist, J , Muir, C & Scully, M
2011, ‘Influence of chronic illness on crash
involvement of motor vehicle drivers’, Fit
To Drive – 5th International Traffic Expert
Congress, April, The Hague, Netherlands.
Cornelissen, M, Salmon, PM & Lenné, MG
2011, ‘Understanding road user behavior
using a system based approach: modelling
intersection negotiation using cognitive work
analysis’, AAAM, Paris.
Corben, B 2011, ‘Safe Roads and
Roadsides: A glimpse into the future’,
Australasian College of Road Safety National
Conference, September, Melbourne.
Corben, B 2011,’ Towards a Safe System:
The Challenge of Implementation’, Tranfinz
Conference: “Action”, November, Hamilton,
New Zealand.
Day, L 2011, ‘Prevention of falls in the
elderly: changes related to ageing and their
influence on safer environments, Building
safer environments: translating science
into practice and policy symposium, World
Health Conference, October, Berlin.
Day, L, Haines, T, Finch CF, Hill, K, Clemson,
L, Thomas, M & Thompson, C 2011, ‘A
research and policy partnership for
reducing falls among older people in
Victoria’, 10th National Conference on
Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion,
November, Brisbane.
Donaldson, A, Cook, J, White, PE, Finch, CF,
Lloyd, D & Gabbe, BJ, 2011, ‘Gaining expert
consensus on lower limb injury prevention
exercise guidelines for community Australian
Football – the NoGAPS project’, Australian
Conference of Science and Medicine in
Sport, October, Fremantle.
Donaldson, A, Poulos, R, Searl, J &
Johnston, M 2011, ‘Is sports safety policy
being translated into practice: What do
community rugby union coaches know and
Filtness AJ & Rudin-Brown, CM 2011,
‘Injuries to police officers associated with
police vehicle travel: Vehicle seat design’,
International MasterClass in Biomechanics
for Design for Injury Prevention, July,
Loughborough University, UK.
Finch, CF 2011, ‘Challenges in implementing
safety programs in children and
adolescents’, symposium: Injury prevention
in child and adolescent sport: international
evidence-based perspectives, International
Olympic Committee (IOC) World Conference
on Prevention of Injury and Illness in Sport,
April, Monte Carlo, Monaco.
Finch, CF 2011, ‘Knowledge translation and
establishing community prevention programs
for Australian Football’, symposium:
Co-operating to achieve injury reduction
- how the “Whole of Sport” approach has
successfully reduced injury risk in elite and
community Australian Football, International
Olympic Committee (IOC) World Conference
on Prevention of Injury and Illness in Sport,
April, Monte Carlo, Monaco.
Finch, CF 2011, ‘Why cost-effectiveness
and cost-benefit studies need to be a critical
component of sports injury prevention
research’, symposium: Cost analyses for
sports injury prevention: the how’s and
why’s, International Olympic Committee
(IOC) World Conference on Prevention of
Injury & Illness in Sport, April, Monte Carlo,
Monaco.
Finch, CF 2011, ‘Working with policy
agencies and peak sports bodies’,
symposium: From the field to the
politicians and back again – the challenge
of implementation International Olympic
Committee (IOC) World Conference on
Prevention of Injury & Illness in Sport, April,
Monte Carlo, Monaco.
Finch, CF 2011, ‘Challenges of
implementation and dissemination’, Bone
and Joint Decade Forum on road and sports
trauma, June, Canberra.
Finch, CF 2011, ‘No longer lost in translation
– the art and science of implementation
research’, International Olympic Committee
(IOC) World Conference on Prevention of
Injury & Illness in Sport, April, Monte Carlo,
Monaco.
Finch, CF, Gabbe, BJ, Lloyd, D, Cook,
J, Young, W, Nicholson, M, Seward, H,
Donaldson, A, Doyle, T & White, PE 2011,
‘The design of a study to better understand
facilitators and barriers towards safety
guideline uptake – the NoGAPS project’,
Australian Conference of Science and
Medicine in Sport, October, Fremantle.
Finch, CF, White, PE, Andrew, N, Lloyd, D &
Donaldson, A 2011, ‘Developing evidenceinformed exercise guidelines to prevent lower
limb injuries among community Australian
Football players – The NoGAPS project’,
Australian Conference of Science and
Medicine in Sport, October, Fremantle.
Fitzharris, M 2011, ‘Prioritising vehicle safety
injury prevention countermeasures: the need
for robust SCI incidence data’, 50th Annual
Scientific Meeting 2011: USA (combined
meeting with ASIA; International Conference
on Spinal Cord Medicine and Rehabilitation),
June, Washington, DC.
Fitzharris, M, Collie, A & Kerr, E 2011,
‘Evaluation of the TAC Recovery and
Independence claims management
initiatives’, 2011 Accident Compensation
Seminar, Institute of Actuaries of Australia,
November, Brisbane.
Fitzharris, M, Truong, J, Stephan, K, Healy,
D, Rowe, G, Collins, S & Newstead, S
2011, ‘The Victorian intelligent speed assist
and heavy vehicles trial: analysis of device
acceptability and influence on speed choice’,
(Paper Number 11-0244), 22nd International
Technical Conference on the Enhanced
Safety of Vehicles, June, Washington, DC.
Fitzharris, M 2011, ‘The role of crash
investigations in promoting vehicle safety and
road safety policy’, Victoria Police, Academy
Seminar Series, September, Melbourne.
Fitzharris, M, Stephan, K, Newstead, S,
Truong, J, Collins, S, Healy, D & Rowe, G
2011, ‘Final analysis of the TAC ISA heavy
vehicle trial: effects of ISA and fuel efficiency
training on speed choice’, Australasian Road
Safety Research, Education and Policing
Conference, November, Perth.
Frederick, J, & Goddard, C 2011, ‘The need
for multi-professional cooperation between
government authorities and experts in
Non Government Organisations (NGOs)
77
Publications
to effectively meet social needs’, ISPCAN
regional conference, September, Finland.
Goddard, C 2011, ‘The Silencing of
Children’, Tasmanian Government public
lecture, December, Hobart.
Goddard, C 2011, ‘The complexities
of caring for child protection workers’,
Reconstruct, June, London.
Goode, N & Beckmann, JF 2011, ‘The
relationship between structural knowledge
and controlling a dynamic system: The effect
of system complexity’, Australian Conference
on Personality and Individual Differences,
Hobart.
Gosling C, Forbes A, Donaldson A & Gabbe
BJ 2011, ‘The perception of injury risk and
safety in triathlon: An exploratory focus
group’, Australian Conference of Science
and Medicine in Sport, October, Fremantle.
Haines, T, Day, L, Finch CF, Hill, K, Clemson,
L, Thomas, M & Thompson, C 2011, ‘New
evidence on the roles of threat appraisal
and self-efficacy in falls prevention’,
Physiotherapy Conference, October,
Brisbane.
Haines, T, Day, L, Finch, CF, Hill, K, Clemson,
L, Thomas, M & Thompson, C 2011,
‘Good for others but not for me: why older
adults who see the value of group exercise
to prevent falls choose not to participate’,
Physiotherapy Conference, October,
Brisbane.
Hillard, P 2011, ‘Managing Increasing
Challenges in Motorcycle Safety: A
motorcycle crash case control study’,
Australian Motorcycle Council Annual
Conference, August, Melbourne.
Hillard, P & Peiris, S 2011, ‘the feasibility
of deriving injury assessment reference
functions using real world crash data’, First
International MasterClass in Biomechanics
for Design for Injury Prevention, July,
Loughborough University, UK.
Hyndman, B, Telford, A, Benson, A &
Finch, CF 2011, ‘What social ecological
components of school play spaces
encourage children to be physically active?’,
International Society for Behavioural Nutrition
and Physical Activity, June, Melbourne.
Hyndman B, Telford A, Benson, Ullah, S
& Finch CF 2011, ‘The development of
the school play area children’s enjoyment
scale (SPACES)’, International Society for
Behavioural Nutrition and Physical Activity,
June, Melbourne.
78
www.monash.edu/miri
Hyndman B, Telford A, Benson A, Ullah, S &
Finch, CF 2011, ‘Children’s school lunchtime
enjoyment: An exploration of intra-and interday agreement’, International Society for
Behavioural Nutrition and Physical Activity,
June, Melbourne.
Jamaludin, A & Oxley, J 2011, ‘Reducing
injuries: The role of research in developing
and evaluating evidence-based solutions’,
Injury Symposium (Institute of Health
Management, Ministry of Health), November,
Kuala Lumpur.
Johnson, M, Charlton, JL, Oxley, J and
Newstead, S 2011. ‘Naturalistic cycling
study: identifying risk factors for on-road
commuter cyclists’, 3rd Annual Australian
Cycling Conference, Adelaide, January.
Koppel, S 2011, ‘Giving up the keys:
Psychosocial and health consequences of
driving cessation for older adults directions’,
Road Safety Research Forum, Adelaide.
using on-road test vehicles’, 3rd International
Conference on Road Safety and Simulation,
September, Indianapolis.
Lloyd, D, Cook, J, Gabbe, BJ, Young,
W, White, PE, Donaldson, A & Finch, CF
2011, ‘Translating the scientific evidence for
preventing lower limb injuries into training
guidelines: the role of mechanistic versus
clinical versus epidemiological studies’,
Australian Conference of Science and
Medicine in Sport, October, Fremantle.
Molnar, L, Eby, D, Charlton, JL, Langford,
J & Roberts, SA 2011, ‘Study of gender in
self-regulation of older adults’, Gerontological
Society of America, 64th Annual Scientific
meeting, November, Boston.
Mudaly, N 2011, ‘Protecting children in
the dissemination of research: ethical
obligations’, Asia-Pacific Conference on
Child Abuse & Neglect, October, New Delhi.
Lenné, MG 2011, ‘Understanding the
influence of road infrastructure on road user
behaviour’, TrafiNZ Conference, November,
Hamilton, New Zealand.
Mulvihill, C & Sakashita, C 2011, ‘A largescale trial of the VicRide on-road coaching
program in Victoria: Development, delivery
and evaluation’, Directions in Road Safety
Research Forum, May, Adelaide.
Lenné, MG & Beanland, V 2011,
‘Rider acceptance of ARAS and OBIS
Technologies’, presentation to European
Commission PTW Stakeholder and User
Forum, December, Paris.
Oxley, J 2011, ‘Effect of alcohol and drugs
on road safety’, National Convention on
Forensic Medicine and Science: Road
Safety, National Institute of Forensic
Medicine, November, Kuala Lumpur.
Lenné, MG & Beanland, V 2011, ‘Rider
acceptance of assistive technologies’,
presentation to the European 2-be-Safe
consortium, March, Florence.
Oxley, J 2011, ‘Fitness to drive and mobility’,
National Convention on Forensic Medicine
and Science: Road Safety, National Institute
of Forensic Medicine, November, Kuala
Lumpur.
Lenné, MG & Beanland, V 2011, ‘Rider
acceptance of assistive technologies:
Relationships between rider profiles and
acceptance of ARAS/OBIS’, presentation
to the European 2-be-Safe consortium,
October, Cologne.
Oxley, J 2011,’ Development of innovative
measures using a registry’, 5th National
Conference for Clinical Research, Ministry
of Health, Sunway Pyramid, June, Selangor,
Malaysia.
Lenné, MG, Salmon, PM & Young, KL
2011, ‘An exploratory study assessing driver
behaviour at highway-rail grade crossings
using on-road test vehicles’, 3rd International
Conference on Road Safety and Simulation,
September, Indianapolis.
Oxley, J 2011, ‘OSH Excellence in the
Manufacturing Sector’ Occupational
Safety and Health Conference Federation
of Malaysian Manufacturers Advanced
Technology to Improve OSH in the
Workplace, Bukit Kiara, April, Kuala Lumpur.
Lenné, MG & Fitzharris, MF 2011,
‘Preventing driver distraction: Safe System
Countermeasures’, (Presentation and
workshop) 8th International Conference on
Managing Fatigue in Transportation, March,
Fremantle.
Oxley, J 2011, ‘Injury prevention programs:
The Australian experience and lessons we
can share’, National Convention on Forensic
Medicine and Science: Road Safety, National
Institute of Forensic Medicine, November,
Kuala Lumpur.
Lenné, MG Salmon, PM & Young, KL 2011,
‘An exploratory study assessing driver
behaviour at highway-rail grade crossings
Oxley, J, Charlton, JL, Venkataraman, S,
Yusoff, R, Bagat, F & Rashid, S 2011,
‘Comparison of older driver crash risk and
2011 Annual Report
travel patterns: Malaysia and Australia
emerging issues in safe and sustainable
mobility for older people’, Transportation
Research Board Conference on Emerging
Issues on Safe and Sustainable Mobility of
Older People, August, Washington DC.
Pammer, K, Beanland, V, Carter, I & Allen, R
2011, ‘Distraction improves visual attention
in inattentional blindness and attentional
blink’ Perception, vol. 40 ECVP Abstract
Supplement, pp. 190.
Rudin-Brown, CM, Salmon, PM & Lenné,
MG 2011, ‘Comparison of naturalistic
driver behaviour on approach to a road-rail
level crossing vs a signalised intersection’,
AutoCRC Technical Conference, Melbourne.
Salmon, PM 2011, ‘Understanding and
preventing accidents during led outdoor
activities in Australia: Where have we
been, where are we now, and where are
we going?’, Australia Camps Association
Conference, June, Bacchus Marsh, Victoria.
Salmon, PM 2011, ‘Understanding and
preventing accidents during led outdoor
activities in Australia’, CC Congress,
November, Hong Kong.
Salmon, PM, Young, KL & Cornelissen,
M 2011, ‘Connect 4? The compatibility of
driver, motorcyclist, cyclist and pedestrian
situation awareness’, HFES Euro, October,
Leeds, UK.
Ullah, S & Finch, CF 2011, ‘Accurate
forecasts of injury incidence rates:
an application to falls’, Australasian
Epidemiological Association (AEA) Annual
Scientific Meeting, September, Perth.
Vu, T, Day, L & Finch, CF 2011, ‘Comparison
of linked and unlinked data for establishing
incidence and comorbidities: a case study
using hip fracture data’, Australasian
Epidemiological Association (AEA) Annual
Scientific Meeting, September, Perth.
Vu, T, Finch, CF & Day, L 2011 ‘A
cluster analysis to identify patterns of
comorbidity in community-dwelling older
people hospitalised for fall-related injury’,
Australasian Epidemiological Association
(AEA) Annual Scientific Meeting, September,
Perth.
White, PE 2011, ‘Looking beyond the athlete
- peer behaviour and injury prevention’,
in symposium: Behaviour – a key factor
for injury prevention, International Olympic
Committee (IOC) World Conference on
Prevention of Injury and Illness in Sport, April,
Monte Carlo, Monaco.
White, PE, Finch, CF, Donaldson, A,
Gabbe, BJ, Cook, J, Lloyd, D, Seward, H &
Andrew, N 2011, ‘Where should community
Australian Football invest in injury prevention?
A review of over 30 years of injury reports’,
Australian Conference of Science and
Medicine in Sport, October, Fremantle.
Other reports
Beanland, V & Rudin-Brown, CM 2011,
‘Industry attitudes and perceptions
regarding the Electronic Work Diary
Operational Pilot’, (MUARC Contractor’s
Report), Monash University Accident
Research Centre.
Beanland, V, Goode, N, Salmon, PM &
Lenné, MG 2011, ‘The efficacy of advanced
driver training: A targeted literature review’,
(C-MARC Contractor’s Report) CurtinMonash Accident Research Centre, Perth.
Beanland, V, Young, KL & Rudin-Brown, C
M 2011, ‘Review of human factors design
guidelines and principles for in-vehicle
information and communication systems’,
(MUARC Contractor’s Report), Monash
University Accident Research Centre.
Budd, L, Scully, J & Newstead, S, 2011,
‘Final evaluation of the $130M Safer Road
Infrastructure Program Stage 1 (SRIP1)’,
(Research Consultancy Report to VicRoads),
Monash University Accident Research
Centre.
Budd, L, Newstead, S & Scully, J, 2011
‘Final evaluation of the Safer Road
Infrastructure Program Stage 2 (SRIP2)’,
(Research Consultancy Report to VicRoads),
Monash University Accident Research
Centre.
Budd, L, Scully, J & Newstead, S, ‘Phase 1
evaluation of the Safer Road Infrastructure
Program Stage 3 (SRIP3)’, (Research
Consultancy Report to VicRoads), Monash
University Accident Research Centre.
Cameron, MH, Diamantopoulou, K, Clark,
B, & Langford, J 2011, ‘Identifying traffic
enforcement practices and opportunities in
Western Australia’, (Report to Road Safety
Council, Western Australia). Curtin-Monash
Accident Research Centre, Perth.
Cameron, MH, & Carnis, L (eds.), 2011,
‘Proceedings of workshop on Automated
Speed Enforcement: Outsourcing
Enforcement Activities as a Next Frontier’,
Australasian Road Safety Research, Policing
and Education Conference, November,
Perth.
Cassell, E, Reid, N, Clapperton, A, HuoyPrang, K & Kerr, E 2011, ‘Assault-related
injury among young people aged 15-34
years that occurred in public places: deaths
and hospital-treated injury’, Hazard, No. 73,
Victorian Injury Surveillance Unit, Monash
University.
Clapperton, A 2011, Unintentional
(accidental) hospital-treated injury, Victoria
E-Bulletin No. 7, Victorian Injury Surveillance
Unit, Monash University.
Clapperton, A & Cassell, E 2011, ‘A national
review of rock fishing deaths and hospitaltreated injury’, (Report to Surf Life Saving
Australia). Victorian Injury Surveillance Unit,
Monash University.
Clark, B 2011, ‘Strategies for managing
recidivist speeding’, CMARC Fact Sheet
No.10. Curtin-Monash Accident Research
Centre.
Clark, B, Rudin-Brown, CM & Newstead,
S 2011, ‘A targeted review of the links
between blood alcohol limits, alcohol sales
and advertising on road trauma’, Royal
Automobile Club of Western Australia.
D’Elia, A & Newstead, S 2011, ‘Data
systems and serious injury measures for
monitoring road safety outcomes’, (Report
to the Department of Justice, Transport
Accident Commission and VicRoads),
Monash University Accident Research
Centre.
D’Elia, A & Newstead, S 2011, ‘An enhanced
road safety information system for Western
Australia’, (Report No. D10#158249), CurtinMonash Accident Research Centre.
Edquist, J & Rudin-Brown, CM 2011,
‘Pedestrian noncompliance at level crossing
gates’, (Report to PTA WA) Curtin-Monash
Accident Research Centre.
Edquist, J, Muir, C, Salmon, PM & Oxley, J
2011, ‘Research into the implementation
and road safety benefits of Pedestrian
User Friendly Intelligent (Puffin) technology’,
(Report to Roads & Traffic Authority, NSW).
University Accident Research Centre.
Filtness, AJ, Rudin-Brown, CM & Young,
KL 2011, ‘Operational pilot of electronic
work diaries (EWDs) Report on telephone
interviews with drivers, transport operators
and EWD providers’, (Report to TCA).
Monash University Accident Research
Centre.
Filtness, AJ, Rudin-Brown, CM, Allen, A,
Mulvihill, C & Lenné, MG 2011, ‘Investigation
79
Publications
of zero BAC for all motorcycle riders in
Queensland Simulator and balance studies
report’, (Report to Queensland Department
of Transport and Main Roads). Monash
University Accident Research Centre.
Filtness, AJ, Trotter MJ, MitsopoulosRubens, E & Rudin-Brown, CM 2011,
‘Injuries to police officers associated with
police vehicle travel: vehicle seat design
Report 3: expert survey’, (Report to Police
Association of New South Wales). Monash
University Accident Research Centre.
Filtness, AJ,Young, KL & Rudin-Brown,
CM 2011, ‘Operational pilot of electronic
work diary (EWD) and speed monitoring
systems Report 1: Targeted literature review’,
(Report to TCA). Monash University Accident
Research Centre.
Fitzharris, M, Kerr, E, Muir, C & Collie, A
2011, ‘Perception and attitudes of staff in the
Benefit Delivery Division of the TAC toward
current work practice and those under the
new TAC 2015 Recovery Model: PreImplementation Survey Findings’, (Report
to the Transport Accident Commission
– ISCRR Report 1111-010-R3). Monash
Injury Research Institute & Institute for Safety,
Compensation and Recovery Research,
Monash University.
Fitzharris, M, Prang, K & Newstead, S 2011,
‘ANCIS – Stage 4 year 1 annual report’,
Monash University Accident Research
Centre.
Fitzharris, M, Kerr, E, Muir, C & Collie, A
2011, ‘Perception and attitudes of staff in
the Community Support Division of the TAC
toward current work practice and those
under the new TAC 2015 Independence
Model: Pre-Implementation Survey
Findings’, (Report to the Transport
Accident Commission – (ISCRR Report
1111-010-R2). Monash Injury Research
Institute & Institute for Safety, Compensation
and Recovery Research, Monash
University.
Gibson, K, Ozanne-Smith, J, Clapperton,
A, Kitching, F & Cassell, E 2011, ‘Targeted
study of injury data involving motorised
mobility scooters: A report to the Australian
Competition and Consumer Commission’,
Monash University Department of Forensic
Medicine and Monash University Accident
Research Centre.
Fitzharris, M, Stephan, K & Newstead, S
2011, ‘The Victorian Transport Accident
Commission Heavy Vehicles Intelligent
Speed Advisory Trial: effects of ISA
and EcoDrive on speed choice, fuel
consumption, and the role of driver attitudes
in these outcomes’, (Consultant report to the
Transport Accident Commission), Monash
Accident Research Centre.
Goddard, C, Mudaly, N & Fredrick, J 2011,
‘Submission to the Protecting Victoria’s
Vulnerable Children Inquiry’, Child Abuse
Prevention Research Australia.
Goddard, C & Newton, R, 2011, ‘A
submission in relation to the Commonwealth
Commissioner for Children and Young
People Bill 2010; A Bill for an Act to
establish an Independent Office of the
Commonwealth Commissioner for
children and Young People, and for related
purposes’, Child Abuse Prevention Research
Australia.
Dr Marilyn Johnson and Dr Jennie Oxley conducted research for VicRoads on cyclist behaviour along Melbourne’s Beach Road before and
after a clearway trial. Source: Newspix/Jason Sammon.
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2011 Annual Report
Goode, N, Lenné, MG & Salmon, PM 2011,
‘Simulation-based driver and vehicle crew
training: applications, efficacy and future
directions’, (Report submitted to DSTO),
Monash University Accident Research
Centre.
Mitsopoulos-Rubens, E, & Lenné, MG
2011, ‘Review of guidelines on in-vehicle
information systems’, (Report prepared
under contract for the Defence Science and
Technology Organisation), Monash University
Accident Research Centre.
Goode, N, Spencer, C, Archer, F, McArdle,
D, Salmon, PM & McClure, RJ 2011,
‘Review of Recent Australian disaster
inquiries’, (Report submitted to Attorney
General’s Department), Monash Injury
Research Institute.
Mudaly, N 2011, ‘It takes me a little longer to
get angry now – A preliminary evaluation of
an animal-assisted education and therapy
group for homeless traumatised by family
violence’.
Hughes, BP, Hopkins, S, Evans, C,
McRobert, J, Mahendran, A, Newstead, S,
D’Elia, A & Jones, D 2011, ‘Performance
reporting of transport reform outcomes’,
(Report no. RR 10-002), Curtin-Monash
Accident Research Centre.
Johnson, M and Oxley, J 2011, Clearway
trial along Beach Road: an analysis of
cyclist behaviour before and during the trial.
(Contract research report for VicRoads),
Monash University Accident Research
Centre.
Lenné, MG, Beanland, V, Fuessl, E,
Oberlander, M, Joshi, S, Rößger, L, Bellet,
T, Banet, A, Leden, L, Spyropoulou, I,
Roebroeck, H, Carvalhais, J, & Underwood,
G 2011 ‘Relationships between rider
profiles and acceptance of Advanced
Rider Assistance Systems’, (Report for EU
2BeSafe project).
Liu, S, Mulvihill, C & Logan, DB 2011,
‘Visually impaired pedestrians’, (Report to
VicRoads), Monash University Accident
Research Centre.
Muir, C, Fitzharris, M & Collie, A 2011, ’Best
practice in case and claims management:
Opportunities for the TAC’, (Report to the
Transport Accident Commission – ISCRR
Report1111-010-R1). Monash Injury
Research Institute & Institute for Safety,
Compensation and Recovery Research,
Monash University.
Rudin-Brown, CM & Young, KL 2011,
‘Operational pilot of electronic work
diaries (EWDs) Interim report, survey
results’, (Report prepared for TCA),
Monash University Accident Research
Centre.
Salmon, PM, Goode, N & Lenné, MG 2011,
‘Identifying and Bridging the Land 121
Training Gap: PMV-L Case Study’, (Report
submitted to DSTO). Monash University
Accident Research Centre.
Salmon, PM, Stanton, NA, Young, KL 2011,
Situation awareness on the road: review,
theoretical and methodological issues,
and future directions. Theoretical Issues in
Ergonomics Science. I-First, pp. 1-11.
Stanton, NA, Salmon, PM, Rafferty, L, Revell,
K, McMaster, R, Caird-Daley, A, CooperChapman, C 2011, ‘Distributed decision
making in multi-helicopter teams: a case
study of mission planning and execution
from a non-combatant evacuation operation
training scenario’, Journal of Cognitive
Engineering and Decision Making, (Special
issue on Naturalistic Decision Making), No.
4:4, pp. 328-353.
Walker, GH, Stanton, NA, Salmon, PM,
Jenkins, D, Monnan, S & Handy, S
2011, ‘Communications and cohesion: a
comparison between two command and
control paradigms’, Theoretical Issues in
Ergonomics Science. I-First, pp. 1-20.
Young, KL & Lenné, MG 2011, ‘Driver
distraction regulatory reform in Australia’,
(Report to VicRoads). Monash University
Accident Research Centre.
Young, KL, Filtness, AJ & Rudin-Brown,
CM 2011, ‘Operational pilot of electronic
work diaries (EWDs) Report on enforcement
officer focus groups’, (Report to TCA).
Monash University Accident Research
Centre.
Other presentations to community
and professional groups
Beanland, V 2011, ‘2-Be-Safe: Two Wheeler
Behaviour and Safety’, Australian Motorcycle
Council Annual General Meeting, August,
Melbourne.
Candappa, N 2011, ‘Lecture to second year
civil engineering students’, Melbourne.
Cassell, E & Clapperton, A 2011,
‘Injury profile by settings and age group,
Victoria’, (Presentation to Victorian Safe
Communities Network Forum), Informing
future directions for injury prevention,
November, Melbourne.
Charlton, JL 2011, Investigators’ and
partners’ meeting for the ARC Linkage
Ozcandrive Older Driver Cohort Study,
November, Melbourne.
Charlton, JL 2011, ‘National best practice
guidelines on the safe restraint of children
travelling in cars’, (Participation in Steering
Committee for the NHMRC) November,
Melbourne.
ACRISP’s Peter Richardson in Monaco at the International Conference on Prevention of Injury
& Illness in Sport.
Charlton, JL 2011, ‘Managing older
driver safety’, (Presentation). Victorian
Postgraduate Medical Foundation (VMPF)
Seminar, March, Warrnambool, Victoria.
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Publications
Charlton, JL 2011, ‘Children in cars: A
naturalistic observation study’, (Presentation
to GM North America), September, Detroit.
Charlton, JL 2011, ‘Managing older
driver safety’, (Presentation to Aged Care
Assessment team, Eastern Health), May,
Melbourne.
Charlton, JL 2011, ‘Cross-Cutting
Research’, (Seminar), Older and Impaired
Road Users, November, Monash University.
Charlton, JL & Langford, J 2011, ‘Restricted
licenses’, (Round table for jurisdictional
managers, licensing), November, Perth.
Charlton, JL 2011, ‘How do children really
behave in restraint systems when travelling
in cars?’, Center for Injury Research and
Prevention at The Children’s Hospital of
Philadelphia, October, Philadelphia.
Charlton, JL 2011, ‘Keeping children safe in
cars’, (Presentations to ReLab and University
Modena e Reggio Emilia and Reggio Emilia
School, Pedagogist Group), April, Reggio
Emilia, Italy.
Charlton, JL 2011, ‘Older driver research
at MUARC’, (Research meeting and
presentation to SWOV Researchers), April,
SWOV, Duindoorn, The Hague, Netherlands.
Charlton, JL 2011, ‘Ozcandrive project
update’, (Presentation to Candrive
Investigators), October, Ottawa, Canada.
Charlton, JL 2011, ‘Presentation on MUARC
Behavioural Safety Science research’,
(Presentation to PATH: Human Factors
Research and Development team, University
of California, Berkeley), October, Richmond,
CA.
Corben, B, 2011, ‘Fast facts for road myths:
Speed limits are always safe speeds’,
(Road Safety Science Public Event), RiAus,
November, Adelaide.
Corben, B, 2011, ‘Progress with meeting
Victoria’s intersection safety challenge’,
(Presentation to VicRoads), Melbourne.
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Corben, B, 2011, ‘Safe roads and roadsides:
A glimpse into the future’, Metropolitan
Traffic Education Centre AGM, October,
Melbourne.
Corben, B, 2011, ‘The critical nature of
speed and speeding), (Presentation to
VicPol), July, Melbourne.
Corben, B, 2011, ‘Towards a safe speed
in inner Melbourne’, Monash University
Accident Research Centre, October,
Melbourne.
D’Elia, A 2011, ‘Establishment of a robust
measure of serious injury’, (Presentation to
Chinese road safety delegation), October,
Melbourne.
Donaldson, A & Poulos R 2011, ‘Planning
for adoption and implementation – using
Implementation Mapping step 5’, New South
Wales Rugby Union 2011 Development
Officers Planning Workshop, August, Lake
Macquarie, NSW.
Finch, CF 2011, ‘NHMRC partnership
grants’, Deakin University Early Career
Researchers Workshop, September.
Fitzharris, M, 2011, ‘Data analysis to
investigate the injury profile of near-side, side
impact crashes: a comparison of injury risk
between pole and vehicle-vehicle impacts’,
(WP29 Informal Group on Development
of Pole side impact Global Technical
Regulation), Department of Transportation,
June, Washington, DC.
Posters
Clapperton, A 2011, ‘Rock fishing deaths
and injury in Australia’, 10th National
Conference on Injury Prevention and Safety
Promotion, November, Brisbane.
Ekegren, C, Quested, R & Brodrick, A
2011, ‘Epidemiology of injuries among
elite preprofessional ballet students’,
Abstracts from the IOC World Conference
on Prevention of Injury & Illness in Sport,
(Abstract published in BJSM, vol. 45, pp.
347, April, Monte Carlo, Monaco.
Filtness, AJ, Reyner, LA & Horne, JA
2011, ‘One night CPAP withdrawal impairs
performance at a driving simulator task
faster than sleep restriction to 5 hours with
treatment in OSA patients’, World Sleep
Conference, Kyoto, Japan.
Filtness, AJ, Reyner, LA & Horne, JA 2011,
’Prevalence of risk factors for undiagnosed
obstructive sleep apnoea is high in
truck drivers on UK roads’, World Sleep
Conference, Kyoto, Japan.
Finch, CF 2011, ‘NoGAPS: The
design and evaluation plan of a large‐
scale implementation study’, Global
Implementation Conference, August,
Washington DC.
Finch, CF 2011, ‘Sports medicine
embraces implementation science’, Global
Implementation Conference, August,
Washington DC.
Fitzharris, M 2011, ‘Making our vehicles
safer – how do we get there quickly?’
(Workshop) Australian College of Road
Safety, September, Melbourne.
Goode, N, Lenné, MG & Salmon, PM 2011,
‘The impact of on-road motion on BMS
touch screen device operation’, Defence
Science Symposium, Melbourne.
Koppel, S 2011, ‘Children as a potential
source of distraction: Setting the future
agenda for child occupant protection’,
September, Prato, Italy.
Richardson, P 2011, ‘Translating theory into
practice (a practice into theory) How does
context influence sports injury prevention
research?’, IOC World Conference on
Prevention of Injury & Illness in sport, April,
Monte Carlo, Monaco.
Logan, DB 2011, ‘Real world crash
investigations’, (Lecture and presentation to
3rd year Paramedic Studies students), July,
Monash University.
MUARC investigators regularly
inspect and assess crash scenes.
The Monash Injury Research Institute
addresses the causes of both intentional
and unintentional injury, including
workplace incidents.
Contact us
Monash Injury Research Institute (MIRI)
Building 70, Clayton Campus, Monash University, Victoria 3800 Australia
Phone: (+61 3) 9905 4371
Fax: (+61 3) 9905 4363
Email: miri-enquiry@monash.edu
Web: www.monash.edu/miri
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