In 2004 in Australia, controversy over the alleged involvement of elite footballers in incidents of sexual assault highlighted a tendency to denigrate the victims and excuse the perpetrators. To investigate whether rape myths were prevalent enough to explain this public response, 102 university students were surveyed for their beliefs and determinations of blame in rape situations. Although there was a gender difference in the rates of rape myth acceptance, with males more likely to accept these beliefs, these were not evident in decisions about victim blame or perpetrator blame. However, males and high rape myth acceptors were significantly more likely to minimize the seriousness of the rape situation. These effects increased with familiarity depicted in the situation.

The Australian regional city of Ipswich is a place undergoing significant change through rapid urban development and population growth. This article is concerned with testing anecdotal views about the importance of 'community' to Ipswich residents and what that might consist of. It draws on exploratory research into local constructions of Ipswich's identity and how rapid growth may be impacting it. As a first stage in the research process, six local leaders were interviewed about their perceptions of the city in this changing urban environment. Across the sample, Ipswich's identity was defined by its sense of community, heritage and history, social and economic growth, geography of place, and local leadership and vision. Participants described a positive transformation of Ipswich's identity overall. This article illuminates elements in Ipswich's identity viewed by participants as of local importance. Ipswich's sense of community was the element participants talked most about preserving in the face of urban growth. Discussed in this article are the study's findings, limitations and potential research directions.

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This article discusses the interactions of a group of Australian Aboriginal people with museum-based artefacts and photographic images, and their re-connection to these materials inside and outside the museum setting. Themes of connection and agency relating to these materials were invoked in the process. The complex social biographies of some objects mean they are at times discussed as having agency, or interpreted as being culturally perceived as such. In the case detailed here, the affect expressed in responses to a variety of objects indicates different interpretations. The discussion therefore considers the logic of connection expressed in Aboriginal ontologies to argue against ideas of the agency of objects. It is instead suggested that the meaning invested in them is related more to their material qualities and the contexts in which they are perceived. This consideration is grounded in a discussion of a collaborative project between researchers and Aboriginal people in which these matters arose.

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