One of the key doctrinal developments of the High Court of Australia in relation to its constitutional limitations jurisprudence is the structured test of proportionality. In recent cases involving the implied freedom of political communication, the Court has indicated that its constitutional adjudicative function will be informed by the extent to which a parliament has, or has not, considered issues of proportionality. In this article, we examine these developments through the parliamentary institutional lens: we ask what the implications are for Australian parliaments if the Court adopts an approach to proportionality reasoning that is sensitive to parliamentary fact-finding and deliberations. We explore how the Court's restraint in applying the proportionality test might have two, interrelated, consequences. The first is the type of factual material that the political branches should be seeking when they make determinations about whether a law is 'reasonably necessary' to achieve a stated objective, and whether the regime has struck the most appropriate 'balance' between competing claims on the public good; and how parliamentarians should deliberate about that material. The second is whether evidence could be led in court to satisfy the judiciary that a parliament has considered the relevant facts, and deliberated appropriately about them, and, if so, the process that should be adopted for leading such evidence.

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An increase in migration of Sudanese and South Sudanese people to Australia due to civil unrest in their home country has increased the numbers of Sudanese students at university. Migrant experiences, particularly those of English as a second language, can impact negatively on education and learning. Inconsistencies between student scores on assessments and oral abilities in class prompted an exploratory project to identify barriers to success and create appropriate resources for students. The project utilised a multi-method approach to explore the experiences of the Sudanese students (n=22) enrolled at Edith Cowan University in Western Australia. Two quantitative scales examined motivations for learning and English Language Confidence. Interviews or focus groups explored the students' perceptions of their learning and university experiences. The findings indicate that students are extrinsically motivated to study, confident in their language skills but required additional support to improve their written English. The barriers include socio-political factors unique to Sudanese students. Finally recommendations to assist these students are presented.

Accurate detection of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is important to stratify and address risk. Yet, few short cognitive screening instruments are validated for this. . In Australia, all clients referred to an Aged Care Assessment Team (ACAT) receive comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) including the Standardized Mini-Mental State Examination (SMMSE). We compared the accuracy of the quick mild cognitive impairment (Qmci) screen to the SMMSE in 283 participants: 195 with dementia, 47 with MCI, and 41 with subjective cognitive decline (SCD) in an Australian community-based ACAT. Both had similar accuracy in identifying dementia, AUC of 0.86 for the Qmci versus 0.93 for the SMMSE (p = 0.10), but the Qmci was more accurate than the SMMSE in differentiating MCI from SCD, AUC of 0.84 versus 0.71, respectively, p = 0.046. These suggest that the new, short (3-5 min) Qmci screenis appropriate for use in an ACAT or other units conducting CGA.

Public opinion is often reported as punitive towards sentencing young people. Attitudes remain important to investigate given their potential to influence policy within the criminal justice system (Roberts and Indamaur, 2007). Therefore, it is important to understand the formation of these attitudes and their consistency with sentencing principles. Semi-structured interviews (n=72) and surveys (n=502) were used to gauge opinions of sentencing young people under different scenario manipulations (age; weapon; drug treatment; prior record). The findings revealed the public expected punishment, but favoured rehabilitation with an opportunity to repent, suggesting the public are open to alternatives to 'tough on crime' approaches.