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The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the improvements in technology that enhance community understanding of the frequency and severity of natural hazards also increased the risk of potential liability of planning authorities in negligence. In Australia, the National Strategy imposes a resilience-based approach to disaster management and stresses that responsible land-use planning can reduce or prevent the impact of natural hazards upon communities.

This paper analyses how the principles of negligence allocate responsibility for loss suffered by a landowner in a hazard-prone area between the landowner and local government.

The analysis in this paper concludes that despite being able to establish a causal link between the loss suffered by a landowner and the approval of a local authority to build in a hazard-prone area, it would be in the rarest of circumstances that a negligence action may be proven.

The focus of this paper is on planning policies and land development, not on the negligent provision of advice or information by the local authority.

This paper identifies the issues a landowner may face when seeking compensation from a local authority for loss suffered because of the occurrence of a natural hazard known or predicted to be possible in the area.

The paper establishes that as risk managers, local authorities must place reliance upon scientific modelling and predictive technology when determining planning processes to fulfil their responsibilities under the National Strategy and to limit any possible liability in negligence.

Participation in creative activities have been linked with increased personal agency. The purpose of this paper is to address critical considerations in the development of community-based creative workshops for people experiencing severe and persistent mental illness and explores participant experiences of these workshops.

The workshops aimed to build the skills and capacities of participants and provide alternative ways to communicate identity and recovery stories. They were designed to provide a range of creative opportunities for participants (visual arts, writing, dance and music) and were facilitated by practising artists. In total, 11 participants attended ten creative workshops over three months. On completion, a focus group was conducted to gather participant views, experiences and outcomes of the workshops.

The creative workshops supported the recovery of participants. The inclusion of peer mentors in the workshops was an important in facilitating connectedness.

This study advances the evidence that creative arts can support the psychological and social aspects of participants’ recovery journeys. Creative activities can promote positive self-identity and reduce self-stigma for people experiencing mental illness. It highlights the importance of using evidence in the design of creative workshops and supports the use of peer mentoring in group creative processes.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the experiences of mentally disordered offenders (MDOs) conditionally discharged from secure hospitals on a restrictive Section of the Mental Health Act (Section 37/41).

Data were derived from seven semi-structured interviews from three forensic community teams.

Thematic analysis identified seven predominant themes: (1) the uncertainty of the discharge timeframe; (2) fear of jeopardising discharge; (3) progress; (4) engagement with community life; (5) barriers to social engagement; (6) evolving identity and (7) someone to turn to. Findings are discussed in relation to the recovery model and the good lives model.

The findings highlight the importance of fostering trust between MDOs and their care teams to encourage help-seeking. They also suggest that resources should be sequenced appropriately throughout the discharge process, to match the “window of engagement” and maximize impact and effectiveness.

This research gained rarely obtained first-hand perspectives from MDOs, with the findings contributing to a more effective evaluation of the discharge pathway.

Democratic therapeutic communities (TCs), use a “flattened hierarchy” model whereby staff and clients are considered to have an equal voice, sharing administrative and some therapeutic responsibility. Using the sociological framework of interaction ritual chain theory, the purpose of this paper is to explain how TC client members negotiated and enforced community expectations through an analysis of power within everyday interactions outside of structured therapy.

The study used narrative ethnography, consisting of participant observation with two democratic communities, narrative interviews with 21 client members, and semi-structured interviews with seven staff members.

The findings indicate social interactions could empower clients to recognise their personal agency and to support one another. However, these dynamics could be destructive when members were excluded or marginalised. Some clients used their interactions at times to consolidate power amongst dominant members.

It is argued that the flattened hierarchy approach theoretically guiding TC principles does not operate as a flattened model in practice. Rather, a fluid hierarchy, whereby clients shift and change social positions, seems more suited to explaining how the power structure worked within the communities, including amongst the client group. Recognising the hierarchy as “fluid” may open dialogues within TCs as to whether, and how, members experience exclusion.

Explorations of power have not specifically focused on power dynamics between clients. Moreover, this is one of the first papers to look at power dynamics outside of structured therapy.