The Australian Park Life project: Development of a nationally standardised spatial layer and public participatory GIS for greenspace in Australian capital cities.

This paper introduces the 'Australian Park Life Project' and describes a protocol to standardise the capture and collation of public open greenspace spatial data across Australian cities. This method will progress greenspace research allowing for unique coherent national analyses and comparative research across Australia. We also outline the development of the Park Life public participatory geographic information system (PPGIS) to spatially explore what, and how, public open greenspaces are being used by Australian communities.

Where are the alcohol advertising hotspots near schools?

Issue Addressed: Physically locating liquor stores near schools can strongly influence the chances of youth accessing and consuming alcohol, and may also increase children's exposure to alcohol advertising. Investigating the association between the presence of a liquor store near a school and the prevalence of outdoor alcohol advertising is crucial from a policy perspective, as it can inform future regulations on the placement of liquor stores and outdoor advertising near educational institutions.

Methods: All outdoor alcohol advertising within a 500 m radius (audit zone) of 64 randomly selected schools from local government areas across metropolitan Perth was identified by direct observation; recording the size, setting, location and content of each advertisement.

Acceptability and feasibility of tests for infection, serological testing, and photography to define need for interventions against trachoma.

Background: Trachoma causes blindness due to repeated conjunctival infection by Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct). Transmission intensity is estimated, for programmatic decision-making, by prevalence of the clinical sign trachomatous inflammation-follicular (TF) in children aged 1-9 years. Research into complementary indicators to field-graded TF includes work on conjunctival photography, tests for ocular Ct infection, and serology.