Amazing Aussie Achievements
research project
Medicine - Zinc Cream
This white sun block made from zinc oxide was developed by the Fauldings pharmaceutical company in 1940. Zinc is very important in Australia's harsh conditions. It helps protect the skin from the sun's harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays. Whether you realize it or not, you may already be using zinc to prevent skin cancer every time you apply your favorite sunscreen. Many sunscreens that provide broad spectrum UV protection contain zinc oxide. Recently, researchers have begun conducting further investigations into the anti-cancerous benefits of zinc by looking at how it may help prevent skin cancer recurrence in cancer patients.
Zinc cream is now used world wide in many different forms.
Australia has the highest rate of skin cancer in the world, this is why I think that the invention of zinc cream is extremely important, especially for us Aussies.
Sport - Sydney 2000 Olympic Games
There were 165 events for men, 135 for women, and 12 mixed events. 10,651 athletes (4,069 of them women) from 199 nations participated; the only nation excluded was Afghanistan.
With all these athletes families, friends and sports enthusiasts follow, increasing tourism and money spent in Australia.
With the Olympics being held in Sydney, promotion of Australia was spread worldwide through tv, websites and social media. Our heritage and icons were displayed in the opening ceremony. There were three Olympic mascots: "Olly", a kookaburra, "Syd", a platypus; and "Millie", an echidna. The three native animals were chosen to represent the earth, air and water.
Australian Aboriginal Cathy Freeman lit the cauldron at the start of the Games, and went on to win the 400m race. With many Aussies winning medals it lead to an increase in participation in sports programs Australia wide.
The Olympics held in Sydney promoted Australia world wide, increased tourism, increased employment, increased sporting participation and showed that Australian's were proud to be Australian.
I believe having the Olympics here in Australia was very important as it helped promote /advertise Australia all over the world and it was a great honour for Australia to be able to host the Olympics.
Exploration
Parkes Observatory, just outside the central-west NSW town of Parkes, hosts the 64 metre Parkes radio telescope, one of the telescopes comprising CSIRO’s Australia Telescope National Facility.
Astronomers from across Australia and around the world utilise the Parkes radio telescope to undertake world-class astronomical science. Affectionately known as ’the Dish’, the telescope operates 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
Since its opening in October 1961, the Parkes radio telescope has been an icon of Australian science. Famous for its reception of the television images of the first Moon walk in 1969, it is normally used to detect the faint radio emissions from objects in space.
The fictional film 'The Dish' was based on the real role that Parkes played in receiving the first video footage on the first Moon walk by the crew of Apollo 11 in 1969.
Although designed and operated as a radio telescope for astronomical observations, Parkes has also been used for tracking and receiving data from many space probes.
It has contributed to other space missions including the Galileo probe to Jupiter and the various Mars missions in early 2004. In January 2005 it was a key element in a global linkup of 17 radio telescopes observing the descent of the Huygens probe through the atmosphere of Titan.
I believe that the Parkes Observatory is very important to Australian science and space research.
Invention
Lance Hill's clothes hoist became a symbol of Australian home life in the 1950s but Lance Hill did not invent the rotary clothes hoist. Gilbert Toyne patented one in Adelaide in 1926, which was sold in small numbers until the early 1960s.
In 1945 Lance Hill returned to Adelaide from war. His wife complained that her traditional clothesline between two posts (propped up in the middle by a stick) was in the way of the lemon tree. Hill's answer was to design a compact rotary line out of metal tube and wire. He was unemployed and turned his idea into a livelihood. Hills Industries has now expanded and diversified. It has acquired several different companies and produces many different products, eg, clothes lines, ironing boards, wheelbarrows, antennas, CCTV equipment and systems, building and roofing products to name a few.
They have manufacturing plants in the UK and New Zealand. Products are sold in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and SE Asia, and trade links exists with many countries including Scandinavia, Austria, Hawaii, Greece, Papua New Guinea and Burundi in the African continent.
To me the Hills Hoist is an important part of Australian identity, like the famous Australian barbecue, it has become one of our most recognised suburban icons.
Arts
Delta Lea Goodrem is an Australian singer-songwriter, pianist, and television actress. Born and raised in Sydney, Australia, she enrolled in dancing, acting, singing and piano classes at a young age. Her repertoire falls under the pop and adult contemporary styles, and heavily features the piano, which she usually plays barefoot while performing live. Delta is also known for her technically skilled soprano voice.
During the course of her career Delta has become known worldwide and has sold out many concerts around the world. Delta has been nominated and has also won many prestigious international music awards. A cancer survivor herself, Delta Goodrem regularly visits sick children in hospital. A percentage of each ticket for The Visualise Tour went towards the Delta Goodrem Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research Trust Fund, established by Goodrem in support of cancer research. She is an ambassador for Research Australia’s “Thank You Day”, which honours the country’s health and medical researchers and received a Thank You Day Celebrity Advocacy Award “in recognition of her efforts in raising funds and awareness for Australian medical research and charities.” Goodrem is also member of RADD (Recording Artists, Actors And Athletes Against Drunk Driving), a group of celebrities raising awareness of the risks of drunk driving.
To me Delta has played an important part in getting Australia recognised in the music industry she is a great role model and an inspiration to many young Australians.
Human Rights
The Federal Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (D.D.A.) provides protection for everyone in Australia against discrimination based on disability.
Disability discrimination happens when people with a disability are treated less fairly than people without a disability. Disability discrimination also occurs when people are treated less fairly because they are relatives, friends, carers, co-workers or associates of a person with a disability.
The definition of "disability" in the DDA includes:
· Physical
· Intellectual
· Psychiatric
· Sensory
· Neurological, and
· Learning disabilities, as well as
· Physical disfigurement, and
· The presence in the body of disease-causing organisms.
This broad definition is meant to ensure that everyone with a disability is protected.
The DDA makes it against the law to discriminate against someone if they have a disability in the following areas of life :
· Employment.
· Education.
· Access to premises used by the public.
· Provision of goods, services and facilities.
· Accommodation.
· Buying land.
· Activities of clubs and associations.
· Sport.
· Administration of Commonwealth Government laws and programs.
The DDA also protects people who have some form of personal connection with a person with a disability like relatives, friends, carers and co-workers if they are discriminated against because of that connection or relationship. For example, it is unlawful discrimination if:
· A parent is refused a job because the employer assumes he or she will need time off work to look after a child with a disability.
The Disability Discrimination Act of 1995 and 2005 aim to ensure that disabled people are treated in a fair and equal way. The Acts place duties on providers of goods, facilities and services and make it unlawful for a service provider to discriminate against a disabled person.
I believe everyone deserves to be treated equally and have the same opportunities as everyone else, that is why the introduction of the DDA was/ is so important to us all.