EXPERT REACTION: Federal Budget 2021/22

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Below are expert comments collected by the AusSMC on how the 2021-22 Federal Budget will impact science and research.

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Expert Reaction

These comments have been collated by the Science Media Centre to provide a variety of expert perspectives on this issue. Feel free to use these quotes in your stories. Views expressed are the personal opinions of the experts named. They do not represent the views of the SMC or any other organisation unless specifically stated.

Viviana Wuthrich is a Professor at Macquarie University's Centre for Ageing, Cognition and Wellbeing

On aged care:

My thoughts are: Although we don’t know all the details yet – we welcome the additional support from the government into the aged care sector. As Australia’s population is ageing, older people are the future, and looking after people as they age is critical to the wellbeing of older people, as well as their families, friends and carers.

It is fantastic to see the funding will be directed not only to the amount of care older people in residential aged care facilities receive, but also the standards of care. Obviously this is not a quick fix, and it is going to take more investment in the future, but these are very good steps in the right direction. The investment to increase training of staff, and incentives to retain staff in the sector is an important part of the solution.

What is particularly encouraging is the support that will go towards supporting older people receiving aged care services at home, not just those in facilities. This is a critical step to creating a new aged care sector, as most people want to remain in their homes, but many will need support over time. This is especially true for older people living alone.

The budget not only allocates funding to improve the services that people receive at home, but also to increase the support given to carers. We very much welcome this step, as ~20 per cent of older people are carers, and we know that caring can be a very demanding role both physically and emotionally.

Obviously it can take some time for new processes to come into play, but we hope the support in this sector will relate to health care and basic living needs, but also social support, and support to remain engaged with their local community.

Last updated: 12 May 2021 3:11pm
Declared conflicts of interest:
None declared.
Prof Bruce Thompson is the Head of the Melbourne School of Health Sciences at The University of Melbourne

On the COVID-19 response:

The federal budget providing $1.5 billion to extend healthcare services in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic, and a further $1.9 billion for the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out is welcome and necessary. With the continuing escalation of COVID-19 cases and associated deaths around the globe, it is clear that the pandemic is not going to go away, and as a society we need to socially adapt to a virus that we will live alongside for many years to come.

What the pandemic had led to, is a transformation of the health care system and also highlighted areas which need addressing. For us to live alongside the COVID-19 pandemic, we need very rapid (<1min), simple SARS-COV-2 testing, better treatments and importantly new and better vaccines that are developed and manufactured here in Australia.

Considering the total amount of spending in the budget allocated to the pandemic, it is relatively modest considering the devastating impact that the pandemic has had on our nations healthcare system and economy.

Last updated: 12 May 2021 1:01pm
Declared conflicts of interest:
None declared.
Associate Professor Sukhbir Sandhu is the Executive Co-director for the Centre for Workplace Excellence (CWeX) at UniSA

On disaster resilience and climate change:

The focus of budgetary allocations on climate change, in the main, appear to be on adaption and not mitigation (i.e., the focus is on adapting to climate change and not on trying to slow down climate change). While this focus is understandable from a political perspective, it is problematic from a societal perspective. Not showing leadership on global efforts to mitigate climate change has implications for Australia’s disaster reliance.

We only have to go back to the 2020 bushfires raging across 11 million hectares of Australia’s tinder dry landscape for the link between climate change and disaster. The economic damages of the bushfires were in the billions; the mental and emotional damages continue to unfold.

As our world gets hotter and drier, the frequency and ferocity of natural disasters is also changing. The disasters are more brutal, and the fallout is extensive. This is reducing the time available for recovery and prevention. Focussing mainly on climate change adaption is being penny wise and pound foolish.

Furthermore, the “technology first approach” to budgetary allocations, in absence of commensurate regulatory measures such as carbon pricing, is unlikely to lead to action that is fast enough or furious enough.

Last updated: 31 Jan 2023 9:49am
Declared conflicts of interest:
None declared.
Associate Professor Phill Cassey is Head of the Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Department at the University of Adelaide

On biosecurity:

The Australian Government has announced a circa $370 million support package to enhance its investment in frontline biosecurity activities to safeguard Australia from alien species and diseases. This investment is in addition to funding for combatting established invasive pests and weeds. Critical to delivering this investment will be partnerships between the Government and local communities, similar to New Zealand’s initiative of a ‘A biosecurity team of 4.7 million people’. Community action and surveillance throughout the pre-border to post-border biosecurity continuum is essential for managing both new risks as well as combatting previously established alien pest species.

Fundamental changes in technology are desperately needed to expand the biosecurity toolbox; including new surveillance techniques to address the massive global growth in the internet trade and e-commerce of potentially invasive and disease carrying species, as well as physical real-time surveillance capabilities in eDNA. Research partnerships will be vital in order to deliver these technologies including the potential for new biocontrol and gene-editing approaches to complement suppression and control of long-standing invasive alien species.

The Government investment in a broader range of Biosecurity approaches and technologies can be applauded, but must be supported by partnerships for new research opportunities to lead by example. Australia has a unique and highly valuable environment to protect, and we can continue to lead the world in our biosecurity training and response.

Last updated: 12 May 2021 12:59pm
Declared conflicts of interest:
None declared.
Professor Elizabeth Hartland is Director and CEO of the Hudson Institute of Medical Research

On women's health:

As an institute with strong interest and expertise in women's health research, it was encouraging to see funding for endometriosis and pelvic pain initiatives in last night's Budget.

This investment is recognition that we need to address these hidden conditions that are often not spoken about but are both painful and debilitating for women. Hudson's current Women's Health Appeal is focused on raising awareness and funds for these issues.

Last updated: 12 May 2021 12:57pm
Declared conflicts of interest:
None declared.
Dr Michelle Cull is from Western Sydney University's School of Business and has expertise in accounting, personal finance planning and financial literacy

On measures to give single parents assistance to buy property:

While it is great to see single parents being given assistance to buy their own home, the cost of housing will still be out of reach for many single parents with dependants. With the vast majority of single parents being females, the gender wage gap doesn’t help. 
 
Regardless of assistance provided with a deposit, and considering the average cost of a house in Australia, a single parent would still need to make monthly repayments of at least $3,500 per month, or over $40k per year which is around half of their average household income. Building more government housing and making better use of the provisions that allow some public housing tenants to apply to buy their homes could also be further explored. More research is needed to provide evidence to inform government on the best approach regarding housing affordability.

Last updated: 12 May 2021 12:55pm
Declared conflicts of interest:
None declared.

Associate Professor Andreas Cebulla is from the Australian Industrial Transformation Institute, Flinders University

On tax cuts for the gaming industry:

Budget 2021-22: Growing the Australian digital games industry. An interesting and unusual case of picking a winner? 

Some years ago, Australia’s digital games industry lobbied government for a 30 per cent reduction in tax.  In this budget, it gets what it has asked for. The industry is small. Recent estimates suggest some 1,300 people work in this industry in Australia.  But it is a growing industry, hence the ‘picking a winner’. But, for some, this may raise the question why this industry would need more support. 

The tax reduction is quite likely modelled on the one introduced in Canada some years ago, where it led to a noted growth in the gaming industry. It now employs some 16,000 people in Canada, still less than 10 per cent of the employed population there. For comparison, the gaming industry in Australia accounts for about (and possibly a little over) 1 per cent of employment in Australia.

So, what’s in it for the country? The additional employment that the incentive may create should not be underestimated. The gaming industry often operates a zero marginal cost: producing and selling one extra game costs the producer next to nothing as they are basically selling an instant copy (unlike, say, a car that would yet have to be built). The profit potential is therefore substantive.

But does it add more to the economy? The value chain is pretty much unknown. We don’t know how many additional jobs depend on or benefit from the gaming industry. Increasingly, though, gamification is gaining significance in areas, such as teaching or workplace learning (and monitoring) previously not thought of as markets for games. There’s therefore value chain potential. It would just need to be applied in a socially useful manner.

Last updated: 16 Jun 2021 4:25pm
Declared conflicts of interest:
None declared.
Lee-Fay Low is a Professor in Ageing and Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney

On aged care:

The federal government committed $17.7B to fixing Australia’s aged care system. It’s unclear whether critical structural reforms suggested by the Royal Commission around care integration and changing the system’s focus to supporting social participation will be undertaken. I worry that this is pouring funds into patching up roads rather than building a better transport system.”
 
The government is spending $6.5B for 80,000 new home care packages, and $7.8B to improve the quality of residential aged care including an $10 additional funding per day per resident. More older people will get the home care they need. The impact of funding less than half hour an day of personal care worker time per resident is less clear, hopefully it will mean better care. The devil will be in the implementation details.

Last updated: 12 May 2021 12:53pm
Declared conflicts of interest:
None declared.
Professor Claudine S. Bonder is Head of the Vascular Biology & Cell Trafficking Laboratory, Centre for Cancer Biology at the University of South Australia

On health care and research:

With the 2021 budget comes a $125.9 million investment to improve cancer screening for life-threatening cancers, including lung, breast and cervical cancer. More specifically, $6.9 million towards five lung cancer care nurses to provide support to patients and their families and for lung cancer related research activities, $32.8 million to support cervical screening programs, and $67.6 million to the BreastScreen Australia program. This investment aims to improve detection rates for cancer such that patients with either lung, breast of cervical cancer have the best chance of surviving. Another notable investment in the 2021 budget is the 'patent box initiative' which encourages the translation of medical research discoveries/biotech via company tax incentives (i.e. cuts from 30 per cent to 17 per cent).

While we welcome these investments, we can not ignore the gap this creates for scientific discoveries. Unfortunately, this budget contains no significant new funding for medical research and no initiatives to stem the loss of university science jobs. Close to 20,000 jobs have been lost in the University sector over the last year, as well as $1.8B in lost revenue. The 2021 budget fails to support higher education and University-led research by reducing their funding a further 9.3 per cent. There is also no new funding for the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).

This missed opportunity to support scientific discoveries will have significant knock-on effects for healthy Australians because without medical research, there will be no new cancer targets identified and no new cancer drugs developed.

Last updated: 12 May 2021 12:51pm
Declared conflicts of interest:
None declared.
Gavin Mudd is an Associate Professor at RMIT University and Chair of the Mineral Policy Institute (a mining-focussed NGO)

On the funding allocation for the second round of rehabilitation of the former Rum Jungle Uranium mine:

Rum Jungle closed 50 years ago but the legacy lives on. The first attempt at rehabilitation in the 1980s failed to meet long-term expectations and the new funding in the federal budget is welcome recognition of the complex and expensive nature of mine rehabilitation and the need to get it right.

Last updated: 12 May 2021 12:49pm
Declared conflicts of interest:
None declared.
Kerry Brown is Professor of Employment and Industry in the School of Business and Law at Edith Cowan University

On infrastructure and jobs:

The budget is designed to deliver infrastructure projects and jobs and, avoid largescale spending cuts as part of a recovery package. These are big ticket items that will bring welcome relief to employers and workers. New technology initiatives including advanced manufacturing, programs to support small business, child care assistance and improvements to aged care are worthwhile and necessary budget inclusions for workers. The budget appears silent on tertiary education and measures to redress the shortfall in enrolments of international students.

While a focus on overseas workers is important, the measures are not substantial enough yet to boost numbers for the programs to make an appreciable difference to business or the wider economy. Without green lanes for overseas workers, visa restrictions lifted and a national effort to increase international entries with COVID-safe entry processes these opportunities may not be taken up and will not deliver skilled workers to support regions.
 
Red tape busting is an oft-cited business productivity measure by government and business but quickly becomes a dream rather than a reality as programs and their conditions of implementation or activity fail to be streamlined or improved simply by a red tape removal strategy. A better strategy may be to understand what policies and programs are required to support business success. Simplicity of approval process or clear guidelines for eligibility and certainty of funding horizons to plan for the future may be better ways of establishing support.

Last updated: 12 May 2021 12:47pm
Declared conflicts of interest:
None declared.
Professor Simon Lucey is Director of Adelaide University's Australian Institute of Machine Learning

On artificial intelligence capability funding:

The University of Adelaide Australian Institute for Machine Learning (AIML) welcomes the federal government's Budget 2021 announcement of a boost to Australia’s research and industry capability in AI, as well as the announcement on a new National Artificial Intelligence Centre led by CSIRO Data 61. We look forward to seeing how new Centre will work with existing state capabilities to make Australia a true powerhouse of AI innovation. 
 
AI is going to be increasingly core to how most small to medium businesses operate in the future. The key to harnessing the economic impact of AI is not just through adoption, but through innovation. This is where the real economic spoils lie in terms of job creation, productivity, economic complexity, and expanding Australia’s own sovereign capabilities in AI.   
 
While we whole-heartedly endorse investment in technology translation, we look forward to future announcements related to government investment in AI research to bring Australia in line with most other advanced economies.  
 
More broadly speaking, it is pleasing to see initiatives in Budget 2021 to make it easier to attract global professional talent to this country. Australia is seen as a safe haven, and now is the time to double our efforts to attract the world's best AI capability to Australia. 
 
The technology sector generally and AI sector specifically must work harder to be more attractive in terms of career opportunities for women. We are currently just missing out on too much talent. It is fantastic to see a major investment in Budget 2021 in support of women to participate in the workforce, and we certainly encourage women to apply for positions in AI and related professional fields. There are unbelievable opportunities in the AI sector for people generally, but particularly for women as the sectors pushes to increase their participation.

Last updated: 12 May 2021 12:46pm
Declared conflicts of interest:
None declared.
Dr Sebastian Rosenberg is Senior Lecturer, Brain and Mind Centre University of Sydney

On mental health:

Working with the mental health sector, we have established that for mental health to begin to gather the resources required to address demand, around $1bn is required each year for several years.  This budget provides around half this, an improvement on recent more meagre years.  The budget also focuses on the development of regional and digital solutions, using new centres and services.  A national and universal aftercare service, following an attempted suicide is both sensible and welcome.  How all these models evolve needs close scrutiny.  A full Government response to the Productivity Commission is yet to emerge.  However, and while the scale of the investment is not optimal, the overall directions and key themes are to be supported.
 
The mental health budget papers refer to ongoing work to establish a new agreement between the federal and state governments.  While this is welcome, Minister Coleman referred to the need for structural reform in mental health.  For me, this means revisiting the intent of the very first national mental health strategy, back in 1992.  Specifically, it means diminishing the ever-increasing role (and cost) of hospital-based mental health care, instead shifting our collective focus and investment on alternatives, earlier intervention,  psychosocial care, hospital avoidance and genuine accountability for progress.

Last updated: 12 May 2021 10:37am
Declared conflicts of interest:
None declared.
Dr Rob Manwaring is from the College of Business, Government and Law at Flinders University

General comments on the budget:

The headlines on Josh Frydenberg’s budget will focus on some eye-watering Keynesian spending measures to kickstart the economy, including $35m for business investment and infrastructure, and $30m for the ailing aged-care and disability sectors. Like governments across the globe, the centre-right are using some of the traditional approaches usually associated with the centre-left to deal with the pandemic.

But hidden in the big-spend budget is a fair bit of Hayek – the arch-guru of free-market politics. Dressed up in language such as ‘personal tax cuts’, the measures are a key part of the Coalition’s long-standing plan to dismantle the key pillars of progressive taxation. The decision to retain the low and middle tax offset (LMITO) is part of the co-ordinated three-stage tax plan, which ultimately aims to remove the 37 per cent tax bracket. In effect, to fundamentally re-shape the balance of progressive taxation in the land of the ‘fair go’.

So while the focus is on the Keynesian stimulus, there is a large dose of Hayek and free-market orthodoxy in the budget. Australia may come out of the pandemic more quickly than many other countries, but it might well be a radically different country.

Last updated: 12 May 2021 10:35am
Declared conflicts of interest:
None declared.
Professor John Shine is President of the Australian Academy of Science

On science in the budget:


The 2021–22 Federal Budget contains mixed news for science. 
 
It is important for Australia’s future to ensure we have strong investment in basic research to be able to translate discoveries. The Budget contains no significant new funding for fundamental discovery science and no initiatives to stem the loss of university science jobs. 
 
The Academy welcomes the commitment to develop an Australian mRNA manufacturing capability to fight COVID-19, the flu and future pandemics. The Academy is pleased the Government has heeded our advice to future-proof Australia with the development of such a capability. 
 
Developing the capability will allow Australia to build resilience to future pandemics and potential biosecurity threats that require us to have the onshore capacity to mass produce vaccines.  
 
The Academy’s mid-term review of the 10-year plan for astronomy published last year recommended Australia pursue realisation of the full SKA Observatory. We are pleased the Government has honoured its commitment to this by providing $387.2 million over ten years. 
 
The Academy also welcomes Budget measures including:    
- A ten-year investment to support the implementation of the Technology Investment Roadmap and Low  Emissions Technology Statements including $761.8 million over the forward estimates. These initiatives are welcome, however, remaining paramount are greater global efforts to further limit greenhouse gas emissions and Australia’s further participation in that effort. 
- A range of measures to improve climate adaptation, including investments to stimulate the blue economy; support for a National Soils Strategy; support for biodiversity on agricultural lands; funding to establish an independent statutory Environment Assurance Commissioner; extension of recycling initiatives; and funding to establish the Australian Climate Service. 
- $42.4 million to co-fund scholarships for women in STEM in partnership with industry; 
- $10.4 million for medical research including support for more clinical trials in Australia and to introduce mitochondrial donation into research settings; and 
- The patent box initiative to encourage innovation in the medical and biotech sectors.

Last updated: 12 May 2021 10:33am
Declared conflicts of interest:
None declared.
Christine Woodrow is an Associate Professor at the Western Sydney University School of Education and Lead Researcher, Research Centre for Transforming Early Education

On the $1.7 billion package for increased childcare subsidies, which focus on low and middle-income families with more than one child:

Whilst the increase in subsidies announced in the budget will certainly ease financial pressure on some families and will be welcomed, the budget measures for childcare ignore the critical workforce issues.  

The measures announced are likely to increase demand for childcare. This will exacerbate the already severe shortage of qualified early childhood educators, impacting on the quality of care being able to be offered.

Staff turnover is high in the sector and research shows that many are planning to leave. Pay and conditions figure high in their reasons.

The Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority has predicted that an extra 39,000 early childhood educators will be required by 2023. Clearly there is a missing piece in this complex policy area.

Last updated: 12 May 2021 10:30am
Declared conflicts of interest:
None declared.
Prof Ian Hickie AM is Co-Director Health and Policy at the University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind Centre

On mental health spending

The government’s $2.3 billion investment in mental health and suicide prevention is the first-phase of a much larger and more complex deal that is yet to be done with the states and territories and the private sector. This is due to be completed by November 2021 and will cost many more billions.

However, this investment is targeted and does respond to the big items that should be at the front of the federal government's response – suicide attempt aftercare, digital transformation, expanded treatment centres, reaching regional areas.

The big question is then whether Prime Minister Morrison will next take the really hard political steps to lead genuine national reform that provides more complex care for those who will never receive that help from the states and territories. It's in that classic ‘missing middle’ that there is the greatest opportunity for saving lives and seeing the biggest social and economic return on investment.

Last updated: 12 May 2021 10:29am
Declared conflicts of interest:
None declared.
Kevin Daly is a Professor at the Western Sydney University Business School

On aged care, women's spending and skills shortages:

Forward spend for little spend in past budgets in aged care, childcare, women's health and safety, infrastructure, skills training etc.

Royal Commission into Aged Care identified countless failures in past budgets for failure to fund Aged Care regarding lack of government oversight, standards of staff training, living conditions of residents, medical and mental health conditions of residents.

Lack of recognition by government regarding women's treatment by men, lack of recognition for abused single and married women facing domestic violence until Brittany Higgins's revelations of allegations of rape in Parliament House Canberra.

The 2019/2020 Budget's funding for skills shortages, as highlighted in several NGO and Government reports, had limited success in recruiting apprenticeships for these schemes. Lack of trained skilled staff across the hospitality sector has reduced the quality of service provided with a knock on effect of the public not taking up travel and tourism offered by government.

Similarly in aged care, lack of trained staff to service home care packages has seen waiting lists for these packages escalate to 100,000 so the additional 80,000 packages will not be effective in providing actual home care packages.

Last updated: 12 May 2021 10:28am
Declared conflicts of interest:
None declared.
Associate Professor Ben Farr-Wharton is the Associate Dean Management at the Edith Cowan University School of Business and Law and has researched the impact of under resourcing in the aged care sector.

On aged care spending:

The aged care workforce requires systemic investment to address the real concerns raised as part of the royal commission.   

Providing stimulus that targets only entry level positions will do little to address the deeper issues around career development, wage growth, efficiency and effectiveness.

Last updated: 12 May 2021 10:26am
Declared conflicts of interest:
None declared.
Pi-Shen Seet is a Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Edith Cowan University

On skills shortages:

The 2021 federal budget’s push to attract global talent only addresses a small element of Australia’s skills mismatch/shortages problems. It does not gel with some post-pandemic plans (e.g. as part of the government’s new Modern Manufacturing Strategy, Australian firms may have relied on training in the past from Germany and Japan to fill the skills gaps, but this may not be possible in the near future and there does not seem to be incentives in the budget to facilitate collaboration between the higher-education sector, VET sector, employer organisations, industry and government to develop and implement more targeted and flexible Industry 4.0 skills development programs.)

Its focus on talent for start-ups and emerging businesses, does not address the need for skilled overseas technology workers that do not meet the new Global Talent Visa Program’s annual high-income threshold of AUD153,600. 

It also fails to deal with systemic problems around skills mismatch/shortages and the resulting underemployment/unemployment that was raised in the Productivity Commission’s recent review of the National Agreement for Skills and Workforce Development (e.g. 25 per cent of unemployed Australians are graduates but employers may not employ them if similar overseas employees come on lower pay). 

It sidesteps issues around temporary migration, traditionally a source of meeting labour shortages in regional, rural and remote Australia (e.g. it is estimated that COVID-19 restrictions saw a 26,000-person shortfall for harvests in the last year). 

Even among overseas migrants who arrived before travel restrictions, it avoids addressing key structural issues like the problem among international graduates where 60 per cent are unemployed, although they studied in Australian universities/VET providers.

Last updated: 12 May 2021 10:24am
Declared conflicts of interest:
None declared.
Kylie Walker is CEO of the Academy of Technology and Engineering

On women in STEM and climate change:

We welcome the federal budget for 2021-22, particularly measures to encourage more women into STEM through the PhD scholarships in partnership with industry, support digital skills and raise the bar on Australia’s digital literacy, and support research commercialisation.

We welcome investment in strategies to adapt to the most prevalent effects of climate change, but we believe the government has missed an opportunity to catalyse Australia’s ability to become a global clean energy leader.

Last updated: 12 May 2021 10:22am
Declared conflicts of interest:
None declared.

Parvinder Kler is an Associate Professor of Economics at Griffith Business School, Griffith University

On the increased childcare subsidy for those with 2 or more children:

The increased childcare subsidy that seeks to make childcare more affordable and boost female participation in the labour market is a policy that is in danger of creating unintended adverse outcomes. This is as it is a partial, rather than total package in that it boosts demand without directly addressing supply-side issues, be it due to a lack of actual spots available, the uneven geographical distribution of centres, and the difficulty in retaining and attracting staff.

This could potentially lead to a rise in fees that offset some of the subsidy savings, reducing the incentive for women to re-enter the workforce. As well, no incentive is given to the majority of parents who have one child in daycare, or who keep them at home; a reduction in their fees would also incentivise stay-at-home mums to consider re-entering the workforce, and increase hours for those already working. Given the cost is dwarfed by the gain in economic output, it is imperative that policymakers consider the supply side of the equation as well. It may be better policy to guarantee lower out of pocket costs for families as the end goal rather than to engage in the mechanics of the childcare process that may not yield the desired outcome.

Last updated: 12 May 2021 10:40am
Declared conflicts of interest:
None declared.

Andreas Chai is an Associate Professor at Griffith Business School

On skills shortages:

A key-medium term issue for the Australian economy is that one of key ingredients it needs for economic growth is missing: migrants. This creates challenges in terms of labour shortages across a wide range of areas such as hospitality, agriculture and engineering. What is needed in this budget is a dedicated strategy to tackle labour shortages by;

1) Tackling the skills mismatch that currently exists among the Australian migrant population – nearly a quarter of migrants already in Australia are working in a job beneath their skills level
2) Promote greater labour mobility by simplifying occupational licensing laws 
3) Work more closely with the tertiary sector to promote awareness of emerging skill shortages among university students.

Last updated: 12 May 2021 10:39am
Declared conflicts of interest:
None declared.

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