News

What the Bondi Junction tragedy tells us about compulsory treatment

April 22, 2024

By Dr Kay Wilson Published on April 22, 2024 How could this happen? Why would he do it? Were there failures in our health system, or our policing, or in the laws governing how mental illness is managed that led to this moment? For many Australians, there remain so many questions about the tragic stabbings in a Bondi shopping centre. Picture: Getty ImagesWe now know that Joel Cauchi had been diagnosed with a severe mental illness – schizophrenia – at age 17.

Continue reading

Australian teachers shouldn’t be afraid to teach Indigenous Knowledge

April 19, 2024

By Professor Melitta Hogarth Published on April 19, 2024 Education does not just impart information; it shapes who we are and who we might be. Since 2010, the Australian Curriculum has included an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures cross-curriculum priority across all learning areas. As a result, beginning in every classroom, education in Indigenous Knowledge systems, histories and cultures has the potential to be a nation-building exercise.

Continue reading

People or planet? We must invest in both for a sustainable future

April 12, 2024

By Dr Donna Loveridge Published on April 12, 2024 Designed to support Australia’s pathway to net zero, the Government recently released its Sustainable Finance Strategy for consultation. The Strategy aims to encourage more private investment towards activities that have a positive effect on a sustainable future. A ‘climate-first’ approach risks neglecting the people needed for the energy transition, and those impacted by it. Picture: Getty Images A key principle of the Commonwealth’s Strategy is a ‘climate-first’ approach, where it will focus on climate change-related reforms like developing standard definitions and reporting requirements across this sector.

Continue reading

Too many people die after leaving prison

April 11, 2024

By Professor Rohan Borschmann Published on April 11, 2024 More than 30 million people worldwide pass through prisons every year, including almost 70,000 in Australia. Studies in many countries have shown that people who spend time in prison typically have poorer physical and mental health compared with people who have never been to prison. People who have spent time in prison often have complex health conditions set against a backdrop of trauma, abuse and disadvantage.

Continue reading

How whales struggle to navigate in a sea of noise pollution

April 9, 2024

By Dr Stuart Johnston Published on April 9, 2024 In 1490, Leonardo da Vinci wrote, “If you cause your ship to stop and place the head of a long tube in the water and place the outer extremity to your ear, you will hear ships at a great distance from you.” We now have an in-depth understanding of the physics of why sound travels a greater distance under the water than in the air.

Continue reading

Search