Budget package doesn’t guarantee aged-care residents will get better care
Picture: Shuttlestock
The big investment in aged care announced in last night’s federal budget – an extra A$17.7 billion over five years – is a welcome response to the Royal Commission into Aged Care...
Hold the celebrations — the budget’s supposed focus on women is no game-changer
Picture: Luks Coch/AAP
One of the major planks of the budget was a pitch to women.
This included an 80-plus page women’s budget statement — the first since 2013 — with an overall figure of A$3.4 billion for women’s safety,...
For Muslim refugees in immigration detention, another sombre, isolated Eid holiday
Picture: Darren England/AAP
Around Australia, Muslims have been preparing to celebrate Eid al-Fitr – “the feast of breaking the fast” that marks the end of Ramadan.
Eid usually involves dawn prayers and gatherings to share food and gifts....
Would Australians support mandates for the COVID-19 vaccine? Our research suggests most would
Picture: Dean Lewins/AAP
Australia’s vaccine rollout is moving far more slowly than the government had hoped, and there is evidence of vaccine hesitancy in a significant part of the population.
Some governments and media outlets are already considering whether mandates will be needed...
Want to save the children? How child sexual abuse and human trafficking really work
Picture: Sandor Szmutko/Shutterstock
Millions of kidnapped children are imprisoned in underground tunnels, being sexually abused and tortured by a shadowy global cabal of paedophiles.
That, at least, is some of the misinformation about child sex...
Get a towel on for a good cause
After a successful 2020 campaign, 'Australian Survivor All Stars' mates Lee Carseldine and David Genat have launched the 2021 Towel Challenge to support Stroke Foundation and its research program.
The launch coincides with Mother's Day,...
Grattan on Saturday: Unblocking the passage from India
Image: Shuttlestock
It became clear this week repatriation flights for Australians stranded in India would have to resume ASAP after May 15, whatever the COVID situation in that country.
By going too far in its...
Upgrades for myGov and My Health Record sites in budget’s $1.2 billion digital strategy
Image: Supplied/AAP
More than $500 million of a $1.2 billion digital economy strategy in Tuesday’s budget will be spent on overhauling the federal government’s myGov and My Health Record sites.
The initiatives, to be announced...
Understanding the Law on Domestic Violence in Australia
The issue of domestic violence is extremely serious. Violence in relationships was hidden and ignored yesteryear. Tens of thousands of cases are reported in Australia each year, and even more, go unreported. Today the...
Australia would be wise not to pound ‘war drums’ over Taiwan with so much...
Taiwan’s military has been on alert amid large numbers of Chinese war plane incursions in its air space. Chiang Ying-ying/AP
Australians woke up to the freelancing advice this week that “drums of war” were...
