The Opening Ceremony of the 2012 London Paralympics was nothing short of a tour de force. But as a new “enlightenment” (the theme for the ceremony), it also raised as many questions about disability as…
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A few schools have hit the headlines recently for banning traditional playground activities like cartwheels, handstands, ball games and even high fives. Parents are rightly objecting to the bans, and pointing…
Reports are coming in this morning that five* Australian troops have been killed in Uruzgan province in Afghanistan. But instead of falling victim to an IED, signature weapon of this long running conflict…
The latest scandal engulfing Note Printing Australia and Securency highlights how well - or otherwise - the public sector deals with critical issues of transparency, corruption and whistleblowing. The…
Calls to “protect the environment” ring out across issues as diverse as climate change, biodiversity loss, deforestation, water conservation and chemical contamination. I believe it is time to abandon…
Memory is difficult to define without being circular. People often define memory as “something you can remember”. But we cannot deny the existence of a memory when there is no recollection. Sigmund Freud…
Australians love a good sports story about a hero overcoming adversity. Track cyclist Anna Meares’ gold medal in London was all the more impressive given her recovery from a life-threatening neck injury…
Despite arrivals of asylum seekers by boat being a major political issue for Australia over the last decade, the Indonesian government has not regarded the presence of asylum seekers and refugees with…
The Grim Reaper television commercial is infamous in Australia. Reminiscent of B-grade gothic horror flicks, the cloaked reaper stands in a foggy bowling alley poised to strike down a group of deadpan…
The 2012 Paralympic Games open in London tomorrow morning (AEST). These Games will build upon the successes of Sydney and Beijing in making visible the ability of outstanding athletes. And they are taking…
A New South Wales general practitioner, who was de-registered by the NSW Medical Tribunal for claiming he could treat any number of serious conditions by “spinal manipulation”, has lost his appeal to the…
The Sydney Morning Herald recently published an opinion piece by Patrick Parkinson titled About time we all cared more about marriage, in which he argued that allowing same-sex couples to marry will diminish…
Last Friday, a US jury delivered its verdict in one US front of the ongoing patent war between Apple and Samsung. The bottom line? The jury ordered Samsung to pay Apple roughly US$1.5 billion for patent…
Cognitive dissonance is that uncomfortable feeling we have when we know we should invest in solar panels but the 46″ wide screen TV wins out; we know we should catch the bus but we take the car anyway…
This is a story about two small Aboriginal communities in the Gulf region of North Queensland: Mornington Island and Doomadgee. They share two key characteristics with many other remote communities: very…
There’s support across the globe for increased female participation at leadership levels. In Norway, it’s a legislative requirement that at least 40% of the board members of listed companies are women…
As the Republican Party begins gathering in Tampa to officially anoint Mitt Romney as its nominee for president, many are still questioning whether he stands a chance of defeating incumbent President Barack…
We all know the media is influential. We also know the media’s portrayal of disability issues and disabled people is uneven. Such biases are also evident in the portrayal of the technology employed by…
A few years back, mock-conservative TV pundit Stephen Colbert famously introduced the notion of “truthiness” into the political lexicon. As Colbert put it, truthiness pertains not to whether beliefs are…
It’s been six long months since the Gonski panel made its recommendations on schools funding, but in the next few weeks the federal government will finally respond and release the details of its school…
There has been little good news for rhino conservation in recent years. Increasing demand for rhino horn, particularly in Asia, has led to a massive spike in prices and incidents of poaching. This is devastating…
The Australian High Court has found that the Gillard Government’s Tobacco Plain Packaging Act 2011 does not breach that section of the constitution that prohibits federal legislation acquiring property…
You might have thought Australia’s carbon pricing scheme was done and dusted – at least until the next government comes in. Today’s announcement about the price floor and international permit trading proves…
It’s been revealed that the Federal Government has been sitting on advice since 2009 showing the Newstart payment has dropped well behind other government allowances. The National Centre for Social and…
On Sunday, La Trobe University held its most successful Open Day ever, with more than 19,000 visitors. But the day was disrupted by student protests against recently announced changes to our Faculty of…