In the aftermath of fires or logging, conservation needs to focus on recovering the health of the remaining vegetation, not just the size of the forest or woodland.
Victoria should implement a new report’s recommendation to allow peers to distribute clean injecting equipment, but it needs to go further to ensure safe drug use in prison.
Agreements between the Commonwealth and state governments that protect native forests are based on hopelessly out-of-date information. It’s a huge mistake to renew them without assessment.
The Victorian government isn’t alone in seeking private partners to renew public housing. What is notable is its lack of transparency by comparison with such arrangements elsewhere.
After a month of operation, the Tesla battery at Hornsdale Power Reserve in SA is outperforming expectations - and the model is set to be emulated in Victoria
You should never try to drive through floodwater, because you never know what’s beneath the surface. And new research shows some roads are more treacherous than others.
A raft of tough new anti-scalping laws have just been introduce in Victoria, But are problems with existing ticketing systems driving fans into the hands of scalpers – and can technology help?
A new campaign targeting sexual assault on public transport is a positive development in some respects, but is unlikely to generate substantive, longer-term change.
Tree plantings are making a visible difference to Melbourne’s west. It’s the result of a collaborative model of greening, one that Australian cities need to apply more widely.
No matter whether competitive tendering or negotiation is used, operators that do not meet clear and transparent service benchmarks should be shown the door.
Victoria’s plan to legislate its own renewable energy target of 40% by 2025 shows how states are increasingly taking the energy policy reins away from the federal government.
Architecture can affect behaviour and the choices we make. The brief is out for a centre to replace the Don Dale facility, but word is, it’s ‘a disgrace’. We can do much better.
A rail link is a big step towards transforming transport access and land use in ways that will enable a much bigger city to remain liveable. And Melbourne can learn from Sydney about this.
What we buy has defined who we are since the Gold Rush. In the 1850s and 1860s, people communicated their social status by buying stuff - dinner sets, junk jewellery - and throwing their old things away.
Sir Robert Richard Torrens – the man behind Australia’s ‘Torrens system’ of land-title registration – was an economic liberal who might have approved of privatising title registries.
Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne