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La Trobe University

For more than 50 years, La Trobe University has been transforming people and societies and has earned a global reputation for research that addresses the major issues of our time. With a dual emphasis on excellence and diversity, La Trobe has seven campuses across Victoria and New South Wales. Through innovations in teaching and learning, strong graduate employment outcomes and leading research, La Trobe consistently rates among the world’s best.

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Prime Minister Julia Gillard is promoting her government’s schools funding plan – but should the same model be applied to university funding too? AAP Image/Dan Peled

Should we copy Gonski in higher education funding?

Conor King, La Trobe University

The Australian Education Bill, introduced to the parliament last week, sets out the government’s Gonski reforms to school funding. One of the reform’s key tenets is that extra money should go to schools…
The Coalition remain steadfastly in favour of an asylum seeker policy that seeks to turn back the boats, but is this really feasible? AAP/Jon Faulkner

Towing back the boats: bad policy whatever way you look at it

Savitri Taylor, La Trobe University

There is not much bipartisanship in Australian federal politics these days, but the ALP and the Coalition are in agreement on one matter: the boats must be stopped. They just don’t agree on how to do it…
The open education movement seems as though it’s here to stay – but why would anyone give away their work for free? Open book image from www.shutterstock.com

Giving it away for free: sharing really is caring in the open education movement

Ruth Jelley, La Trobe University and Christopher Scanlon, La Trobe University

The New York Times dubbed 2012 the year of the MOOC. And for many, the seemingly unstoppable rise of Massive Open Online Courses – courses which are offered for free by prestigious universities – is where…
A new set of Australian university profiles was released today. University image from www.shutterstock.com

University profiles experiment aims for greater transparency

Bella Counihan, The Conversation

A new Australian university profile system has today released its first round of data, mirroring similar tools in Europe. The new measure comes as part of a wider search for alternatives to traditional…
The media coverage of the Eddie McGuire racism controversy is instructive in showing how far we have to go to combat racism. AAP/David Crosling

Racism in the AFL: Eddie McGuire and the media prove there’s still a long way to go

David Lowden, La Trobe University

The AFL world has had a tough week, with racism rearing its ugly head again. For an organisation that likes to think of itself as a leader in combating prejudice, the repeated comments about Adam Goodes…
Early identification and behavioural intervention is the best way to minimise the effects of autism. Image from shutterstock.com

Mums and dads, don’t ignore the early signs of autism

Cheryl Dissanayake, La Trobe University

When a newborn joins a family we become beguiled by the perfection of this wondrous new being. Any hint of difference is easily overlooked during the early years. We now understand that the onset of symptoms…
The case raises important issues about the consistency of regulations that apply across the food-medicine interface. Chuck Grimmett

Regulations around food-medicine products fail to protect consumers

Ken Harvey, La Trobe University and Melanie Voevodin, Monash University

It seems there’s no end to the production line of so-called “therapeutic” products promoted to trusting consumers by companies willing to make untested claims. The latest is Souvenaid®, a product promoted…
In the aftermath of the Bangladesh factory disaster, questions have been raised about the accountability of governments and retailers in protecting workers’ rights. AAP

Global laws needed to safeguard rights of factory workers

Annie Delaney, Victoria University and Rosaria Burchielli, La Trobe University

It’s been almost a month since the collapse of the Rana Plaza garment factory in Bangladesh, resulting in the deaths of 1100 garment workers. Some significant responses from business and governments have…
Federal treasurer Wayne Swan’s election year budget has to reconcile huge revenue writedowns with spending promises for schools and the disability insurance scheme. AAP Image/Lukas Coch

Federal budget 2013: expert reactions

Stephen Howes, Australian National University; Arusha Cooray, University of Wollongong; Ben Spies-Butcher, Macquarie University; Cameron Gordon, University of Canberra; Carol Johnson, University of Adelaide; Clive Bean, Queensland University of Technology; David Willis, Queensland University of Technology; Hal Swerissen, La Trobe University; John Quiggin, The University of Queensland; Lin Crase, La Trobe University; Matthew Bailes, Swinburne University of Technology; Paul Burke, Australian National University; Simon Marginson, The University of Melbourne; Stephen Duckett, Grattan Institute, and Zareh Ghazarian, Monash University

Australian Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan has handed down his sixth budget, facing an almost impossible task: how to reconcile an enormous revenue shortfall with big spending promises, all while keeping…
The Barmah-Milewa forest is an ephemeral landscape of unique biodiversity. Flickr/Parks Victoria.

Unknown wonders: Barmah-Millewa forest

Susan Lawler, La Trobe University

Australia is famous for its natural beauty: the Great Barrier Reef, Uluru, Kakadu, the Kimberley. But what about the places almost no one goes? We asked ecologists, biologists and wildlife researchers…
A Trans Pacific Partnership meeting hosted by US President Barack Obama with the Sultan of Brunei and prime ministers from Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia , Singapore and Vietnam, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on November 20, 2012. AAP Image/Auspic, David Foote

Trans Pacific Partnership puts member countries’ health at risk

Sharon Friel, Australian National University; Deborah Gleeson, La Trobe University, and Libby Hattersley, Australian National University

International trade agreements bring new transnational food companies into countries, along with new food advertising and promotion. This has often led to an increase in unhealthy foods entering the domestic…
Foreign minister Bob Carr is the highest profile of the six current senators appointed after a vacancy, rather than elected by the public. AAP/Dean Lewins

Unelected ‘swill’: how Australia’s upper houses could be more democratic

Stephen Morey, La Trobe University and Lee Naish, The University of Melbourne

A casual vacancy in the Victorian Legislative Council has now been filled. The replacement member for the Western Metropolitan Region in the upper house, union official Cesar Melhem, enters Victorian parliament…
The remaining A$3.5 billion needed to fully fund the NDIS will still need to be found from other sources. Image from shutterstock.com

Coalition support for levy just a step along the road to an NDIS

Hal Swerissen, La Trobe University

The announcement that opposition leader Tony Abbott will support a 0.5% increase to the Medicare Levy to fund the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) takes the politics out of about half the additional…
While the focus has been on gender discrimination in Islam recently, there is much to be said about widespread discrimination across most organised religions. AAP/Joe Castro

It’s not just Islam – most religions are discriminatory

Dennis Altman, La Trobe University

Yes, Tony Abbott is right. There is something unattractive about a university allowing public meetings at which attendees are segregated by sex. But hang on a moment: is this not the normal arrangement…
Women throughout Australia are entitled to the benefits of affordable medical progress without the threat of criminal sanctions. Ken Johnson

Abortion drugs closer to being subsidised but some states still lag

Kerry Petersen, La Trobe University

The drugs mifepristone (RU486) and misoprostol are on the threshold of being listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) after the body that assesses whether medicines should be subsidised gave…
Legalise love: New Zealand approved same-sex legislation in a midst of celebrations. NZN David Williams

Aye do! France and New Zealand respond to same-sex marriage

Roz Ward, La Trobe University

The issue of same-sex marriage in Australia is again part of the national debate, after Independent MP Tony Windsor announced he was in support of a referendum on the question to be held in parallel with…
Tony Abbott’s attack on Australia’s debt and taxation levels is sorely misguided. AAP/ Alan Porritt

Abbott’s budget bluster highlights a deficit of social responsibility

Russell Marks, La Trobe University

Today’s announcement by the government that it has a $12 billion “black hole” had the status of a confession. It needn’t have. All talk of “black holes”, “revenue shortfalls” and “structural deficits…

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