Established in 1850, the University of Sydney was Australia’s first tertiary education institution. It is committed to maximising the potential of its students, teachers and researchers for the benefit of Australia and the wider world.
If your teenage daughter was sexually active and wanted to go on the pill, you’d want to know, right? Well, think back to when you were her age – would you have told your parents? These questions were…
Any parent who watches kids’ weekend footy knows that if the ref misses a breach of the rules, merry hell breaks loose. But referees are human and sometimes make errors. We forgive the odd one pretty quickly…
Medical circumcision of baby boys has plummeted in Australia, with only 20% of male infants now undergoing the procedure, down from 90% in the 1970s. Meanwhile, HIV infections continue to rise in the broader…
Reducing carbon emissions is necessary, but what about the carbon that has already been released into the atmosphere? Many countries are turning to “biosequestration” for the answers: using nature - including…
When you think of tattoos you probably imagine bikies, celebrity tats or that Japanese flourish on your left foot that means “Honour” (or so you think). You probably don’t picture medical revolution…
What is the most remarkable aspect of this report? The Productivity Commission is proposing an important set of reforms with its Caring for Older Australians Report. These reforms chart a way to cut through…
In one of the largest human genetic studies ever undertaken, scientists have identified the major common genetic variants that contribute to the cause of the devastating neurological disease, multiple…
Think the share market volatility doesn’t affect you? Guess again. With almost 60% of Australian superannuation funds invested in shares, anyone paying compulsory super contributions has something to lose…
Public bicycle hire schemes have the potential to generate the well-known health benefits that come with increased exercise. But while Australia has bravely adopted such schemes, mandatory helmet laws…
The Productivity Commission has released the Caring for Older Australian report. Experts respond. Rhonda Nay, Professor of Interdisciplinary Aged Care at La Trobe University gives a general response to…
Russell Ross, University of Sydney; Chris Sarra, Queensland University of Technology, and Jon Altman, Australian National University
AFTER THE INTERVENTION - Today, The Conversation launches a series looking at the recent history of Indigenous policy in Australia, and some ways forward. Are any of the current approaches working? What…
It can be hard to know whether the forest products you buy have been produced sustainably. Forestry certifications were established to give a bit more certainty, but what do they really mean? When you…
Just how big are the stars? Earth feels quite big, what with it taking an entire day to fly between Sydney and London, and clearly the sun and moon are quite large in the sky. But with virtually everything…
Although the US debt ceiling crisis has been resolved for now, the saga has obvious implications for developing countries. Yet, as is often the case, political conflict is obscuring the persistent and…
The mobile patent wars, it seems, have reached Australian shores. On Monday, representatives of Apple and Samsung were in the Australian Federal Court, fighting it out over Samsung’s Galaxy Tab tablet…
US President Barack Obama says Democrat and Republican leaders have reached an agreement on reducing US debt, before the August 2 debt ceiling deadline. Failure to reach a deal may have led to a historic…
Prime Minister Julia Gillard was one of the first world leaders to visit Japan after the nation was stricken on 3 March by the earthquake-tsunami-radiation triple disaster. But the Australian government…
This year’s Economic Society of Australia conference saw a range of strong views expressed on what Australian policy makers have managed to get broadly right (carbon tax – hurrah!) and wrong (NBN – boo…
News Corporation’s 2004 decision to domicile in the US state of Delaware has up to now been highly favourable to the Murdochs. But News Corp may ultimately come to regret its decision as the unfolding…
European leaders signed off on a second, 109 billion euro bailout for Greece overnight, while also establishing what has been described as an “infant monetary fund” to intervene if the bloc’s sovereign…