Victoria University has a clear mandate to undertake research with impact, ensuring that its outcomes benefit people, place and planet. There is no doubt that in research VU is strong, both thematically and pragmatically. For more than 100 years, Victoria University (VU) has offered accessible education to students in Melbourne’s west and beyond.
Desalination plants have been controversial, mostly because of their high energy demand and the waste water they produce. But a new desalination technology uses almost no electricity and has the potential…
Tomorrow evening in Sydney, the ball will be bounced, marking the start of the first match in the 2012 AFL season. For the 18 clubs taking the field this year, it marks the culmination of months of gruelling…
Australia’s biggest travel agency chain Flight Centre has been accused by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) of illegal price fixing for attempting to collude with Singapore Airlines…
The dispute between the Australian Nursing Federation and Victoria’s Baillieu government is expected to be resolved today. Nurses ceased industrial action two weeks ago. For the Victorian community it…
This week’s statement by Group of Eight universities on the potential consequence of lifting the cap on places at university allowing more “low performing” students to enter courses reads like a cautionary…
The decision taken by Football Federation Australia to revoke the Gold Coast United licence should come as no surprise. GCU owner Clive Palmer has been highly critical of the FFA in recent weeks. He slammed…
Tension around pokies reform came to a head on Saturday when Prime Minister Julia Gillard broke her agreement with independent Tasmanian MHR Andrew Wilkie to implement timely reforms to address problem…
During the decade since the 9/11 attacks and the ensuing “war on terror”, cruise ship, resort and theme park tourist bubbles have been remarkably terror-free. The tourist-only environments on cruise ships…
The first real global contest for professional tennis each year is the Australian Open: the preceding international games in Brisbane, Hobart and Sydney are comparative warm up bouts. Through the months…
Australia’s summer of tennis is a great opportunity to see the world’s best players up close, hitting hard and serving big. Many elite players hit first serves at over 200km/h with great precision and…
The “reasonable person” would agree that disaster risk is best avoided. Under a changing climate, how exposed people are to risk and how socially and physically vulnerable they are affects how often disasters…
There is no excuse for Indigenous education in Australia to be in such a terrible and shameful state. Given the billions of dollars that are allocated to primary and secondary schooling Australia-wide…
The Coalition last week released its Policy Discussion Paper on Gambling Reform, rejecting the government’s mandatory pre-commitment scheme on poker machines as a measure to reduce problem gambling. Topping…
CYCLING IN AUSTRALIA: Forget about the wild scenes of public adulation for Cadel Evans following his Tour de France triumph. Forget about the widespread admiration for champion cyclist Anna Meares following…
CYCLING IN AUSTRALIA: What are you paying for when you buy a new bike? Materials … sure. Design … without doubt. Manufacture … yes, of course. But beyond that, what’s going on? Why can these objects, beautiful…
Anyone with a passing interest in Australian football will know the AFL Grand Final is unlike any other game of the season. There’s more hype, more expectation, more emotional investment from players and…
The Federal Government’s plan to introduce pre-commitment systems on pokie machines in order to reduce problem gambling has become a major political headache. A campaign by Clubs Australia targeting Labor…
RUGBY WORLD CUP – In the latest of The Conversation’s series on the Rugby World Cup, former Wallabies player, James Holbeck and Professor of Sport Science at Victoria University, Damian Farrow, discuss…
You might have heard about athletes and other sportspeople absconding to high-altitude locations for training. Indeed altitude training has become the training-method-du-jour for sporting codes around…
Despite the poor outlook for the Earth’s climate, putting in place acceptable solutions is proving difficult. Mired in economic uncertainty, some countries are scaling back climate change efforts. But…
Honorary Professor, School of Kinesiology, Western University, London, Canada; Adjunct Fellow, Olympic Scholar and Co-Director of the Olympic and Paralympic Research Centre, Institute for Health and Sport, Victoria University