Is Australian sport really in crisis?

Professor of Sport and Media, Steve Redhead, unpicks the recent ACC report on drugs and corruption in Australian sport, while shedding light on an even greater international issue that, for years, has been ignored.

The recently released Australian Crime Commission (ACC) report on the use of performance enhancing drugs and match fixing in Australian sport is seen by many as unveiling the largest scandal in our Nation’s otherwise very proud sporting history. But there are plenty of people who wish it would just go away as quickly as it arrived in the global media inbox. The report will now be acted on by the Federal government, senior police, governing bodies of various sports, and clubs themselves.

Teachers make a difference

President of the NSW Teachers Federation, Maurie Mulheron, shares the inspirational stories behind a new campaign about the importance of teachers in our public schools.

Teachers in the Public Education System make a difference every day to the lives of their students.

In January this year the Teachers Federation launched a digital, television and cinema campaign celebrating the work of teachers in public schools and colleges throughout New South Wales. It honours their dedication, professionalism and commitment to the students they teach in the New South Wales Public Education System.

We invited people to share their stories about teachers who have made a positive difference to their lives.

A new age for travel branding

In an information age where consumers are flooded by constant images and live updates, brand expert, Hans Hulsbosch explains why travel branding likes to get personal.

Travel branding has a new blueprint that has technology and customer service playing key roles, side by side. We are a new generation of travellers with expectations fuelled by the seduction of pure possibility, thanks to the digital age. Travel branding is sexy at last!

As travel consumers, we’re adept at making the stretch across retail, brand websites, brand blogs, independent consumer blogs, mobile devices and advertising (print, TV, outdoor and radio). And let’s not forget word of mouth.

Act of Recognition

As a new parliamentary year kicks off, ANTaR’s National Director, Jacqueline Phillips, hopes our political leaders can transcend party lines to ensure recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is granted.

The Australian Parliament is, tomorrow (13 February 2013), expected to vote on a bill that could see Australia take another step towards due recognition of the First Peoples of this land.

Some of you will be aware of moves to change Australia’s Constitution to recognise Australia’s First Peoples. Some may even have heard about proposals to address racist aspects of our founding document and ensure that all Australians are protected from being discriminated against on the basis of their race, culture and ethnicity. These conversations have been happening for some time, initially led by a panel appointed by the Government in 2010 that found widespread community support for change.

Will Gillard’s election gamble pay off?

In the wake of Australia’s longest-ever federal election campaign, Dr Dominic O’Sullivan examines whether the long haul battle between Labor and Liberal will make for informed voting choices at the polls.

The Prime Minister’s risk in naming the election date six and a half months earlier than constitutionally necessary has, so far, not paid off. For many of her colleagues and political commentators it was always just another example of poor Prime Ministerial judgement and, for some, yet another reason to recall Kevin Rudd to the Labor party leadership.

Lay off Chrissie Swan for smoking while pregnant

It seems everyone has something to say about media personality Chrissie Swan’s confession to smoking while pregnant, but sociology lecturer Meredith Nash explains why our perception of pregnancy is all wrong.

Broadcaster and commentator Chrissie Swan certainly opened her own can of worms on Wednesday with her admission she has been smoking while pregnant with her third child.

Swan’s “confession” came to light following an incident earlier in the week when she was “caught” smoking in her car by a photographer – she apparently begged him not to publish the image.

Driver aggression – in the eye of the beholder?

PhD Candidate Lauren Shaw looks into the psychology of driver aggression and explains how personality and mood can influence on-road events.

Just like most children, I was a curious toddler and drove my parents crazy with a constant stream of ‘why’ questions. Why is the sky blue? Why are there waves in the ocean? Why can’t I have cake for lunch?’ Unlike most children however, I didn’t outgrow it. As I became older and started to notice the peculiar ways that people interact with each other, my focus shifted toward the curiosities of human behaviour.

Teaching crisis – what are the facts?

Gonski reforms fail disabled students

Founder of the Tasmanian Disability Education Reform Lobby, Kristen Desmond, explains her experience with students living with a disability and what needs to be done to ensure equal education for all.

Students living with disability need and deserve education reform and I believe the current debate will leave these students and their families very disappointed. What gets measured gets done they say, so how do we measure the support of students living with disability? By funding levels of course.

And so it’s no surprise the current reforms are focused solely on funding formulas. How will this debate change the support available to students living with disability? The answer: it won’t.

Have you used a quadratic equation lately?

As we look towards the future of education in Australia, Jonathan Marshall talks about our current classroom education model and why it needs to change.  

It seems like only yesterday my high school maths teacher was insisting the endless hours spent on ‘learning’ quadratic equations would be invaluable in life. Well 25 years later and I still haven’t used a quadratic equation – or any calculus for that matter.

Though the truly sad thing is, perhaps if the teaching of quadratic equations had been more effective and engaging in high school they just might well have been.

I will never know.

Travelling in Australia: a Brazilian view

Brazilian Denise Frizzo talks about her newly found home in Australia, exploring the diverse landscape and adapting to life down under.

Living in Melbourne for just six months, my husband Cristiano and I planned a six-day car trip with my family to Adelaide, South Australia. My parents came from Brazil in August 2012 to spend four weeks in Aussie land. We are from Rio Grande do Sul, South Brazil, where the culture holds similarities to Australia such as its taste for barbecues and wine.

The trip was a good opportunity to try some Australian wine at Barossa Valley. Also, we had a chance to explore the Great Ocean Road and the Grampians National Park. Our first stop was in Princetown near the Twelve Apostles, which is, in my opinion the most impressive landmark in Victoria. It is amazing to see how strong the nature is in forming pillars through erosion up to 45 metres high.

Coasting through Southern Europe

Travelling through Europe, American Matt Dysart uncovers the delightful intricacies of the Mediterranean during the spring.

After I discovered the study abroad program offered by my school, I told my parents how the world outside Texas (and the rest of the United States) needed to be captured through my writing, and especially how I would pay them back in full no later than a year after my return. Once they bought my pitch, I left my home in the South in search for the best stories this world could offer.

The specific program offered by Baylor University sent me to Maastricht, Netherlands for three months, but I was only enrolled in class for two of them. The last three and a half weeks were given to me to travel anywhere my heart desired… as long as I didn’t leave the continent.