• Health

    Preventing the next pandemic


    Open Forum |  March 28, 2024


    Could protecting one group of people from disease, and exposing another to it, be the best way to prevent as many deaths as possible and reduce the impact of a future pandemic?


  • Culture

    Among the narcissus


    Marguerite Johnson |  March 28, 2024


    The vain, self obsessed Narcissus is among the best-known figures from Greek mythology, and his story and fate have continued relevance today in an age of social media and self-obsession.


  • Human Interest

    Conspiracy thinking


    Darel Cookson |  March 28, 2024


    Conspiracy theories are often assumed to appeal to people of limited education, but Intelligence doesn’t make you immune, it’s all a question of your thinking style.


Latest Story

  • Restoring military culture

    Brendan Nicholson     |      October 6, 2020

    The Australian Army is rebuilding the cultural and ethical base of its special forces in the light of allegations of war crimes in Afghanistan.

  • “No jab, no pay” delivers results

    Open Forum     |      October 6, 2020

    A tightening of rules has encouraged higher vaccination rates for some of Australia’s most vulnerable children.

  • Life after lockdown

    Breanna Wright     |      October 5, 2020

    Lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic uprooted a lot of our usual routines, but the ‘great disruption’ has also given birth to new routines which we may want to continue.

  • A pandemic of sub-standard research

    Open Forum     |      October 5, 2020

    The COVID-19 pandemic has created a flood of potentially substandard research amid the rush to publish, with a string of papers retracted or under a cloud and a surge in submissions to  pre-print servers where fewer quality checks are made.

  • Research collaboration key to economic recovery

    Open Forum     |      October 5, 2020

    The new focus on science and research and development in the Morrison Government’s manufacturing strategy has been welcomed by Australia’s leading science body.

  • Playing the game of government

    Andre Kwok     |      October 4, 2020

    The next few years promise to be interesting as governments around the world negotiate the ethical, practical, and ideological issues around the gamification of public services and systems.

  • A hit to DFAT accountability

    Richard Moore     |      October 4, 2020

    The abolition of DFAT’s Office of Development Effectiveness (ODE) is a bad decision. This development is made worse by the non-transparent way the decision was made.

  • China expands its island-building strategy into the Pacific

    Steve Raaymakers     |      October 4, 2020

    The government of Kiribati is not alone in the Pacific in falling under Chinese influence, and is in the process of handing China another unsinkable aircraft carrier as it expands its regional power.

  • Arvanitakis on American politics: The first debate…

    James Arvanitakis     |      October 3, 2020

    The First US Presidential debate – held before the President was diagnosed with COVID-19 – did nothing to elevate the level of public discourse, but its chaotic, rowdy nature may well have served Trump’s purposes in an increasingly fractious election campaign.

  • Truth, trust and teachers

    Connie Cirkony     |      October 3, 2020

    Trusting quality evidence in the post-pandemic world should start in our schools.

  • Dodging an insolvency tsunami

    Anil Hargovan     |      October 3, 2020

    New rules will allow insolvent small businesses to keep trading rather than go straight into administration.

  • In the new normal, who gets the gig?

    Garth Rowland     |      October 2, 2020

    Companies are using the COVID-19 pandemic to reduce their permanent staff and increase the number of freelancers they use on a casual basis, but the effect of these cost cutting measures could ripple out across the whole economy.