• Defence and Security

    War at the speed of light


    Malcolm Davis |  April 16, 2026


    For decades, notions of laser weapons have been the stuff of science fiction. Now they are becoming military reality, as directed-energy weapons, including high-energy lasers and high-power microwave weapons, open new approaches to counter swarms of cheap drones.


  • Education and Training

    Tackling teacher burnout


    Pamela Patrick |  April 16, 2026


    Teachers are often described as the backbone of our education system. But what’s less visible is the emotional load they carry every day, and how that load is quietly shaping whether they stay or leave the profession.


  • Health

    Medicare’s mental health check


    Peter Baldwin |  April 16, 2026


    Medicare Mental Health Check In doesn’t offer the instant back-and-forth of a chatbot. But it does offer something a chatbot can’t: an evidence-based program designed by experts and supported by a caring human.


Latest Story

  • The sky’s not the limit

    Akshit Tyagi     |      April 15, 2026

    Artemis II has returned humans to deep space for the first time in fifty years but the forces that brought us back are the same ones that kept us away and until scientific discovery displaces geopolitics and profit, the next fifty years will look just like the last.

  • Send in the drones

    Michelle Grattan     |      April 15, 2026

    Expanding Australia’s fleet of autonomous and uncrewed defence and weapon systems will help the ADF keep the nation safe, support local jobs and harness Australian innovation.

  • Looking through glasswing

    Stan Karanasios     |      April 15, 2026

    If AI models like Mythos can scan the hidden plumbing of the internet – operating systems, browsers, routers, and shared open-source code – at an unprecedented scale, then what is now specialised hacking could become a routine and automated process.

  • Revamping vaccinations

    Open Forum     |      April 14, 2026

    The Australian College of Nursing is calling on the Federal Government to take a fresh approach to vaccinations, as a perfect storm of declining coverage, record-high influenza rates, and circulating vaccine-preventable diseases demands urgent action.

  • Death by a thousand cuts

    Open Forum     |      April 14, 2026

    Australia’s aid budget remains among the lowest in the world according to the latest Official Development Assistance data published by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

  • Inspiring the space generation

    Kate Ashmor     |      April 14, 2026

    As the crew of Artemis II return with a renewed perspective on humanity, it prompts the need to look again at the best way to prepare the next generation for the new world we are rapidly creating.

  • Defending democracy

    Kate Griffiths     |      April 13, 2026

    Despite the welcome defeat of Hungary’s Victor Orban, democracy is under threat and in decline around the world and Australia is not immune from the challenges it faces, so what can be done to revitalise its appeal?

  • Aged health after COVID

    Alysia Blackham     |      April 13, 2026

    The COVID-19 pandemic uncovered glaring gaps in healthcare for older people. Now, with an increasingly older population, Australia needs to come to terms with its ageism.

  • Moments mean more than hours

    Erin Harper     |      April 13, 2026

    A new report suggests that quality of care is still a stronger and more consistent predictor of a child’s outcomes than the number of hours they spend in early education and parenting remains the most important factor of all.

  • Doughnuts and decision making

    Lauren Claire Fong     |      April 12, 2026

    The next time you find yourself in line at the bakery, you’ll find your brain has already been quietly gathering evidence toward your baked good of choice, and that choice happens a little faster than you realise.

  • Who’s reading your paper?

    Christopher J Watterson     |      April 12, 2026

    The research produced by Western universities is routinely shared with or stolen by hostile authoritarian states, forcing the sector to reconcile their dual roles as producers of confidential defence and security research and development on one hand and as open hubs of global knowledge exchange on the other.

  • The crucible of early life

    Brendan Burns     |      April 12, 2026

    On the shores of the west coast of Australia lies a window to our past. The stromatolites and microbial mats of Shark Bay are living “relics” of ancient ecosystems that thrived on Earth billions of years ago.