Name badges help protect retail staff from customer abuse

A QUT team has found that simple personalised “under badges” worn by frontline retail staff can make them more relatable and significantly reduce verbal abuse from customers.

Are people resigned to losing data privacy?

Governments and corporations are collecting ever more personal information on us all to control our lives and bombard us with advertising but most citizens and consumers don’t seem to care.

Unpacking Victoria’s Statewide Treaty Bill

Despite the defeat of the Federal voice referendum, the State Parliament of Victoria has passed a Treaty Bill which will create a costly legal and bureaucratic tangle that is unlikely to improve the lives of Indigenous people.

Six of the best

A decade after its introduction, Australia can learn a range of lessons from the aims and implementation of Wales’ ground breaking future generations law.

The many sides of multiculturalism

Multiculturalism has been central to Australian politics for decades, but its meaning has shifted over time — from former Australian prime minister Gough Whitlam’s rights-based framing to later emphases on cohesion, productivity and security. Without stronger action against racism and exclusion, multiculturalism risks sliding further from inclusion toward a model of diversity managed through control.

Saving social cohesion

There is increasing consensus that social cohesion in an increasingly divided and multicultural Australia is in decline, but there seems little urgency or action to tackle the problem.

Intergenerational tax equality

The balance of tax and benefits between the generations is a major issue for Canberra policymakers and these and other aspects of Intergenerational inequality will be discussed at GAP’s forthcoming conference on NSW Parliament House in early November.

Avoiding the post-year 12 blues

Young people can struggle after leaving the comfort of school routines and slump after the stress of Year 12 exams, so here are some research-informed strategies to help support them as they embark on the next chapter of their lives.

The lonely planet

Interventions designed to reduce loneliness can be effective, but do not yet offer a complete solution to what is becoming a worldwide public health problem, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.

The young ones

Educational credentials, financial independence, home ownership, partnership and parenthood were once universal goals but social and economic conditions mean that many young people are struggling to attain them.

Agencies must embrace AI transparency

Most government agencies have ignored a Commonwealth rule which mandates the posting of meaningful statements about their use of Artificial Intelligence, raising questions about the effectiveness of Australia’s “soft-touch” approach to AI governance in the public sector.

Bring back the bush

Environment groups have welcome new enforcement powers and increases in penalties for companies and farmers flouting nature conservancy laws by bulldozing native forests and bushland.