The global fight against corruption affects us all

World Anti-Corruption Day should remind Australia to maintain more effective safeguards against nepotism, fraud and dishonest conduct.

Reducing the death toll on Victoria’s roads

Victoria has been working to reduce the death toll on its roads for over 50 years, but more work needs to be done to encourage safer driving habits among its road users.

Your attitude to immigrants and refugees may depend on where you live

Political parties and the public are divided over attitudes towards immigrants and refugees in countries like Australia, the United States and Canada. People in ethnically diverse neighbourhoods tend to be more positive about immigration and refugees, although this is not always the case.

Living without the essentials

A new report, produced with UNSW Sydney, allows young people to explain in revealing detail their experiences of poverty.

Australia can learn from Canada’s immigration success story

Australia should follow Canada’s lead by giving the states a bigger seat at the immigration policy table and resisting the temptation to blame immigration for complex growth problems in our overcrowded cities.

Designing cities to counter urban loneliness

Loneliness is bad for individuals and societies, and the way we build and organise our cities can help or hinder social connections.

Photos encourage people to believe ‘fake news’

People are more likely to believe a true or false claim if it is paired with a photograph, a researcher from The Australian National University has found.

Accepting our own limitations builds empathy for others

Susan Dodds, the Dean of Arts and Social Science at UNSW, gave a Festival of Dangerous Ideas audience food for thought on how we can support the most vulnerable people in our society.

Building more roads will not solve Melbourne’s transport crisis

Experience from other major cities such as London shows that more investment in public transportation, rather than more roads for more cars, is the key to reducing congestion in Melbourne.

The promise and problems of ‘big data’ in official statistics

Digital technologies put an abundance of data at our fingertips, but we must ensure questions of what should, and should not, be measured are answered before we use them in official statistics.

Australia’s rules on alcohol advertising aren’t protecting our children

Regulations introduced to restrict the placement of alcohol advertising are unlikely to reduce young people’s exposure to alcohol marketing in Australia, according to new research led by Curtin University.

A Ministry of Loneliness?

Loneliness is an increasing social problem despite, or because of, the increasing population density of our cities and our reliance on social media. Would the creation of a ‘Ministry of Loneliness’ signal society’s intention to take this problem more seriously?