• Artificial Intelligence

    Welcome to your friendly local chatbot


    Open Forum |  March 29, 2024


    QUT researchers have homed in on AI-powered chatbots in the local government sector to look at their benefits and risks, what they are used for and why, and how users view them.


  • Transport

    Car wars


    Open Forum |  March 29, 2024


    Medical pressure group Doctors for the Environment Australia (DEA) have called for the cross bench to reject the watered down and delayed fuel efficiency standard proposed by the Federal Government, and urged it to protect the health of Australians by requiring tougher vehicle fleet standards.


  • Energy

    The hidden costs of coal mines’ unquenchable thirst


    Open Forum |  March 29, 2024


    Investors and shareholders in Australian coal mining could feel the pinch as water-related risks increase amid worsening climate change impacts, tighter regulations and growing community opposition.


Latest Story

  • Won’t somebody think of the skills?

    Benjamin Blackshaw     |      August 4, 2020

    The Federal government’s new plans for higher education may erode, rather than enhance, the broad skills required for innovation and economic growth in the future.

  • Why Melbourne’s business restrictions should work

    Philip Russo     |      August 4, 2020

    By clamping down on personal interactions, the sweeping new business restrictions in Melbourne should reduce the number of community infections to more manageable numbers within the next few weeks.

  • China’s third revolution

    Anastasia Kapetas     |      August 4, 2020

    On the brink of a new cold war, China has more instruments of power than it has ever had, but its challenges and missteps mean that the world’s democratic countries still have the upper hand – at least for the moment.

  • Victoria’s ‘state of disaster’

    Adrian Esterman     |      August 3, 2020

    Premier Dan Andrews declared a state of disaster from 6pm on Sunday in Victoria, imposing a nightly curfew on Melbourne and giving the government and police extra powers to enforce the new restrictions to slow the spread of COVID-19.

  • Helping school kids cope

    Helen Cahill     |      August 3, 2020

    In the wake of an emergency, like the COVID-19 pandemic, social and emotional learning programs in school can play a vital role in supporting student mental wellbeing.

  • A lifeline for Australian media?

    Rob Nicholls     |      August 3, 2020

    Cash strapped Australian media companies have been thrown a lifeline through a new draft code which allows them to bargain – individually or collectively – with Google and Facebook to be paid for the content they provide.

  • Why a learner profile makes more sense than the ATAR

    David Geelan     |      August 2, 2020

    Broadening the ways we measure and represent the outcomes of the senior years of schooling has the potential to broaden our vision of school itself.

  • The tiny plants that hold deserts together

    Isabelle Dubach     |      August 2, 2020

    Miniscule plants growing on desert soils can help drylands retain water and reduce erosion, UNSW researchers have found, but are threatened by over-grazing.  

  • Farewell to the jumbo-jet

    Nancy Schneider     |      August 2, 2020

    With flights grounded and Australia’s borders shut, Qantas has retired its final Boeing 747 several months earlier than initially planned.  The jumbo jet was pivotal in reducing Australia’s tyranny of distance.

  • Opportunism drives China’s cyber-attacks

    Tom Uren     |      August 1, 2020

    Although there has been a sustained increase in cyber activity targeting Australia, the Chinese state is still focused on stealing western technology, rather than applying foreign policy pressure.

  • The case for an East Asian ‘climate club’

    Elizabeth Thurbon     |      August 1, 2020

    A new grouping of East Asian countries could boost the fight against climate change, just as similar groups have encouraged economic development in the past.

  • International pressure can help protect Hong Kong

    Rachel Gray     |      August 1, 2020

    The UN needs to establish a special envoy to closely monitor the decline of human rights in Hong Kong, says Australia Director at Human Rights Watch and adjunct lecturer at UNSW Law Elaine Pearson.