Latest Story
-
Where are all the girls?
Open Forum | July 1, 2025Data from Western Australia and New South Wales suggest that migrant families from China, India and Vietnam favour sons over daughters to such an extent that sex ratios are being skewed as a result.
-
Reforming the NDIS
Mia Jessurun | June 30, 2025The cost of the National Disability Insurance Scheme has ballooned by almost 25% every year for the last five years as innumerable providers jump on the gravy train, but much needed reform shouldn’t deprive genuinely disabled people of the support they need.
-
Asian democracy
Larry Diamond | June 30, 2025Since the early 2000s, the world has witnessed a deepening democratic recession, and Asia is no exception. Compromised political freedom, constitutionalism and competitiveness characterise many democratic states across the region, while authoritarian states remain deeply entrenched. Still, there are glimmers of hope, as enduring public support for democratic ideals signals that even seemingly stable autocracies may not be immune to sudden change.
-
Cracking quantum computing
Lachlan Gilbert | June 30, 2025UNSW Sydney quantum engineers, in collaboration with University of Sydney scientists, have developed new technology that effectively reduces the size of the circuits required to run a silicon-based quantum computer.
-
Innovate or die
Jason Van der Schyff | June 29, 2025Australia’s long-standing “innovation gap” threatens our national safety as well as economic prosperity.
-
Addressing fuel insecurity
Raelene Lockhorst | June 29, 2025Recent global conflicts from the invasion of Ukraine, Houthi attacks on crude oil tankers in the Red Sea and Iranian threats to close the Strait of Hormuz prove that fuel supply is no longer a theoretical risk but an active, accelerating threat.
-
Building green
Open Forum | June 29, 2025An international team of scientists, including Australians, has developed a biodegradable material for buildings that could passively reduce internal temperatures by as much as 9.2°C and slash global energy consumption by 20% – without using a single watt of electricity.
-
Whatever happened to wellness?
Open Forum | June 28, 2025The Albanese government devoted time and energy in its first term to developing a wellbeing agenda, but the battle against inflation and the new focus on productivity has pushed wellbeing back down its list of priorities.
-
Who can we trust?
Paul Harrison | June 28, 2025Brands want consumers to trust them so we give them money without much thought, but as the SPF debacle shows, they need to earn that trust as the profit incentive means their interests are not aligned with the public good.
-
Health education
Open Forum | June 28, 2025If Australia is serious about achieving health equity, improving access to quality education must be part of the strategy.
-
Big firms confront climate reporting
Open Forum | June 27, 2025New climate reporting rules come into force on July 1 but many companies are not ready for the change.
-
Australia should be Brave1
Henry Campbell | June 27, 2025Australian defence innovators are held back by legacy procurement models, limited risk appetite, and policy uncertainty. Ukraine offers an example of how to change that, if we’re bold enough to act.
