• 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

  • How Australian cities are adapting to the “Chinese century”

    Ilan Wiesel     |      November 19, 2018

    China’s rise as a global power is driving new flows of people, ideas and capital between China and Australia and Australian cities need to adapt to this new geopolitical reality.

  • Logging must stop in Melbourne’s biggest water supply catchment

    David Lindenmayer     |      November 18, 2018

    The Thomson Catchment is the only one of Melbourne’s large water supply catchments open to logging. Given the critical importance of the Thomson Catchment, the Victorian government needs to cease logging and prioritise the supply of water to the people of Melbourne.

  • Preparing for our new extremes

    Greg Foliente     |      November 18, 2018

    Australia has a well-earned reputation for being a land of extremes – from cyclones to bushfires and floods to drought. This high variability can make it difficult to prepare for all eventualities. But scientists are gaining a better understanding of the likelihood and consequences of extreme events.

  • South Australian law reforms propose clearer access to surrogacy

    Open Forum     |      November 18, 2018

    Reforms proposed to South Australian surrogacy laws recommend an updated and improved non-commercial system of domestic surrogacy to protect the interests of all parties, especially those of the surrogate child.

  • Grey nomads, seachangers and bogans – 30 years of the Australian National Dictionary

    Jane Faure-Brac     |      November 17, 2018

    Do you know someone ‘doing a Johnny Farnham’? Have you played the ‘thongophone’? And how do you think Australia’s ‘koala diplomacy’ is working? These “Australianisms” are contenders for the next edition of the Australian National Dictionary (AND), prove Australian English is alive and well on its 30th anniversary.

  • Australia’s Pacific funding requires a dedicated agency

    Alan McCormack     |      November 17, 2018

    If Australian policymakers want to get serious about integrating regional development assistance projects into the national security policy objectives, they should establish a dedicated agency.

  • Micro-betting snares more vulnerable Australians

    Alex Russell     |      November 17, 2018

    The increasing popularity of ‘micro-betting’ poses a threat to the integrity of major sports as well as the wallets of Australia’s increasing numbers of online gamblers.

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

    Caroline Compton     |      November 16, 2018

    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.

  • How can we stop AI discriminating?

    Jeannie Marie Paterson     |      November 16, 2018

    Combating bias and creating more inclusive AI is unlikely to succeed unless developers include those people who have been historically excluded or ignored.

  • The ‘domino’ threat of global extinction

    Open Forum     |      November 16, 2018

    New research reveals the extinction of plant or animal species from extreme environmental change increases the risk of an ‘extinction domino effect’ that could affect and even end all life on Earth.

  • The enduring fight for free trade

    Andrew Leigh     |      November 15, 2018

    The argument for free trade must continually be made to convince a skeptical public but new measures must also take account of changing circumstances to ensure Australia’s trade remains healthy into the future.

  • Fighting the drought with natural sequence farming

    Ian Rutherfurd     |      November 15, 2018

    Slowing flows in rural creeks with “leaky weirs” may help reduce erosion and rehydrate the floodplain and more research on their effectiveness could help the nation’s farmers battle drought.