Latest Story
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Journalists and history
patrickcallioni | August 9, 2010At election time, do not rely on anything you may read in newspapers like The Daily Telegraph and, increasingly, The Australian – you will almost certainly be misled, either through journalistic ignorance or by clever manipulation.
While there are some excellent journalists in Australia, such as Jack Waterford, for example, the level of competence and professionalism in Australia is generally poor. This means that three things are guaranteed at election time. First, the typical journalist will display no more than a tenuous grasp of the English language; second, there will be no historical perspective provided with any analysis of issues; and third, a total ignorance of statistics will be displayed in any discussion of opinion polls. I will save the first matter for another day, but let me expand on the next two critical observations.
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A wonderful job and a wonderful opportunity for homeless women: one woman’s tale of why she works as hard as she does
Natalie Susman | August 5, 2010I have a wonderful job. It’s not glamorous, or high profile, nor does it pay a particularly high salary. I work very long hours, often at weekends and regularly meet impossible deadlines. My office is truly terrible and the server crashes daily. BUT, every day I am reminded – in a very real way – of why I work as hard as I do..There is a woman who comes in to visit me and the team a couple of times a week. For the purposes of this story, let’s call her Donna.
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A Place to Call Home
editor | August 5, 2010
Since the age of 14, South African born Slide has been couch surfing her way between different homes in Canberra, trying to find the next couch to sleep on for the night. Seven years on, Slide now has a place she can call home and is ready to help others facing similar situations through Red Cross. -
Building Skills for a Happy Family
editor | August 5, 2010
Luke and Alicia are a young couple who met through mutual friends, they have a beautiful baby and are working together to face the challenges of their child’s first year. -
Anyone can become homeless
Ian Coverdale | August 2, 2010Understanding how anyone can become homeless is an important part of understanding how to tackle homelessness.
Anyone can become homeless” is the key theme in Red Cross Homeless Persons’ Week campaign this year. We want to raise awareness of the different pathways into homelessness that people may take.
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Planning an end to homelessness
Matthew Cox | August 2, 2010Some homeless people overcome enormous ostacles to radically reinvent their lives. It is difficult but possible. Changing the state of homelessness in Australia is a challenge our generation should rise to meet.
I first met K not long after I began working at Red Cross. She was 18 and a participant at Red Cross’ Night Café – a crisis support service in
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From living on the streets to helping the homeless: One woman’s tale of how she turned her life around
Kirstie Papanikolaou | July 30, 2010First hand knowledge of homlessness and 14 years experience working in vendor support for the Big Issue combine for some powerfully simple advice about creating opportunities.
I have two dogs. I’ve also got three cats and two rabbits; one of whom weighs 12 kilos and swings on a hammock. I’ve got two kids, one husband and some great in-laws. I consider myself lucky. I’ve got a stable, supportive family, a job that I am passionate about and my own home. But it wasn’t always like this…
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Australia’ s Mineral Resources
Les Pickett | July 28, 2010Are our policy makers and strategic thinkers paying sufficient attention to the role of Australia’s mineral resources in international affairs?
Mineral resources play a role in international affairs that far outweighs the attention paid to the sector by policy makers and strategic thinkers Dr Michael Wesley Executive Director Lowy Institute told participants in a Food for Thought presentation at Victoria University earlier this month.
Modern societies are becoming ever more dependent on mineral resources but increasingly less self-sufficient in their production, making access to stable and reasonably priced resources central to their functioning. And yet there is little awareness of the general dynamics, trends and forces governing the global production and trade in strategic resources.
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UncategorisedAustralia Welcomes New Privacy Commissioner
editor | July 27, 2010
It’s been a good week for privacy in Australia, with Timothy Pilgrim appointed the new Privacy Commissioner on 19 July 2010. Read more at www.privacy.gov.au -
Thinking about Trees
Anna Bowden | July 26, 2010National Tree Day requires us to undergo an important change of mindset.I came to my job as the project manager for National Tree Day by a rather sideways route after marketing green products and administering a brand licensing program for Planet Ark.Although a committed “greenie” I came from a business and marketing background and was more focused on ways to leverage the consumer dollar to bring about environmental change. And so I found myself faced with a different challenge; how to generate a change in attitude & behaviour towards the natural world and trees in particular.The evidence on our need to change behaviour is overwhelming, with unprecedented losses of native animals, and damage to biodiversity.
International Day of Co-operatives
David Griffiths | July 22, 2010On 3 July 2010 co-operatives throughout the world celebrated the International Day of Co-operatives. The theme for the day was how co-operatives can empower women.
"Co-operative enterprise empowers women"
"La empresa cooperativa empodera a la mujeres"
"L’entreprise coopérative autonomise les femmes"The International Day of Co-operatives is celebrated on the first Saturday of July every year. Its aim is to increase awareness on co-operatives and promote the movement’s successes and ideals.
The scope and role of co-operatives in Australia is, for example, not sufficiently understood. To address this, in June 2009 Co-operatives Australia published a list of the top 100 co-operatives, credit unions and mutuals. Co-operatives Australia is the national body for State Co-operative Federations.
Award winning NZ sheep drencher an innovation the whole family can enjoy
Kate Williamson | July 20, 2010
Rod Walker, Director and Research and Development Manager at Simcro speaks to Open Forum’s Kate Williamson about OPTILINE; winner of a 2010 Australian International Design Award (medical and scientific category).
