ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on December 11, 2025.
The social media ban is just the start of Australia’s forthcoming restrictions – and teens have legitimate concerns
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Giselle Woodley, Lecturer and Research Fellow, Edith Cowan University There has been massive global interest in the new social media legislation introduced in Australia aimed at protecting children from the dangers of doom‑scrolling and mental‑health risks potentially posed by these platforms during their developmental years The platforms’
How to handle teen ‘big feelings’ as the social media ban kicks in
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christiane Kehoe, Senior Lecturer in Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne Maskot/Getty Watching your teenager grieve the loss of their social media account can be confronting. Many are genuinely distressed or struggling with the change, and many parents are unsure how to respond. Australia’s social media ban, which
Higher speeds lower productivity: what the data shows crash delays really cost Auckland
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Welch, Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Another morning, another crash on one of Auckland’s major roads. Traffic isn’t moving. Drivers sit in their cars rehearsing reasons for being late again. Radio hosts offer the usual advice: leave earlier and find
Netflix is buying Warner Brothers. Is this the end of the cinema?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Liam Burke, Associate Professor and Cinema and Screen Studies Discipline Leader, Swinburne University of Technology Jametlene Reskp/Unsplash The world’s dominant streaming service, Netflix, has announced its planned acquisition of Warner Bros with a deal valued at US$82.7 billion (A$124.5 billion). The acquisition has provoked criticism from film
Politicians bank on people not caring about democracy – but research shows we do
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adele Webb, Research Fellow, Democracy and Citizen Engagement, Centre for Deliberative Democracy, University of Canberra The Citizens’ Assembly/X Across the world, democracies are grappling with a widening gap between citizens and those who govern. Australia is no exception. Increasingly, people feel politics is something done to them,
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard quit Spotify in protest, only for an AI doppelgänger to step in
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wellett Potter, Lecturer in Law, University of New England Getty/Pedro Gomes/Redferns Imagine this: a band removes its entire music catalogue off Spotify in protest, only to discover an AI-generated impersonator has replaced it. The impersonator offers songs that sound much like the band’s originals. The imposter tops
If social media for kids is so bad, should we be allowed to post kids’ photos online?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joanne Orlando, Researcher, Digital Wellbeing, Western Sydney University Jordan Siemens/Getty Images As Australia’s ban on under-16-year-olds having certain social media accounts kicks in this week, debate on whether it’s a good idea or even legal rages on – both at home and overseas. Yet barely acknowledged in
The Golden Spurtle dives into the world of competitive porridge making with heart and humour
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Chris Thompson, Lecturer in Theatre, Australian Catholic University Umbrella If you were scouting about for a feature documentary subject, porridge might not be the first thing you’d think of. That is, unless you were Australian opera and theatre director turned documentary film maker, Constantine Costi, who has
Millions of hectares are still being cut down every year. How can we protect global forests?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Dooley, Senior Research Fellow, School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, The University of Melbourne David Clode/Unsplash, CC BY Ahead of the United Nations climate summit in Belém last month, Brazil’s President Lula da Silva urged world leaders to agree to roadmaps away from fossil fuels
Private hospitals are in trouble. Here’s what this means for public hospitals – and taxpayer dollars
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anthony Scott, Professor of Health Economics and Director, Centre for Health Economics, Monash Business School, Monash University Every other week there seems to be more bad news for private hospitals. The sale of Healthscope, hospital and maternity ward closures, and fights with private health insurers about funding,
The toy aisle is still full of gender bias. Here’s how to navigate it these holidays
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sadaf Sagheer, Marketing Academic, RMIT University Getty Images Parents the world over have begun the task of negotiating Christmas lists written by their children. But buying the right presents for kids can feel like a minefield, with an ever-growing list of choices and factors to consider. Among
The year’s best meteor shower is about to start – here’s how to see it
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Peak of the Geminids in 2017. Dai Jianfeng/IAU OAE, CC BY Where many other meteor showers are often over-hyped, the Geminids are the real deal: far and away the best shower of the year, peaking on December 14–15 in
From violence to sexism, the manosphere is doing real-world harm
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephanie Wescott, Lecturer in Humanities and Social Sciences, Monash University There’s a lot of debate around the extent to which the manosphere is playing out in young people’s lives and relationships. Some suggest claims about its malevolence are misplaced. Others think just because something happens on the
Year 12 results are being released. What if you don’t want to share your ATAR with friends and family?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Penny Van Bergen, Associate Professor in the Psychology of Education, Macquarie University Cottonbro Studio/ Pexels For the class of 2025, the next week may be particularly nerve wracking, as ATAR or Australian Tertiary Admission Rank results are released online. Victoria is the first state to release results
How charitable are Australians? 3 charts show how much we give
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Myles McGregor-Lowndes, Emeritus Professor, Faculty of Business & Law, Queensland University of Technology For Australia’s charity sector, December is the critical frontline month of the year. Demand for social services reaches its peak, with people who are hungry, homeless, friendless or victims of family violence all requiring
Number of Indigenous deaths in custody at record high
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Australia recorded in 2024–25 the largest number of Indigenous deaths in custody since 1979–80, when monitoring began under the National Deaths in Custody Program. In the 2024–25 year, 33 of the 113 deaths in custody were Aboriginal or Torres Strait
Can smart greenhouses bring back food production in cities?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vera Xia, Lecturer in Design and Urban Technology, University of Sydney Sydney, like many other Australian cities, has a long history of urban farming. Market gardens, oyster fisheries and wineries on urban fringe once supplied fresh food to city markets. As suburbs expanded, many farms in and
Why is Trump so obsessed with Venezuela? His new security strategy provides some clues
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Juan Zahir Naranjo Cáceres, PhD Candidate, Political Science, International Relations and Constitutional Law, University of the Sunshine Coast Two centuries ago, US President James Monroe declared the Western Hemisphere off-limits to European powers in what would became known in history books as the “Monroe Doctrine”. The proclamation
Cowbois reimagines Hollywood’s Wild West – with a wonderful queer twist
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karen Cummings, Lecturer in Singing, University of Sydney Alex Vaughan Music and theatre can bring into the world places and stories that exist only in the imagination. Can music and theatre also change hearts and minds? This question is at the heart of Cowbois, a new music
As the population ages, the RBA’s interest rate policy is no longer fit for purpose
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lisa Denny, Adjunct Associate Professor, University of Tasmania Yan Krukov/Pexels An extensive government review of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) in 2023 made 51 specific recommendations to enable “an RBA fit for the future”. But the narrow terms of reference confined the review to an economic
