Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark A Gregory, Associate Professor, School of Engineering, RMIT University

Multiple people have died after a botched Optus network upgrade on Thursday prevented around 600 emergency calls to Triple Zero across Australia.

The deaths currently linked to the outage – which Optus only revealed to the public, emergency services and state/territory leaders on Friday evening at a press conference – include two men, aged 49 and 74, in Western Australia, and a 68-year-old woman in Adelaide.

The outage – plus Optus’s delayed response to it – has sparked fury and condemnation. “I have not witnessed such incompetence from an Australian corporation in respect to communications worse than this,” South Australian premier Peter Malinauskas said.

This isn’t the first time a blunder by Optus has meant people in crisis have been unable to call emergency services. So what exactly went wrong? And what could be done to prevent a similar tragedy occurring again?

What happened?

Telecommunications companies routinely conduct network upgrades. Ideally, the upgrades should include a suite of tests performed beforehand as well as immediately afterwards. These tests can quickly identify any network or system problems. If a problem is identified, the upgrade can be reversed. Alternatively, what’s known as a failover system can be used if the upgrade will take some time to implement. A failover system is one that has not been upgraded.

On Thursday, Optus conducted a network upgrade. In the process of doing so it failed to identify a technical failure, which impacted Triple Zero calls.

Normal calls were still connecting during this Triple Zero outage. That’s because Triple Zero is a cooperative service that involves telecommunications companies, as well as the governments and emergency services in each state or territory. The Triple Zero core components are implemented separately, meaning any issue with them does not affect calls on the normal network.

The Telecommunications (Emergency Call Service) Determination 2019 sets out obligations on telecommunications companies to ensure they have arrangements in place for dealing with emergency calls. For example, they must provide access to the Triple Zero call service free of charge. They must also have what’s known as a “camp-on” mechanism in place. This allows your mobile phone to connect to another network to make Triple Zero calls if your network has failed.

On Friday afternoon, Optus CEO Stephen Rue apologised to the families of the people who died, as well as the broader community, for the outage.

“You have my assurance that we are conducting a thorough investigation and once concluded we will share the facts of the incident publicly”.

Not the first time

That might sound familiar. That’s because this isn’t the first time a telecommunications blunder of this kind has happened.

On March 1 2024, a Telstra network disruption resulted in 127 calls to Triple Zero failing – thankfully without fatal consequences. In that case, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) fined Telstra A$3 million.

On November 8 2023, Optus was responsible for another network meltdown which prevented more than 2,100 people from accessing Triple Zero. Optus also failed to conduct 369 welfare checks on people who had attempted to make an emergency call during the outage.

Nobody died as a result of that failure either. Optus, however, was hit with a A$12 million fine by the ACMA for breaching emergency call regulations. It was also subject to a formal review, commissioned by the Australian government and completed in April, which made 18 recommendations to prevent similar incidents occurring again.

These recommendations included establishing a “Triple Zero custodian” who would have oversight and overarching responsibility for the efficient functioning of the Triple Zero ecosystem. They also included more clearly and explicitly articulating precisely what is expected of network operators in regard to ensuring calls are delivered to Triple Zero, and requiring telecommunications companies to share real time network information detailing outages with emergency services and other relevant parties.

Following the most recent outage, federal Communications Minister Anika Wells said the Australian government has “accepted all recommendations from the previous Optus Outage Review and has fully implemented 12 of the 18 recommendations, with the remaining six underway”.

But the fact three people are dead because they couldn’t reach Triple Zero due to yet another network outage highlights the urgent need for more action.

Encouraging all telcos to lift their game

The federal government should consider even stronger minimum performance standards for telecommunications companies that provide the foundation for enforcement. These standards could stipulate, for example, minimum download and upload speeds. They could also require telecommunications companies to make a public notification about an outage within a specified time period – ideally as soon as they themselves are aware of it.

There should also be a mandated requirement for telecommunications companies to establish reasonable engineering practices to help prevent updates taking out part or the whole network. These practices could include automated testing before and after updates are carried out.

And while the ACMA will soon launch an investigation into this recent outage, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission could also investigate it. Specifically, the commission could look at whether the actions of Optus amounts to unconscionable conduct, and issue more severe fines.

This may serve to encourage Optus and other telecommunications companies to lift their game and better protect public safety.

This article has been amended to update the number of deaths linked to the outage after further investigation occurred over the weekend.

Mark A Gregory has received funding from the Australian Research Council, the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network grants program and the auDA Foundation. He is a life member of the Telecommunications Association.

– ref. Optus Triple Zero outage has left multiple people dead. A telecommunications expert explains what went wrong – and how to fix it – https://theconversation.com/optus-triple-zero-outage-has-left-multiple-people-dead-a-telecommunications-expert-explains-what-went-wrong-and-how-to-fix-it-265692

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Terence C. Cheng, Associate Professor, Centre for Health Economics, Monash University

If you’re one of the 45% of Australians with private health insurance, chances are the government pays, or has paid, a proportion of your premiums via rebates.

Taxpayer spending on these private health insurance rebates is projected to reach A$7.6 billion in 2025.

The rebates are a key source of revenue for private hospitals. In 2022–23, private health funds contributed $9.7 billion. This is around 45% of the $21.5 billion spent on private hospital services.

But are rebates achieving their aim of reducing pressure on the public hospital system? And if not, should the government scrap them and direct this funding to ailing public hospitals?

Remind me, what are the rebates?

The private health insurance rebate was designed to encourage Australians to purchase private health insurance. The goal was to reduce both cost and capacity pressures on the public health-care system.

The Howard government introduced the rebate in the late 1990s, alongside:

• Medicare levy surcharges, a 1–1.5% levy on taxable income for those without private health insurance

• Lifetime health cover policies, a 2% loading on premiums (per year for ten years) if you take out private health insurance after you turn 31.

Initially, the private health insurance rebate covered 30% of premiums for all Australians, and subsidies were eventually made higher for people over 65.

Since April 2014, the rebate has been indexed annually, and the government’s contribution has gradually declined as a share of total premiums.

The rebate is also means-tested, with higher-income Australians receiving a smaller subsidy.

Singles under 65 years of age earning less than $97,000 receive a 24.3% rebate. The subsidy gradually phases out to zero for those earning above $151,000.

Why do we subsidise private health insurance?

A justification for the rebates is that higher uptake of private health insurance would reduce pressure on the public healthcare system.

There is good evidence that people with private health insurance are more likely to opt for private care when they need hospital treatment.

A 2018 study showed having private health insurance increased the likelihood of a private hospital admission by 16 percentage points, and reduced the likelihood of a public admission by 13 percentage points.

However, getting more Australians to take out private health insurance doesn’t necessarily ease pressure on the public system in a meaningful way.

Read more:
Does private health insurance cut public hospital waiting lists? We found it barely makes a dent

A 2024 study of Victoria’s public hospital system found higher rates of private health insurance coverage leads to only marginal reductions in public hospital wait times.

So rather than relying on private insurance, a more direct way to reduce public hospital waiting times would be to increase funding for the public hospital system.

Do the benefits exceed the costs?

A recent study commissioned by Avant Mutual showed the rebates are cost-effective, generating $1.25 in savings for every dollar spent on the rebates.

A 2023 review of the private health insurance incentives commissioned by the Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care also found that having rebates results in net savings for the government. In other words, the government saves on health-care costs from people holding private health insurance and the savings outweigh what it spends on subsidies.

The review concluded the policy was “a very good financial deal for the government”.

Conversely, my past research indicated savings from scrapping the rebate would outweigh the additional costs of treating more patients in the public system.

This is likely because there are still significant financial incentives for people to maintain their health cover, especially among people on high incomes who are liable for the Medicare Levy Surcharge.

Another study from 2024 examined the relationship between having private insurance and the choice of private or public care. It concluded that even under optimistic assumptions about substitution, the potential savings in public hospital expenditure could not justify the cost of the rebates.

How can we make sense of these conflicting conclusions?

Part of the answer lies in the fact the studies rely on different assumptions, methodology and data. A key modelling consideration is how responsive consumers are to changes in the price of insurance.

The academic literature generally finds consumers aren’t very sensitive to changes in the price of insurance. As such, a reduction in the rebate would likely lead to only a small decline in private health insurance membership and a limited impact on public hospital use.

Private health insurance rebates are declining over time due to indexation and means-testing, and the government’s contribution to premiums has gradually declined over time.

The available evidence tells us private health insurance does little to relieve pressure on the public system, contrary to the rebate’s intended purpose.

Yet there is no consensus on whether reducing or removing rebates would produce net savings, or end up costing the government more than it saves. This is one area where more independent and rigorous research is needed.

Don’t cut rebates – but don’t expand them either

In the current environment with cost-of-living pressures, increasing private health premiums are placing growing strain on household budgets. In this context, rebates provide some relief and there is a good argument for maintaining them at their current levels.

Some argue rebates should be reinstated to their original 30%. However, since private health insurance does little to relieve pressures on the public system, the evidence doesn’t support expanding the rebates.

Any new funding would be better directed to expanding public system capacity or directly funding elective surgery in private hospitals to reduce public hospital waiting times.

Terence C. Cheng receives funding from the World Health Organisation and the Harvard China Fund.

– ref. Should we scrap private health insurance rebates and direct the funding to public hospitals? – https://theconversation.com/should-we-scrap-private-health-insurance-rebates-and-direct-the-funding-to-public-hospitals-258296

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rewi Newnham, Professor in Physical Geography, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington

The latest projections suggest New Zealand could be heading into a neutral or La Niña summer, which would bring rainier conditions to the north and east of the country.

While the prospect of a wet summer might not appeal to most people, for pollen allergy sufferers this could be a blessing in disguise.

Our latest research on pollen levels in Auckland backs up what we have long suspected but haven’t had the data to prove.

Unlike many developed countries, New Zealand doesn’t routinely monitor airborne pollen, and speculation about how La Niña and El Niño summers affect allergy sufferers has been just that. Until now.

With new data, we are able to show the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), which brings us changing phases of a natural climate cycle, can have profound effects on pollen allergy levels in Auckland.

For the one-in-five of us who suffer from hay fever or asthma, this has important implications.

Tracking pollen levels

Over the 2023/24 summer – a dry El Niño season – we monitored pollen levels in Auckland each day using equipment located on top of the War Memorial Museum. This was something of a milestone, marking the first time pollen levels have been monitored in the city this century.

We were able to compare our data with results from two previous pollen monitoring projects conducted almost four decades ago. By a stroke of luck, one of these projects monitored pollen levels during a strong La Niña season in 1988/89 and the second during a neutral summer (neither La Niña nor El Niño).

This comparison clearly showed the pollen season during the La Niña summer was much shorter and less severe than during the other two seasons – just as we would have predicted.

The main reason for the differences was rainfall, which is typically higher and more frequent in northern New Zealand during La Niña summers. Grasses, like all plants, need rainfall to survive and grow but they tend not to release pollen on rainy days which can also ‘flush’ already airborne pollen out of the atmosphere.

So, periods of excessive or sustained rainfall in spring and summer can lead to suppressed or shortened pollen seasons. This seems to have been the case in Auckland during the La Niña summer of 1988/89. The grass pollen season in that year lasted 41 days.

In contrast, the other two seasons had comparatively moderate rainfall – enough to maintain grass growth and pollen production but with plenty of dry, sunny and windy days for higher levels of pollen to be released and spread.

In the 2023/24 El Niño summer, the grass pollen season lasted 77 days, almost twice as long as that seen in 1988/89.

We must acknowledge that a sample of just three seasons bookending a 35-year interval would not normally be a convincing basis for confident conclusions.

Nevertheless, the consistent pattern observed in this limited dataset is in line with expectations about how contrasting weather patterns affect pollen production and dispersal, and the results shouldn’t be sneezed at.

Advice for allergy sufferers

What does this research mean for those of us who suffer from pollen allergies?

Better understanding of pollen season variability and its causes can inform the two pillars of allergy management: treatment and avoidance of allergy triggers.

Sophisticated predictive models can forecast changing La Niña and El Niño phases many months in advance. Now that we can show these phases affect pollen levels, we can be forewarned about the likely severity of the pollen season ahead.

Above all, our research shows that pollen seasons can be highly variable – from one year to the next and likely between regions due to variations in La Niña and El Niño effects in different parts of the country.

This highlights the importance of continuing pollen monitoring to better understand the causes and consequences of seasonal pollen allergy.

Climate change, and in particular rising temperature and atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, altered patterns of precipitation and greater inter-annual variability all likely have an impact on pollen levels in New Zealand.

In the longer term, climate projections suggest Auckland will see increasingly drier and warmer springs and summers – and that’s likely to mean more pollen in the air and more bad news for those with allergies.

Rewi is part of the Aotearora Airborne Pollen Collective, a team of health and environmental researchers aiming to develeop routine airborne pollen monitoring in Aotearoa New Zealand to promote better understanding of allergy health

– ref. Parts of NZ could be heading into a wetter summer – a blessing in disguise for allergy sufferers – https://theconversation.com/parts-of-nz-could-be-heading-into-a-wetter-summer-a-blessing-in-disguise-for-allergy-sufferers-251818

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Burdon, CEO Climate Resource, and Senior Advisor to Melbourne Climate Futures , The University of Melbourne

This week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will attend the annual United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York. He will bring something important: Australia’s new 2035 emission cut target of 62–70% on 2005 levels.

UN Secretary General António Guterres has invited global leaders to gather to present their new 2035 targets, known formally as Nationally Determined Contributions, ahead of the COP30 climate talks in Brazil in November.

COP30 is shaping up as the most consequential round of climate commitments since the 2015 Paris Agreement. Even as climate damage intensifies, there are worrying signs of backsliding on climate action in some nations.

The United States is focused on increasing fossil fuel production and hobbling clean energy. Other nations are stepping up. China’s clean energy exports are reshaping electricity markets around the world. The UN is hoping more ambitious 2035 targets will build momentum.

What role will Australia play? Our 2035 goal, announced by Albanese last week, will be important in driving the domestic transition to a clean economy. It will also factor into international climate efforts.

Australia’s target is not ambitious enough to be in line with pathways to hold climate change under 1.5°C, but it offers clarity. It also raises the possibility of achieving net zero earlier than 2050 if underpinned by strong, rapid action.

How does Australia’s target stack up?

Australia’s 62–70% target range has been critiqued from several sides. Climate advocates wanted more ambition. Some business groups wanted a lower figure, while others called for a 75% target.

In reality, this pathway seeks a balance between pragmatism and higher ambition. The planned emission cuts are actually more ambitious than if Australia were to cut emissions at a steady rate between 2030 and 2050 – the year we need to reach net zero.

Over the past decade, Australia’s emissions outside the land-use sector have been falling slowly. Falling emissions from electricity production have been offset by rising emissions in transport and other sectors.

At present, emissions are about 28% lower than 2005 levels, due largely to changes in land use.

The nation’s 2030 goal is a 43% cut before hitting a minimum of 62% by 2035. Our analysis indicates this will require a sharp acceleration in how fast emissions fall between 2030 and 2035.

To make this steep trajectory less challenging, Australia could go faster in the next five years to make the path to 2035 smoother. If Australia maintained this pace, it could have another benefit: increasing the feasibility of Australia reaching net zero at an earlier date.

Global temperatures are tracking upwards

As global momentum builds ahead of COP30, the choices made by major economies such as Australia will influence whether a 1.5°C pathway remains within reach. As one of the world’s largest fossil fuel exporters, Australia’s decisions on energy and climate policy can shift global markets and boost momentum toward a 1.5°C future.

The Paris Agreement commits countries to hold the increase in global temperature well below 2°C and pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C.

Some have concluded the 1.5°C goal is already out of reach, but this is premature.

The World Meteorological Organization confirmed 2024 was likely the first year where global average temperatures had risen to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. There’s a 70% chance average warming in the five-year period from 2025–29 will be above 1.5°C.

Despite this, the best estimates of long-term average warming are still below 1.5°C, hovering between 1.34°C and 1.44°C between 2015 and 2034.

Can we still limit warming to 1.5°C?

Every fraction of a degree past 1.5°C adds more risks to food and water security, health and ecosystems, as well as costing more in adaptation and raising chances of irreversible impacts such as sea level rise and species extinctions.

The 1.5°C target is also legally significant. In July, the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion that states have legal duties under international law to prevent significant harm to the climate, using 1.5°C as a benchmark for responsible action.

The latest figures on the global carbon budget show the remaining volume of carbon dioxide able to be emitted for a 50:50 chance of limiting warming to 1.5°C is now just 130 gigatonnes.

Given the world is still emitting more than 40 gigatonnes a year, this budget will be used up in a little over three years. Global emissions have simply not declined fast enough. They may peak in 2025, but this is still unclear.

As a result, feasible scenarios for limiting end-of-century warming to 1.5°C now involve overshooting this target temporarily while working towards net zero and then bringing it back down. The risk here is that carbon removal techniques and other measures may not be viable on the timelines and scale required.

These 1.5°C scenarios will require strong global action to rapidly phase out fossil fuels, strengthen net zero targets by bringing them forward, and scaling up realistic and sustainable forms of carbon removal.

What are other countries doing?

As of September 2025, 36 countries have submitted new or updated targets for 2030 or 2035, covering around 23% of global emissions.

This includes major emitters such as the US (under the former Biden administration), Japan, Canada and Brazil, while others such as China and India are yet to submit. The European Union has flagged an indicative 2035 target of 66.3–72.5% below 1990 levels.

If all existing national emission reduction goals and net-zero targets are implemented in full, warming is projected to reach 1.7–2.1°C by 2100.

If countries instead continue to emit at levels in line with their 2030 targets, warming will be well over 2°C.

These estimates may change as leaders announce more 2035 targets. If these targets collectively set the world on a straight line towards net zero – backed by strong implementation – it will mark a decisive shift in global efforts to limit warming and avoid the worst consequences of climate change.

Achieving this for the world as a whole means high-income, high-emitting countries such as Australia must be as ambitious as possible in setting targets and taking action. They also have a responsibility to support global efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C to ensure a fairer and more climate-resilient future.

Rebecca Burdon also works for Climate Resource, which consults to organisations on NDCs and the warming implications of country targets. No conflicts exist in relation to this article.

– ref. With 2035 emissions targets set, what Australia does next will help shape global efforts to keep 1.5°C alive – https://theconversation.com/with-2035-emissions-targets-set-what-australia-does-next-will-help-shape-global-efforts-to-keep-1-5-c-alive-265665

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hugh Gundlach, Lecturer in Education, The University of Melbourne

In-person lectures have been a staple of university learning for centuries.

But for more than a decade, there has been increasing debate about the relevance of lectures in modern higher education. Some academics and institutions argue they are no longer needed in the same way.

But research shows in-person lectures can be an important way to keep students connected to their peers and what they are learning.

If we want to keep the in-person lectures, we need to change the way they are delivered.

What’s happening to lectures?

Changes to in-person lectures were accelerated by COVID lockdowns, where everyone learned from home, alongside the rise of online learning platforms.

In the post-pandemic era, universities have increasingly offered online, “asynchronous” learning. This allows students to choose when they engage with course resources and tasks. There is a growing acceptance of online learning as a preferred option, rather than a lockdown necessity.

There are financial benefits for universities. Online lectures can increase enrolments through people who may not otherwise be able to attend due to where they live, or to work commitments. It also removes class size restrictions.

There can also be reduced overhead costs of in-person facilities.

More controversially, universities might reuse lectures across semesters, employ fewer faculty, or outsource teaching to external providers.

‘Speed-watching’ and learning from home

Online lectures cater to different learning preferences. Recorded lectures allow students, particularly those for whom English is an additional language, to watch with subtitles or transcripts. Students can pause to make notes or check reference material.

Some students “speed-watch” lectures on faster playback speed or listen to them like podcasts while exercising or commuting.

This flexibility is also helpful for students who do not live near their university or who have mobility issues, illnesses, or care responsibilities.

But campus attendance can deprive students of valuable in-person interactions with their peers and teachers. This is particularly crucial for certain fields, such as healthcare, education and service-based industries, where professional socialisation plays a vital role in career preparation.

Research suggests online only courses do not suit students who are weaker academically or who have poor self-discipline or time management.

So there is a difficult balance to strike between convenience and educational quality.

But something else is going on

Beyond the convenience aspects, there could be other reasons lectures are dying out.

Lecturers need to update their teaching style.

Reading dot points on slides, reciting essays, and delivering content in a monotone voice do not cut it in the age of TED talks, TikToks and short format media.

Lectures should not be lonely

I’ve been looking at how students engage with both in-person and online learning as part of a scoping review and routine quality assessment. Academics can see how many students download lectures, which pages they visit, how long they visit for, and how much they contribute in online forums.

Internal data from a number of large higher education institutions indicates up to 60% of students are not attending in-person lectures in some faculties. Despite the accessibility and convenience of online learning, up to 40% of students are not accessing lecture recordings at all. This data aligns with similar studies in the field.

This means students are missing out on opportunities to chat about ideas with classmates and lecturers. They’re missing the chance to make friends and professional contacts in their field. They’re not having their ideas challenged or supported. And they are not being exposed to key curriculum content.

It’s a domino effect. When fewer people engage with lectures, smaller in-person tutorials suffer too, because students do not have the curriculum knowledge to engage at a meaningful level.

For students who do show up, it can feel pretty lonely. Lecturers find it less satisfying too.

How can we encourage students to come back?

So maybe it’s not just about preserving lectures. It’s about reinventing them for today’s students.

Just as the corporate world is facing the challenge of enticing workers back to the office, we need to think about how to attract students to in-person lectures.

Lectures must offer unique experiences that can only be done in-person.

Research suggests the key is to make lectures more personal, experiential, engaging and interactive.

Though university positions are called “lecturers”, let’s reimagine what a “lecture” can be. It may encompass formats such as debates, Q&A sessions, or “Ask Me Anything” formats. It can be case studies, role-plays, mock activities, panels, hands-on workshops, competitions, or pitches. It may even be as simple as using slideshows better.

Technology can help lecturers engage with students who are attend in-person via polls, live questions and chat threads on their phones or devices.

What’s the point here?

Of course, different courses, subjects, and groups of students will need different approaches.

While breaking content into small modules might be beneficial in some subjects, the ability to follow an argument or concentrate for longer periods is still important in many others.

With students too, some international students come from learning cultures of quiet listening, which is quite different from the less formal, opinionated style we’re used to in English-speaking countries.

But we need to be upfront about what we’re trying to achieve.

The goal isn’t simply get students sitting in a theatre. It’s about creating a learning experience worth showing up for, and facilitating more engaged and interactive learning.

Hugh Gundlach does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. To save in-person lectures, unis need to provide lessons worth showing up for – https://theconversation.com/to-save-in-person-lectures-unis-need-to-provide-lessons-worth-showing-up-for-265275

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Giuseppe Carabetta, Associate Professor of workplace and business law, UTS Business School, University of Technology Sydney

Within days of American conservative Charlie Kirk’s assassination, people posting on social media or commenting on his death – including TV host Jimmy Kimmel, teachers, pilots, a football team employee, and a US Secret Service employee – were being censured, suspended or sacked.

Whether you support or oppose those decisions, it’s striking they occurred in the United States, which has strong constitutional protections for free speech. But even those rights don’t necessarily shield people from workplace consequences when reputational harm or breach of conduct is alleged.

Australians don’t have a constitutional right to free speech. Instead, we rely on a narrow, implied freedom of political communication, which offers limited protection and rarely applies to employment disputes.

Recent high-profile disputes have tested the boundaries of what Australians can say at work and outside it. Think journalist Antoinette Lattouf, rugby player Israel Folau and pianist Jayson Gillham.

Without clearer legal guidance in Australia, disputes over workplace speech — especially on social media — are likely to keep ending up in court.

Lattouf vs the ABC

The Fair Work Act is Australia’s main legislation outlining the rules for employee and employer relationships.

But it offers only limited protection for political opinion. It also lacks a direct or general mechanism for balancing employees’ rights to express personal views with employers’ legitimate interests.

That legal ambiguity has been at the heart of several high-profile cases, most recently a Federal Court decision involving the ABC and Lattouf.

Lattouf was dismissed mid-contract in 2023, after the ABC claimed she breached its social media guidelines and ignored a direction not to post about the conflict in Gaza.

However, in June this year the Federal Court found no such direction had been issued and no actual breach identified. It held her dismissal was unlawful under section 772 of the Fair Work Act, which prohibits termination based on political opinion.

This ruling didn’t break new legal ground. But it was significant for highlighting the fragility of employee protections, when codes of conduct are vague or inconsistently applied.

Other high-profile Australian cases

Lattouf’s case joined a growing list of disputes with a common thread: the lack of consistent standards and guidance on workplace speech.

Israel Folau’s dismissal by Rugby Australia for posting religious views on Instagram sparked national debate on freedom of religion and expression in 2018. His case, settled out of court the following year, left unresolved how far codes of conduct can override statutory protections.

Similarly, pianist Jayson Gillham’s dispute with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra — centred on political expression during a performance last year — reflects the same tension.

Read more:
Who really gets fired over social media posts? We studied hundreds of cases to find out

It’s unclear what ‘political opinion’ even means

Codes of conduct serve legitimate purposes: preventing harassment or discrimination, ensuring impartiality, and managing safety.

But when used to suppress dissent or punish unpopular views, they risk undermining democratic values.

In the Lattouf vs ABC case, Justice Darryl Rangiah pointed out that section 772 of the Fair Work Act reflects Australia’s international human rights obligations – specifically Article 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It was a reminder that our employment laws don’t exist in a vacuum.

Yet the Fair Work Act does not define “political opinion”, and courts elsewhere have struggled to apply it.

Does it include attending rallies? Sharing memes? Criticising policy? The answer remains unclear.

Legal solutions could clear up confusion

Legislative reform would help.

One option would be to amend the Fair Work Act to define “political opinion” more clearly. This definition could include not just party membership or views on government policy, but also civic participation – such as protests or petitions – and moral or ideological beliefs with political dimensions.

It could also clarify that political expression includes both verbal and non-verbal acts, such as social media posts or peaceful protest attendance.

But definition alone isn’t enough.

Currently, the Fair Work Act offers limited protection. Employers can often justify disciplinary action by pointing to breaches of workplace policy or failure to follow lawful directions, effectively sidestepping the issue of political belief.

Provisions like section 772 of the Fair Work Act offer no clear framework for weighing an employer’s right to protect its reputation and maintain a safe workplace against an employee’s right to express personal views.

A federal Human Rights Act could offer a more robust solution. There’s also a strong case for an independent oversight body — perhaps a Workplace Rights Commissioner or an expanded Fair Work Ombudsman — to offer guidance, mediate disputes early, and help balance the rights of employees with the needs of employers and others affected.

Legal scholars Joellen Riley Munton and Therese MacDermott have proposed expanding the Fair Work Commission’s unfair dismissal and bullying jurisdictions to handle such disputes.

Reform won’t be easy. But unless we want more workplace conflicts playing out in court for years to come, a clearer legal framework is urgently needed — for everyone’s sake.

Giuseppe Carabetta does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Expressing strong opinions can put your job at risk. Clearer laws would help – https://theconversation.com/expressing-strong-opinions-can-put-your-job-at-risk-clearer-laws-would-help-265085

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sonia Akter, Associate Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University

Beginning in the second half of 2019, what we now know as the Black Summer fires began devastating eastern Australia.

Thousands of homes were destroyed, hundreds of lives were lost (mainly from smoke-induced health impacts) and smoke blanketed cities for weeks. By summer’s end in 2020, an area estimated to be larger than the United Kingdom had burned.

These fires were not normal. They were megafires: vast, intense blazes that burn for weeks or months. Warming temperatures and prolonged droughts are making such disasters more frequent in Australia, the United States, Canada and southern Europe.

The scale of Black Summer was staggering. So, too, was its uneven impact on different communities, which went beyond damage to property.

Our new research examined the impact of these fires on Australians living through them, in terms of income, housing stress and unpaid work. By focusing on these aspects, and not just property damage, we found the fires made a range of preexisting inequalities worse. Poorer communities, renters and women carried the heaviest burdens after the fires were put out.

This month, Australia’s National Climate Risk Assessment found “susceptibility to fire across southern and eastern Australia is projected to increase, due to increases in heat and the frequency of heatwave conditions”.

So, what can we learn from our new research on Black Summer to make future bushfire recoveries fairer for everyone?

Before and after

Our research included thousands of small Australian communities, each with an average of about 400 people. For comparison, we matched burned areas with unburned areas that had similar characteristics prior to the fires.

This allowed us to statistically compare how similar communities in both burned and unburned areas had changed between 2016 and 2021: before and after the Black Summer fires.

By linking fire extent maps to Australian Bureau of Statistics census data, we traced shifts in income, housing and household work.

We found the impacts of the fires differed across location, gender, housing (homeowner or renter) and socio-economic status. All of this affected how quickly households recovered from the Black Summer fires.

Shorter work hours and job losses

Many households’ incomes were hit by the fires. But these losses were concentrated in the most severely burnt areas, especially in “peri-urban” areas, where suburbia meets the bush.

These places offer proximity to nature while also being within a relatively easy commute of jobs, shops and schools. In these locations, we found communities that experienced the highest burn severity had the largest falls in average, weekly personal income.

We looked at both “poor” areas (defined as being in the bottom half of Australia’s Relative Socio-economic Disadvantage Index), where people not only earn less money but also experience other forms of disadvantage, as well as “non-poor” areas (those in the top half).

In poorer burned areas in peri-urban locations, the share of households reporting no or negative income increased, by about 1.3 percentage points compared to unburned areas.

These impacts were likely due to disruptions to local businesses and tourism, meaning shorter work hours and job losses for some.

A housing nightmare

For renters, the fires triggered an even greater housing crisis. Across all burned areas, rents increased compared to those in communities in unburned areas.

Across all burned areas, rents increased by an average of about A$20 per week, or roughly 10%. But in poorer communities, the average rise was even greater: closer to A$26 a week or 13%.

Unsurprisingly, crowding in homes became more common in areas affected by fires. Those without shelter because of fire damage or destruction, or who were simply priced out of the rental market because of reduced supply, most likely moved in with friends or relatives.

Many families also faced long waits to rebuild their homes, or struggled to secure temporary housing. Widespread underinsurance, the slow pace of rebuilding, and surging construction costs all made it worse.

More unpaid labour

Another hidden impact of the fires was an increase in unpaid work. Such work is rarely counted in disaster statistics, but it erodes wellbeing and prolongs recovery.

After the fires, many faced tasks such as repairing damaged homes and making insurance claims. With lower incomes and housing costs rising, poorer households were even less able to hire tradespeople to help in their recovery efforts.

But we found additional unpaid household work pressures fell disproportionately on women, amplifying pre-existing inequalities.

For women in highly burned areas, the share of them spending at least 15 hours a week on unpaid tasks rose by around 1.7 percentage points compared to women in unaffected communities. For men, the increase was smaller, at around 1 percentage point.

What we can learn

Understanding these often overlooked impacts matters in how Australia plans for disasters and designs for recovery. If we prioritise property damage and insured losses, recovery funds flow disproportionately to wealthier households.

This risks leaving poorer communities – with fewer assets but heavier hidden losses – behind.

This is not just an Australian problem. The United Nations has produced the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, urging governments to consider how disasters affect different groups, including a gender action plan.

The Black Summer fires highlight disasters are not “great equalisers”. They widen existing inequalities. Unless disaster planning fully considers these hidden losses, uneven recovery will deepen social and economic divides.

Sonia Akter receives funding from 2023 ANU College Of Science Brooke Bushfire Research Fund.

Quentin Grafton does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. New research shows Black Summer’s megafires left lasting scars far beyond property damage – https://theconversation.com/new-research-shows-black-summers-megafires-left-lasting-scars-far-beyond-property-damage-264195

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael James Walsh, Associate Dean and Associate Professor in Social Sciences, University of Canberra

Spotify has been subject to various lingering critiques. These range from criticism of its payment model, to the presence of “fake artists”, the Joe Rogan boycott saga, and controversies around AI-made music.

More recently, cofounder and chief executive Daniel Ek has come under fire for investing €600 million (more than A$1 billion) in the military AI company Helsing. The news prompted several artists to remove their music from the platform, including King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Xiu Xiu, Deerhoof, Wu Lyf and, as of last week, Massive Attack.

To top it all off, Spotify has been steadily raising its prices for premium subscribers.

We’ve seen a spate of headlines targeting users who for one reason or another are considering, or determined to, tune out from the platform. For many, this may not be a hassle-free adjustment – but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done.

Users are picking up the tab

As of 2022, streaming accounted for 67% of the revenue generated by the music industry.

It’s estimated one in 12 people are regular Spotify users – putting the streaming giant well ahead of its nearest rivals YouTube Music (a Google subsidiary) and the China-domiciled Tencent Music.

While most users access Spotify for free, about 268 million of its 696 million monthly active users pay a premium for ad-free access.

For many years, Spotify kept prices fairly steady as it concentrated on growth. It did not make a profit until 2024. But chief business officer Alex Norström recently said price rises “were part of our toolbox now”.

Spotify has promised price rises will be accompanied by new features. Norström said the platform was developing a feature for “superfans” of popular artists, not to mention introducing (belatedly) “lossless” (higher-quality) sound.

Other music streaming services, such as Amazon Music, are also raising prices, to varying degrees of success.

Why Spotify dominates music streaming

There are several reasons for the dominance of streaming, and the broader dematerialisation of music media. As David Bowie foresaw in 2002: “music itself is going to become like running water or electricity”.

Streaming services such as Spotify avoid the stigmas associated with consuming pirated music recordings. They also remunerate artists (although many would say these payments are inadequate).

Ek made it clear a key aim of the company was to ensure no perceivable “latency” (annoying delays due to buffering) when songs were selected to play.

Spotify has also been at the forefront of leveraging the social dimensions of music streaming. It promotes user-created playlists and wayfinding functions that allow fans to feel like they own “their” music collection, despite not having the physical artefacts such as vinyl or CDs.

Users can interact with one another. They can share their listening activity on dating profiles, with peers, and through marketing initiatives such as Spotify Wrapped.

From the early days, Spotify sought to present itself in ways that resembled social media. More recently, it has released TikTok-inspired feeds, comments, polls, artist stories, collaborative playlists and a messaging feature.

Calling the tune through algorithms

A significant part of Spotify’s success stems from its continuous development of its interface and recommendation algorithms. These algorithms have become central to how users find, access and listen to music.

Importantly, Spotify caters to what scholars identify as a “lean-back” mentality. Users are encouraged to consume editorial playlists, rather than actively browse for tracks. This increases its power to influence the music with which listeners engage.

It aims to be an easy-to-use, always-convenient service, catering to any moment:

Spotify has a playlist to match your mood. Not only in the morning, but at every moment of your day.

Switching may be hard, but not impossible

The move away from streaming may now be hard to reverse, even as it becomes more expensive. Despite the resurgence of vinyl, many listeners have given up on physical music collections.

Spotify has also developed features to increase “stickiness” for subscribers. Users have created nearly nine billion playlists. As it’s difficult to transfer playlists to another streaming service, it makes users more likely to stick with Spotify.

It also has a reputation for having the most songs available. There is a large chance it will have the song you want to listen to.

Nonetheless, that doesn’t mean alternatives aren’t available. And most of them are cheaper than the A$15.99 per month Spotify charges in Australia.

Apple Music is an audio (and now video) streaming app developed by Apple, and launched in 2015. It promotes spatial and high-resolution music and integrates effectively with iOS devices.

Amazon Music is a music streaming platform included with an Amazon Prime subscription, offering access to songs, podcasts and playlists. It also integrates with Amazon’s Alexa virtual assistant devices.

YouTube Music is available to YouTube Premium subscribers. Succeeding Google Play Music, it offers various playlists and radio station features, with strong integration into YouTube’s video ecosystem.

Tidal is a music streaming service that positions itself as the leader in high-fidelity audio. Alongside Spotify, Tidal was one of the first platforms to allow users to follow selected Facebook friends and receive music recommendations from them.

Anghami, launched in 2012, is the leading music streaming service dedicated to music from the Middle East and North Africa.

There are also third-party apps (both paid and unpaid) you can use to transfer your old Spotify playlists to a new service, such as Free Your Music, Tune My Music, Soundiiz and SongShift (only for iOS).

Read more:
‘I almost feel like stuck in a rut’: how streaming services changed the way we listen to music

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Criticisms against Spotify keep mounting. Luckily there are alternatives – https://theconversation.com/criticisms-against-spotify-keep-mounting-luckily-there-are-alternatives-264982

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marija Taflaga, Senior Lecturer, School of Political Science and International Relations, Australian National University

In May, immediately after the 2025 election, debate swirled about whether the Coalition agreement would survive. The consensus was that it would be madness for the Liberals and the Nationals to part ways. Nonetheless they did so, briefly, before awkwardly reconciling. It was not a convincing display.

Fast forward four months and the Liberals are riven by factional conflicts on net zero and immigration, driven by actors from the National Party, including former leaders Barnaby Joyce and Michael McCormack, and recent Nationals defector Jacinta Nampijinpa Price. Some who have been touted as future party leaders are threatening to quit the frontbench over a net zero target 25 years away.

Many will be asking how the Liberals got to this point. But I think the more interesting question is where they might be headed.

Internal conflict has a long history

The first thing to note is that conflicts over immigration and climate change are not new.

The Liberal Party is a hybrid conservative-liberal party. This means it’s an awkward coalition of liberal and conservative interests, which united to oppose organised Labor more than a century ago, and have undergone various transformations and iterations since.

From an ideological perspective, some principles these different groups hold are contradictory. These include, for example, how much the state should get involved in people’s private lives, or an ongoing tension between economic or social “progress” and tradition. These differing worldviews can cause problems.

The Nationals add an additional layer of complexity, because the shared Coalition party room allows members of the Liberal Right to form policy coalitions across the party divide, placing additional pressure on the moderate faction.

Within the Liberal Party, ideological differences are usually managed by the disciplining incentive of government or an overwhelming desire to win government. But at times like these, on the back of two catastrophic election losses, those guardrails are nowhere to be found.

Unlike Labor, the Liberal party doesn’t have a formal factional system, which means it doesn’t have a bargaining infrastructure to help manage disputes. This means the way the Liberals resolve internal conflicts is through leadership change and, inevitably, one faction dominating the other.

Again, the Nationals complicate this, because their additional numbers in the Coalition party room create more opportunities for policy entrepreneurs within the Liberal Right to push conservative policy positions. It’s not just numbers, but powers too, as Opposition Leader Sussan Ley is limited in her ability to exercise authority over Nationals members who are not in the shadow cabinet.

In many ways, the events of the past week have a familiar pattern to political observers. But the difference is the overall political landscape.

Australia is undergoing a realignment in how citizens vote. This means Australian voters are no longer as rusted onto a particular party as they have been in the past. It also means the Australian party system, like those in other Western democracies, is in flux.

So, is this the beginning of the end for the Liberal Party?

Unlikely.

Despite all the existential talk about the Liberal Party, there remain significant institutional ballasts and supports. These range from public funding (including payments to help parties run administration and IT security), party infrastructure, volunteer networks, bricks-and-mortar buildings, brand recognition and even exemptions from Australia’s privacy laws.

There are also all the privileges the Liberal Party receives as the official opposition, including additional salaries, staff and resources to assist with policy formation, and the rights and powers of our legislative chambers such as question time or the budget reply.

It is really hard to build a successful new party – most fail – so while the Liberal Party might be in serious institutional decline, it remains worth fighting for.

But something is happening to the Liberals

On top of the advantages listed above, voters think of the Liberals as the natural governing alternative to Labor.

However, as noted above, the Australian party system is in flux. The 2025 election saw the return of most of the teal independents. With each election cycle, the habit of voting Liberal weakens, particularly as fewer voters are switching to conservative parties as they age. The cohort of “rusted-on” Liberals is ageing and is not being replaced at the same rate.

If the Liberals spend multiple cycles not engaging with the median voter, and can’t articulate a credible alternative story about the Australian economy, it does raise the question: who will voters turn to when they decide to throw Labor out?

To be clear, it is healthy for political parties to debate policy. But the crucial thing happening to the Liberal Party while it undertakes these policy debates is that Australians are voting out the moderates from the party. By switching to the teals in the Liberals’ former blue-ribbon seats, voters are removing the traditional elite of the party.

If you don’t believe me, consider the example of the Victorian Liberals, who keep losing to a long-lived and unpopular Labor government. The risk for the Liberals is that there comes a point where there is no viable future for a moderate Liberal in the party. It is no longer worth fighting over the remaining institutional infrastructure and brand advantage. In this situation, those candidates (and their voters) would need to find a new political home.

That could lead to a situation where there are three parties on the right needing to cooperate to form a governing coalition. Another alternative might be a merged National and Liberal Party that would form a coherent conservative party and would seek to work with a new liberal force.

This is why the debate inside the Liberal Party is important. But that’s also why it matters that it does not appear to be happening in a constructive way that would lead to a new consensus. Instead, it looks like a set of factional power plays.

Incidentally, immediately after losing the 2022 election, Scott Morrison advocated for a future in which the Liberals and Nationals merged and a new Liberal force emerged in the centre. Morrison was always highly rated as a numbers man. Perhaps he will be right about the Liberal Party’s future, too.

Marija Taflaga receives funding from the Australian Research Council.

– ref. The Liberal Party is riven with disagreements and discontent. Can it survive? – https://theconversation.com/the-liberal-party-is-riven-with-disagreements-and-discontent-can-it-survive-265387

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Adjunct Professor of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Victoria University, Australian National University

Much of the world is focused on a two-state solution in resolving the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears devoted to realising his vision of a “Greater Israel” instead.

Netanyahu appears to be halfway through achieving this goal, despite all the international condemnation of his war in Gaza and the increasing isolation of Israel.

The two-state solution now seems to be no more than a catchword for governments around the world that want to show their solidarity with the Palestinian cause at a time when Israel is hard at work to ensure the concept becomes totally defunct.

The prospects for creating an independent Palestinian state out of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip to live side-by-side with Israel in peace and security have never been dimmer.

Israel maintains Trump’s unwavering support

In the wake of Israel’s attack on Hamas leaders in Qatar earlier this month, an emergency Arab-Muslim summit was convened by Qatar to provide a collective response.

The meeting proved to be very ineffective. The leaders issued a strong condemnation of the strike on Qatar, but no plan for how to prevent Israel from attacking its neighbours or halt what a United Nations commission has now called a genocide in Gaza.

Instead, the leaders offered a tepid statement, saying they would:

take all possible legal and effective measures to prevent Israel from continuing its actions against the Palestinian people.

Middle East leaders know the only power that can rein in Israel is its committed strategic partner, the United States.

Washington does not appear prepared to do that. While President Donald Trump has assured the region Israel will not repeat its attack on Qatar, his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, urgently flew to Israel to reconfirm America’s unshakeable alliance with the Jewish state.

In praying together with Netanyahu at the Western Wall with a kippah on his head, Rubio demonstrated the Trump administration would stand by the prime minister all the way.

And Netanyahu was quick to declare that Israel reserves the right to hit the “Hamas terrorists” anywhere. He has demanded Qatar expel Hamas officials or face Israel’s wrath again.

A vision for a ‘Greater Israel’

Based on the language used by the Israeli leader and his extremist ministers, the creation of “Greater Israel” appears to be a priority.

In recent weeks, Netanyahu has publicly alluded to this, saying he was “very” connected to the idea.

The “Greater Israel” phrase was used after the Six-Day War in 1967 to refer to the lands Israel had conquered: the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Gaza, the Golan Heights and the Sinai peninsula (which has since been returned to Egypt).

This concept was enshrined in 1977 in the founding charter of Netanyahu’s Likud Party, which said “between the [Mediterranean] Sea and the Jordan [River] there will only be Israeli sovereignty”.

Last year, Netanyahu affirmed that Israel must have “security control over the entire territory west of the Jordan River”. He added, “That collides with the idea of [Palestinian] sovereignty. What can we do?”

Netanyahu is now firmly in a position to annex the Gaza Strip, followed by formally extending Israeli jurisdiction over all the illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, where more than 700,000 settlers live under the protection of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), and potentially annex the entire area.

In addition, Israel has made extraterritorial gains in both Lebanon and Syria after degrading Hezbollah and striking both southern Syria and Iran. He has said the IDF’s footprint in both countries will not be pulled back any time soon.

Arab and Muslim leaders have strongly condemned Netanyahu’s references to a “Greater Israel”. The US also has not publicly endorsed it, though the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, has been a supporter of the idea.

What can the world do?

Netanyahu and his colleagues have weathered the international criticism over their catastrophic Gaza operations for nearly two years, with unwavering US security, economic and financial backing.

Equally, Netanyahu’s critics say he has shown little concern about the safety and freedom of the remaining Israeli hostages still in Hamas’s custody. He has brushed off the desires of a majority of Israelis for a ceasefire and release of the hostages.

For Netanyahu and his ruling clique, the end justifies the means. Given this, the expected recognition of the state of Palestine by many Western countries at the UN General Assembly this week will have little or no bearing on Israel or, for that matter, the US. They have both already rejected it as a meaningless and unworthy symbolic exercise.

This begs the question of what needs to be done to divert Israel from its path. The only means that could possibly work would be sanctioning Netanyahu and his government and severing all military, economic and trade ties with Israel.

Anything short of this will allow the Israeli leadership to continue its pursuit of a “Greater Israel”, if this is indeed their ultimate plan.

This would come at a terrible cost not only for the Palestinians and the region, but also for Israel’s global reputation. When Netanyahu eventually leaves office, he will leave behind a state in international disrepute. And it may not recover from this for a very long time.

Amin Saikal does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Is Benjamin Netanyahu on a mission to realise a Greater Israel? – https://theconversation.com/is-benjamin-netanyahu-on-a-mission-to-realise-a-greater-israel-265662

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark A Gregory, Associate Professor, School of Engineering, RMIT University

Four people have died after a botched Optus network upgrade on Thursday prevented around 600 emergency calls to Triple Zero across South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory.

South Australian police have confirmed the deaths linked to the outage – which Optus only revealed to the public, emergency services and state/territory leaders on Friday evening at a press conference – included an eight-week-old baby from Gawler West, about 43 kilometres north of Adelaide, and a 68-year-old woman from the Adelaide suburb of Queenstown. Two men, aged 49 and 74, died in Western Australia.

The outage – plus Optus’s delayed response to it – has sparked fury and condemnation. “I have not witnessed such incompetence from an Australian corporation in respect to communications worse than this,” South Australian premier Peter Malinauskas said.

This isn’t the first time a blunder by Optus has meant people in crisis have been unable to call emergency services. So what exactly went wrong? And what could be done to prevent a similar tragedy occurring again?

What happened?

Telecommunications companies routinely conduct network upgrades. Ideally, the upgrades should include a suite of tests performed beforehand as well as immediately afterwards. These tests can quickly identify any network or system problems. If a problem is identified, the upgrade can be reversed. Alternatively, what’s known as a failover system can be used if the upgrade will take some time to implement. A failover system is one that has not been upgraded.

On Thursday, Optus conducted a network upgrade. In the process of doing so it failed to identify a technical failure, which impacted Triple Zero calls.

Normal calls were still connecting during this Triple Zero outage. That’s because Triple Zero is a cooperative service that involves telecommunications companies, as well as the governments and emergency services in each state or territory. The Triple Zero core components are implemented separately, meaning any issue with them does not affect calls on the normal network.

The Telecommunications (Emergency Call Service) Determination 2019 sets out obligations on telecommunications companies to ensure they have arrangements in place for dealing with emergency calls. For example, they must provide access to the Triple Zero call service free of charge. They must also have what’s known as a “camp-on” mechanism in place. This allows your mobile phone to connect to another network to make Triple Zero calls if your network has failed.

On Friday afternoon, Optus CEO Stephen Rue apologised to the families of the people who died, as well as the broader community, for the outage.

“You have my assurance that we are conducting a thorough investigation and once concluded we will share the facts of the incident publicly”.

Not the first time

That might sound familiar. That’s because this isn’t the first time a telecommunications blunder of this kind has happened.

On March 1 2024, a Telstra network disruption resulted in 127 calls to Triple Zero failing – thankfully without fatal consequences. In that case, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) fined Telstra A$3 million.

On November 8 2023, Optus was responsible for another network meltdown which prevented more than 2,100 people from accessing Triple Zero. Optus also failed to conduct 369 welfare checks on people who had attempted to make an emergency call during the outage.

Nobody died as a result of that failure either. Optus, however, was hit with a A$12 million fine by the ACMA for breaching emergency call regulations. It was also subject to a formal review, commissioned by the Australian government and completed in April, which made 18 recommendations to prevent similar incidents occurring again.

These recommendations included establishing a “Triple Zero custodian” who would have oversight and overarching responsibility for the efficient functioning of the Triple Zero ecosystem. They also included more clearly and explicitly articulating precisely what is expected of network operators in regard to ensuring calls are delivered to Triple Zero, and requiring telecommunications companies to share real time network information detailing outages with emergency services and other relevant parties.

Following the most recent outage, federal Communications Minister Anika Wells said the Australian government has “accepted all recommendations from the previous Optus Outage Review and has fully implemented 12 of the 18 recommendations, with the remaining six underway”.

But the fact three people are dead because they couldn’t reach Triple Zero due to yet another network outage highlights the urgent need for more action.

Encouraging all telcos to lift their game

The federal government should consider even stronger minimum performance standards for telecommunications companies that provide the foundation for enforcement. These standards could stipulate, for example, minimum download and upload speeds. They could also require telecommunications companies to make a public notification about an outage within a specified time period – ideally as soon as they themselves are aware of it.

There should also be a mandated requirement for telecommunications companies to establish reasonable engineering practices to help prevent updates taking out part or the whole network. These practices could include automated testing before and after updates are carried out.

And while the ACMA will soon launch an investigation into this recent outage, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission could also investigate it. Specifically, the commission could look at whether the actions of Optus amounts to unconscionable conduct, and issue more severe fines.

This may serve to encourage Optus and other telecommunications companies to lift their game and better protect public safety.

Mark A Gregory has received funding from the Australian Research Council, the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network grants program and the auDA Foundation. He is a life member of the Telecommunications Association.

– ref. Optus Triple Zero outage has left 4 people dead. A telecommunications expert explains what went wrong – and how to fix it – https://theconversation.com/optus-triple-zero-outage-has-left-4-people-dead-a-telecommunications-expert-explains-what-went-wrong-and-how-to-fix-it-265692

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark A Gregory, Associate Professor, School of Engineering, RMIT University

Three people have died after a botched Optus network upgrade on Thursday prevented around 600 emergency calls to Triple Zero across South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory.

South Australian police have confirmed the deaths linked to the outage – which Optus only revealed to the public, emergency services and state/territory leaders on Friday evening at a press conference – included an eight-week-old baby from Gawler West, about 43 kilometres north of Adelaide, and a 68-year-old woman from the Adelaide suburb of Queenstown. The third person who died was from Western Australia, but no further details have yet been released.

The outage – plus Optus’s delayed response to it – has sparked fury and condemnation. “I have not witnessed such incompetence from an Australian corporation in respect to communications worse than this,” South Australian premier Peter Malinauskas said.

This isn’t the first time a blunder by Optus has meant people in crisis have been unable to call emergency services. So what exactly went wrong? And what could be done to prevent a similar tragedy occurring again?

What happened?

Telecommunications companies routinely conduct network upgrades. Ideally, the upgrades should include a suite of tests performed beforehand as well as immediately afterwards. These tests can quickly identify any network or system problems. If a problem is identified, the upgrade can be reversed. Alternatively, what’s known as a failover system can be used if the upgrade will take some time to implement. A failover system is one that has not been upgraded.

On Thursday, Optus conducted a network upgrade. In the process of doing so it failed to identify a technical failure, which impacted Triple Zero calls.

Normal calls were still connecting during this Triple Zero outage. That’s because Triple Zero is a cooperative service that involves telecommunications companies, as well as the governments and emergency services in each state or territory. The Triple Zero core components are implemented separately, meaning any issue with them does not affect calls on the normal network.

The Telecommunications (Emergency Call Service) Determination 2019 sets out obligations on telecommunications companies to ensure they have arrangements in place for dealing with emergency calls. For example, they must provide access to the Triple Zero call service free of charge. They must also have what’s known as a “camp-on” mechanism in place. This allows your mobile phone to connect to another network to make Triple Zero calls if your network has failed.

On Friday afternoon, Optus CEO Stephen Rue apologised to the families of the people who died, as well as the broader community, for the outage.

“You have my assurance that we are conducting a thorough investigation and once concluded we will share the facts of the incident publicly”.

Not the first time

That might sound familiar. That’s because this isn’t the first time a telecommunications blunder of this kind has happened.

On March 1 2024, a Telstra network disruption resulted in 127 calls to Triple Zero failing – thankfully without fatal consequences. In that case, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) fined Telstra A$3 million.

On November 8 2023, Optus was responsible for another network meltdown which prevented more than 2,100 people from accessing Triple Zero. Optus also failed to conduct 369 welfare checks on people who had attempted to make an emergency call during the outage.

Nobody died as a result of that failure either. Optus, however, was hit with a A$12 million fine by the ACMA for breaching emergency call regulations. It was also subject to a formal review, commissioned by the Australian government and completed in April, which made 18 recommendations to prevent similar incidents occurring again.

These recommendations included establishing a “Triple Zero custodian” who would have oversight and overarching responsibility for the efficient functioning of the Triple Zero ecosystem. They also included more clearly and explicitly articulating precisely what is expected of network operators in regard to ensuring calls are delivered to Triple Zero, and requiring telecommunications companies to share real time network information detailing outages with emergency services and other relevant parties.

Following the most recent outage, federal Communications Minister Anika Wells said the Australian government has “accepted all recommendations from the previous Optus Outage Review and has fully implemented 12 of the 18 recommendations, with the remaining six underway”.

But the fact three people are dead because they couldn’t reach Triple Zero due to yet another network outage highlights the urgent need for more action.

Encouraging all telcos to lift their game

The federal government should consider even stronger minimum performance standards for telecommunications companies that provide the foundation for enforcement. These standards could stipulate, for example, minimum download and upload speeds. They could also require telecommunications companies to make a public notification about an outage within a specified time period – ideally as soon as they themselves are aware of it.

There should also be a mandated requirement for telecommunications companies to establish reasonable engineering practices to help prevent updates taking out part or the whole network. These practices could include automated testing before and after updates are carried out.

And while the ACMA will soon launch an investigation into this recent outage, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission could also investigate it. Specifically, the commission could look at whether the actions of Optus amounts to unconscionable conduct, and issue more severe fines.

This may serve to encourage Optus and other telecommunications companies to lift their game and better protect public safety.

Mark A Gregory has received funding from the Australian Research Council, the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network grants program and the auDA Foundation. He is a life member of the Telecommunications Association.

– ref. Optus Triple Zero outage has left 3 people dead. A telecommunications expert explains what went wrong – and how to fix it – https://theconversation.com/optus-triple-zero-outage-has-left-3-people-dead-a-telecommunications-expert-explains-what-went-wrong-and-how-to-fix-it-265692

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wellett Potter, Lecturer in Law, University of New England

This week Disney, Universal Pictures and Warner Bros Discovery jointly sued MiniMax, a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company, over alleged copyright infringement.

The three Hollywood media giants allege MiniMax (which operates Hailuo AI and is reportedly valued at US$4 billion) engaged in mass copyright infringement of characters such as Darth Vader and Mickey Mouse by scraping vast amounts of copyrighted data to train their models without permission or payment.

This lawsuit is the latest in a growing list of copyright infringement cases involving AI. These cases include authors, publishers, newspapers, music labels and independent musicians around the world.

Disney, Universal Pictures and Warner Bros Discovery have the resources to litigate hard and possibly shape future precedent. They are seeking damages and an injunction against the ongoing use of their material.

Cases like this one suggest the common approach of “scraping first” and dealing with consequences later may be unsustainable. Other methods for ethically, morally and legally obtaining data are urgently needed.

One method some people are starting to explore is licensed use. So what exactly does that mean – and is it really a solution to the growing copyright problems AI presents?

What is licensing?

Licensing is a legal mechanism which allows the use of creative works under agreed terms, often for a fee. It usually involves two key players: the copyright owner (for example, a movie studio) and the user of the creative work (for example, an AI company).

Generally, a non-exclusive licence is where, in return for a fee, the copyright owner gives the user permission to exercise certain rights but retains ownership of the work.

In the context of generative AI use, granting a non-exclusive license could result in AI companies gaining permission for use and paying a fee. They could use the copyright owner’s material for training purposes, rather than simply scraping without consent.

There are several licensing models, which are already being used in some AI contexts. These include voluntary, collective and statutory licensing models.

What are these models?

Voluntary licensing happens when a copyright owner directly permits an AI company to use their work, usually for a payment. It can work for large, high-value deals. For example, the Associated Press licensed their archive to OpenAI, the owner of ChatGPT.

However, when there are thousands of copyright owners involved who each own a smaller number of works, this method is slow, cumbersome and expensive.

Another problem is that once a generative AI company has made one copy of a work under license, it is uncertain whether this copy may be used for other tasks. Also, applying voluntary licensing to AI training is hard to scale, because training requires vast datasets.

This makes individual agreements with each copyright owner impractical. It can be complex in terms of determining who owns the rights, what should be cleared and how much to pay. The licensing fee may also be prohibitive to smaller AI firms, and individual copyright owners may not receive much revenue for the use.

Collective licensing allows copyright owners to have their rights managed by an organisation known as a collecting society. The society negotiates with the user and distributes licensing fees to the copyright owners.

This model is already commonly used in the publishing and music industries. In theory, if it is expanded to the AI industry, it could provide AI companies with access to large catalogues of data more efficiently.

There are already some examples. In April 2025, a collective license for generative AI use was announced in the United Kingdom. Earlier this month, another was announced in Sweden.

However, this model raises questions about fee structures, and the actual use itself. How would fees be calculated? How much would be paid? What constitutes “use” in AI training? It is uncertain whether copyright owners with smaller catalogues would benefit as much as big players.

A statutory (or compulsory) licensing scheme is another option. It already exists in other contexts in Australia such as education and government use. Under such a model, the government could permit AI firms to use works for training without requiring permission from each copyright owner.

A fee would be paid into a central scheme at a predetermined rate. This approach would ensure AI companies access training data while ensuring some remuneration to copyright owners. However, it removes copyright owners’ ability to say no to the use.

A risk of domination

In practice, these licensing models sit on a spectrum with variations. Together, they represent some future ways the rights of creators may be reconciled with AI companies’ hunger for data.

Different forms of licensing offer potential opportunities for copyright owners and AI companies. It is by no means a silver bullet.

Voluntary agreements can be slow, fragmented and not result in much revenue for copyright owners. Collective schemes raise questions about fairness and transparency. Statutory models risk under-valuing creative work and rendering copyright owners powerless over the use of their work.

These challenges highlight a much bigger issue which is raised when copyright is considered in new technological contexts. That is, how to strike a balance between those involved, while still promoting fairness and innovation.

If a careful balance is not struck, there is a risk of domination from a handful of powerful AI companies and media giants.

Wellett Potter is a member of the Copyright Society of Australia and the Asia Pacific Copyright Association.

– ref. Hollywood is suing yet another AI company. But there may be a better way to solve copyright conflicts – https://theconversation.com/hollywood-is-suing-yet-another-ai-company-but-there-may-be-a-better-way-to-solve-copyright-conflicts-265663

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anna Skarbek, Climateworks Centre CEO, Monash University

The federal government on Thursday announced a 2035 emissions reduction target of 62-70% below 2005 levels. Importantly, it also released a net zero plan and blueprints for six major economic sectors. The target signals Australia is committed to a net zero economy. The plans will help guide the way in each sector.

Our work shows Australia has the technologies to meet and exceed its new target. With solutions known and ready, the work now is to ensure they’re deployed at scale.

Creating a safer climate needs more real-world action. So what measures are likely to be first off the rank?

1. Accelerating renewables

Renewable energy is crucial for Australia’s climate action. It cuts emissions by replacing the fossil fuels in the energy sector, the nation’s largest source of carbon pollution. It also helps other sectors decarbonise by, for example, providing clean power to run electric vehicles and industrial processes.

In this vein, the government on Thursday announced a A$2 billion boost for the Clean Energy Finance Corporation – a government entity that invests in renewable energy, energy efficiency and low-emission technologies. This will be especially important for helping industry and transport to access affordable, renewable electricity.

2. Modernising electricity use

Decarbonising energy supplies is important. So too is making shifts in energy demand. This involves changing the way homes and businesses consume electricity and gas – such as by using less, using it at different times, or even generating their own electricity.

For example, smart hot-water systems could reduce pressure on the electricity grid if timed to heat at times of plentiful energy, such as solar energy peaks. Analysis suggests this could also save consumers in Australia about $6.7 billion a year by 2040.

The government’s new electricity and energy sector plan committed to guiding these opportunities through a new demand-side roadmap. It will aim to reduce costs, improve reliability and create financial benefits for investors and consumers. It will be produced by governments and the Australian Energy Market Operator.

3. Improving energy efficiency in homes

The government’s sector plan for the built environment will help decarbonise buildings through a range of measures. They include ratings and standards for energy efficient buildings and equipment, and obligations to provide this information when selling or leasing.

The government has also committed $85 million to improve the energy efficiency of homes and buildings.

The next step is ensuring information about these measures is available – and the policies are implemented and enforced. The funding should also be expanded, so all households can become more efficient. Climateworks research shows the right home energy upgrades – such as improvements to insulation and installing double-glazed windows – and appliance electrification can save households up to $2,000 a year.

4. Cleaning up transport

The government’s plan for the transport sector emphasises the role of the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard. The standard requires car manufacturers and suppliers to reduce the average emissions of new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles over time.

This will help ensure Australians have access to different types of low- and zero-emissions vehicles. A review of the scheme next year will set targets to 2035. More focus on electrifying freight transport is also needed.

5. Building capacity in exports that matter

Reaching a net zero future requires phasing down fossil fuels. It also requires expanding the extraction and processing of mineral resources needed in a net zero economy – such as lithium, graphite and rare earths for EVs and high-purity silica for solar panels. The government’s plan for the resources sector recognises these realities.

Australia is currently highly dependent on imported oil. Some industrial processes can switch from diesel and petrol to electricity or green hydrogen. However, other sectors – such as aviation and heavy freight – will need alternative fuels. The government this week announced $1.1 billion for local production of low-carbon liquid fuels.

6. Promoting cutting-edge new tech

The government has announced a $5 billion Net Zero Fund to help industry cut emissions and become more energy-efficient, and scale up manufacturing in low-emissions technology. This will kickstart new industrial processes and make investments in clean technologies less risky.

A major next step for the industry sector is the planned 2026 review of the Safeguard Mechanism, which limits emissions from Australia’s largest industrial facilities. It’s vital to ensure the Net Zero Fund and the review complement each other.

7. Using land well

The government’s agriculture and land sector plan recognises the need to scale up carbon storage in the land (for example by protecting forests and increasing vegetation). It also noted these actions should help meet Australia’s commitments to protecting biodiversity, allow for increased food production and involve First Nations people.

Our research shows land-use planning can be aligned to meet food, climate and nature goals.

Australia can go beyond our 2035 targets

The above list is not exhaustive. As the government’s sector plans show, more work will be needed. And participation from across the economy and government is crucial.

The task goes beyond the 2035 targets, to reaching net zero emissions as soon as possible. As Climateworks research shows, Australia’s emissions reductions in past decades have exceeded government targets.

It will take sustained and increasing effort to reach net zero. But the prize is worth it: economic gains, global market advantage, and energy and job security. It’s an investment in a better future for workers, regions, companies and communities.

Anna Skarbek is on the board of the Net Zero Economy Authority, SEC Victoria, the Centre for New Energy Technologies, the Green Building Council of Australia, and the Asia-Pacific Advisory Board of the Glasgow Financial Alliance on Net Zero. She is CEO of Climateworks Centre which receives funding from philanthropy and project-specific financial support from a range of private and public entities including federal, state and local government and private sector organisations and international and local non-profit organisations. Climateworks Centre is a part of Monash University.

Climateworks Centre receives funding from a range of external sources including philanthropy, governments and businesses. Businesses such as mining companies and industry associations have previously co-funded Climateworks’ research on industrial decarbonisation, and may benefit from policies mentioned in this article.

– ref. 7 things we can do today to meet Australia’s new climate goal – https://theconversation.com/7-things-we-can-do-today-to-meet-australias-new-climate-goal-265023

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vaughan Cruickshank, Senior Lecturer in Health and Physical Education, University of Tasmania

The Brownlow Medal is the most prestigious individual award in the Australian Football League (AFL).

It has been awarded to the fairest and best player in the AFL – and previously, the Victorian Football League (VFL) – every year since 1924, except for a break (1942–45) because of the second world war.

The vote count is held on the Monday evening before the Grand Final each year.

Why is it called the Brownlow Medal?

The medal is named after Charles Brownlow (1861–1924). He was an “outstanding footballer” and premiership captain for Geelong, who was admired nationally for his sense of fair play.

He was also a highly respected administrator for more than 40 years, serving in various roles such as Geelong secretary, umpires committee chairman and VFL president.

He is credited with helping to introduce important developments that are still recognisable in modern football, such as boundary umpires, a tribunal, official timekeeping system and numbers on players’ jumpers.

The early days of the Brownlow Medal

The first Brownlow Medal (1924) was won by Geelong player Edward “Carji” Greeves, who also came second in 1925, 1926 and 1928.

Including Greeves, 90 different players have won the Brownlow Medal.

Thirteen players have won it twice and four players have won it three times: Haydn Bunton Sr. (Fitzroy), Dick Reynolds (Essendon), Bob Skilton (South Melbourne) and Ian Stewart (St Kilda/Richmond).

If a player is suspended during the season they are ineligible, even if they receive the highest number of votes.

North Melbourne’s Corey McKernan (1996-equal most votes) and Chris Grant (1997-most votes) from the Western Bulldogs both missed out on a Brownlow because of suspension. Jobe Watson also lost his 2012 Brownlow because of Essendon’s supplement saga.

Brownlow Medal voting

Similar awards in rugby union, rugby league and soccer are commonly voted on by journalists, players and ex-players.

However, the Brownlow is decided by the umpires, who allocate votes to the top three players in each game during the regular season. Three votes are awarded to the best in a game, two votes to the second best, and one vote to the third best.

This voting system has been used for most Brownlow Medal counts. However, there have been different voting systems for short periods in the past:

• From 1924 to 1930, only one vote was given in each game. This was changed to the current 3–2–1 system after the 1930 season when three players tied for first and another eight players tied for fourth.

• From 1976 to 1977, both field umpires
  individually awarded 3–2–1 votes. This system was abandoned in 1978 and the two (now four) field umpires agree on a single set of 3–2–1 votes.

The votes are kept secret until the end of the season, when they are announced and added up. The player with the highest number of votes wins, and there can be joint winners if players have the same number of votes.

Patrick Cripps (Carlton) has the record for most votes in a season in the history of the Brownlow’s 3–2–1 system with 45 in 2024. This was more votes than the entire North Melbourne (42), West Coast (30) and Richmond (19) teams received.

Gary Ablett Jr (Geelong/Gold Coast) has the most career votes (262). Patrick Dangerfield (Adelaide/Geelong) has the most career votes of current players (251).

So, who is likely to win the Brownlow this year?

The 2025 contenders and pretenders

The AFL’s Brownlow predictor is projecting a win for Adelaide captain Jordan Dawson.

If he did, he would be just the second Crow, after Mark Ricciuto in 2003.

The South Melbourne/Sydney Swans have the most Brownlow medallists (14) of any club.

Dawson would be the tenth club captain to win in the past 25 years.

Since 2008, every Brownlow medallist has finished inside the league’s top six for contested possessions, making it a possible marker of success. However, Dawson sits 34th, well outside that range.

Greater Western Sydney midfielder Tom Green led the competition in contested possessions this year. If he wins he will be the first Brownlow medallist for the club, which entered the league in 2012.

There are several other interesting stories that could emerge from the AFL Predictor’s top ten.

Gold Coast has two players (Noah Anderson and Matt Rowell) in the top ten. If they finished first and second, it would be just the third time this has ever happened, following players from Melbourne (1926) and West Coast (2005).

The first Indigenous player to win the Brownlow Medal was Gavin Wanganeen (Essendon) in 1993. If his nephew Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera (St Kilda) is victorious this year, he will be just the third Indigenous player to win, following Wanganeen and Adam Goodes (Sydney).

In 2003, Goodes, the All-Australian ruckman, shared the Brownlow in a three-way tie.

Since then, every winner has been a midfielder or midfielder-forward.

This dominance was on full display in 2024, where the top ten vote-getters were all midfielders, collectively accounting for 24% of the total votes.

Melbourne captain Max Gawn is the only ruckman in the 2025 top ten predictors, and while a win would stop two decades of midfield dominance, his spot in the top six for contested possessions keeps him within other winning trends.

Players such as Nick Daicos (Collingwood), Bailey Smith (Geelong) and Hugh McCluggage (Brisbane) also have the chance to become just the ninth player to win a Brownlow Medal and a premiership in the same year. The last player to do this was Dustin Martin (Richmond) in 2017.

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. What you might not know about the AFL’s Brownlow Medal – https://theconversation.com/what-you-might-not-know-about-the-afls-brownlow-medal-264485

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Inga Lass, Senior research fellow, The University of Melbourne

Every year, one of Australia’s biggest longitudinal surveys provides a range of insights on how the nation is changing.

The Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey, released today, reveals trends on a wide range of aspects of life in Australia, including household relationships, income, health and wellbeing.

HILDA has been following the same people every year since 2001, with about 16,000 respondents in the latest survey. This makes it possible to examine how the lives of Australians have changed across several aspects. Funded by the Australian government and managed by the Melbourne Institute, the survey is one of Australia’s most valuable social research tools.

So, what are the highlights from the 2025 report?

Friendships are declining

Friendships are clearly important, providing both emotional and practical support to people. However, agreement with the statement “I seem to have a lot of friends” has fallen noticeably from 2010 to 2023. This long-term decline accelerated during the COVID-19 period, when social distancing measures often prevented face-to-face interactions with friends.

The decline in friendships has repercussions for people’s wellbeing. The report shows a low perceived number of friends is associated fewer social activities, greater feelings of loneliness and poorer mental health. This is all the more concerning because it often gets harder to make friends as life goes on.

Time stress is rising again

Time stress – feeling rushed often or almost always – is common for many Australians, especially women. In 2023, 38% of women reported frequent time stress, while only 29% of men did. This gap has persisted over the past two decades. Rates fell sharply in 2020 during the pandemic’s first year but have since returned to pre-pandemic levels for both groups.

Retirement age has seen a big shift

Australia has seen a dramatic transformation of retirement over the past 20 years, retiring later than they used to. In 2003, nearly 70% of women and almost half of men aged 60–64 were fully retired. By 2023, this dropped to 41% for women and 27% for men.

Retirement rates have also declined among those aged 65-69. Over the same period, the Age Pension eligibility age was equalised for men and women at 65 by 2013, then gradually increased to 67 between 2017 and 2023.

The decision to retire is no longer driven purely by personal preference or age alone. It’s increasingly shaped by policy, housing wealth, super balances and whether someone can afford to stop working.

We’re paying more in income tax

Australians are now paying the highest average rate of income tax since the turn of the millennium. But the trend over this period hasn’t always been upwards. Between 2006 and 2011, the average tax rate for full-time workers actually fell, from 19.4% to 15.7%. Since 2011, however, the trend has overwhelmingly been upwards.

Across the population as a whole aged 15 and over, the average share of income paid as income tax rose to 11.7% in the 2022-23 financial year. For full-time workers, the average rate was higher, at 20.3%.

Bodily pain

Pain can severely affect people’s ability to take part in day-to-day activities, work, and lead happy and satisfying lives.

The new data shows the extent of bodily pain Australians report has risen over the last two decades – and it’s not just due to an ageing population.
We asked respondents about whether they experienced pain and how much it affected their day-to-day life, then calculated a score from 0 (no bodily pain) to 100 (severe pain).

The average levels of pain that women reported increased by 5.6% between 2001 and 2003 (from 27 points to 28.5 points). For men, pain increased by 4.8% (27 points to 28.3 points).

Pain scores were slightly higher for women than for men across all years.

We adjusted these scores for age, suggesting the reported rise is not due to ageing but instead other factors, such as an increase in chronic conditions, obesity, and people being more likely to report their pain.

Ferdi Botha receives funding from the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course (CE200100025).

Roger Wilkins receives funding from the Australian Research Council.

Inga Lass and Kyle Peyton do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Fewer friends, more time stress: the essential charts from this year’s HILDA survey – https://theconversation.com/fewer-friends-more-time-stress-the-essential-charts-from-this-years-hilda-survey-265475

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Garritt C. Van Dyk, Senior Lecturer in History, University of Waikato

Food prices remain high even as inflation eases, and instant noodles are at the top of the list of cheap options.

More than 100 billion servings of instant ramen are consumed each year, making it one of the world’s most popular convenience foods.

Instant noodles are a global commodity. But when were they invented, and has ramen always been a “struggle meal”?

Read more:
Can I eat instant noodles every day? What does it do to my health?

Early origins

Most people attribute ramen’s global popularity to its low price and easy preparation, but a look at the origin story behind the noodles reveals working-class roots and innovative cooking techniques.

In 1910, Ozaki Kan’ichi, a former Japanese customs official, abandoned his career to open a Chinese restaurant in Asakusa, a working-class district in Tokyo. Rai-Rai Ken was the first Chinese restaurant owned by a Japanese national.

Before it was called ramen, thin Chinese wheat noodles in soup were called chūka soba (literally, Chinese noodles). Kan’ichi’s menu featured a soy-flavoured soup with noodles, roast pork, dried seaweed and fish cake. The broth and toppings were new additions to previous versions of Chinese noodle soups served in Japan, making a more substantial meal.

An ancient Chinese technique using alkaline water, kansui, made the noodles curly, chewy and a light yellow colour.

Timing for the new food was perfect, as workers moved away from agriculture in rural areas to urban centres for work, education and training.

Chūka soba became a popular and affordable choice, served from cafes, pushcarts and informal Chinese and Western-style restaurants catering to students and industrial workers at all hours.

Postwar Japan

During World War II, restaurants and food carts (yatai) were prohibited in Japan, in an effort to preserve scarce food resources.

After the war, US forces in Japan enforced rationing and continued the wartime ban on restaurants. To make up for rice shortages, large quantities of US wheat were imported to prevent famine. The food-distribution system, however, was inefficient, insecure and prone to corruption.

Wheat made its way onto the black market, where it was turned into noodles and sold from illegal carts in bombed-out cities.

A Taiwanese immigrant, Momofuku Ando, saw the long lines of hungry people patiently waiting for noodles and was inspired to find a way to invent noodles that would be quick and easy to make at home.

In his autobiography, Ando shared his vision for the future after witnessing postwar hunger:

Peace will come to the world when all its people have enough to eat.

By the 1950s, restrictions on wheat rationing eased and led to a boom in noodles sold from yatai. In the home, rice shortages continued and bread consumption increased out of necessity, although many hoped this was a short-term trend.

There was a gap in the market for a more familiar product that was made from wheat but was as convenient as bread.

Invented in the garden shed

Ando worked in a shed in his back yard, experimenting with an old noodle machine and a wok. After watching his wife make tempura, he saw that deep frying not only cooked the food, it also made water vaporise. He realised this was the key to creating noodles that could cook in only two minutes, but would not get soggy or stale on the shelf.

On August 25 1958, Momofoku Ando launched “Instant Cook Chikin Ramen” – referred to as magic ramen in Japan. The noodles were already seasoned and cooked, cutting down on time and labour, but delivering the protein content of bread flour. Ando chose “chikin” as the flagship flavour, as it didn’t raise dietary issues for any religion.

Ando popularised the term “ramen”, another name used in Japan for chuku soba, borrowed from the Chinese word lāmiàn for a type of hand-pulled noodles from the north. Japanese ramen are actually rolled and cut, not pulled, and are modelled after noodles from Guangdong in the south – but the name stuck.

The first instant noodles cost six times more than regular ramen, which took ten minutes to cook and were not flavoured. Prices fell quickly as the instant noodles became popular, and Ando’s Nissin corporation went into large-scale production.

In 1971, instant ramen was packaged in polystyrene cups, making it even more convenient – just add hot water.

Noodles, noodles, everywhere

The cultural importance of instant ramen in Japan cannot be overstated. It was named the most important invention of the 20th century in a poll at the end of 1999.

While there are two museums in Japan dedicated to instant ramen, the appeal is also global. Vietnam has the highest per capita consumption, followed by Korea and Thailand.

Instant noodles are ubiquitous, even behind bars. Ramen packets became a de facto currency in US prisons, replacing cigarettes after smoking bans were introduced in 2004. Budgets cuts at correctional facilities reduced spending on food, making ramen an essential supplement for inmates and a frequent purchase at the prison commissary.

Instant ramen really is available everywhere, even in outer space. “Space Ram” accompanied Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi on his 2005 expedition. Naturally, these were a special edition, designed for eating in a zero-gravity environment.

In Thailand, Mama Noodles launched a noodle index in 2005 as an economic barometer, showing how sales increased during tough economic times.

Food prices are still high and the global economy remains uncertain, but at least we can rely on instant ramen remaining an affordable option around the world.

Garritt C. Van Dyk has received funding from the Getty Research Institute.

– ref. Instant ramen: a short history of a long noodle – https://theconversation.com/instant-ramen-a-short-history-of-a-long-noodle-263271

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Liz Evans, Adjunct Researcher, English and Writing, University of Tasmania

In the 1990s, I was a rock journalist striving to assert myself as a young woman, working at the heart of the United Kingdom’s male-dominated music press. I loved my job. I met and interviewed all my favourite bands, and spent my twenties and early thirties in a whirl of parties, clubs, gigs and all-expenses trips to America and Europe.

I began my career through a combination of ignorance, bloody-mindedness, and good timing. With no idea about the protocol of editorial commissions, I was annoyed when a music paper failed to publish my unsolicited live review of a friend’s band. Determined to succeed, I followed a tipoff from an artist who lived in a squat with a media contact (this was London in the 1980s), and soon found myself writing for a bi-monthly heavy metal magazine.

Review: Men Of A Certain Age: My Encounters with Rock Royalty – Kate Mossman; Maybe I’m Amazed: A Story of Love and Connection in Ten Songs – John Harris (John Murray)

The editor, Chris Welch, was a softly spoken, conservatively dressed man in his late forties whose office walls were lined with photos of himself hanging out with Marc Bolan, Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton, in his days as a young reporter. I rarely saw him during my year at the magazine, but I’ve never forgotten his gentle demeanour and the trust he placed in my inexperienced, 22-year-old self. Without his support, my life may have taken a very different turn.

Chris was one of a kind. Other than him, respectful, benevolent older men did not figure in my work for the music press.

By contrast, Kate Mossman is a British arts and music writer whose debut book is presented as “a meditation on the powerful archetype of the ageing rock star”. Her fixation with rock’s fading old guard provides a compelling premise for Men Of A Certain Age: My Encounters with Rock Royalty, but the blurb is a little misleading. This is essentially a collection of republished interviews and personal reflections, rather than an in-depth analysis.

That said, Mossman has produced a thoughtful and entertaining retrospective. Her conversations with the likes of Wilko Johnson, Terence Trent D’Arby, Ray Davies (The Kinks), Jeff Beck and Kevin Ayers are humorous, perceptive and beautifully composed.

She describes the Happy Mondays’ and Black Grape’s Shaun Ryder as resembling “a Russian Mafia boss in the corner, whisky in hand, arms elevated by the pressure of a thick leather jacket”. She chats with Paul Stanley of KISS while he applies his makeup before a show.

“Here is my clown white,” he says softly, picking up a pot of the thick, sweat-resistant foundation he discovered in the ‘70s. “And here are my puffs.”

These encounters afford the reader a certain insight into Mossman’s idiosyncratic predilection for wrinkly rock stars twice her age. Yet while the book affectionately probes her strange, decidedly gendered interest, it avoids the glaring issue of structural misogyny that contaminates the music industry.

It’s not as if Mossman is unaware of the sexual politics at play. She positively delights in the “exciting father-daughter energy” of the older man-younger woman dynamic, intentionally exaggerating her youth and assumed innocence in the presence of ageing rockers. She knows men like Tom Jones and Gene Simmons will respond openly to her coltish, unthreatening persona, because what could be safer than “just a pretty lady”? It’s a clever and effective strategy.

I fully appreciate the quality of Mossman’s profiles, but her attempts to lean into the patronising attitudes of rock’s elders land uncomfortably with me. And having once had my own tender skin in the game, I can’t help seeing the book’s negation of sexism as a missed opportunity.

When I was a rock journalist, I never felt advantaged by my gender or energised by the older male rocker’s entrenched misogyny. Quite the opposite.

At Jarvis Cocker’s house party

Twenty or so years before Mossman began pursuing her beloved senior rockers across the US, I was being reprimanded by my editor for my “unprofessional” rejection of the creepy advances of a famous middle-aged musician.

In 1989, I was a staff writer for a fortnightly rock magazine based in London’s Carnaby Street. We smoked and drank at our desks, played loud metal on the stereo, took half-day lunches on record company money and hosted a constant stream of visiting rock stars in all manner of altered states throughout the working day.

One of my regular jobs was to review the singles with a handful of guest musicians, depending on who was in town. This was often a riotous affair that occasionally descended into chaos. One time, a German drummer, old enough to be my dad, asked me to sit on his lap while we listened to the records. When I didn’t see the funny side, he sniggered at my rebuttal and asked if I was having my period. So I walked out, leaving him with his embarrassed band mate in a room shocked into silence.

A year or so later, the editor who scolded me would help bring about my eventual redundancy after I started to retaliate against a toxic male colleague. This man, previously a friend who’d tried to date me, bullied and ostracised me for the entire duration of my employment. I put on a brave face, cried in the toilets and still managed to enjoy my work. But when I eventually reacted, I was blamed for aggravating the situation, and the magazine let me go.

I spent the next eight years escalating my freelance career and writing books. I waded in the ocean with The Verve’s Richard Ashcroft, toasted a Chicago sunrise on tour with Alice in Chains, went snowboarding with a young British band in California, tripped over Jarvis Cocker at his own house party, and gratefully received a pair of secondhand John Fluevog sandals from the closet of Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon in New York. But my confidence remained dented until I published my first academic article in the early 2000s.

Forgive me then, for baulking when Mossman describes herself as “a small girl sitting on the knee of Father Rock” at her first job for the now-defunct UK music monthly, The Word.

While I’m sure she’s attempting to describe a more supportive, paternalistic workplace environment than the one I endured, she is nevertheless referring to a situation in which she, too, was the only woman in a small team of men. In her case, a generational divide reinforced the sense of male authority which left her wondering “who I was without these men, and who I would be”.

Years before Mossman met him, one of the men she mentions reportedly claimed women were unable to write effectively about music. I once encountered him too, and found him to be smooth, charming and arrogant, with the ruthless attitude of a tabloid journalist.

Working with men like this produced some of the worst experiences of my career. Luckily, such occasions were rare, but could be significant. Bands never saw the bigger picture, of manipulated stories and doctored headlines, but their lives were directly affected by decisions made by people they’d often never met.

I remember once having a conversation with Kurt Cobain about power and the media, and telling him journalists like me could only do so much. Ultimately, we were at the mercy of our editors, which is why I tried to pick mine wisely. Musicians don’t have the choice. Under contract with record labels, they are legally obliged to engage with the media and must take what’s on offer. I’d known Nirvana before they were famous, and watching Kurt develop from a shy, goofy kid into a cynical megastar persecuted by the press was heartbreaking.

Part of the reason Mossman’s book sits uneasily with me is because it appears to ignore the hard-won heritage of female music journalists, and the struggles women like me had in the workplace. Deferring to big daddy editors and accommodating the fragile egos of doddery rock gods feels too much like turning the clock back.

More interested in her

Interestingly, at the back of her book, an intriguing detail lies almost buried in the acknowledgments. Here, Mossman says she recently learned her mother was responsible for introducing a bunch of records she thought had belonged to her dad into the family home.

This untold chapter of Mossman’s story speaks volumes about women and rock culture. Swinging like a loose thread, it threatens to unravel so much of what we have come to accept about the world of rock and the stories of its appointed gods.

Hence my other frustration with the book. While Mossman is a critically acclaimed journalist and former Mercury prize judge, nothing can fire my interest in men such as former Journey singer Steve Perry, or the insufferable Sting. I simply don’t care about them. I’m much more interested in her.

Had Mossman developed the snippets of memoir she uses to contextualise her interviews, and foregrounded herself instead of her tired old giants, I believe her book would have been much more powerful. The strongest, most illuminating passages are when she interrogates her past and mines her personal experiences for clues to her adult obsession with the old guys.

Her teenage infatuation with Queen, her discomfort with the irreverence of 1990s pop culture, her desperate need for parental approval, the peculiar sense of shame she feels in writing about people she loves. The way she listens to music through her father’s “imaginary ears”, the energy writing affords her. All of this outshines the perpetually recycled male rock-star myths, no matter how well Mossman interprets them.

Perhaps in trying to convince the reader to share her love for middle-of-the-road musicians, Bruce Hornsby and Glen Campbell, both of whom had their heyday before she was born, Mossman is still trapped in her teenage cycle of needing her parents to approve of Queen. If so, I hope she manages to shake this off and step more fully into her own story with conviction and faith. With her talent, a full-blown memoir would be a runaway bestseller.

In many ways, Mossman’s book highlights the limits of music journalism as a genre. Her long-form profiles are detailed sketches rather than complex studies, reflecting the fleeting nature of the interview format. Ultimately, even with a fascinating subject, this type of interaction will always be a superficial exercise and therefore something of a game.

For Mossman, with her obsessive fan tendencies, this may be hard to accept, but faced with Sting’s smooth professionalism, she has no choice. “There is a desire for connection that drives every interview,” she writes, “and with Sting, it was a connection I never got.”

For me, ten years of music journalism was enough. By 1998, I’d met everyone I wanted to meet and there were only five or six bands I still wanted to hang out with. I was ready to expand my writing skills and deepen my understanding of the human psyche. Funnily enough, given Mossman’s interest in Jungian theory, I retrained as a Jungian psychotherapist.

An elitist boys’ club

I wasn’t the only one to quit music journalism after the 1990s. With magazines folding left, right and centre, many writers moved onto other careers. One of them was John Harris, now a political and arts columnist for The Guardian. We met briefly at the NME during my six-month stint as its rock correspondent, and occasionally ran into each other at Britpop gigs with mutual friends.

Now, NME is an online platform full of celebrity gossip and brimming with ads. But in the early 1990s it still held currency, for emerging bands and music fans alike. So when the editor invited me to interview Alice in Chains and Screaming Trees on tour in America, I was excited.

I arrived at the NME office fresh from the friendly clamour of Kerrang! magazine, and the first thing that struck me was the silence. Everywhere I looked, studious-looking guys with neat haircuts sat typing furiously away at their desks. There was no music, no talking – and, apart from the secretary, no women.

I soon discovered the few female writers who managed to find a way in were either resented (like me), or given “special dispensation”, whatever that meant.

It all seemed so weirdly petty, like an elitist boys’ club. I hated it.

On one occasion, I refused to disclose the location of a secret Hole gig – at the band’s request. I was punished for my disloyalty to the paper by not being allowed to review it. Another time, a couple of journalists offered to “help” me with a two-part feature on the Riot Grrrl movement, even though I’d single-handedly managed to gain the trust of some of the key women on the scene, all of whom despised the male-dominated music press.

The final straw came in the form of a commission to interview Aerosmith. Asked to “get the drug stories”, I argued for a more original angle: by then, the band was clean. But I was shut down and told to be “more humble”.

Needless to say, after spending a lovely afternoon laughing about outlandish but predictable druggy adventures with Aerosmith band members Joe Perry and Steven Tyler (who tried to steal my fake fur coat), I filed my copy and walked away from the NME with my head held as high as it would go.

Autistic and thriving with music

After freelancing for the NME, Harris went on to work for monthly music titles Q and Select. Now, he’s an award-winning journalist with a string of books to his name. His latest one, Maybe I’m Amazed: A Story of Love and Connection in Ten Songs, is his fifth, and arguably his most important work to date.

Harris’ memoir is a beautiful, heartwarming, enlightening and uplifting book that chronicles the profound impact of music on the life of an autistic child. It captures the grief and frustration of two loving parents as they struggle with the UK’s broken education system and underfunded health services, on behalf of their son. And it details the individual nature of autism and the multiple, miraculous ways an autistic person can flourish when given the right support.

As first-time parents, Harris and his partner Ginny, a former press officer with Parlophone Records, are not aware of any issues with their baby, James. He’s a little slow to speak and has some cute, characterful quirks, but nothing seems out of the ordinary until their daughter Rosa is born and the family moves from Wales to Somerset.

Slow to adapt to the new changes in his life, James begins to exhibit ritualistic behaviours that concern Harris. Three weeks after James starts attending his new nursery, Ginny is told her son might be autistic. Suddenly, she and Harris are plunged into a brutal spin of fear, anxiety, guilt, denial and fundamental uncertainty.

Together, the family embarks on a punitive round of tests and assessments as the tyranny of diagnosis takes hold. At first, supportive frameworks carry the weight of a heavy sentence. But Harris and Ginny immerse themselves in research and fact-finding missions to educate themselves about autism. After investing a significant amount of time and money, they manage to establish a viable routine to help James thrive.

It’s not an easy journey. Setbacks, personnel changes and bureaucratic complications are ever-present, but with a small team of specially trained, caring individuals, James makes progress. Meanwhile, as a lifelong music lover, Harris becomes increasingly aware of the profound relationships his son is developing with certain songs by particular bands. Kraftwerk, The Beatles and Mott the Hoople all exert a steadying influence on James, enabling him to communicate in ways he cannot through verbal language.

A visit from musician Billy Bragg, with whom Harris organises an annual talks tent for Glastonbury Festival, results in James actually making music himself. This leads to keyboard lessons and a slot at the school concert. By the time he enters his teens, James is playing bass, and looking every inch the rock star.

Structurally, Harris has produced a masterclass in memoir, seamlessly blending the past with the present. Cleverly shifting between his own life in music and his son’s, he charts his teenage years as a mod, his ill-fated band’s only performance and his forays into music journalism – all of which he now values anew in the context of parenting James.

He describes how the pair share their joy in gigs and experience the deep bond of making music together, sometimes with Rosa on drums. Watching his child come alive through rhythm and melody, Harris finds himself re-enchanted by music and uncovers the wonder of parenting through unexpected and creative channels.

The book delivers a wealth of information about the vast and complicated spectrum of autism, taking a deep dive into medical theories and the world of neurology. By weaving this complex material into his personal experience of huge emotional and practical challenges, Harris keeps it relatable. In many ways, he has forged a map, complete with a beacon of hope: albeit an individualised one. Informative, enriching and engaging, his story of love, persistence and hard-won daily miracles is music writing at its absolute best.

Wildly disparate in content, both Harris’ and Mossman’s books show how music can define us. In this way, their narratives speak to us all.

They remind me of a time when I couldn’t leave home without a Walkman and a spare set of batteries. They take me back to when I was a teenager, when music shaped my social life, determined my image and gave me the courage to withstand an emotionally abusive upbringing. And they return me to my twenties, when music powered my glamorous first career and launched me into a lifelong creative practice.

Ultimately, they remind me the pulse beneath my writing still belongs to music. And who knows? Maybe I’ll expand on that one day.

Liz Evans does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Friday essay: I loved being a ‘90s rock journalist, but sometimes it was a boys’ club nightmare – https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-i-loved-being-a-90s-rock-journalist-but-sometimes-it-was-a-boys-club-nightmare-256474

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ferdi Botha, Senior Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne

The degree of bodily pain reported by Australians has grown over the last two decades, and this increase cannot be attributed only to an ageing population.

Pain is a serious public health issue and can have devastating consequences for individuals, affecting their ability to have fulfilling relationships, work or look after kids.

The new findings come from the latest Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey Statistical Report, released today. I am part of the team that collects and analyses the data – here’s what we found.

How we measured pain

The HILDA survey has been following the same people every year since 2001, which makes it possible to examine how the lives of Australians have changed across several aspects.

Each year, we survey roughly 16,000 individuals aged 15 and older on various topics, including how often they experience bodily pain, and to what degree it affects their day-to-day life.

In the survey, we used two questions to construct a measure of overall bodily pain.

First, we ask respondents to report how much bodily pain they have had during the past four weeks: no bodily pain, very mild, mild, moderate, severe or very severe.

The second question asks all respondents how much pain interfered with their normal work (including both outside the home and housework) during the same period: not at all, slightly, moderately, quite a bit or extremely.

We then combined the scores from these two questions to form
an overall bodily pain measure ranging from 0 (no bodily pain) to 100 (severe bodily pain). This was the “bodily pain score”.

Gender makes a difference

The new data shows almost 79% of women and 74% of men had experienced at least some physical pain in the previous four weeks.

Women reported more pain than men – and it was more likely to affect their day-to-day activities.

For example, one in four men (26.2%) said they had no pain, compared to one in five women (21.5%).

The proportion of women who rated their pain as “severe” or “very severe” (8%) was also higher than men (5.1%).

The more extreme the pain, the more it restricted general home or work duties. About 2.4% of women and 1.3% of men reported that pain interfered “extremely” with their day-to-day activities.

Age, health and wealth also play a role

As expected, older age groups report more pain than younger people.

Whereas just 3.4% of people aged 25–34 reported that pain interferes “quite a bit” in daily duties, among those aged 65 and older this jumped to 14.6%.

We also found that higher levels of education and income are associated with less pain.

In terms of occupation, bodily pain tended to be most severe among labourers, followed by machinery operators and drivers.

The least pain was reported by those who worked as managers or professionals.

Pain is also much worse among people with a chronic health condition, including diabetes, arthritis and any type of cancer.

Health behaviours matter as well. For example, smokers report greater pain than non-smokers.

Pain is increasing

Most striking is the rising trend in average bodily pain over the past two decades. This increase is consistent with a rising prevalence of pain globally.

Age is strongly linked to the development of chronic conditions. So, one main reason why pain increases over time is due to population ageing.

But even after adjusting for population ageing, we found reported bodily pain increased by about 5.6% among women and 4.8% among men between 2001 and 2023. This suggests other factors may be behind the rise in pain.

So, what are some of these factors?

Evidence suggests people have become more likely to report that they have pain.

But there is also a growing prevalence of chronic conditions in Australia, which are strongly linked to pain. Obesity rates have also increased, and we know obesity can increase physical pain, for example by putting more stress on joints.

However, we still need more research to understand what is driving the increase in pain, and how it affects different groups.

The impact of pain

Pain can have a devastating effect on wellbeing and quality of life, with serious flow-on effects. For example, people who experience significant pain are more likely to lose their jobs.

Our analysis can’t establish causal relationships. But it does reveal that those who experience severe bodily pain also report substantially worse mental health and lower life satisfaction.

Given these debilitating personal impacts of severe bodily pain – and the costs it puts on our health-care system and economy – reversing the rising trend in pain is imperative.

Ferdi Botha receives funding from the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course (CE200100025).

– ref. Australians are in more pain – and our new data shows it’s not just due to ageing – https://theconversation.com/australians-are-in-more-pain-and-our-new-data-shows-its-not-just-due-to-ageing-265294

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Pickles, Professor of History, University of Canterbury

Political and social reformer Kate Sheppard is famous for leading the campaign that saw New Zealand women become first in the world to gain the right to vote on September 19 1893. We don’t normally think of her as a cook.

But while she far preferred reading and writing, she did consider women’s domestic labour as essential. She was also interested in the possibility of communal kitchens and laundries as ways to increase efficiency.

I’m researching and writing a new biography of Sheppard. And it was while building a more complex understanding of her that I discovered a recipe she contributed to a small book titled Everybody’s Cookery Book of Tested Recipes.

Published in 1928, it was assembled by the “Ladies of Trinity Congregational Church Christchurch, New Zealand” as a fundraiser. Sheppard’s recipe is for Spanish cream – what I’d now call “fancy custard”.

I found the recipe in the records relating to Trinity Congregational Church held at Tūranga, Christchurch’s public library. I was looking for evidence of Kate’s involvement in the church.

Along with more traditional historical sources, such as minute books and official church history, this little discovery is a reminder of the importance of food history. Fundraiser cookery books like this give us fresh perspectives on our social and cultural history.

Church and state

Sheppard had been remarried for three years and was 80 years old when she contributed her Spanish cream recipe under the name Mrs K. W. Lovell-Smith.

Having been living apart from her her first husband Walter (who died in England in 1915), in 1905 Kate had moved in with William and Jennie Lovell-Smith and their large family.

In 1920, they moved to Midway, a large house on Riccarton Road (Kate paid for her share). Jennie died shortly after the Lovell-Smith’s golden wedding anniversary and a year later, in 1925, after “a lifelong friendship based on common interests and sympathies”, Kate and William married.

Kate had by this stage begun attending the Upper Riccarton Methodist Church with other household members, suggesting she might have become a Methodist herself. That church was much closer to home, and she was also involved in Methodist fundraisers, hosting garden fetes at Midway.

But while the Lovell-Smith family were Methodist stalwarts, featured on the church roll, Kate’s involvement in the cookery book suggests she was still a Congregationalist (along with her nieces, whose recipes are also included).

In fact, the cookery book is evidence of Sheppard’s enduring association with Trinity Congregational Church, which she had first attended on arrival in Christchurch from Britain in 1869. And it was within those church walls during the 1870s and 1880s that she came into her own as a colonial feminist.

As was typical for many in the women’s movement at that time, church work served as an apprenticeship and incubator for later political activity. In Sheppard’s case, she was secretary of the Ladies’ Association Committee. She successfully raised funds for the church and was a “lady visitor” – a kind of social worker or lay preacher, helping members of the congregation.

Sheppard also taught Sunday school and a young women’s Bible class, nurturing a generation of “new women”. Writer and feminist Jessie Mackay later recalled Sheppard as “a gracious and beautiful young matron” leading her Bible class. It is in church records that Sheppard’s clear, capable and increasingly confident voice emerges.

A catalyst moment in the history of women’s suffrage occurred on May 14 1885, at Trinity Church, when Sheppard heard American Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) missionary Mary Clement Leavitt speak at one of her many meetings around New Zealand.

This led to the formation of national WCTU branches and Sheppard becoming head of its franchise department. From then until success in 1893, Kate led the campaign for women’s suffrage, coordinating the largest petition yet assembled in New Zealand.

Spanish cream and Esperanto

So what of the recipe itself? New Zealand food historian Duncan Galletly has studied the complex evolution of the dessert, from its hazy centuries-old European cream origins to its place as a gelatine-set custard. It was by then becoming popular in colonial New Zealand.

Without crediting Sheppard, Galletly captures the recipe in his research, noting it is actually the same as one in the first edition of a 1901 book, Colonial Everyday Cookery. As is often the case with fundraiser cookery books, Sheppard appears to have directly copied it years later.

Sheppard liked a bit of luxury and serving creamy treat foods. A great niece recalled visiting her “lovely home” in the 1920s and

sitting in the luxurious drawing room, having afternoon tea, terrified of dropping a cup or spilling cream cake – Aunt Kate was so elegant, wore lovely gowns and jewellery, and moved about like a queen. She was beautiful.

Sheppard was also interested in vegetarianism and wholefoods, although the presence of gelatine in her recipe reveals she was not a strict vegetarian. Especially interesting was her pursuit of the connection between a healthy mind and healthy body, and what she suspected was a “close connection between meat eating and the craving for alcohol”.

In 1901, she cycled to Sanitarium Health Foods to interview Seventh-day Adventist and American doctor, feminist, prohibitionist and early vegan Dr Florence Keller. Sheppard was impressed that Keller advocated a healthy, plant-based diet rich in whole grains, fruits and vegetables. And she was fascinated with Keller’s opinion that

Flesh is a highly stimulating form of diet, and produces a desire for stimulants of various kinds. A meat diet predisposes to a love of condiments; as well as to the different forms of alcoholic liquor.

Keller also impressed Sheppard with her belief that tobacco was “highly injurious” and in the same class as “alcoholic and morphine habits”.

Despite these somewhat stringent ideas, I’d like to think Sheppard chose Spanish cream as a cosmopolitan nod to 1920s internationalism. She advocated for Esperanto, the linguistic model invented in 1887 to break down language barriers, on which Spanish was a prominent influence. As Sheppard wrote, “If the nations understood each other better – they would not be so ready to go to war.”

Ironically, Sheppard’s beloved and staunch temperance church, where history was made, is now a popular Christchurch pub. Called The Church, it is now host to much eating, drinking and merry making. Past congregations could not have predicted this in their worst nightmares and are likely turning in their graves.

Katie Pickles receives funding from a Tessa Malcolm Bequest.

– ref. Kate Sheppard’s kitchen: an old recipe sheds new light on the feminist pioneer’s life – https://theconversation.com/kate-sheppards-kitchen-an-old-recipe-sheds-new-light-on-the-feminist-pioneers-life-265463

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra

The Albanese government is hoping it can successfully juggle multiple audiences with its 2035 emissions reduction target.

With a specific number, no single set of stakeholders could have been fully satisfied without alienating another. In opting for a range, and a big one at that – a 62%-70% cut in emissions from 2005 levels – the government, taking a pragmatic course, has given itself maximum wriggle room. This is also reasonable, considering a future of economic uncertainty and rapidly changing technology.

Business can focus on the 62%; those wanting more ambition can hope the 70% might be reached. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese declared, “we think we’ve got the sweet spot”. They haven’t of course – because there is no “sweet spot”. In policy terms, dealing with climate change is one of those “wicked problems”. Often, it is a choice between least-worst courses, or a stab in the dark, given the long timelines.

The government’s unveiling of its 2035 target has been a highly choreographed exercise.

A decision, certain to be controversial, was stalled until after the election. The Climate Change Authority – which earlier had announced it was consulting on a target between 65%-75% – did not formally hand its advice in until Friday, advice the government followed precisely.

On Monday the government released its National Climate Risk Assessment, that painted a dire and dramatic picture of the dangers presented by the changing weather. Thursday’s target announcement was backed up by a package of measures, worth more than $8 billion, to support the energy transition, and accompanied by Treasury modelling documenting the advantages of an orderly path forward.

The 2035 target should go down quite well with most voters. It sounds like a credible commitment to action, which people want. This week’s Newspoll found 25% of people thought Australia should stick to its current action on climate change, while 37% believed Australia should increase it.

The government legislated its 2030 target (for a 43% reduction in emissions) with much fanfare. But it has already accepted it mightn’t be able to put the 2035 target into law. That would require support in the Senate from either the Greens or the opposition, and both have denounced it.

The Greens will try to use what they describe as a “capitulation to coal and gas corporations” to lever off some votes from Labor, especially in inner city areas.

With her party in an existential battle over the future of its commitment to net zero by 2050, Sussan Ley has navigated the opposition’s reaction to the government’s 2035 target by arguing it won’t reach the 2030 one. While the government insists that target is still achievable, some experts are very sceptical. Ley also said there was nothing in the announcement “that demonstrates to Australians how much it will cost”.

Whatever 2035 number the government produced, the opposition was always set to reject it, so it was just a matter of preparing the attack lines. But

Ley was careful to get shadow cabinet backing before stating a position.

As she seeks to shore up her leadership, she is looking for a way to qualify the net zero commitment without throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Asked on Thursday about the future of the commitment, she said, “we have to play our part in reducing emissions but not at any cost”.

Ley is caught between the importance of the net zero symbol to many voters, especially younger ones, and the pull of those in her party wanting to ditch or at least water down the commitment. Leadership aspirant Angus Taylor told Sky on Thursday, “I’m dead against targets that hurt Australians and hurt the Australian economy and I always have been”.

Albanese has emphasised the government’s 2035 target is in line with those of comparable countries. The prime minister will have a keen eye on how the announcement goes down internationally.

Australia is sweating on a decision about whether it will obtain hosting rights (together with Pacific countries) for next year’s United Nations climate conference (the COP). Australia has the necessary support, but Turkey, the other country in contention, so far has declined to pull out. The conference, which would be held in Adelaide, is a huge event requiring much preparation. The government is extremely frustrated at the delay.

Albanese will be at the United Nations’ leaders week in New York next week, where he will meet other countries for climate discussions. He’ll hope this will encourage more pressure on Turkey to withdraw.

Apart from addressing the General Assembly, and Australia making good its commitment to recognise the state of Palestine, Albanese will take part in discussions with a range of like-minded countries about the future of Gaza.

But the centrepiece of the US trip (followed by a visit to Britain) is the anticipated meeting with President Donald Trump. AUKUS and tariffs will be high on the agenda.

Diplomacy is a tricky business, as we saw this week when what seemed a done deal for signing a major defence treaty with Papua New Guinea didn’t come off.

The meeting with Trump (assuming this time it happens) is quite difficult for Albanese to prepare for. He won’t be talking to your usual run of leader.

Fickle and unpredictable, Trump demands flattery while exercising power ruthlessly, whether over individuals, parts of his own government, organisations or other countries.

This week we have seen how the United Kingdom has tried to cement a relationship by according him a lavish, unprecedented second state visit. Trump would relish the pomp and glitter, but also the fact the British have felt the need to go to such lengths to get on his good side.

Meanwhile Trump has recently flexed extraordinary military muscle with lethal American attacks on Venezuelan boats in international waters.

As time’s gone on it has become increasingly obvious that Trump is not the sort of person Australia would have ever expected to be dealing with as leader of its most important ally. It is not just his politics that differ from those of Albanese, but his values as well.

Managing the diplomacy of the encounter will be delicate. They will have plenty to talk about, and their phone conversations have laid a positive basis for the meeting. But probably some topics will be best avoided. Climate policy, for example.

Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Grattan on Friday: Albanese government’s 2035 target range is aimed at multiple audiences – https://theconversation.com/grattan-on-friday-albanese-governments-2035-target-range-is-aimed-at-multiple-audiences-265380

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Margarita Vladimirova, PhD in Privacy Law and Facial Recognition Technology, Deakin University

Today the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner found retail giant Kmart breached Australians’ privacy.

The company had collected personal and sensitive information through a facial recognition technology system designed to tackle refund fraud – where people try to obtain refunds to which they are not entitled, for example by returning stolen goods.

Between June 2020 and July 2022, Kmart used the system to capture the faces of every person who entered 28 of its retail stores, as well as people who presented at a returns counter.

Kmart’s response

In a statement to the ABC, a Kmart spokeperson said the company was disappointed with the decision and considering an appeal.

Like most other retailers, Kmart is experiencing escalating incidents of theft in stores which are often accompanied by anti-social behaviour or acts of violence against team members and customers.

The spokesperson also said images were only retained

if they matched an image of a person of interest reasonably suspected or known to have engaged in refund fraud. All other images were deleted, and the data was never used for marketing or any other purposes.

A disproportionate application of facial recognition tech

Kmart argued the fact they were attempting to prevent refund fraud meant the consent of the people whose faces they captured was not required.

However, Privacy Commissioner Carly Kind concluded that the use of facial recognition technology to prevent fraud is out of proportion, for several reasons.

First, there are other, less privacy-intrusive methods available to Kmart to address refund fraud. (For example, it could instruct staff to check documents more thoroughly.)

Second, the system was not very useful in preventing fraud. The amount of fraud detected was insignificant, and disproportionate when weighed against the serious privacy risks posed by the collection and management of facial information.

Third, every individual (customer) who entered the store was included in the facial recognition database, regardless of their intent and without their consent.

For these reasons, and as the system affected the privacy of many thousands of individuals not suspected of refund fraud, the collection of biometric information was a disproportionate interference with privacy.

A lack of transparency

Under the Privacy Act, the collection and use of personal information must be both proportionate and transparent. Like the proportionality requirement, the transparency requirement was not satisfied in this case. Customers were neither made aware of the process nor asked for their consent for their facial information to be collected.

Consent is one of the cornerstones in information collection. The Privacy Act provides a limited definition of consent that includes two types of consent: express and implied. Given its unique and sensitive nature, facial information should only be collected under conditions of express consent.

Express consent is when an individual, fully informed, voluntarily and explicitly, agrees to the collection of their information. The agreement may be given in writing, verbally, or through a clear affirmative action.

Simply walking into a store where you usually buy groceries and goods cannot be considered as giving consent.

Appeals to safety

As surveillance technologies expand, the collection of facial information is becoming increasingly normalised in daily life. It is often promoted through carefully crafted nudges such as claims that it is “for safety” or “to prevent fraud”.

My research for my PhD (not yet published, though some preliminary results are available here) has found these nudges change our perception of the ever-increasing presence of facial recognition technology in our lives.

We come to consider security cameras with embedded facial recognition technology to be a norm, rather than interference with our lives. And the justification of “safety” makes it sound reasonable.

The limits of facial recognition

However, the determination against Kmart shows these justifications are weak against thorough tests of reasonability and proportionality.

Facial recognition technology does little to protect against real risks. Only a human security guard can stop an aggressive customer, for example. And as the commissioner note in the Kmart case, the technology may not actually prevent much fraud.

This raises an important consideration for anyone planning to use facial recognition technology for security.

Facial information is unique and valuable. The use of facial recognition technology should be carefully crafted and adjusted.

Less privacy-intrusive measures must be considered first. This will ensure the protection of the privacy rights of individuals – and a balanced approach for society as a whole.

Margarita Vladimirova worked at the OAIC from February to June 2025.

– ref. Kmart broke privacy laws by scanning customers’ faces. What did it do wrong, and why? – https://theconversation.com/kmart-broke-privacy-laws-by-scanning-customers-faces-what-did-it-do-wrong-and-why-265576

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rachel Neale, Professor and Senior Group Leader, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute

What does wearing SPF50+ sunscreen every day do to your vitamin D levels? Our study, recently published in the British Journal of Dermatology, provides some answers.

We found using SPF50+ every day, on all days when the ultraviolet index is forecast to reach three or more, can increase the risk of being vitamin D deficient.

The benefits of sunscreen are well known, so our findings do not mean we should abandon SPF50+.

Rather, it means people who use SPF50+ every day might need to start taking vitamin D supplements.

Why did we run our trial?

Sunscreen is designed to reduce the amount of ultraviolet (UV) radiation reaching the skin’s cells. However, exposing the skin to UV rays from the sun produces vitamin D, so it is reasonable to think that sunscreen would block vitamin D production.

Previous studies found using low SPF sunscreen daily did not cause vitamin D deficiency.

However, nobody had assessed the effect of routinely using high SPF sunscreens in everyday life, so in the Sun-D Trial we tested the effect of using SPF50+ every day.

What did we do?

We recruited 639 adults living in one of the four eastern states of Australia (and the Australian Capital Territory) who were not using sunscreen as part of their daily routine.

We put them randomly into one of two groups. We gave the “sunscreen” group SPF50+ sunscreen and asked them to apply it every day (to all areas of the skin not covered by clothes) when the UV index was forecast to reach three or more for a year.

We asked the “control” group to continue with their usual sun protection.

We measured vitamin D levels at the beginning (late winter/early spring), middle (late summer), and end (late winter) of the study in both groups.

What did we find?

The average vitamin D level increased in both groups from late winter to late summer. However, the increase was significantly lower in the sunscreen group than in the control group.

At the end of the study, vitamin D deficiency was more common in the sunscreen group than in the control group (46% versus 37%).

This is the first study worldwide to test the effect of daily SPF50+ sunscreen use in people as they go about their everyday lives.

What does this mean?

1. Keep using sunscreen

Using sunscreen daily reduces the risk of skin cancer and sunspots. Therefore it is very important Australians continue to use sunscreen every day when the UV index is forecast to reach three or more as part of their daily routine.

For people with deeply pigmented skin, daily sunscreen is not needed because the risk of skin cancers caused by the sun is very low. It is still important, though, to protect the skin if outdoors when the UV index is high.

Using sunscreen should be as routine as brushing your teeth. Continue to use sunscreen with a high SPF (ideally 50+, but 30+ is also OK if you can’t find a 50+ that you like). Don’t rely on sunscreen in makeup, which doesn’t offer enough protection.

If you spend time outdoors for recreation or work when the UV index is three or more, you should cover as much skin as you can with clothing, wear a hat and sunglasses, stay in the shade if you can, and reapply sunscreen every two hours.

2. Consider taking vitamin D

People who use sunscreen daily should consider taking a vitamin D supplement. These are relatively cheap (as little as 5c per day), safe (if used as directed), and effective for preventing vitamin D deficiency.

It is more important to take supplements over winter, as that is when vitamin D deficiency becomes more common.

Vitamin D deficiency is also more common in southern states. In Australia’s National Health Measures Survey, 26% of people in Tasmania were vitamin D deficient (46% in winter) compared to 12% in Queensland (16% in winter).

Is regular sunscreen use the only cause of vitamin D deficiency?

A total of 30% of participants were vitamin D deficient at the start of the study, even though they were not regular sunscreen users. And 37% of the control group (who did not use sunscreen every day) were vitamin D deficient at the end of the study.

This shows regular sunscreen use is not the only reason for being vitamin D deficient. People who rarely go outdoors between 8am and 4pm, or who always cover most of their skin with clothing when they are outside, are at increased risk of being vitamin D deficient.

Should I have my vitamin D levels tested first?

The Australian government only funds vitamin D tests in people where there is a specific clinical reason for testing. Also, it is not always easy for everybody to see a doctor, and not everybody can see a doctor for free.

If you think you might be at risk of being vitamin D deficient because you are careful to protect your skin from the sun – or have other reasons you don’t expose your skin to the sun – you can start taking vitamin D supplements without having your vitamin D tested first. Perhaps discuss this with your doctor when you get a chance.

This is safe, so long as you follow the instructions on the label.

Rachel Neale received funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council for the Sun-D Trial and other studies related to skin cancer and vitamin D.

I have received PhD sholarships from the University of Queensland and the QIMR Berghofer.

Briony Duarte Romero does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. If I use SPF50+ sunscreen every day do I need to take vitamin D? – https://theconversation.com/if-i-use-spf50-sunscreen-every-day-do-i-need-to-take-vitamin-d-265479

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ritu Trivedi, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of Health Sciences, University of Sydney

Apple has announced a package of health features, alongside the launch of the new Apple Watch Series 11, including an alert that the wearer may have high blood pressure, also known as hypertension.

Around 1.3 billion people worldwide have high blood pressure. But almost half are unaware of their diagnosis.

This lack of awareness is often due to limited access to regular medical care, the absence of noticeable symptoms or warning signs, and because a single blood pressure reading could miss the condition.

Better detection of high blood pressure could help prevent heart attacks, strokes, kidney disease and dementia.

But can the Apple Watch really tell if you have high blood pressure?

How does it work?

Limited details are available so far.

But we know the Apple Watch’s high blood pressure indicator is based on analysis of changes in blood volume as your heart beats. These are detected using the light sensor on the back of the watch.

This is not new technology; a number of other companies, such as Samsung and Aktiia, use similar approaches.

When the sensor and underlying algorithm identifies a significant change in blood flow, the user will get an alert that they may have high blood pressure. This is done without a conventional blood pressure cuff that tightens around the arm.

However, if a user receives a “possible hypertension” notification, this is not a diagnosis, as their blood pressure has not yet been measured and confirmed by a health-care professional.

From what we know so far, it seems users won’t be given blood pressure numbers straight from the Apple Watch.

What does the evidence say?

Cuffless blood pressure monitoring devices can be more comfortable and convenient than using arm cuffs. Without a cuff, they can also more easily monitor blood pressure continuously during daily activities.

However, the evidence to show whether these technologies accurately estimate blood pressure remains scarce and with many limitations.

Unlike traditional cuff-based blood pressure devices, there is no standard protocol for manufacturers to test cuffless devices for accuracy, and to ensure they live up to their claims. Without such a protocol, it’s difficult to evaluate and compare their performance.

This is particularly important for cuffless devices, because accuracy depends on how well the signal picks up changes in blood flow – which can vary across different skin tones – and how well it performs in everyday settings, such as when a person is awake or asleep, sitting or standing, active or resting.

Nevertheless, some companies have received clearance from government regulatory agencies to market and sell these technologies as medical devices. Apple has received such clearance for its hypertension technology.

However, cuffless devices for measuring blood pressure are not currently recommended by any clinical guidelines based on the uncertainty about their accuracy. So it’s important to have your blood pressure checked regularly by a health-care professional and potentially also at home using a validated cuff-based device.

There is no evidence yet of how well these technologies would work when used clinically and with real patients. Studies are underway.

What are the challenges?

While these devices hold promise for improving individual and population health, they also pose some challenges.

Alerts for “possible hypertension” are just that: a sign for a potential health concern that needs to be evaluated and confirmed in a health-care setting.

Knowing the breadth of Apple’s market share and the prevalence of undiagnosed hypertension, these alerts have the potential to overburden existing health-care systems and cause patient anxiety.

As these devices become more mainstream, health-care systems may need to adapt to accommodate the growing number of patients seeking care.

What if you want to use it?

If you start using the new Apple Watch and receive the hypertension notification, you should check your blood pressure with a cuff-based monitor over three to seven days and take these readings to your doctor.

The fine print on Apple’s website notes this “possible hypertension” feature should not be used by people under 22 years old, those who are pregnant or those previously diagnosed with hypertension.

Cuffless devices have the potential to improve detection of high blood pressure – an urgent need – and these devices may be the future of optimal heart health. But this potential must be matched by rigorous efforts to confirm their accuracy and relevance for patients and clinicians.

Ritu Trivedi is a member of the Australian National Hypertension Taskforce working groups for patient activation and engagement, and awareness and screening of high blood pressure.

Dean Picone receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, NSW Government Office of Health and Medical Research and is an investigator on a current MRFF grant. He a member of the Hypertension Australia Clinical Council, member of American Heart Association Hypertension Professional/Public Education & Publications Committee and Chair of International Society of Hypertension New Investigator Committee. He has previously received funding from the National Heart Foundation of Australia and acted as a consultant on blood pressure monitoring to the Pan American Health Organisation and United States Centers for Disease Control.

Tammy Brady is a member of the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation sphygmomanometer committee and is a member of the International Organization for Standardization.

– ref. Could an Apple watch really tell you if you have high blood pressure? – https://theconversation.com/could-an-apple-watch-really-tell-you-if-you-have-high-blood-pressure-264987