With a billion reasons not to trust super trustees, we need regulators to act in the public interest

By Samantha Hepburn

Did you think to yourself that taking money to which there was no entitlement raised a question of the criminal law? Commissioner Kenneth Hayne asked Nicole Smith, who resigned as chair of NABs superannuation trustee,...

One year on for Ardern's coalition government in New Zealand

By Richard Shaw

Shortly before last yearss general election in Aotearoa New Zealand, a Morrinsville farmer protesting the then opposition Labour Partys planned water tax held up a placard describing its newly minted leader, Jacinda...

When Thailand and Australia were closer neighbours, tectonically speaking

By Alan Collins Et Al

Thousands of Australians travel to Thailand each year to lie on a beach at Phuket, meditate at a Buddhist temple in Ayutthaya, spot wild elephants at Khao Yai National Park, or go on some other adventure. But how many...

Bioenergy carbon capture: climate snake oil or the 1.5-degree panacea?

By Paul Behrens

With the release of the latest special report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, its time we talk frankly about Bioenergy Carbon Capture and Sequestration, known as BECCS. It is one of the key technologies...

VIDEO: Michelle Grattan on Morrison's pitch for the Jewish vote in Wentworth

By Michelle Grattan

Michelle Grattan discusses the week in Australian politics with University of Canberras deputy VC Nick Klomp. They discuss Scott Morrisons announcement regarding the possible relocation of Australias embassy to Jerusalem,...

What the world can learn from Greece's passion for the arts

By Constantine Passaris

Throughout the ages, Greece has created an inspiring legacy in the arts and culture. Renowned Greek philosophers, architects, sculptors, poets and playwrights like Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, Herodotus, Sophocles,...

The surprising secret to successful psychotherapy

By Edward A. Johnson

As a clinical psychologist and educator, I am often asked to recommend a psychotherapist for people in need. These requests come with a sense of urgency to find the best possible therapist. Many people are at a loss over...

Capitalism needs a reboot so that no industry is too big to fail

By Deborah de Lange

The financial crisis of 2008 has not led us to take sufficient steps to avoid the next economic disaster. The dips in stock markets last February and just recently, together with dire predictions for early 2019, are...

How we solved an Arctic mercury mystery

By Feiyue Wang

In the Canadian Arctic, a mystery has troubled scientists and local communities for decades: Why do marine animals in the western Arctic have higher mercury levels than those in the east? The trend is seen throughout...

Pacific nations aren't cash-hungry, minister, they just want action on climate change

By Katerina Teaiwa

Environment Minister Melissa Price has been trending on Twitter this week and not for any good environmental reasons. Price was introduced to the former president of Kiribati, Anote Tong, during a dinner at a Canberra...

The Morrison government's biggest economic problem? Climate change denial

By Judith Brett

Last week Peter Costello accused Malcolm Turnbull of failing to develop an economic narrative to unite the Coalition. Turnbull promised this when he challenged Tony Abbott for the leadership of the Liberal Party, but, said...

Family as 'brand' – the rise of the digital mumpreneur

By Camilla Nelson

Taylen has become a brand, says Angelica Calad, the mumpreneur behind the #influencer account #taylensmom. Taylen Biggs, age five, has more than 150,000 followers. In an era of advertising ennui, #influencers like Taylens...

With the right help, bears can recover from the torture of bile farming

By Edward Narayan

Bear bile farms, which exist in some Asian countries like Vietnam and China, are a terrible reality for Asiatic black bears (Ursus thibetanus). The bears spend their lives confined in tiny steel or concrete cages. They...

From peaceful coexistence to potential peril: the bacteria that live in and on us

By Mark Blaskovich

Bacteria are everywhere, including in and on our bodies. There are estimated to be as many bacteria in a human body as there are human cells. Much like Pig Pen in the comic strip Peanuts, we actually carry around a...

Please don't dismiss the PC inquiry into mental health as 'just another inquiry'

By Allan Fels

While chairing the National Mental Health Commission I pushed hard for an all-encompassing review of mental health, and I have welcomed the recent announcement that the Productivity Commission will conduct one. But Ive...

The housing market might deflate, but it might pop. Here's how

By Richard Holden

There are two things that can happen to an asset price bubble. It can burst dramatically, or deflate slowly. Which brings us to the Australian housing market. Prices in Sydney and Melbourne continue to decline at a...

Reimagining Sydney: this is what needs to be done to make a Central City CBD work

By Tooran Alizadeh

In my article yesterday showing how far Greater Parramatta is from hosting one of three metropolitan CBDs proposed by the Greater Sydney Commission, the verdict was clear: The Sydney metropolis has a very long and...

A Goblin could guide us to a mystery planet thought to exist in the Solar system

By Jonti Horner Et Al

Out in the depths of the Solar system, astronomers recently discovered a small, icy object, named 2015 TG387. First observed in October 2015, it has been nicknamed The Goblin by its discoverers. It is currently almost...

Oxford-style debate: Ethno-nationalism and systemic crisis are symptoms of the present

By Gazi Islam

In his 1999 book The Bridge over the Racial Divide, William Julius Wilson wrote that economic insecurity creates conditions that hollow out the civic values of liberal democracy, and constitutes the breeding grounds for...

We tracked coral feeding habits from space to find out which reefs could be more resilient

By Michael D. Fox Et Al

Coral reefs are an invaluable source of food, economic revenue, and protection for millions of people worldwide. The three-dimensional structures built by corals also provide nourishment and shelter for over a quarter of...

How the stigma of contagion keeps alive Romantic notions of how the Brontës died

By Jo Waugh

Bizarrely, the idea that Branwell Bront had sex with his sister Emily appears to have been more palatable than the idea that he might have given her tuberculosis or that the infection might have passed to Anne from either...

Prince William shows conservation still has a problem with 'white saviours'

By Hannah Mumby

Prince William recently spoke at one of the largest illegal wildlife summits ever held in London. He said, Poaching is an economic crime against ordinary people and their futures. The quote could have been better....

Pesticides and suicide prevention – why research needs to be put into practice

By Duleeka Knipe Et Al

As many as 800,000 people around the world die every year by suicide, with 76% of these deaths in low and middle income countries like India and China. Between 110,000 and 168,000 people die from self-poisoning using...

How the EU's identity crisis poses a real threat to peace in the Balkans

By Timothy Less

It is a truism that Europe is in crisis. Its central authority, the European Union, has overreached with its determination to unify the continent, intruding too deeply into its ancient nations sovereign affairs. The...

Scott Morrison braces for judgement by Malcolm Turnbull's old voters

By Michelle Grattan

With a mix of gall and desperation, Scott Morrison appeals to the electors of Wentworth to vote for stability. He warns against sending the government into minority rule, forced to ignore the fact that if this happened the...

Can the UN address root causes of conflict? Arab Spring case study

By Tuba Turan

From 2010 to 2012, Arab states in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region experienced dramatic upheavals in what came to be known as the Arab Spring. These popular uprisings were triggered by an economic downturn...

What's needed to do a better job of pre-empting disease outbreaks

By William B Karesh

The concept of One Health is deceptively simple: its the recognition that human, animal and environmental health are all inherently linked. Put into practice, it means approaching global health issues such as disease...

Modern slavery: migrants forced to work gruelling hours at hand car washes

By Akilah Jardine

Chances are you will have seen them, at the side of the road, at petrol stations or supermarket car parks. You might have even used one with low competitive pricing and a quick finish, its hard not to feel like a hand car...

Do some people really want to get HIV? I spoke 'bug chasers' around the world to find out

By Jaime García-Iglesias

Why would anybody want to get infected with HIV? That is what most people ask when they first hear about bug chasing. In fact, a number of gay men, at least online, appear to clamour for HIV. They are known as bug chasers...

Europe's set to blast off to Mercury – here's the rocket science

By David Rothery

The European Space Agency (ESA) will launch its BepiColombo mission to the planet Mercury from its spaceport near the equator in Kourou, French Guyana, on October 20. My involvement in the mission means that I will be...

The problem with using 'super recognisers' to spot criminals in a crowd

By Emma Portch

People often say that they never forget a face, but for some people, this claim might actually be true. So-called super recognisers are said to possess exceptional face recognition abilities, often remembering the faces of...

Why the world needs more women CEOs

By Kiran Trehan

Female CEOs of large firms are a rare breed. In the US in 2015, there were more CEOs called John running big companies in the US than women. In 2016, there were only six female CEOs in the firms covered by the FTSE 100...

Blockchains won't fix internet voting security – and could make it worse

By Ari Juels Et Al

Looking to modernize voting practices, speed waiting times at the polls, increase voter turnout and generally make voting more convenient, many government officials and some companies hawking voting systems are looking...

Trump sees opportunity in Venezuela's humanitarian crisis as midterms approach

By Marco Aponte-Moreno

President Donald Trump has spoken forcefully about the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela, calling it a human tragedy at the United Nations General Assembly in September. Venezuelas humanitarian crisis which began in...

What Thomas Jefferson, Donald Trump and the American people think about freedom of the press

By Jill Darling Et Al

No government ought to be without censors and where the press is free no one ever will, wrote Thomas Jefferson to George Washington. It is a powerful description of press freedom and the crucial role of the press in a...

Spiders scare me, but I also find them fascinating – and they help with my art

By Eleanor Morgan

Eight schools in London have closed this month because of an infestation of spiders. The schools reported that they were concerned for the childrens well-being so they sent their pupils home in one case for a whole month....

Would a Space Force mean the end of NASA?

By Wendy Whitman Cobb

Space, that final frontier, is something that catches the attention of a country naturally inclined to believe in ideas like Manifest Destiny and American exceptionalism. But how well does a Space Force fit that bill? And...

Why health apps are like the Wild West, with Apple just riding into town

By Michael L. Millenson

The heart rate monitor built into the new Apple Watch has sparked sharp debate over its risks and benefits, even though the feature was cleared by the Food and Drug Administration. But out of the spotlight, the FDA has...

Wicked problems and how to solve them

By Ana de Almeida Kumlien Et Al

Wicked problems are issues so complex and dependent on so many factors that it is hard to grasp what exactly the problem is, or how to tackle it. Wicked problems are like a tangled mess of thread its difficult to know...

How Syrian architects can start to rebuild – even in the devastation of war

By Ammar Azzouz1

The war in Syria has turned many of its cities into battlegrounds. Places like Aleppo, Homs and Raqqa have been reshaped beyond recognition by the destruction of architecture and the mass displacement of...

We're doing drug trials wrong – here's how to fix it

By Tracy Hussell

By the age of 65, at least half of us will suffer from two or more long-term diseases. And the chance of having multi-morbidity, as it is known, increases with age. Only 9% of people with coronary heart disease have no...

Compensating underage people smugglers from Indonesia for their unlawful treatment in Australia

By Antje Missbach Et Al

Indonesian and Australian lawyers have taken up the cases involving Indonesian minors who were caught manning boats that smuggled asylum seekers to Australia. The Australian authorities used to treat many minors like...

How rare minerals form when meteorites slam into Earth

By Nick Timms

The discovery of a rare mineral (reidite) at the Woodleigh meteorite impact structure in Western Australia was published this week by Curtin University honours student Morgan Cox and colleagues. Reidite and other...

15% of students admit to buying essays. What can universities do about it?

By Jedidiah Evans

New research on plagiarism at university has revealed students are surprisingly unconcerned about a practice known as contract cheating. The term contract cheating was coined in 2006, and describes students paying for...

Criticism of Western Civilisation isn't new, it was part of the Enlightenment

By Matthew Sharpe

The duelling sides in todays cultural wars about Western civilization are united in one thing, at least - each is inclined to gloss over the extent to which Western civilisation has always been deeply complex and...

Calculating the odds of a Trump impeachment: don't bet the house on it

By Tim Trudgian

What are the chances of US President Donald Trump being removed from office if the Democrats do retake the House of Representatives in the upcoming midterm elections, or at least make significant gains? These days, you...

More than a habit? When to worry about nail biting, skin picking and other body-focused repetitive behaviours

By Imogen Rehm Et Al

Nail-biting, nose-picking, mouth-chewing, skin-picking, hair-pulling we all do some of them, some of the time. Some normal grooming behaviours help maintain good hygiene (such as picking at a dirty finger nail) and...

How to make work menopause-friendly: don't think of it as a problem to be managed

By Kathleen Riach Et Al

For many, menopause conjures up feelings of embarrassment, hot flushes, mood swings and sleep disturbance. It doesnt usually conjure up thoughts about the workplace. Yet menopause at work is fast becoming a target of...

The resonances between Indigenous art and images captured by microscopes

By Roger Wepf

Rich visual parallels between Indigenous artworks and microscopic natural structures hidden in the world around us reveal unexpected and intriguing similarities that can deepen our respect for our country and its...

No-deal Brexit: survey reveals 44% of people expect the UK to crash out of EU

By Bobby Duffy Et Al

As the Brexit negotiations grind on, and with a withdrawal agreement still seeming elusive, the British people are becoming more pessimistic about what Brexit might mean. A major new survey by the Policy Institute at Kings...