Why don't more people volunteer? Misconceptions don't help

Dec 05, 2016 05:06 am UTC| Life

Volunteers in Australia are essential to the provision of a range of services. This includes emergency services, hospitals and schools and volunteers also support the social and cultural life of many communities. Yet...

Governments need to look beyond education rankings and focus on inequities in the system

Dec 05, 2016 04:46 am UTC| Insights & Views Life

The latest Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA) results will be released around the world on December 6. And as usual, there will be a flurry in the news media. Australia will likely have dropped further...

Should we do away with exams altogether? No, but we need to rethink their design and purpose

Dec 04, 2016 23:19 pm UTC| Insights & Views Life

Over the past two decades there have been frequent calls to abandon exams. The major criticisms of exams in schools and universities tend to relate to either the misuse or overuse of exams, and not to the sensible use...

How a serial killer used social media to attract his victims – and why we should all take note

Dec 04, 2016 23:15 pm UTC| Health Life

Stephen Port, a 41-year-old chef living in east London, has been given a whole-of-life prison sentence after being found guilty of the murder of four young men who he lured to his flat before drugging and raping them...

Imitation game: how copies can solve our cultural heritage crises

Dec 04, 2016 19:23 pm UTC| Life

Visitors to the Otsuka Museum in Japan are offered the chance to see through time. Two life-sized copies of Leonardo da Vincis Last Supper are hung on opposing walls, one showing it before the major 1999 restoration, and...

How to talk someone out of a damaging cult

Dec 04, 2016 06:00 am UTC| Life

Many of you will know someone who has suddenly fallen head over heels in love with someone. Some will know people who have done likewise but for a strange religion or group that youve never heard of. What do you say to...

Prison deaths: a case of corporate manslaughter?

Dec 04, 2016 02:47 am UTC| Insights & Views Life Law

Attention has finally fallen on the crisis of safety in British prisons. It shouldnt be a surprise to anyone. Some argue that prison has always inherently been, and remains, a place of degradation which is systematically...