This Month
- Opinion
- Australian economy
How to get fiscal dividend from a jobs, skills and training virtuous cycle
Reforms in vocational and higher education, and migration, can realistically aim to promote economic growth and would more than repay the upfront investment cost.
- Peter Dawkins
Gut bacteria, psychedelics and the future of mental health treatments
This accessible book looks at how our brains work and evaluates hyped treatments for our most common psychological problems.
- Tanveer Ahmed
- Opinion
- Coronavirus pandemic
Nobel for mRNA vaccine shows power of perseverance
Some of the joy of today’s prize is that it rewards Katalin Karikó’s many decades of effort to convince the world mRNA held promise as a therapeutic.
- Lisa Jarvis
Commissions banned, students monitored under visa fraud crackdown
The government says the “roots and loopholes” plaguing the visa system will be over after a raft of reforms and changes this week.
- Julie Hare
Government threatens to ‘name and shame’ childcare centres gouging
Margins in the sector are highly varied, with head office expenses and the cost of chains trying to grow chewing up large operators’ profits.
- Nick Bonyhady and Julie Hare
Market forces in childcare have failed families: ACCC
Childcare in Australia is less affordable than almost all other comparable countries and despite government contributions being almost double the OECD average.
- Julie Hare
September
Wealthy parents are spending $1.2m to get kids into top unis
With 24/7 tutors and lots of hand-holding, high-end consultants are taking the admissions race in the US to the next level.
- Francesca Maglione and Paulina Cachero
- Opinion
- University
It’s time to reshape universities for national good
Our tertiary institutions are a national asset, but collaboration with industry is a missed opportunity and should be a focus of the review now under way.
- Innes Willox
Cleared of rape, a university student sues for defamation
A woman’s allegation led to the expulsion from Yale of Saifullah Khan, who is seeking $170 million through a lawsuit that could end her anonymity.
- Vimal Patel
- Opinion
- High school
Why we need to rethink careers education in schools
While some positive school-community engagement exists, it is still not systemically embedded in the ways schools operate.
- Doug Taylor
- Exclusive
- Childcare
The best start for kids free of fees, Centrelink and activity tests
New analysis reveals poor families readily accessed childcare when it was free during the pandemic – the very children who will get the greatest benefit.
- Julie Hare
- Opinion
- Research
These fridges cost $1m, but our future depends on them
Australia needs a new vision for a collaborative approach to lift our investment in R&D.
- Emma Johnston
- Opinion
- Sex & relationships
Contos wants your teenage boys to understand sex
At 15, I learnt that what I considered regular male sexual behaviour was criminal. The realisation helped ignite a national movement.
- Chanel Contos
- Opinion
- University
Opening doors to China is good for everyone
Learning, education and knowledge can change our relationships and the world. We need to know this Asian giant more, not less.
- Vicki Thomson
- Opinion
- Alcohol
Weight loss drugs such as Ozempic also cut the desire to drink alcohol
The makers of intoxicating beverages could become big losers if the likes of Wegovy and Mounjaro become widely used.
- Lisa Jarvis and Leticia Miranda
The end of addiction? Scientists are re-engineering our brains
New gene therapies could hold the key to freeing addicts from their abusive cycles – but will altering their receptors change their personalities as well?
- David Cox
- Opinion
- Education
Private colleges the only way to get to O’Kane’s big target
The universities accord holds at its core a doubling of the number of university students by 2050. The only way to get there is to embrace the private sector.
- Peter Hendy
August
O’Neil cancels COVID visa to stamp out rorting
Immigration minister Clare O’Neil has put an end to the 408 visa that has been abused by migration agents and students as a backdoor to the jobs market.
- Julie Hare
‘Dud’ teaching degrees to blame for failing schools: Henderson
The opposition education minister said “deficient” university teacher education courses were to blame for falling school performance and should be defunded.
- Julie Hare
Outgoing ANU boss predicts greater role for private colleges
A 20-year horizon on higher education will be very different from today, says Brian Schmidt, who revealed his role behind Christopher Pyne’s “fixer” moment.
- Julie Hare
