Yesterday
Consultants are cutting more jobs than just ANU’s
The consulting group’s capture of Canberra has extended to the OAIC. How convenient for clients wanting to block FOI requests.
An accountant asked ChatGPT questions. The answers nearly killed him
For some, conversations with AI chatbots can deeply distort reality, sending them down conspiratorial rabbit holes and reinforcing wild belief systems.
This Month
Wonder why your medical specialist is so pricey? Here are four fixes
Specialist care needs an overhaul. High fees and long waits mean nearly two million Australians are delaying or skipping care that their GP has recommended.
IVF patients share horror stories amid Monash embryo bungle
The revelation of a second mix-up at a Monash IVF clinic this week has led to renewed calls for greater industry regulation.
IDP Education falls down a glass cliff
Andrew Barkla must be relieved he sold nearly everything that wasn’t nailed down when the company was in happier times.
High teacher dropout rates a myth: study
Contrary to popular belief, teachers are less likely to leave than almost any other profession, and many who do, return.
‘It’s difficult times,’ new uni boss admits
If Professor Max Lu has a sense of deja vu, it’s understandable. He’s been through Brexit, but now he’s got to untangle Wollongong from its many troubles.
Australia’s top university on global ranking revealed
The University of NSW has leapfrogged Melbourne and Sydney to take top Australian university on a global ranking.
Unis rake in record foreign student revenues ahead of crackdown
New figures reveal record highs in both the number of overseas students enrolled in 2024, as well as the cash flowing to some universities from tuition fees.
Food orders on HungryPanda delivery app come with a side of black market vapes
New laws are designed to restrict sale to pharmacies, but vapes are “as easy to buy as sweet and sour pork” on one popular food delivery app.
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May
Vice chancellors awarded six-figure pay rises despite salary pressure
The increases pushed the highest-paid university boss for 2024, Duncan Maskell from Melbourne University, past the $1.5 million mark.
Healthscope’s terminal prognosis could be just the start
Another eight private hospitals are earmarked for closure as the operator’s collapse raises questions about the business model.
Brookfield’s comeuppance no cause for health policy complacency
The reality is that both taxpayers funding Medicare services and users of private healthcare will ultimately need to pay for the rising cost of the system.
Healthscope plight shows we can’t afford to let private hospitals fail
The Australian healthcare system grows at GDP plus 2 per cent every year and would collapse in the absence of private healthcare activity.
Is there a least bad alcohol?
I’ve been trying to cut back on alcohol lately, but I do drink occasionally. Are any types of alcohol less risky than others?
Australia should pay attention to what Trump just did to Harvard
Students who have made extraordinary sacrifices to study here are being accused of everything from housing shortage to driving inflation.
Meet the new (ultrathin) champions of body positivity
A new cultural ideal for women is ultrathin but cloaked in the language of inclusivity and self-acceptance.
What families with ‘successful’ kids can teach us about parenting
Do successful parents teach their children the skills and traits they need to achieve, or do the kids inherit them? Probably both.
The personal motivation behind the Ainsworth family’s $50m donation
Endometriosis is a debilitating and painful disease that is little understood. A record research donation aims to improve the treatment options for women.
Health system, workers’ comp at risk in pre-NSW budget warning
Treasurer Daniel Mookhey will warn parliament he won’t top up the underfunded workers’ comp scheme.
Bowel cancer is rising among the young. Is a gut bacterium to blame?
A new paper suggests that exposure to a common toxin in the stomach in early childhood may contribute to premature onset of the disease.
Why teetotallers are such a drag (on the economy)
From an economic thinker’s point of view, teetotalism is an incoherent and damaging ideology.
US PE buys strategic interest in Sydney childcare business
Seidler Equity Partners is now in possession of a minority stake in childcare operator Young Academics, which runs 40 centres across Greater Sydney.
I’m on the NDIS. Here’s what Labor must do to fix it
The National Disability Insurance Scheme’s future hinges on the government’s willingness to listen, reform equitably and invest in all disabled Australians.