James Dowling

James DowlingScience and Health Reporter

James Dowling is a reporter in The Australian’s Sydney bureau. As an intern at The Age he was nominated for a Quill award for News Reporting in Writing for his coverage of the REDcycle recycling scheme. When covering health he writes on medical innovations and industry.

James Dowling

Latest

The Australian’s Australian of the YearStage

Theatre producer and renowned impresario Michael Cassel. Picture: Daniel Boud

Impresario Michael Cassel, backstage pioneer, recognised for globetrotting ambition

The producer behind Hamilton, Titanique and The Picture of Dorian Gray has emerged even more ambitious from a landmark year of Australian theatre.

James Dowling

crimeNation

AFP Special Operation Avalite has charged a Western Sydney man with allegedly making death threats to members of a Jewish organisation., , The Blacktown man, 44, was charged today (16 January, 2025) with one count of using a carriage service to make a threat to kill, contrary to section 474.15(1) of the Criminal Code (Cth) and one count of using a carriage service to menace, harass or cause offence, contrary to section 474.17(1) of the Criminal Code Picture - AFP

Alleged death threats prompt first AFP anti-Semitism arrest

Police will argue a Western Sydney man harassed and made death threats to members of a Jewish group online, marking the first arrest of a federal anti-Semitism crackdown.

James Dowling

WALKING PROGRAMHealth

12/1/25: Aunty Bev Donovan with walking mates, Mareen Silleri, (glasses) and Frances Carr ..the Deadly Chicks at the Nepean River in Jamestown. Aunty Bev Donovan is a Gumbaynggirr and Djangadi elder who made a remarkable health change after returning to her hometown and taking up walking, going from 185kg to 67kg. She had lost control of her weight after the death of her mother, twice ending up in hospital for heart failure. After deciding she wanted to make a change, she began walking every day, and eventually found herself a part of four walking groups. John Feder/The Australian.

‘I couldn’t get out of my house’: Aunty Bev lost 118kg and regained her health

When Bev Donovan lost her mother she fell into a depressive spiral that saw her reach a weight of 185kg and risk heart failure. Her journey home brought her back to good health.

James Dowling

P.O.W.Politics

In a video circulating Pro-Russian Telegram channels, Australian mercenary Oscar Jenkins is interrogated by Russian fighters after being captured in Donbas. Picture: Telegram

Pressure grows over ‘dead’ Aussie

A bipartisan commitment to the ‘strongest possible action’ against Russia should it be found to have executed Oscar Jenkins raises questions of how to punish authoritarian regimes on a tense global stage.

James Dowling

Oscar jenkinsDefence

PM, Dutton warn Moscow of ‘strongest action possible’ if Australian PoW executed

Peter Dutton and Anthony Albanese present a bipartisan threat of clear and immediate action against the Kremlin if Australian foreign fighter Oscar Jenkins is confirmed to have been executed.

James Dowling, Liam Mendes and Joseph Olbrycht-Palmer

ExclusiveHealth

3D illustration of a DNA molecule with sparkling effects symbolizing complexity and genetic diversity. Futuristic concept of genomics, precision medicine, and computational life sciences.

ALP cops flak for insurer ban delay

The Coalition and crossbench MPs have turned on the Albanese government for a ‘cruel’, ‘confusing’ delay to the universally supported ban on insurers exploiting genetic test results.

James Dowling

exclusiveHealth

A Mackay doctor has outlined how early onset dementia can be supported or prevented.

HealthLink backflips over GPs’ fees

Australia’s largest medical messaging service has agreed not to charge GPs to use its referral service in a quiet about-face, caving in to complaints it unfairly targeted doctors who were obligated to use its product.

James Dowling

The Australian’s Australian of the YearNation

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - FEBRUARY 16: John Farnham performs during Fire Fight Australia at ANZ Stadium on February 16, 2020 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Cole Bennetts/Getty Images)

Whispering Jack’s courageous voice inspires all of us

In 2024, John Farnham overcame facial disfigurement from radical cancer surgery as well as a very public reckoning with abhorrent historic abuse – in the process reminding us all of his inspiring courage and tenacity.

James Dowling

incredible rescueNation

In a photo released on 9th December, 2025, missing bushwalker Hadi Nazari poses for a photograph with NSW Police after being found in Kosciuszko National Park by a group of hikers. Picture: NSW Police

‘Tears, hugs, then jokes’: The magic moment hiker found help

Hadi Nazari was ‘really struggling’ when he stumbled across a group of hikers and thought he had been lost for a week instead of 13 days, one of the bushwalkers who found him has revealed.

James Dowling

ECONOMYEconomics

8 JANUARY 2025. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (centre) with Solomon MP Luke Gosling (left) and Minister Catherine King (right) in Mount Isa, Queensland today. Picture: Supplied by the PMO's Office

Albanese passes the buck on rates

As investors moved to bolster their bets of a February rate cut, Anthony Albanese has given his most strident defence yet of the recent surge in government spending.

Jack Quail and James Dowling

Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/author/james-dowling/page/3