Natasha Bita

Natasha Bita is a multi-award winning journalist with a focus on free speech, education, social affairs, aged care, health policy, immigration, industrial relations and consumer law. She has won a Walkley Award, Australia’s most prestigious journalism award, and a Queensland Clarion Award for feature writing. Natasha has also been a finalist for the Graham Perkin Australian Journalist of the Year Award and the Sir Keith Murdoch Award for Excellence in Journalism. Her reporting on education issues has won the NSW Professional Teachers’ Council Media Award and an Australian Council for Educational Leaders award. Her agenda-setting coverage of aged care abuse won an Older People Speak Out award. Natasha worked in London and Italy for The Australian newspaper and News Corp Australia. She is a member of the Canberra Press Gallery and the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance. Contact her by email natasha.bita@news.com.au

@natasha_bita

Natasha Bita

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exclusiveEducation

03/06/2022 : Noel Pearson enjoys time with indigenous students, shortly before delivering a talk about Mabo, at his old school, St Peters Lutheran College in Indooroopilly, Brisbane. Lyndon Mechielsen/The Australian

Pearson’s explicit plea: roll out direct instruction to all classrooms

As the teacher union demands more cash to lift student results in NAPLAN literacy and numeracy tests, Indigenous leader Noel Pearson has other ideas.

Natasha Bita

LIST OF TOP SCHOOLSEducation

CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA - December 3, 2024: Year 5 students Faith and Elodie reading at St Thomas Aquinas Primary School in Canberra. Picture: Martin Ollman

Return to old-school teaching sends NAPLAN results through roof

An old-school teaching method known as explicit instruction has lifted student performance in this year’s NAPLAN tests of literacy and numeracy | SEE THE LIST of schools making a difference

Natasha Bita

EXCLUSIVEEducation

The new independent National Student Ombudsman will be led by Sarah Bendall (L), pictured with Jason Clare, in an image posted to social media on November 29, 2024. Picture: Facebook

New Student Ombudsman flags slugging unis to cover costs

Flagging the possibility of a levy on universities to fund the ombudsman service, Sarah Bendall warns her 65-strong staff would have the powers of a royal commission to compel universities to answer questions.

Natasha Bita

EXCLUSIVEEducation

5/4/24: Chinese student (not to be identified) studying at the University of Western Sydney as an international student. On top of $30,000 a year in tuition fees he struggles to find anywhere to live and is currently paying $300 a week for a room in a share house. John. Feder/The Australian.

Private colleges threaten to sue over caps

The Albanese government’s ‘dunderheaded’ approach to slashing international student numbers had cost jobs and harmed businesses, says Independent Tertiary Education Council Australia chief executive Troy Williams.

Natasha Bita

EXCLUSIVENation

Ombudsman’s focus on campus sex assault and racism

With the power to probe assault and rape allegations without involving police, Australia’s first National Student Ombudsman has outlined her immediate priorities.

Natasha Bita

safetyNation

Families ‘afraid’ to seek help in abuse, neglect cases

A leading child protection expert has warned the system is ‘not fit for purpose’, suggesting Indigenous children are being taken from their families at rates akin to the Stolen Generation.

Natasha Bita

InflationNation

The cost of living tops the list of concerns of young Australians in Mission Australia's 2024 Youth Survey. Photo supplied.

Cost of living tops teen worries

Climate change has been overtaken by the cost of living as the top concern for Australian’s young people, the nation’s biggest youth survey reveals.

Natasha Bita

SchoolingEducation

Female primary school students wearing blue gingham dresses with boys in background Picture: Istock

Private school numbers on the up

Families are voting with their feet when it comes to education, as private schools boost enrolments in the outer suburbs.

Natasha Bita

‘Threat to democracy’Nation

Apple iPhone 6s screen with social media applications Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Google, Youtube, Vimeo, LinkedIn, Pinterest, WhatsApp etc.

AI can be used to build bombs and bioweapons: Home Affairs

Hackers could ‘jailbreak’ AI models to steal information for industrial-scale data breaches and ransomware attacks, a Senate inquiry has been told.

Natasha Bita

educationEducation

A teacher sits on the edge of a desk in an empty classroom, he is stressed

Student trauma, violent parents: Teachers’ horrors uncovered

Suicide attempts and threats by school students have affected one in nine principals, a shocking new study shows as teachers detail ‘heartbreaking trauma’ in classrooms.

Natasha Bita

Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/author/natasha-bita/page/2