A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
Nigel Howard, Flinders University and Andrew Bills, Flinders University A significant proportion of young Australians still do not finish high school. According to data released by the Productivity Commission on Tuesday, about one in five students leave before they reach Year 12. In 2022, about 79% of students started Year 12, the lowest in the [...]
Clare Littleton, Torrens University Australia and Caitlin Reader, Torrens University Australia The “social determinants of health” is a fancy way of describing a simple idea: that a person’s health is influenced not just by what they eat or do but also by social factors. These include: access to education (including in early childhood) your parents’ [...]
Kelsey Chapman, Griffith University; Angel Dixon, Griffith University; Elizabeth Kendall, Griffith University, and Katie Kelly, Griffith University When the 2022 Australian of the Year was announced, Dylan Alcott wheeled onto the stage. Australian audiences are tuning in to watch TV shows featuring people with disability: You Can’t Ask That, Love on the Spectrum and [...]
Sarah Wayland, University of New England The thought of her, as always, gave me a jolt of hope, and a burst of energy. And a stab of sorrow. Prince Harry’s reflection on his mother Princess Diana, who died unexpectedly when he was just 12 years old, appears in his memoir Spare, released officially this week. [...]
Clara Wilson, Queen's University Belfast Dogs have a long history alongside humans, giving them an amazing ability to read human cues. Dogs also possess an incredible sense of smell, which enables them to detect diseases, such as COVID and lung cancer, in humans from odour alone. Whether dogs’ capabilities extend to detecting odours associated with [...]
Andrew Whitehouse, The University of Western Australia Eligibility for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) came under scrutiny this week, after NDIS minister Bill Shorten said he was considering whether a diagnosis of attention-defecit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) should grant automatic eligibility for the NDIS. The minister since walked back these comments, with a spokesperson explaining [...]
Christian Moro, Bond University and Charlotte Phelps, Bond University After 50 years of research, eminent Stanford University sleep researcher William Dement reportedly said the only solid explanation he knows for why we sleep is “because we get sleepy”. Even though sleep may be, as one researcher put it, “the only major behaviour in search of a function”, it clearly [...]
Melanie Woodfield, University of Auckland and Jin Russell, University of Auckland Exam season is fast approaching for many senior students in New Zealand and Australia. At the best of times, adolescents may struggle with ambition and drive, let alone after two-and-a-half years of COVID-induced disruption and uncertainty. But parents can still nurture their teens’ motivation [...]
Joseph Crawford, University of Tasmania; Kelly-Ann Allen, Monash University, and Lea Waters, The University of Melbourne Imagine you have years-worth of research and it is dismissed by a 15-word rejection letter from a journal editor. That has happened to us. Or peer reviewers write demeaning, anonymous commentary about your work. That has also happened to [...]
Jessica Holloway, Australian Catholic University It’s that time of year again when parents and students anxiously await their NAPLAN results. NAPLAN is a nationwide test of literacy and numeracy that all students in years 3, 5, 7 and 9 are expected to take. It doesn’t impact entrance to high school or university, but is a [...]
