New research from The Australia Institute finds that Australia is the most expensive developed country for families to send a child to high school. It costs Australian families $4,967 per year - almost four times the OECD average. Read more: theaus.in/4anjEAp

Why do we only operate a buyback scheme after an unspeakable tragedy? Why not before? Why not regularly, so that we might get more guns off the streets and prevent a thousand tragedies as women are murdered by their partners? Surely that would be a good use of government money.

This is the sort of thing that defines fascism more than most other aspects. The installation of secret police to monitor everyone for suspicion not of doing anything wrong, but of being the wrong kind of person.

SUVs and big Utes "are 44 per cent more likely to kill an adult pedestrian or cyclist in a crash compared with a sedan, and 82 per cent more likely to kill a child" www.theage.com.au/national/vic...

Great to have the chance to talk about our research in this article for The Point! In it we emphasise the risks GenAI raises for Indigenous Education and what came from our recent study testing LLMs on Indigenous topics. 🦘🎓 #edusky #academicsky thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...

Former #ANU Vice-Chancellor, Genevieve Bell, will receive remuneration of more than half a million a year for the next five years - despite taking 12 months off. For context, that's more than ANU hoped to 'save' annually by disestablishing the School of Music. 🫠 @nteunion.bsky.social

Anti-abortion campaigner Joanna Howe spent close to $100,000 in one month on anti-abortion advertising on Meta, in the lead up to the anti-abortion bill debate in the SA Parliament. She outspent BHP! www.indailysa.com.au/news/just-in...

Thank goodness for advocates like @gemkillen.bsky.social speaking truth to those in positions of power www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

This would have been very funny if it wasn't also a terrifying part of the complete eradication of democracy in the states. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...

At a time when some use the language of feminism to attack trans rights, it’s vital to see feminist activists and scholars counteract such attacks. Feminist Legal Studies is inviting papers for a special issue that will explore how feminist goals and trans liberation are connected. Check it out. ✊🏾🏳️‍⚧️

I don't know how anyone is getting anything done while the world is the way it is. How to focus on writing my silly little policy briefs or my budget submission when SO MANY things are SO TERRIBLE.

Australian National University vice-chancellor Genevieve Bell has resigned from her position.

“If the most prestigious university in Australia will not fund our most prestigious literary journal, then it makes you question whether or not universities actually care about Australian culture.” johnmenadue.com/post/2025/09...

Disgraceful decision. www.theguardian.com/books/2025/s...

Here's fun. The Business Council of Australia put out a press release and new report about how to make healthcare more efficient. One of the big claims in the press release: "AI has the potential to free up 30 per cent of a clinician’s time, allowing them to spend more time with Australians"

'Disgraceful': Marchers storm Indigenous group www.thenewdaily.com.au/news/nationa...

To be clear, I feel strongly about safety in childcare, but it is understaffing and high turnover that creates signficant risk in ECEC, and CCTV - with no assurance for workers' or children's right to privacy - will make it worse.

Let's surveil the predominantly female workforce that is already underpaid and over-stretched and see what that does for staffing levels. Even where they mention privacy it's in relation to children, not the workers - who are ignored in the whole conversation. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08...

Didn't you know it was ok to starve sick and disabled people?

Of course, women work less hours than men in many jobs - but in most jobs, that doesn't explain the pay gap. @theguardian.com have made this helpful graph to show the difference btween the pay gap and the hours worked gap. Pathologists have a pay gap of 74% but an hours gap of only 12%.

I am nerding out over the data in Jobs and Skills Australia's Gender Equality Study. Did you know that female truck drivers work 10% more hours and get paid 5% less than male truck drivers? Female family day care workers work 28% more hours and get paid 22% less than male family day care workers!

Well done to Josh Taylor for sinking the boot into the Productivity Commission's risible report on AI. Rubbish like this suggests it's well past time to abolish the Productivity Commission altogether. Put the funding into actual research, not this nonsense www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

The Productivity Commission has floated an idea to expand the fair use provision, which would make the kind of scraping AI companies do to train ChatGPT et al legal. Authors and other creatives are rightly outraged. NB: this isn't the first time the PC has come for book publishing.

"If ANU is serious about preparing students to lead in the public interest as public servants, community organisers, researchers and analysts, it must retain an autonomous, standalone school of sociology." @nteunion.bsky.social stands against #ANU job cuts. www.canberratimes.com.au/story/902804...

This was my list - four out of ten isn't bad!

A whopping 16% of the top THIRTY were women! Only FIVE songs! I don't think it's true that there aren't as many women in Australian music, I think it's just that many Australians don't think of the work of women as exemplary or iconic.

Literally screamed when Untouched started playing

So far top 20 is all men (and Julia) - what's what about

The ABS have calculated the monetary value of unpaid care in Australia. In Sep 2024 quarter, unpaid care in Aus was valued at $308.4 billion! Women are responsible for two thirds of that value! Imagine, if we had actually been paid, we might have been able to buy a couple of hypothetical submarines!

#AcademicSky: Are you a social scientist researching the future of #work and #care? Do consider submitting an abstract for a contributed volume, edited by a stellar team: docs.google.com/forms/d/11V0... #sociology @hss.springernature.com @lutfunlata.bsky.social @drshereegregory.bsky.social

Chief Economist Greg Jericho reviews Acoss’s new myth-busting report on Australia’s tax system. “If you can’t admit Australia is a low-taxing nation, then you should not get entry into any roundtable discussion on the topic.” @grogsgamut.bsky.social #auspol

“We sleep hungry and wake up hungry, and thirsty, too, with the desalination stations barely operating,” Heba said. “The entire world sees everything, yet they close their eyes as if they don’t.” www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

The PALM visa program is unbelievably flawed. A regional GP says 95% of women she sees for reproductive care are choosing abortions so they don't breach visa conditions. Others have babies that sleep on the floor in beyond substandard living conditions. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06...

This is insane

While the media drone on about how hard it is for people with most than $3 million in super to lose some of their tax breaks, in reality the vast majority of Australians have less than $200k in super. The median for a 60 year old woman is just $158k, which means half of women have less than that!

Yesterday the Commonwealth Ombudsman released a report that there is at least $1.9 billion in child support debt in Australia that Services Australia is doing nothing to address. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06...

3.5% Annual Wage Review — good decision, recognising minimum wage workers wages have been squeezed for years, and now is the time to decide a ‘real increase’.

"Confected outrage at the very wealthy paying slightly more tax is misguided and misdirected." Great piece on proposed super changes by @gemkillen.bsky.social womensagenda.com.au/latest/dont-...

"Not queer like a rainbow slapped onto a Wells Fargo debit card, gay as in let's hurl a Molotov cocktail thru the window of the bank at nightfall and kiss while we watch the glass shatter like a supernova." —Ally Ang beestungmag.com/issue21/two-...

I ordered one of these too, and I am so excited to wear it!

Comfort. My @smh @theage cartoon.

When our major parties tell us who they are when it comes to addressing climate crisis or First Nations rights and heritage, we need to believe them. Approving a 'carbon bomb' that will threaten over 50 000 year old rock art. A disgraceful use of power. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

You could not write better satire than this

If environmental activists behaved in this way, we would see swift and draconian action. What does that tell us about priorities? www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...

I wish the government had to justify their policy choices on all of their websites. For example, nannies, housekeepers, and private domestic carers are not entitled to superannuation unless they work more than 30 hours a week. 9/10 of these workers are women, and 3/4 work part time. Wtf??

The government’s $16 billion in HECS debt relief is welcome, but it does nothing for students new to the system. They still face unreasonable fees, including over $50,000 for an arts degree. This is a great piece from the VC of Western Sydney Uni, outlining a vision for the future of higher ed.

How boring it must be to believe that everything is a consequence of "biology" and nothing can ever change or improve