By Judy Ingham, Newsletter Producer, The Conversation
Every day, we publish a selection of your emails in our newsletter. We’d love to hear from you, you can email us at yoursay@theconversation.edu.au.
Monday August 10
“After reading the article about student disengagement, I was struck by the absence of relevance being questioned by the research. With so much emphasis on academic achievement has anyone asked students what they want to learn? There used to be…
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By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne
The latest federal Newspoll has the combined vote for One Nation and the Coalition down two points to 47%. This is in line with most other recent polls, the exception being last week’s Redbridge poll that had the combined right at 53%.
The improved position for the left comes despite Anthony Albanese’s net approval slumping four points to -22, just above his record low in early June.
In Victorian polling ahead of the state election in…
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image Vietnam's President To Lam leads his delegation in a meeting with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at Malacanang Palace in Manila, Philippines, June 1, 2026. © 2026 Rolex Dela Pena/AP Photo As Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese meets with To Lam, Vietnam’s president and general secretary of the Communist Party, in Canberra this week, he shouldn’t forget that he is dealing with one of the region’s most repressive leaders.While minister of Vietnam’s notorious Ministry of Public Security from 2016 to 2024, To Lam oversaw a far-reaching crackdown…
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By Stuart Phillips, Professor, Kinesiology, Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Skeletal Muscle Health, McMaster University
Research has moved past the question of whether we can live longer. The new question is whether we’re willing to invest — seriously, equitably and early — in the things that will help us live better.
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By Kristen Sobeck, Lecturer in Economics, University of Canberra
Should billionaires pay more tax? Californians will vote for whether to introduce a billionaire tax in November. In the United Kingdom, economists recently called for a net wealth tax on assets over £10 million (about A$19 million).
Australia may seem absent from the debate, but it shouldn’t be. The same…
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By Daniel Casey, Lecturer, Politics and International Relations, Australian Catholic University
The latest Newspoll, published last night, showed on federal voting intentions, Labor and One Nation lost 1 percentage point to both sit on 29%, while the Coalition also dropped 1 percentage point to 18%. All of these polls are dutifully reported not just by the media outlet that pays for them, but by other media too.
Yet, we are just over one year out from the most recent federal election, and two years away from the next. Given this, the way the recent rise in One Nation’s polling in particular has shaped political debate, do we have too many polls?
Voice of the people…
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By Ruth McHugh-Dillon, Deputy Health Editor, The Conversation
Shingles (herpes zoster) is often thought of as an older person’s disease.
But in the past two decades, we’ve seen a rise in reported cases of this viral disease – which causes a painful, blistering rash and nerve pain – among younger adults aged 25–49.
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By Bricklyn Priebe, Associate Lecturer in Criminology and Justice, School of Law and Society, University of the Sunshine Coast
In recent weeks we’ve seen more reports of alleged child sexual abuse involving a Sydney childcare worker. There have also been reports of children leaving a Melbourne kindergarten unnoticed and getting onto a busy street.
Stories like these have sadly become a regular feature of the news cycle. And have once…
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By Melissa Lee, Senior Lecturer, School of Mathematics, Monash University
AI-powered breakthroughs are raising big questions about how to do mathematics – and why we do it in the first place.
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By Claire Ferguson, Associate Lecturer in Classics, University of Tasmania
Lesbians were misrepresented and parodied by men in ancient Roman texts. Yet these depictions can reveal a lot if we read between the lines.
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