By Katharina Kretschmer, PhD Candidate, School of Social Sciences, Adelaide University
Lisa Hill, Professor of Politics, Adelaide University
With state elections coming up on November 28, you might have wondered: how secure is postal voting in Victoria?
To find out, one of us (Katharina Kretschmer) undertook a research internship at the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) between August 2024 and March 2025, with blocks of on-site work during important stages of the 2024 Victorian local government elections. This involved being inducted first as a temporary member of staff and then observing the ballot paper journey and VEC security processes firsthand.
This unprecedented opportunity allowed independent scholars…
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By Kenya Fernandes, Research Fellow, Faculty of Science, University of Sydney
Jasmin Li, PhD Candidate, Fernandes Lab and Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution (BEE) Lab, University of Sydney
A grazed knee. A cut while gardening. A routine hip replacement. For most of the past century, these were minor worries. But in a world where antibiotics stop working, any of them could turn deadly.
Drug-resistant infections are on the rise, and developing new drugs is difficult, expensive and slow. This has researchers looking beyond conventional medicines for new ways to fight harmful microbes.
One place worth investigating is surprisingly close to home: the nests…
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By John E. Jones III, President, Dickinson College
The Trump administration is fighting one battle after another in the nation’s courts over its power – or lack thereof – in the 2026 midterm elections.
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (left) and Vietnamese President To Lam before a meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam, May 2, 2026. © 2026 Kyodo News via AP Photo (Tokyo) – Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi should urge Vietnamese President To Lam to make concrete progress on human rights during his official visit to Japan from November 8 to 11, 2026, Human Rights Watch said today.Human Rights Watch wrote to Prime Minister Takaichi expressing concerns about Vietnam’s intensifying crackdown on human rights. The repression violates obligations…
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image Detainees stand behind cell bars at the police immigration detention center in Bangkok, Thailand, January 21, 2019. © 2019 Sakchai Lalit/AP Photo (Bangkok) – Thai authorities should not forcibly return two Uyghur men to China, where they face grave risks of torture and other serious abuses, Human Rights Watch said today. The two men, whose names are not public for security reasons, were transferred from prison to immigration detention in Bangkok after receiving a royal pardon, apparently in preparation for deportation.“Previous Thai governments have kept…
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By Michael Baker, Professor of Public Health, University of Otago
Nick Wilson, Professor of Public Health, University of Otago
A new report identifies 17 threats to human health through to the year 2100. Many are preventable, but tackling them demands governments think long-term.
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By Amnesty International
Amnesty International condemns the decision by Peru’s Public Prosecutor’s Office to close the investigation into the forced sterilisation of 4,172 Peruvian women during the 1990s. This decision was taken pursuant to Law 32107, passed in 2024, which allows statutes of limitations to be applied to war crimes and crimes against humanity committed before 1 July […] The post Peru: Closing the investigation into forced sterilisations perpetuates impunity appeared first on Amnesty International. ]]>
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image People watch the ICJ hearing at a restaurant in a Rohingya refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on January 23, 2020. © 2020 Allison Joyce/Getty Images (The Hague) – The International Court of Justice has announced that it will deliver its judgment on November 19, 2026, in the case brought by Gambia against Myanmar for alleged violations of the Genocide Convention, Human Rights Watch said today in releasing a question-and-answer document on key issues in the case.In August 2017, Myanmar’s security forces began a sweeping campaign of massacres, rape,…
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image A man reads the Ethiopian Reporter in Addis Ababa on December 11, 2019. © 2019 Eduardo Soteras/AFP via Getty Images In what has become the new normal, the Ethiopian government has silenced yet another independent media outlet.The Ethiopian Media Authority announced in a November 2 Facebook post that it is indefinitely suspending the print and online license of the Reporter, one of Ethiopia’s oldest media institutions. Publishing in English and Amharic, the Reporter is also the country’s last privately owned Amharic newspaper.Stating that the suspension would…
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image Chile's President Jose Antonio Kast waves on his inauguration day at Congress in Valparaiso, Chile, March 11, 2026. © 2026 Esteban Felix/AP Photo Chilean President José Antonio Kast introduced in Congress on October 19 a proposal to change the country’s National Human Rights Institute.Founded in 2009 as an autonomous state body, the institute has worked to promote and protect human rights in Chile, including by taking legal action on behalf of human rights abuse victims.If passed, the legislation would weaken some of the tools the institute uses to protect…
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