By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra
Australia will get its first female chief of army, with the appointment of Lieutenant General Susan Coyle to the post.
Coyle, currently chief of joint capabilities, is the first woman to be appointed head of any of the services in the Australian military.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the appointments of new military chiefs on Monday, ahead the government unveiling its 2026 statement on defence strategy and investment later this week. The appointments commence in July.
The current navy chief, Vice Admiral Mark Hammond, will become the new chief of…
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By Ronald Kramer, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
Why the prevalence of neurodivergent protagonists in police procedurals? And what are viewers gaining by watching stories predicated on this form of difference?
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By David Lee, Associate Professor of History, UNSW Sydney
A new federal government advertising campaign is prompting Australians to reduce their fuel consumption during the current global oil crisis.
It asks Australians to consider using their car less and offers tips to boost fuel efficiency, such as “driving smoothly” and “unloading excess weight”.
It comes soon after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s whirlwind…
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By Julian Novitz, Senior Lecturer, Writing, Department of Media and Communication, Swinburne University of Technology
What does a more authentic life look like? This is the question that suddenly confronts Jeffrey Watson-Johnson, the protagonist of Micheal Winker’s second novel, Griefdogg. It follows his acclaimed debut, the experimental historical novel Grimmish – the first self-published novel to be shortlisted for the Miles Franklin.
Jeffrey lives…
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By Emily Upton, PhD Candidate in Psychology, UNSW Sydney; Black Dog Institute
Kayla Steele, Postdoctoral Research Fellow and Clinical Psychologist, UNSW Sydney
Many of us have rituals or habits to cope with worry that give us more of a sense of control. But here’s when they might be something more serious.
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By Donald Rothwell, Professor of International Law, Australian National University
With peace talks breaking down, the US president has said the US will blockade the Strait of Hormuz, which will have a further dire impact on international fuel supply.
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By Suci Lestari Yuana, Lecturer at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada
AI-driven platforms pull informal labour into the global digital economy but push the risks and responsibilities back onto workers. Cases in Indonesia show that women pay the highest price.
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image Families gather under a tree at an informal site where displaced people, many from neighboring Jongeli state, have assembled without assistance or shelter at Yolakot informal camp near Mingkaman, Lakes state on February 14, 2026. © AFP via Getty Images (Nairobi) – South Sudan’s military and opposition forces are blocking humanitarian access and unjustifiably ordering civilians to evacuate populated areas, Human Rights Watch said today. Since late 2025, the military has issued multiple evacuation orders, at least three of them sweeping in nature and the opposition…
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image Flag of Bahrain in Sakhir, March 2, 2023. © 2023 Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via AP Photo (Beirut) – A 32-year-old man who was forcibly disappeared in Bahrain on March 19, 2026, died in custody more than a week later and his body bore signs of torture, Human Rights Watch and the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) said today. After Sayed Mohamed Almosawi’s family lost contact with him for over a week, his parents received a call to come to the Bahrain Defense Hospital, a military hospital. When they arrived, they discovered that Mohamed Almosawi…
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By Kate Griffiths, Democracy Deputy Program Director, Grattan Institute
Aruna Sathanapally, Chief Executive, Grattan Institute
Matthew Bowes, Senior Associate, Economic Prosperity and Democracy, Grattan Institute
Around the world, democracy as a system of government is backsliding. After more than 50 years of liberal democracy in ascendancy, democratic progress plateaued around the turn of the century and is now going backwards.
In 2025, there were only 31 liberal democracies out of 179 countries assessed. And the United States – once the poster-child for…
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