By Milad Haghani, Associate Professor and Principal Fellow in Urban Risk and Resilience, The University of Melbourne
Erica Kuligowski, Principal Research Fellow, School of Engineering, RMIT University
Ruggiero Lovreglio, Professor in Digital Construction and Fire Engineering, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University
When it comes to evacuating tall buildings in a fire, not everyone can take the stairs. Here’s what else high-rises need.
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By Justine Bell-James, Professor, TC Beirne School of Law, The University of Queensland
Euan Ritchie, Professor in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, School of Life & Environmental Sciences, Deakin University
Phillipa C. McCormack, Future Making Fellow, Environment Institute, University of Adelaide
Yung En Chee, Senior Research Fellow, Environmental Science, The University of Melbourne
After years of failed attempts, Australia’s environmental laws are finally getting an overhaul. But will they stop the damage done to nature?
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By Jane Tiller, Ethical, Legal & Social Adviser in Public Health Genomics, Monash University
People could take a genetic test to gauge their future risk of disease without worrying their life insurers would penalise them.
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By Sarah Cameron, Senior Lecturer in Public Policy, Griffith University
Ian McAllister, Distinguished Professor of Political Science, Australian National University
The 2025 Australian federal election was a resounding win for the Australian Labor Party. Labor won 94 seats in the House of Representatives and a commanding majority. The Liberal-National Coalition was reduced to just 43 seats in the House of Representatives, more than 30 seats short of a majority and the lowest seat share on record for the combined Coalition parties.
The Australian Election Study is a comprehensive survey of voters fielded after every Australian federal election since 1987. The newly released 2025 Australian Election Study provides insights into what shaped the election…
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By Ehsan Noroozinejad, Senior Researcher and Sustainable Future Lead, Urban Transformations Research Centre, Western Sydney University
At least 44 people have died and more than 270 are missing after a major fire engulfed an apartment complex in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district. The fire, which swept through multiple high-rise towers, is still burning.
The exact cause of the blaze, which broke out just before 3pm local time on Wednesday, is still unknown. Hong Kong Police have arrested three construction company…
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image Murray Hunter, Thailand, November 20, 2025. © 2025 Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (Bangkok) – Thai authorities should drop criminal defamation charges against the Australian journalist Murray Hunter, who is being prosecuted for reporting on Malaysia’s media regulating agency, Human Rights Watch said today.Thai authorities arrested Hunter on September 29, 2025, at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport while he was awaiting to board a flight to Hong Kong. He was charged with four counts of “defamation by publication,” section 328 of Thailand’s criminal code, for defaming the…
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By Alexander Plum, Senior Research Fellow, New Zealand Policy Research Institute, Auckland University of Technology
People of Māori descent account for just a fifth of Aotearoa’s population, but are overrepresented at every stage of the criminal justice system. They comprise 37% of people prosecuted by police, 45% of those convicted and 52% of the prison population.
Such statistics, however,…
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By Luke Johnson, Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing, University of Wollongong
Diagnostic and symptomatic, accusatory and culpable, communal and personal, The Hollow Men is a poem about that which ails society at large.
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By Mia Cobb, Research Fellow, Animal Welfare Science Centre, The University of Melbourne
Dogs don’t stockpile food due to anxiety about impending disaster – they’re revealing how their evolutionary past still shapes modern behaviours.
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By Luke Beck, Professor of Constitutional Law, Monash University
Two teenagers are taking the federal government to the High Court. They argue the ban on social media accounts for under-16s is unconstitutional because it interferes with free political communication.
The ban is due to take effect on December 10.
Will the High Court challenge make any difference?
What does the law do?
Due…
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