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News that a health worker at a Sydney hospital’s birth unit was infectious with hepatitis B for more than a decade has led to a health alert for mothers and babies.

The staff member worked at Nepean Hospital’s birth unit in Western Sydney while infectious with hepatitis B between 2013 and 2024.

Authorities say 223 women are in the process of being informed they and 143 of their children are at low risk of exposure. The local health district says it is not aware of any patients who had tested positive to hepatitis B as a result.

Only patients who have had certain invasive procedures are included in the health alert.

So what is hepatitis B?

Hepatitis B is a viral infection

The hepatitis B virus infects liver cells and is not to be confused with other types of hepatitis viruses, including the better known hepatitis A and C.

The virus is spread by bodily fluids, such as blood, and enters the body though penetrated skin or mucous membranes such as the mouth, genitals or eyes.

This means the virus is most commonly spread by people having unprotected sex, from mother to baby, or by using shared items such as needles or hygiene products. The virus can survive outside the body for at least seven days.

In rare cases, hepatitis B has been known to spread from a health-care worker to a patient during certain medical procedures. This is when the health-care worker may injure themselves and expose their patients to their blood.

Symptoms of acute infections include fever, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, fatigue, dark urine, pale stools and jaundice.

If not cleared by the body within six months the disease can progress to its chronic (long-term) form. This can lead to cirrhosis of the liver, liver failure or liver cancer.

How common is it?

Globally, hepatitis B is the most common serious liver infection. There are about 254 million people with chronic hepatitis B infection globally in 2022, with 1.2 million new infections each year. About 1.1 million people a year die from it, mostly due to cirrhosis and liver cancer. The worst infected regions are Africa and the Western Pacific.

In Australia, there were 205,549 chronic cases as of 2022. Most of the 6,000–7,000 newly detected cases in Australia each year are chronic cases.

Only 72% of hepatitis B cases in Australia are diagnosed. This means the remaining 28% could be unwittingly carrying the virus, potentially spreading it to others, and missing the opportunity for treatment.

Babies of infected mothers, Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander people, people who engage in unprotected sex, men who have sex with men, intravenous drug users, and people receiving tattoos or piercings with unsterilised equipment are all at a higher risk of hepatitis B infection. Most chronic cases in Australia are in migrant groups from areas with higher rates of hepatitis B.

Is there a vaccine? How about treatment?

A safe and effective vaccine is recommended for all children at birth, with three doses after that. The vaccine is also recommended for adults in high-risk groups.

Acute cases can be cleared by the body, aided by antiviral drugs. However if the infection becomes chronic the symptoms of liver cirrhosis and cancer need to be monitored and treated for the rest of someone’s life. This includes having regular liver-function tests, taking antiviral medication, adopting a healthy diet and avoiding alcohol.

Due to the nature of its transmission, hepatitis B often has negative social stigma associated with it. This may lead to people being reluctant to be tested or if they test positive, they may be reluctant to share their status with others, or seek treatment.

We do not know the personal circumstances of the health worker with hepatitis B at the centre of this health alert, including details of their diagnosis and treatment. It’s also important to note that hepatitis B infection alone does not automatically disqualify health-care workers from practice. Their risk to patients depends on a whole range of factors including levels of virus in their blood.

Information about hepatitis B vaccination is available. Patients affected by the Nepean Hospital health alert can call 1800 716 662 for more information and support. Läs mer…

Australia already has the highest gambling losses globally. Now, new data show that between 2015 and 2022, the number of Australian men involved in sports betting has increased substantially. And for younger men, the rate of betting has surged more than 60%.

The latest data from the comprehensive Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey shows that in 2015, 5.9% of all men bet on sports. By 2022, 9.3% of men did. This represents a 57.6% increase in seven years. And among men who gamble, almost a quarter bet on sports, up from 14% in 2015.

The HILDA survey follows about 17,000 people every year and collects information on various aspects of their lives. The survey asked several questions in 2015, 2018, and 2022 related to gambling – including gambling types, spending, and gambling harm.

As more men gamble on sports, spending on sports betting has also risen. In December 2022 prices, men’s typical average self-reported monthly spend sports betting climbed from A$85.95 in 2015 to almost $110 in 2022.

The rising trends in sports betting are especially concerning given evidence gambling is strongly associated with undesirable consequences such as poor social, financial and psychological outcomes.

Younger people are betting more

Underlying the increase in sports betting are notable differences across age groups, shown in the figure below.

The increase in sports betting over this period occurred mainly among younger Australians. In fact, the rate of sports betting jumped by between 62% and 66% in men aged 18 to 44.

Because younger people tend to gamble more online than in venues like a casino or the pokies, aggressive online advertising on social media and the use of betting apps make sports betting easier and more accessible.

In all three survey years, the prevalence of sports betting is lower among older age groups, especially people aged 45 and older. In 2022, for example, 2.7% of Australians 65 and older reported betting on sports, whereas 14.9% of people aged 25–34 did.

A Sportsbet sign at an AFL match.
Julian Smith/AAP

Gambling harm is becoming worse

There are also worrying trends regarding gambling harm.

Gambling harm is measured using the Problem Gambling Severity Index, which is constructed from responses to nine questions about the frequency of gambling-related risks or harms over a 12-month period. Respondents’ gambling behaviours are then classified as either “non-problem”, “low-risk”, “moderate-risk” or “high-risk”.

Among those men engaged in at least some sports betting, the proportion reporting high-risk gambling problems grew from 6.3% in 2015 to 8.7% in 2022. Based on 2022 population estimates from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, this suggests that among male sports gamblers, just over 105,000 are high-risk gamblers – a significant minority.

And while more young men engage in sports betting, younger age groups are also increasingly likely to experience gambling harm. In 2022, almost one in five of all Australian men aged 18 to 34 reported at least some gambling harm.

What can be done?

Gambling behaviours are based on self-reported data so tend to be under-reported. The estimates reported in this article, although higher than existing estimates, are likely even higher in reality.

Living in the same household as a high-risk gambler negatively affects the health and well-being of other people in the household. The adverse effects of high-risk gambling therefore extend indirectly to many other Australians beyond the gambler.

The significant increase in sports gambling advertisements has coincided with more (especially younger) people engaging in this gambling type. Exposure to such advertising encourages earlier initiation of sports betting and more extreme betting behaviours.

Sports betting is done almost entirely online and younger people encounter advertising mostly online. This is one reason why younger groups are more at risk and why urgent intervention is required.

Initiatives to completely ban gambling advertisements have been proposed. Such measures have support from the public and from advocacy groups.

The findings reported here underscore the urgent need to protect younger Australians and in particular men, who are at greatest risk of gambling harm. To do so requires a reversal of the rising trend in sports betting. Banning sports betting advertising is one effective way this can be achieved. Läs mer…

Compost applied to agricultural soils in Australia each year contains tonnes of microplastics, our research has revealed.
These microplastics can harm soil and plant health and eventually enter food crops, potentially posing a risk to humans.

In Australia, more than 51% of organic waste – including garden and food waste from households – is recovered and processed. Much of it is turned into compost.

However, every kilogram of compost we sampled in our study contained thousands of tiny pieces of plastic, invisible to the naked eye. They come from a range of potential sources, including compostable waste bags used by households to store food scraps.

Without swift and effective action, composting may become an environmental crisis, rather than a solution.

The research revealed every kilogram of compost contains thousands of tiny pieces of plastic.
SIVStockStudio/Shutterstock

The problem with microplastics in compost

As Australia’s landfill sites become exhausted, finding new uses for organics waste has become crucial.

Composting is widely promoted as a solution to managing organic waste. It is comprised of decomposed plant and food waste and other organic materials, which is applied to farms and gardens to enrich the soil and improve plant growth.

Many local councils provide residents with kitchen caddies and “compostable” plastic bags to collect food waste. These bags can also be bought from supermarkets.

These bags usually contain some plant-based substances. However, some contain fossil-fuel based material. Others may contain “bioplastics” such as that made from corn starch or sugarcane, which require very specific conditions to break down into their natural materials.

Research shows some compostable bags are a source of microplastics – plastic particles smaller than 5 millimetres.

Some compostable bags are a source of microplastics.
Hurricanehank/Shutterstock

Once applied to soil, microplastics can accumulate over time, posing risks to soil health. For example, research shows microplastics can alter soil structure, limit plant growth, hinder the cycling of nutrients and disrupt microbial communities. This in turn may affect farm productivity.

Microplastics can also further degrade into “nanoplastics” small enough to be absorbed by plant roots. From there they can enter stems, leaves, and fruits of agricultural products consumed by humans, posing potential health risks.

Internationally, evidence is growing that compost can introduce significant amounts of microplastics into soil. However, little is known about whether organics applied to farm soils in Australia contain microplastics. This study sought to shed light on this.

Microplastics can degrade into nanoplastics small enough to be absorbed by plant roots.
Juanita M/Shutterstock

What we found

My colleagues and I investigated microplastics in processed organic waste. We took samples from 11 composting facilities in Victoria.

We found every kilogram of compost contains between 1,500 and 16,000 microplastic particles. In weight, this equates to between 7 and 760 milligrams of microplastics per kilogram of compost.

In Australia, about 26% of compost produced at organic waste processing facilities is used in agriculture. So, we estimate that between 2.7 and 206 tonnes of microplastics is being transported to Australian agricultural land from compost each year.

Most microplastic particles we found were “microfibres” and “microfragments”. Microfibres usually derive from synthetic fabrics. Microfragments come from larger plastics, such as packaging material.

We then analysed bin bags marketed as compostable or biodegradable, and found their physical and chemical characteristics were very similar to some microfragments we found in organic waste.

The microfragments may be coming from other sources as well, such as plastic containers and bags, and plant string scooped into the bin when people collect garden waste.

Various microplastic particles from compost samples as seen under the microscope.
Hsuan-Cheng Lu

Where to now?

This study provides the first evidence of microplastics in processed organic waste in Australia. It underscores the need to better understand what happens to microplastics during the composting processes, and how microplastics affect soil health.

Policies such as the National Plastic Plan and the National Waste Policy Action Plan promote composting as a key strategy for reducing landfill waste and supporting a circular economy.

But these policies do not adequately address the risks of contaminants such as microplastics. In fact, there are no national standards in Australia regulating microplastics in processed organics.

The absence of clear guidelines leaves composting facilities, waste processors, and end users vulnerable to unintended plastic pollution.

To address this serious environmental issue, urgent action is needed.

Authorities should take steps to limit the flow of microplastics into compost, including developing guidelines for composting facilities, waste management companies and households.

Monitoring should also be used to track microplastic levels in processed organics, identify their sources and assess the impact on soils and food safety. Läs mer…

In a system of caves in the Atapuerca Mountains in Spain, nearly 50 years of systematic archaeological excavations have unearthed evidence of increasingly ancient human occupation.

The result of this systematic work has yielded human traces stretching from the Bronze Age to hundreds of thousands of years into the past – before modern humans like us (Homo sapiens) even existed.

In new research published in Nature, our team shares another find from Atapuerca: the earliest human remains ever found in Western Europe. We discovered fragments of face bones from a species of extinct human previously unknown in this region, dating from between 1.2 million and 1.4 million years ago.

Sima del Elefante

Back in 2022, during our annual field season, our team unearthed a series of bone fragments from a cave called Sima del Elefante (Pit of the Elephant). The fragments are from the left side of the mid-face of an adult human.

In 2008, a human jawbone more than 1.1 million years old had been found at the same site. The new fragments were found around two metres deeper than the jawbone, which suggests they are even older.

Since the discovery, our team has spent more than two years meticulously studying the remains. We wanted to find out which species of ancient human they belonged to, and understand the lives and environment of these long-extinct cousins.

Which species does the face belong to?

Evidence from the Gran Dolina site, not far from Sima del Elefante, has shown that a species of ancient humans known as Homo antecessor once populated the Atapuerca region. Direct dating of H. antecessor fossils has shown they lived in the region around 850,000 years ago.

Since the 1960s, archaeologists have uncovered evidence of ancient human occupation in a network of caves at Atapuerca in northern Spain, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
UtaUtaNapishtim / Wikimedia

The first question we asked about the new face fossil was whether it belonged to H. antecessor. This species had a relatively modern-looking face: quite vertical, rather than the strongly sloping shape often seen in older species.

The shape of our new face bones was not a match for H. antecessor, so what could it be?

We compared the remains to those of other earlier hominin groups, including ones from the Dmanisi site in the Republic of Georgia, which have been dated to around 1.8 million years ago. The Sima del Elefante face differs from the Dmanisi hominins, especially in the area around the nose.

However, it does share some similarities with Homo erectus, the first human species to spread from Africa to Asia, beginning around 2 million years ago, and now also found in Western Europe. The similarities include the lack of a projecting nose and the forward-projection of the midface.

However, key details about the Sima del Elefante face are still missing. For now, we are classifying it as Homo aff. erectus, which means it appears to be closely related to H. erectus but lacks some defining features.

Beyond the hominin fossils

At Sima del Elefante, we recovered stone tools and the remains of animals alongside the hominin fossils. The marks of use on the tools as well as the cut marks found in the animal remains suggest that this species practised butchery in the cave.

We also know, thanks to pollen and the remains of small animals, that the ancient humans lived in an environment dominated by a humid forest landscape.

Evidence of stone tools was also found near the ancient face fossil at Sima del Elefante.
Nature / Maria D. Guillén / IPHES-CERCA

Our discovery opens new possibilities for understanding the origins and population dynamics of the earliest human settlements in Western Europe.

From the fossils at Dmanisi, we know that hominins had left Africa at least 1.8 million years ago. Now, the Sima del Elefante finding tells us that within a few hundred thousand years, hominins had made it to the westernmost part of Europe. What’s more, the shape of their faces had evolved during that time.

The finding also raises questions about whether there were two populations of different hominins living in the Atapuerca region at the same time. Did H. antecessor and H. aff. erectus coexist? Or had H. aff. erectus died out by the time H. antecessor arrived?

If the latter is true, what drove one species to extinction while another flourished? In this second scenario, we need to consider the factors behind both the extinction of the species and their dispersal.

Earlier research has suggested that hominin populations were strongly affected by climate and other environmental conditions. Hominins may have spread into Europe when conditions were kind, and died out when the climate became less hospitable.

There is still much work ahead of us. Year after year, we return to Atapuerca to continue unearthing evidence that pieces together the story of our origins. Each new discovery is a step forward in understanding our past. Läs mer…

The recent rollover of two army trucks carrying Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel responding to ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred was unprecedented for a domestic emergency operation.

Thirty-two soldiers were hospitalised in the twin incidents, which occurred when a convoy of military vehicles was en route to assist flood-affected residents of Lismore. The accident reignited debate over the sustainability of the ADF’s expanding role in disaster response.

We are relying on the military more frequently because Australia’s renowned voluntary emergency workforce is shrinking. Not enough people are fronting up to fight the fires and floods, and other calamities that regularly blight the Australian landscape.

Unless the volunteer army is revitalised, the burden on the ADF will continue to grow, as will the related risk of compromising Australia’s national security.

Response and recovery model

Australia’s disaster response system operates as a multi-agency model, combining career emergency personnel, trained volunteers, and when necessary, ADF assets.

Each state and territory manages its own emergency response through a multitude of agencies. In Victoria, the State Emergency Service (SES) specialises in floods, storms and tsunamis while the Country Fire Authority (CFA) is responsible for fire suppression and rescues across most of the state.

These agencies have career personnel who oversee operations, manage logistics, coordinate mobilisations, and provide leadership. However, the vast majority of frontline responders are volunteers.

In New South Wales, the Rural Fire Service (RFS) has over 70,000 volunteers across approximately 2,000 brigades, making up the vast majority of its workforce. The service has only around 1,200 paid staff. The NSW SES is also heavily volunteer-driven, with around 10,000 volunteers, supported by approximately 460 paid staff.

Volunteers form the backbone of these emergency services.

Major distraction

When disasters exceed the capacity of emergency services, the ADF is called in to provide additional support.

Investigations are continuing into how two army trucks rolled during cyclone deployment.
W02 Raymond Vance/AAP

Operation Bushfire Assist for example, involved more than 6,500 ADF personnel, including 3,000 reservists who were deployed to tackle the 2019–2020 Black Summer bushfires. It was the largest ADF mobilisation for domestic disaster relief in Australian history.

The defence force serves Australian communities during times of need. But it is not a civilian disaster agency.

The ADF’s core mission is defence and combat capabilities, not firefighting, flood rescues, or storm recovery. Requests for assistance have traditionally had to be balanced against military priorities.

Last year, a Senate inquiry into Australia’s Disaster Resilience warned this growing reliance may not be sustainable.

ADF disaster assistance also comes at a financial cost. It is estimated the relief work during the 2022 floods in Queensland and NSW as well as the 2019–2020 bush fires exceeded $90 million.

Every time the ADF is deployed for disaster relief, it diverts personnel and resources from other defence priorities.

Fewer volunteers

The ADF keeps getting called up because there is often no one else to do the work.

The number of operational CFA volunteers in Victoria has plummeted from 36,823 in 2014 to 28,906 in 2024. The pattern is repeated to varying degrees across all emergency services, including the SES and CFA.

Measures are needed to bolster recruitment of emergency volunteers.
Diego Fedele/AAP

The current volunteer base is also ageing, and younger Australians are not stepping up at the same rate.

Australians aged 55 years and over are more likely to volunteer than younger Australians.

To reduce the burden on the military, there is no other option than an all out effort to revitalise the volunteer emergency workforce.

Boosting emergency volunteering

Awareness is an issue. Many young people have no exposure to emergency services volunteering.

Recruitment efforts may not be reaching them effectively. Traditional, long-term volunteer commitments may not suit younger generations. The solution could be more flexible, short-term, or event-based volunteering options.

A national campaign to highlight the role and importance of emergency volunteers as a social responsibility
could help shift attitudes and increase participation and retention.

Incentives could help too, starting with tax deductions on costs incurred while volunteering such as mileage, travel and uniforms. And consideration should be given to a proposal in the United Kingdom to offer council tax discounts to residents who engage in community volunteering.

Removing barriers is also important. Some volunteers leave due to excessive paperwork, slow on-boarding or financial burden. Reducing red tape while maintaining safety standards could improve retention.

Beyond recruitment, creating a positive experience for volunteers would also make a difference.

Businesses and higher education also have a role to play.

Corporate volunteer programs that allow employees to assist emergency services during work hours could expand the volunteer pool. More universities should be incorporating volunteering into their personal development programs.

Finally, promoting volunteerism as a core Australian value, especially through the education system, would be helpful. It would shape attitudes early and make generational differences.

A strong volunteering culture helps keep us safe. Without it, we risk becoming even more vulnerable to deadly natural disasters. Läs mer…

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains the name of a deceased person.

The High Court of Australia has handed down a landmark judgement on native title law in Australia.

Commonwealth vs Yunupingu was about whether the Gumatj Clan in the Northern Territory would be entitled to compensation from the Commonwealth for acts that affected their native title rights and interests.

The court ultimately found the Gumatj Clan was eligible for compensation, holding the Commonwealth liable.

The case has been described as one of the most significant tests of native title since the famous Mabo proceedings in 1992.

Where did the case come from?

The late Yunupingu, on behalf of the Gumatj Clan of the Yolngu People in North-East Arnhem Land, sought compensation for land subject to bauxite mining in the Gove Peninsula.

The clan is seeking an estimated $700 million in compensation as the mining activity winds up, leaving their land damaged.

The Crown authorised the mining in the area without the Gumatj Clan’s consent between the 1930s and ‘60s.

The mining lease, originally granted to Nabalco, is now held by Swiss Aluminium and operated by Rio Tinto.

What were the laws at play?

Commonwealth vs Yunupingu deals with how native title and constitutional law overlap.

Native title law recognises the connection Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples have to their lands. It is based on their traditional laws and customs dating back long before British invasion, and continues today. It’s governed by the Native Title Act, which includes provisions for compensation when native title rights or interests are impaired or taken away.

Under section 51 of the Constitution, the Commonwealth must pay an owner fairly if they acquire their property. This is called the “just terms” guarantee.

This section was famously the subject of the film The Castle, with lawyers arguing it was about “the vibe” of the Constitution.

The case was also about section 122, which concerns how the territories are governed.

There were three main issues that were debated before the High Court: whether native title land can be acquired, whether the just terms guarantee applies to the territories, and what role pre-Constitutional mining agreements play.

What were the legal arguments?

The Commonwealth told the High Court it doesn’t have to pay for taking away native title rights because those rights are “inherently defeasible” and therefore not property able to be “acquired”. Defeasible means it can be cancelled.

It’s a technical legal point, but amounts to arguing native title rights can’t be transferred and therefore can’t be acquired by the Commonwealth.

It also argued the just terms guarantee doesn’t apply to the territories in the constitution, except in specific circumstances.

Finally, the Commonwealth said it took ownership of the minerals found in the area before the Constitution was created by granting leases that “reserved” mineral rights to the Crown. This meant, the Commonwealth said, it could have these rights without having to pay native title holders.

Lawyers for the Gumatj Clan countered these points.

They told the court native title rights are covered by the just terms guarantee.

They said to make sense of the Constitution, it must be read as a whole. Therefore, laws about the territories are also subject to the guarantee.

People living in the territories of Australia should still be entitled to fair compensation for property that is acquired and not be excluded because they are in a territory rather than a state.

Members of the Gumatj Clan took the case to the Federal Court first, but the Commonwealth appealed to the High Court.
Rex Martinich/AAP

Lawyers for the Gumatj Clan submitted that “reserving” of minerals within the early pre-Constitution leases meant the leaseholders were given rights to everything except the minerals in the ground. No rights to minerals were granted at all – not to the leaseholders and not to the Crown.

This would mean native title holders with rights to the minerals in those lands would continue to have those rights. As the Commonwealth affected these rights through legislation and mining leases, they must pay the owners fairly.

What did the court find?

In getting to this point, the Federal Court has sided with the Gumatj Clan, but the Commonwealth appealed to the High Court.

After hearing detailed arguments over three days in August, the High Court Justices dismissed the appeal.

In doing so, it found that taking away native title rights is like taking property. As a result, the just terms guarantee applies and means the Gumatj Clan should be fairly compensated.

It also agreed with the clan that the guarantee applies to territories as well as the states.

The court found the early pre-Constitution pastoral leases did not have the effect of taking away any non-exclusive native title rights over minerals, meaning the Gumatj Clan continued to have their rights until the legislation and mining leases took place in the 1930s to ’60s.

The matter will return to the Federal Court to resolve the remaining legal issues.

What does all this mean?

Ultimately, the decision by the High Court is significant. It will allow for some acts that have caused profound harms to First Nations people from 1911 to be covered by compensation.

This decision follows a 2019 High Court judgement, commonly referred to as Timber Creek, which awarded compensation under the Native Title Act for the first time. The case was described as the most significant native title case to follow Mabo, opening the door for “billions of dollars” to be claimed by First Nations Peoples for impacts on their lands.

This case solidifies that precedent and takes it further by formally expanding the range of acts for which native title holders could apply for compensation.

Until now, there has been a widespread assumption that compensation under the native title system would only be available for acts that occurred after the introduction of the Racial Discrimination Act in 1975, but this case proves otherwise.

This is limited to acts done by the Commonwealth, which may mean this will largely have implications for acts done in the territories, because the Commonwealth managed the Territories after federation until 1978 (NT) and 1988 (ACT). Läs mer…

The Australian Law Reform Commission has launched its final report on how the justice system deals with sexual violence. The Safe, Informed, Supported: Reforming Justice Responses to Sexual Violence report found there are widespread barriers to victim-survivors’ access to, and engagement with, the justice system.

More than a year in the making, the report makes 64 recommendations to improve victim-survivors’ experiences and outcomes.

These include recommendations that centre safe, informed and supportive services, such as justice system navigators, independent legal services, and safe places to disclose.

Importantly, the inquiry also recommended independent legal advisers be introduced to help victim-survivors navigate the court system and advocate for their rights. It’s a measure supported by academic research, including my own, soon to be published by the Australian Institute of Criminology.

High rates of sexual violence

More than one in five women have experienced sexual violence since the age of 15.

Women experience sexual violence at greater rates than men, but research suggests non-binary and transgender people are victimised at similar or higher rates than cisgender women.

The justice system relies on victim-survivors’ confidence that they’ll be kept safe if they report sexual violence.

In reality, however, many will avoid or delay reporting because they fear police and justice system responses.

So as stark as the statistics above are, they only reflect reported sexual violence. Actual rates are likely much higher.

The Personal Safety Survey found that 92% of women did not report their most recent experience of sexual violence to police. This suggests there continues to be low reporting rates and a reluctance for victim-survivors to engage the justice system.

Even if they do report, the criminal justice system has been found to re-traumatise victim-survivors, leading to unsatisfactory experiences and outcomes.

Humiliated and confused

The Australian Law Reform Commission set out to inquire into justice system responses to sexual violence in August 2023.

This inquiry formed part of the government’s $14.7 million 2023–24 budget commitment to strengthen and harmonise consent laws and transform experiences and outcomes for victim-survivors.

The commission heard from victim-survivors, practitioners, ministers and other experts which informed the terms of reference.

The commission’s report is the latest piece of evidence in a growing body examining victim-survivors’ negative experiences in the courts. My forthcoming report shows they feel violated, scared, humiliated and confused when engaged with the justice system.

A key reason for this is because they have no independent lawyer advocating for them in court. They are often surprised to learn the prosecutor represents the public’s interests and not their own, which has contributed to feelings of alienation and exclusion from the justice process.

The commission heard victim-survivors are frequently exposed to character attacks at trial. In my study, 77% stated they are commonly asked about their prior sexual experiences, digital communications and counselling/medical records in court.

This made many victims feel like they were on trial rather than the perpetrator.

The Australian Law Reform Commission’s report seeks to address these problems. Recommendation nine calls for independent legal advisers to provide legal advice – and, to a more limited extent, representation – throughout criminal proceedings.

Having legal representation would enable the victim’s lawyer to challenge any request from either the prosecution or defence counsel to access and question victim-survivors’ private records, such as sexual assault counselling communications.

What can be done?

The criminal justice system already has legislation in place restricting the sorts of questions that can be asked of victims in court, such as in relation to their counselling records or prior sexual experiences.

However, my research shows these restrictions are not well enforced, exposing victim-survivors to offensive and humiliating questioning at trial. Independent lawyers for victim-survivors would better protect against this.

Read more:
New research shows 1 in 5 Australians have perpetrated sexual violence in their adult lives. The true rate might be even worse

Victim lawyers already exist in New South Wales and Queensland to offer protections of victims’ counselling records. Federal government pilots for victims’ lawyers are also underway in Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and Western Australia.

Evidence shows introducing lawyers for victim-survivors does not compromise the rights of the accused perpetrator. Instead, it allows victim-survivors to give better evidence in court, to feel more empowered, and to stay engaged in a process that has been known to re-traumatise them.

There is strong support for the introduction of independent lawyers for victim-survivors of sexual violence in research and practice evidence, and among lived experience advocates.

To ensure the promises of the inquiry are fulfilled, the government must continue to be guided by expert research evidence and the lived experience advisory group it appointed to support the implementation of the recommendations.

The author would like to acknowledge the work of researchers Michael Salter, Delanie Woodlock, Zarina Vakhitova, Andi Brown and PhD candidate Jessica Woolley for collaborating on the research this article reports. Läs mer…

As the full moon rises tomorrow (Friday March 14), it will be a special sight for those in Aotearoa New Zealand. It will also be worth a look for people along the east coast of Australia.

Rather than being full and bright, the Moon will be partway through a lunar eclipse, the first of two lunar eclipses to occur this year.

New Zealand is in for a treat as the Moon will rise during totality – when the Moon passes completely into Earth’s shadow. Instead of turning dark, the Moon takes on a reddish glow that’s colloquially referred to as a “blood moon”.

Along the east coast of Australia, totality will happen while the Moon is still below the horizon; by the time the Moon rises, it will be in part-shadow.

A red Moon in Earth’s shadow

When it’s a full moon, the Sun and the Moon are located on opposite sides of the sky. With Earth in the middle, it can cast a large shadow blocking the Sun’s light from reaching the Moon.

However, during most full moons we don’t see an eclipse because the Moon’s orbit is slightly tilted – by just five degrees – compared to Earth’s orbit around the Sun. Most months the full moon passes either above or below Earth’s shadow. But twice a year, the path of the Moon takes it through the shadow instead.

When the Moon is fully immersed in shadow, the reason it turns red is entirely due to Earth’s atmosphere.

The first eclipse from the Moon

The Blue Ghost Mission 1, which successfully landed on the Moon on March 2, will be the first to image an eclipse from the Moon. As we experience the lunar eclipse, the Blue Ghost 1 lander will see a total eclipse of the Sun thanks to Earth moving in front of it.

Being on the Moon during totality and looking up at the Earth, it should see the atmosphere lit up as a ring of red.

Only the low-wavelength red sunlight passes through the atmosphere because the bluer light is scattered away. This is also the reason why sunsets have red, orange and pink hues.

Importantly, the atmosphere also refracts or bends the light, redirecting it into Earth’s shadow and making the Moon appear red.

When and where to look

Lunar eclipses are brilliant to watch – they are perfectly safe and you don’t need special equipment. Since the Moon will be low in the sky, you will need a clear view of the eastern horizon, perhaps from somewhere high up. It’s a leisurely event, so it’s also great to have good company.

Since this eclipse happens at moonrise, you can use the website timeanddate.com to check the moonrise time for your location and also to determine the eclipse magnitude, which is a measure of how much of the Moon is in shadow.

An eclipse magnitude of 1 or more means the Moon is fully in shadow or has reached totality.

If it is less than 1, it refers to the greatest fraction of the Moon’s diameter that is eclipsed. Imagine a diameter line across the Moon: where the edge of the shadow falls along that line will denote the magnitude of the eclipse.

How lunar eclipse magnitude is measured: the fraction of an imaginary diameter that is in shadow. For Brisbane, it will be 57% of the line, therefore the magnitude is 0.57.
Tanya Hill/The Conversation

Across New Zealand, the Moon will rise during totality. The farther north, the longer totality will be. By the time the Moon moves out of the shadow, twilight will have ended and the sky will be lovely and dark for the later part of the eclipse.

On the east coast of Australia, the eclipse will be visible against the bright twilight sky. This will make it much harder to see from southern New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania, since only a small part of the Moon will be in shadow.

Trick of the eye

But wait, there’s more. Watching the Moon when it’s low on the horizon also creates an interesting effect called the Moon illusion.

Our brains trick us into thinking the Moon is much bigger than it usually is. But if you use your thumb to cover up the Moon when it’s low in the sky and then measure it again later in the evening when the Moon is up higher, you’ll see the Moon hasn’t really changed in size at all.

The illusion likely occurs because we instinctively think the sky is shaped like a dome and that the Moon is closer to us when it’s overhead and farther away when it’s near the horizon. After all, that’s what happens when a bird flies off into the distance.

But the Moon is much farther away than a bird; its distance doesn’t change over the course of a night.

If our brains are telling us the Moon is farther away when it’s on the horizon, the Ponzo illusion demonstrates why we are tricked into thinking it appears bigger. In the image below the two moons are exactly the same size, but the perspective provided by the railway tracks makes us see the horizon one as larger.

The two moons in the image above are the same size but we perceive the one on the horizon to be larger because it’s assumed to be further away.
Museums Victoria

If you aren’t able to see this eclipse, the second total lunar eclipse for 2025 will happen during the early hours of September 8.

It will be visible from across Australia, while New Zealand will see the eclipsed Moon setting at sunrise: almost an exact opposite to tomorrow’s eclipse. Läs mer…

False and misleading health information online and on social media is on the rise, thanks to rapid developments in deepfake technology and generative artificial intelligence (AI).

This allows videos, photos and audio of respected health professionals to be manipulated – for example, to appear as if they are endorsing fake health-care products, or to solicit sensitive health information from Australians.

So, how do these kinds of health scams work? And what can you do to spot them?

Accessing health information online

In 2021, three in four Australians over 18 said they accessed health services – such as telehealth consultations with doctors – online. One 2023 study showed 82% of Australian parents consulted social media about health-related issues, alongside doctor consultations.

However, the worldwide growth in health-related misinformation (or, factually incorrect material) and disinformation (where people are intentionally misled) is exponential.

From Medicare email and text phishing scams, to sales of fake pharmaceuticals, Australians are at risk of losing money – and damaging their health – by following false advice.

What is deepfake technology?

An emerging area of health-related scams is linked to the use of generative AI tools to create deepfake videos, photos and audio recordings. These deepfakes are used to promote fake health-care products or lead consumers to share sensitive health information with people they believe can be trusted.

A deepfake is a photograph or video of a real person, or a sound recording of their voice, that is altered to make the person appear to do or say something they haven’t done or said.

Up to now, people used photo- or video-editing software to create fake images, like superimposing someone’s face on another person’s body. Adobe Photoshop even advertises its software’s ability to “face swap” to “ensure everyone is looking their absolute best” in family photos.

While creating deepfakes isn’t new, healthcare practitioners and organisations are raising alarm bells about the speed and hyper-realism that can be achieved with generative AI tools. When these deepfakes are shared via social media platforms, which increase the reach of misinformation significantly, the potential for harm also increases.

How is it being used in health scams?

In December 2024, for example, Diabetes Victoria called attention to the use of deepfake videos showing experts from The Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute in Melbourne promoting a diabetes supplement.

The media release from Diabetes Australia made clear these videos were not real and were made using AI technology.

Neither organisation endorsed the supplements or approved the fake advertising, and the doctor portrayed in the video had to alert his patients to the scam.

This isn’t the first time doctors’ (fake) images have been used to sell products. In April 2024, scammers used deepfake images of Dr Karl Kruszelnicki to sell pills to Australians via Facebook. While some users reported the posts to the platform, they were told the ads did not violate the platform’s standards.

In 2023, Tik Tok Shop came under scrutiny, with sellers manipulating doctors’ legitimate Tik Tok videos to (falsely) endorse products. Those deepfakes received more than 10 million views.

What should I look out for?

A 2024 review of more than 80 scientific studies found several ways to combat misinformation online. These included social media platforms alerting readers about unverified information and teaching digital literacy skills to older adults.

Unfortunately, many of these strategies focus on written materials or require access to accurate information to verify content. Identifying deepfakes requires different skills.

Australia’s eSafety Commissioner provides helpful resources to guide people in identifying deepfakes.

Importantly, they recommend considering the context itself. Ask yourself – is this something I would expect this person to say? Does this look like a place I would expect this person to be?

The commissioner also recommends people look and listen carefully, to check for:

blurring, cropped effects or pixelation
skin inconsistency or discoloration
video inconsistencies, such as glitches, and lighting or background changes
audio problems, such as badly synced sound
irregular blinking or movement that seems unnatural
content gaps in the storyline or speech.

Ask yourself: is this something I’d expect this person to say?
MAYA LAB/Shhutterstock

How else can I stay safe?

If you have had your own images or voices altered, you can contact the eSafety Commissioner directly for help in having that material removed.

The British Medical Journal has also published advice specific to dealing with health-related deepfakes, advising people to:

contact the person who is endorsing the product to confirm whether the image, video, or audio is legitimate
leave a public comment on the site to question whether the claims are true (this can also prompt others to be critical of the content they see and hear)
use the online platform’s reporting tools to flag fake products and to report accounts sharing misinformation
encourage others to question what they see and hear, and to seek advice from health-care providers.

This last point is critical. As with all health-related information, consumers must make informed decisions in consultation with doctors, pharmacists and other qualified health-care professionals.

As generative AI technologies become increasingly sophisticated, there is also a critical role for government in keeping Australians safe. The release in February 2025 of the long-awaited Online Safety Review makes this clear.

The review recommended Australia adopts duty of care legislation to address “harms to mental and physical wellbeing” and grievous harms from “instruction or promotion of harmful practices”.

Given the potentially harmful consequences of following deepfake health advice, duty of care legislation is needed to protect Australians and support them to make appropriate health decisions. Läs mer…

In the Perth Festival exhibitions brochure, artistic director Anna Reece noted that the city is “uniquely positioned in relation to Southeast Asia considering proximity and shared time zones”.

Together with the gripping yet inhuman dance work Larsen C, it was the presentation of Australian First Nations and contemporary Southeast Asian storytelling that most resonated for me in this year’s festival.

Big Name, No Blankets

Big Name, No Blankets chronicled the history of the Warumpi Band, the first rock band to be nationally broadcast singing in an Aboriginal language.

When I saw their clip for Jailanguru Pakarnu on ABC TV in 1987, it felt like an electrified message expressing an experience of modern life very different to that of white city dwellers like me.

The Warumpi band was founded at the Papunya settlement (“Warumpi”), 240km north of Alice Springs, by Butcher brothers Sammy (on guitar) and Gordon Tjapanangka (drums), singer George Rrurrambu Burarrwanga, and white guitarist Neil Murray.

The band soon attracted a following in regional Black and mixed race communities, later touring Australia’s major cities and the world. They eventually broke up under the pressures of being away from Country. The stage show shares the name of the 2013 documentary profiling Rrurrambu, but this production is told from the perspective of Sammy.

Big Name, No Blankets makes for inspiring rock stomp.
James Henry/Perth Festival

The songs go off. Taj Pigram as Rrurrambu does a fantastic rendition of the frontman’s open legged bounce, emphatic gestures and shreddingly powerful vocals.

A particular highlight is My Island Home sung in Rrurrambu’s language as an “act of reclamation”.

It makes for inspiring rock stomp.

Samsara

The feature film Samsara looks at contemporary Balinese arts, and was performed with live musicians.

Filmmaker Garin Nugroho collaborated with gamelan percussion orchestra Yuganada, and the double act of DJ Kasimyn on noise, beats and drone, and Ican Harem performing death metal vocals and throat singing.

Nugroho was inspired by 1930s Euro-American cinema, especially German Expressionism.

His straightforward depiction of village life and training in ritual dance recalls early ethnographic cinema. His tendency to use theatrical tableaux – sometimes framing the elegiac choreography of Indonesian Australian dancer Juliet Widyasari Burnett – evokes the work of American Surrealist and dancer Maya Deren.

The film Samsara was performed with live musicians.
Corey James/Perth Festival

In order to secure a dowry and wed the high born Sinta (Burnett), Darta (Ario Bayu) passes through a black, volcanic expanse to perform a dark version of the masked monkey dance. In return, the monkey god demands the couple’s son, who is shown lips drawn, teeth flashing, turned animal.

Absorbing as the film was, the live music dominated. The gamelan percussion tended to be played in alternation with the noise materials, rather than the two being combined. Kasimyn’s harsh electronica and Harem’s otherworldly growls signalled cosmic chaos.

The gamelan compositions had a staggered, rhythmically stepped feeling, featuring the blurring tonal colours and polyphony characteristic of the instrument. This one-off “cine-concert” was a rare and absorbing event.

The Mahabharata

The Mahabharata offered an on-stage retelling of Southeast Asian mythology.

From Canadian company Why Not Theatre, this is the first contemporary stage adaptation of the Hindu epic by artists of Southeast Asian descent, contrasting with the famous 1988 production by Franco-British and international artists led by Peter Brook.

Told in two parts, the first two and a half hours were quite similar to Brook’s staging, taking the form of simplified storytelling alternating with moments of high drama.

This is the first contemporary stage version of the Mahabharata by artists of Southeast Asian descent.
Apurva Gupta/Perth Festival

The kingdom is in crisis. The ruler Janamejaya has ordered all the snakes burned because one had killed his father. The storyteller (Miriam Fernandes, also co-creator of the piece) arrives to tell the king to wait and hear how it was that the snake, reincarnated out of a line of frustrated rulers, came to swear vengeance against the king’s family.

The storyteller recounts the tale of the great rivalry between his heirs: the rightful rulers of the Pandava clan, who nevertheless used treachery and broke the rules of war to win their kingdom from the many-times-wronged (if vain and unscrupulous) Kaurava clan, who also had a claim.

The battle between the cousins, related in part two, destroys the known world. Standing before a line of ropes hanging down at the back of the stage, the storyteller tells the audience that, while she spoke to the king, the snakes remained frozen in the air above the flames. It was a poetic image she asked us to hold in the back of our minds throughout.

The second part of the show departed more from Brook’s precedent.

Jay Emmanuel as Shiva the Destroyer.
Apurva Gupta/Perth Festival.

Live projections amplify the on-stage action. They show close-ups of actors faces during a failed attempt at reconciliation; walls of flames as conflict approached; and bold, abstract images for the portion representing the Bhagavad Gita, one of the most important sections of the original Hindu epic, here presented as an operatic solo.

The company’s most innovative touch was to eschew depicting the battle. Instead, the god Shiva the Destroyer (Jay Emmanuel) continuously circled, stamped and posed about the stage.

After the bloodshed, a survivor asks an observer: who showed themselves to be the greatest warrior on the battlefield? The onlooker claimed only to have seen Shiva’s feet, crushing everything into dust.

Larsen C

The most intriguingly otherworldly offering in the festival was Christos Papadopoulos’ Larsen C. Misleadingly promoted with the tagline “have you ever seen a glacier dance?”, Papadopoulos’ production did nothing of the kind, offering a disturbingly sexy portrait of hidden bodily rhythms.

The Antarctic ice shelf after which the production was named was but one of many images used to generate choreography.

Papadopoulos is concerned with the emergence and withdrawal of bodily sensation in groups and individuals. He relates this feeling to a story of himself driving and suddenly feeling like he was travelling to his grandfather’s house, down to “the sense of taste”; or when people on a train, engaged in their own internal rhythms, come into synchronicity as the carriage takes a turn.

Papadopoulos’ choreography explores this “unknown territory” lying “inside the core of the body” where rhythm and sensation exist, which can surface to govern movement, independent of conscious control.

Larsen C had a dark eroticism.
Pinelopi Gerasimou/Perth Festival

The performance has a dark eroticism, enhanced by stretchable shiny black costumes which sometimes hug, sometimes obscure, flesh.

Dancers shudder in horizontally staggered lines, or work at tiny movements in different parts of the stage. Heads are often obscured by a drop at the back of the stage.

Georgios Kotsifakis stands with his back to us, the sheen of his costume marking a diagonal across his shoulders and down to the curve of his buttocks.

Dancers excel at an almost Noh theatre-like slide sideways, effected by rotating the flat of the feet at the ankles. Elsewhere, there is a communal rising and falling, as if skating.

Catching these micro-rises of energy morphing into briefly shared exchanges requires the audience to fall into the dance’s temporality. Here, perhaps, a glacial time frame is evoked. For long periods nothing seems to happen, then bodies come into receding parallel lines, or scatter.

An atmospheric hiss gradually morphs into deep minimalist techno, the dancers briefly smiling and getting down, crafting pulsing, slippery trajectories. This too melts away, and we are back to sideways slides, performers staring ambiguously outwards.

Shimmering percussion comes in, highlighting this as a work of repetitions with slight variation. The piece concludes with an almost deformed dance, both of Alexandros Nouskas Varelas’ elbows and forearms awkwardly scissoring on one side of his body as he disappears sideways into black space.

While much of the festival revolved around humans as mythic storytellers, Larsen C offered an explicitly post-human message – that, deep in our core, our bodies are producing strange, irregular rhythms and structures, the emergence of which can be both unnerving and ecstatic. Läs mer…