News Articles
Racism, colonialism 'driving Indigenous self-harm'
Date of Posting: 08-11-2024
Australia's dark colonial past and ongoing racism are driving self-harm in Indigenous communities, a respected Aboriginal psychologist says. There were 3214 deaths due to suicide in Australia in 2023, according to the Australian Bureau of Stat Read More...
Australia poised to work smarter not harder in AI era
Date of Posting: 07-11-2024
Australia could become a warehouse for the immense pile of data that sits behind the rise of artificial intelligence, powered by renewable and nuclear energy, a tech giant says. Economic modelling released on Thursday by Microsoft and consultancy Read More...
Short bursts of exercise found to lower blood pressure
Date of Posting: 07-11-2024
Adding short bursts of exercise to your daily routine, such as cycling to the shops for 15 minutes or taking the stairs, lowers blood pressure, a joint UK-Australian study has found. Increasing exercise habits - in exchange, say, for watching a bi Read More...
Pill testing to go ahead at Schoolies after backflip
Date of Posting: 06-11-2024
Pill testing will proceed at the popular end-of-year Schoolies event on the Gold Coast after the Queensland government backflipped on its hardline stance. The former Labor government committed $80,000 for the free and confidential service to be ro Read More...
Clinicians to heed parents after toddler's cancer death
Date of Posting: 06-11-2024
How clinicians at a Perth public hospital respond to parents' concerns about their children will be overhauled following the death of a toddler from undiagnosed blood cancer Sandipan Dhar died at Joondalup Health Campus in March, weeks after d Read More...
Call for clubs, bosses to treat deadly cancer seriously
Date of Posting: 05-11-2024
Having escaped a near-death experience, Anne Gately is keenly aware of the damage the sun can do to Australians. So the stage-four melanoma survivor is not content with the lukewarm approach adopted by too many businesses and sporting clubs.[subsc Read More...
Secret settlement following COVID-19 care home deaths
Date of Posting: 05-11-2024
Nineteen residents of a Sydney aged care facility died during COVID-19 and some of their loved ones will get a payout as part of a confidential legal settlement. Mark Fahey was the lead plaintiff in a class action against Anglicare Sydney and the Read More...
Financial distress drives record crisis call numbers
Date of Posting: 05-11-2024
Record numbers of Australians experiencing financial hardship are contacting crisis support services, as the soaring cost of living takes a toll on people's mental health. Lifeline has received 110,000 calls related to financial distress so fa Read More...
Millions for treatment clinics as drug summit continues
Date of Posting: 04-11-2024
More support to treat people struggling with alcohol and other drugs has been announced ahead of a second regional forum gathering perspectives on drug use and responses. Four years of funding worth $21 million has been earmarked for treatment and Read More...
Technology making change amid quad bike crash spike
Date of Posting: 04-11-2024
An 82-year-old man was killed when a quad bike rolled down a levee bank on a remote NSW property. The next day, a teenage girl and a woman in her 70s were flown to hospital after two separate quad bike crashes on farms in northern NSW.[subscribe] Read More...
Patients languishing in emergency departments
Date of Posting: 01-11-2024
More than a quarter of Victorians seeking medical treatment in emergency departments are unlikely to be treated within recommended time frames. The findings are disclosed in the Department of Health's annual report, tabled in state parliament Read More...
Bird's the word as agriculture ministers tackle flu
Date of Posting: 01-11-2024
Australia cannot be complacent despite being the only continent currently without bird flu as its rapid spread remains a risk, federal Agriculture Minister Julie Collins says. The government has put aside $100 million to prepare and protect Austra Read More...
Irabina Autism Services sued over child restraints
Date of Posting: 01-11-2024
An NDIS autism support service company, that used prohibited restraints on children with disabilities, is being taken to court. Melbourne's Iribina Autism Services restrained children with complex intellectual disabilities using illegal restra Read More...
Demand for aged care rises and population ages
Last Updated: 01-11-2024
When Joan* turned 99, her daughter and son-in-law had to finally come to terms with the fact that caring for their beloved mum was becoming difficult. Despite the fact they were getting on in age themselves, they didn’t want to send Joan int Read More...
Wait times for mental health care hit record highs
Date of Posting: 31-10-2024
Governments should stop treating funding for mental health as too difficult, the country's peak medical body says, with the public system accused of failing patients. The outlook for mental health patients in hospitals is only going to worsen, Read More...
Pollution problem: the issue making kids sick at school
Date of Posting: 31-10-2024
Children are being exposed to toxic air pollution that could leave them at heightened risks of poor health, with one in six capital city schools and childcare centres located near busy main roads. For Ben Cox, who lives in Melbourne's leafy ea Read More...
Routine check-up saved man's life, huge tumour found
Date of Posting: 31-10-2024
A routine doctor's check-up saved the life of a Brisbane retiree after an aggressive, rare tumour weighing two kilos was found in his liver. Father-of-three Barrie Tibbetts had no symptoms when he went to see his general practitioner for a che Read More...
Ancient variant clue to Indigenous respiratory illness
Date of Posting: 30-10-2024
A breakthrough discovery has revealed an ancient gene variant influencing immune defences among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The ancient variant of the natural killer receptor was identified by researchers from the Peter Doherty I Read More...
'Radical transparency' to restore trust lost post-COVID
Date of Posting: 30-10-2024
Increased transparency is needed to restore public trust following COVID-19, the health officer who led Victoria's pandemic response says. A report into Australia's handling of the catastrophe found the disease exhausted the nation's h Read More...
Health service workers get pay bump, better conditions
Date of Posting: 30-10-2024
Workers across hospitals and health departments in NSW will receive a pay bump while nurses and midwives continue to negotiate for better wages and conditions. More than 50,000 cleaners, scientists, security staff, psychologists, wardspeople and o Read More...
Lost trust challenge for next pandemic: COVID-19 review
Date of Posting: 29-10-2024
Australia cannot count on using the same measures for COVID-19 when the next pandemic hits because people have lost trust in authority, an inquiry into the nation's crisis response has found. Quickly establishing a national Centre for Disease Read More...
Imaging technique offers hope for brain cancer patients
Date of Posting: 29-10-2024
Treatment for some aggressive brain cancer patients could be "revolutionised" after scientists found a new way to find out who may benefit from immunotherapy cancer drugs. Some glioblastoma tumours may respond well to immunotherapy, but Read More...
Caring young Aussies paying an educational price
Date of Posting: 29-10-2024
Many young Australians are caring for people with long-term health conditions and could be hurting their educational prospects as a result. Australian National University research found one-in-six people aged 16 or 17 are acting in a caring role f Read More...
Harsher penalties for NDIS providers who fail patients
Last Updated: 28-10-2024
NDIS providers who allow participants to be harmed under their watch will face fines of more than $15 million as the government continues its mission to weed dodgy operators out of the disability support system. Outgoing minister Bill Shorten unve Read More...
'Starve yourself': weight stigma harms health treatment
Date of Posting: 28-10-2024
For more than two decades, Lorna Berry has been told to lose weight to treat polycystic ovary syndrome. "One doctor said, 'Well, just starve yourself'," the 54-year-old told AAP.[subscribe] "Someone else said the way (I w Read More...
Experts warn clinical and elder abuse is on the rise.
Date of Posting: 28-10-2024
Older Australians who are unaware of their legal rights, are at increased risk of elder abuse and other types of human rights violations. According to lawyer Catherine Henry, who specialises in elder law, some abusers use an elderly person’s Read More...
Concerned optimist or sceptic: choose a role mid-crisis
Date of Posting: 27-10-2024
TAKING A ROLE IN OUR WORLD: * The world has reached a tipping point, where more people care about and want action to protect the planet than those who do not, according to a recent survey that revealed various social segments[subscribe] * Plane Read More...
Feeling climate dread? Nature may be the best medicine
Date of Posting: 27-10-2024
A glossy black cockatoo struts along a tree branch, chirping and preening as he flicks his red tail to impress a female in a dramatic courtship ritual. Environment worker and photographer Jayden Gunn remembers the sheer joy of watching this mating Read More...
Breakthrough use of lab-grown skin on burns patient
Date of Posting: 25-10-2024
The "holy grail" of burns treatment is much closer to becoming a reality, with lab-grown skin successfully used on an Australian patient in a clinical trial. Patients with severe burns usually need skin grafts, which involves taking heal Read More...
Push for urgent delivery of support for midwives crisis
Last Updated: 24-10-2024
Australia faces a midwifery "crisis" with more than a third of workers considering leaving the profession and graduate numbers potentially not meeting future demand. Those are the findings from a report commissioned by the Nursing and Mi Read More...
Abortion access still a lottery for the disadvantaged
Date of Posting: 24-10-2024
Abortion access continues to be out of reach for disadvantaged and regional Victorians, with some having to travel hundreds of kilometres and spend thousands of dollars for care. Barriers to abortion services are leading to more people seeking pro Read More...
Deadly E.coli outbreak linked to McDonald's burgers
Date of Posting: 23-10-2024
E.coli food poisoning linked to McDonald's burgers has sickened at least 49 people in 10 US states, including one person who died and 10 who were hospitalised, according to federal health officials. The death was reported in an older person in Read More...
'No plans' to unwind abortion under federal coalition
Date of Posting: 23-10-2024
Women's reproductive rights won't come undone under a coalition government, an opposition senator has confirmed, as the culture war over abortion reignites. Pregnancy termination has emerged as one of the biggest issues in the Queensland a Read More...
Reducing child, teen obesity can save $7b health costs
Date of Posting: 23-10-2024
Reducing childhood and teenage obesity could save more than $7 billion in lifetime costs, but decision makers are prioritising short-term solutions over long-term strategies, researchers say. One in four Australian children and adolescents are cla Read More...
Parents, carers shielded from 'shady' baby formula ads
Date of Posting: 22-10-2024
Anxious new parents and carers will be protected from being "preyed on" by baby formula manufacturers using "shady" and "irresponsible" marketing tactics. Australia's Department of Health has committed to mandatin Read More...
Third baby death at hospital sparks new probe
Last Updated: 22-10-2024
The death of a third baby in a regional hospital is being investigated by a healthcare watchdog. Three babies have died at Gippsland's Latrobe Regional Hospital in eastern Victoria in less than two months.[subscribe] The hospital is doing c Read More...
Urgent need for specialised hospitals for older patients amid bed crisis in Australia
Date of Posting: 21-10-2024
In light of ongoing bed shortages and ambulance delays, a leader in one of Australia's busiest emergency departments is advocating for dedicated hospitals for older patients. Dr. David Green, the director of emergency medicine at Gold Coast Unive Read More...
Brazil's Lula suffers minor brain haemorrhage from fall
Date of Posting: 21-10-2024
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has cancelled his trip to Russia for the BRICS summit, following medical advice to temporarily avoid long-haul flights after a head injury at home that caused a minor brain haemorrhage. In a statement, Read More...
Forever chemical water standards 'very conservative'
Date of Posting: 21-10-2024
National drinking water guidelines for potential cancer-causing chemicals are set to be tightened after increasing discoveries of PFAS in water sources. Draft benchmarks based on emerging science on the health risks were released on Monday and imm Read More...
Why a physio should treat your ankle sprain, not your GP
Nicole Madigan | Date of Posting: 19-10-2024
Most people consider an ankle sprain little more than a pain in the – ankle. Usually, they’ll treat it themselves, with ice and pain relief, and move on with their life. Or try to. But according to Freestyle Feet owner and physiotherap Read More...
