News Articles
COVID-19 cases continue to drop nationally
Date of Posting: 23-09-2022
COVID-19 cases and deaths continue to fall across the country as experts question the utility of weekly virus data dumps. The federal health department released its weekly COVID-19 case notifications report on Friday afternoon, which shows the nat Read More...
Canada, Japan ease entry while WHO warns
Date of Posting: 23-09-2022
Canada is set to drop its vaccine requirement for people entering the country while Japan will also loosen border curbs as the World Health Organisation warns about a decline in the monitoring of coronavirus variants. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Read More...
Failures plague Victorian child protection
Date of Posting: 22-09-2022
Victoria's child protection system is failing to keep proper records on some vulnerable children and workers are over-stretched and under resourced. The Department of Families, Fairness and Housing does not meet minimum standards for data coll Read More...
Lockdowns hit happiness more than cases
Date of Posting: 22-09-2022
More stringent lockdowns throughout the pandemic impacted the mental health of Australians more than surging case numbers, research has revealed. While higher case numbers and deaths associated with COVID-19 impacted people's wellbeing, it was Read More...
Major step to booster for young children
Date of Posting: 22-09-2022
The medicines regulator has given provisional approval to a Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine booster for children aged five to 11. However the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) said on Wednesday the government's decision on the use of this vaccine Read More...
Increase in Victorian euthanasia deaths
Date of Posting: 21-09-2022
The number of Victorians using voluntary assisted dying has increased by about one third. There were 401 people who used the procedure to end their lives between July 2021 and June 2022, up from 310 the previous year.[subscribe] A voluntary ass Read More...
Kids suffer long-term trauma from violence
Date of Posting: 21-09-2022
The trauma of domestic violence stays with children into adulthood, highlighting the need to stop treating them as mere witnesses to abuse, a children's charity says. Children should be acknowledged as victims and survivors of domestic and fam Read More...
Vic to trial COVID nasal spray treatment
Date of Posting: 21-09-2022
Clinical trials of a locally made nasal spray treatment for COVID-19 are set to begin in Victoria. The heparin spray, made at Monash University's Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre, is expected to reduce viral load and potentially the s Read More...
SA and NSW drop masks on public transport
Date of Posting: 20-09-2022
Commuters in NSW and South Australia will no longer legally have to wear masks on public transport, as Victoria ramps up compliance on its networks. The NSW government announced it would remove its mask mandate from Wednesday and the SA government Read More...
People with disabilities 'crime victims'
Date of Posting: 20-09-2022
People with a disability are twice as likely to be a victim of a violent crime in NSW. They are also over-represented in parts of the justice system, being more likely to face drug and domestic violence offences.[subscribe] Data from the NSW Bu Read More...
Govt pledges $1.4b more for COVID response
Date of Posting: 20-09-2022
The Albanese government will spend a further $1.4 billion to deal with the impact of COVID-19, with the majority of the funding going to aged care providers. The money will be used for continuing a range of response measures, which were due to exp Read More...
Unregistered Victorian nurse fined $16k
Date of Posting: 19-09-2022
An ex-nurse who worked at a Victorian hospital while unregistered has been fined 16 times more than his original sentence after an appeal by prosecutors. Alexis Travero Alvarez, 49, was fined $1000 and placed on a good behaviour bond in May after Read More...
Public transport mask dodgers cop fines
Date of Posting: 19-09-2022
More than 100 fines have been issued on Victorian public transport and in excess of 181,000 warnings given as part of a COVID-19 mask compliance crackdown so far this September. Under Victoria's pandemic orders, public transport passengers mus Read More...
Queensland health system buckling
Date of Posting: 19-09-2022
The death of a Queenslander where six triple-zero calls were made and an ambulance arriving nine hours later underlines the state's health crisis, the state opposition says. Twenty deaths involving ambulance delays or ramping at hospitals are Read More...
Andrews to rebuild, rename Vic hospital
Date of Posting: 18-09-2022
A controversial decision to rename a Melbourne hospital in honour of the Queen is the centrepiece of a $1 billion election promise. Premier Daniel Andrews says, if re-elected in November, his government will redevelop and expand the Maroondah Hosp Read More...
Aussie app helps parents strike a balance
Date of Posting: 18-09-2022
Every parent worries if they're getting the balance right for their kids. Are they getting enough sleep? How much exercise do they need? Are they spending too long in front of a screen?[subscribe] This month, Australian academics launched a Read More...
Healthy foods that are good for the planet
Date of Posting: 18-09-2022
Queensland researchers believe they've finally identified those elusive wonder foods that are "not only good but good for you". To do it, they pored over web pages from six world regions and found recommendations for more than 2500 f Read More...
Pandemic end 'in sight' as stats released
Date of Posting: 17-09-2022
Public health experts are increasingly optimistic the end of the COVID-19 pandemic is in sight. The World Health Organisation has advised the pandemic could soon be over, with the weekly number of global deaths continuing to decline.[subscribe] Read More...
WHO scraps support for two COVID therapies
Date of Posting: 17-09-2022
Two COVID-19 antibody therapies are no longer recommended by the World Health Organisation on the basis that Omicron and the variant's latest offshoots have almost certainly rendered them obsolete. The two therapies - which are designed to wor Read More...
Chemists, GPs consider leaving Lismore
Date of Posting: 17-09-2022
Some of Australia's top medicos have held an emergency summit in flood-ravaged Lismore to call for more help for local health service providers. The groups, including the Australian Medical Association and the NSW Rural Doctors Network, want i Read More...
Using Humour to Build Connections and Mental Wellbeing
Last Updated: 16-09-2022
As soap is to the body, so laughter is to the soul. — A Jewish Proverb As humans, we all need to belong, whether with our circle of friends or in our workplaces. However, our fear of rejection and not blending in sometimes affect how we inte Read More...
Regions left waiting for blood cancer care
Date of Posting: 16-09-2022
Olivia Richards found a lump on her neck on Christmas Eve last year. The 23-year-old went to her local doctor in Hawkesbury, northwest of Sydney, knowing there was something wrong.[subscribe] Her initial blood tests came back clear so she was o Read More...
Scope to lessen Indigenous dementia
Date of Posting: 16-09-2022
More than half of Indigenous dementia cases in far north Queensland could be prevented after scientists identified a series of risk factors linked to the condition. The James Cook University study found 11 risk factors contribute to up to 52 per c Read More...
Vic Labor pledge $300m for ambos, hospital
Date of Posting: 16-09-2022
Dozens of specialist paramedics will be hired to treat Victorians at home and a regional hospital further redeveloped under Labor state election promises. Under a new "Doing What Matters" election slogan, Premier Daniel Andrews pledged t Read More...
Measles case diagnosed in Sydney
Last Updated: 15-09-2022
A case of measles has been diagnosed in NSW, the first in more than two-and-a-half years. NSW Health says a person in their 50s acquired the highly contagious disease while travelling in Asia last month.[subscribe] The person developed symptoms Read More...
NSW health care in trouble, Labor says
Date of Posting: 15-09-2022
As people in NSW wait longer than ever for ambulances and patients face prolonged delays before being treated in hospital, Labor says chronic underfunding has led to a degradation of public health services. The latest Bureau of Health Information Read More...
Alcohol a 'ghost' in regional Australia
Date of Posting: 15-09-2022
Sober in the Country founder Shanna Whan asks the same thing of every crowd she addresses. "Raise your hand if you don't know a single person impacted by alcohol, whether that's harm, addiction or accident," Ms Whan asked a regio Read More...
Aussies warned against heart 'complacency'
Date of Posting: 15-09-2022
Recovering in intensive care, former AFL player Dean Wallis asked himself a hard question. "What would I do today, knowing I wasn't going to be here tomorrow?"[subscribe] The 53-year-old dual-premiership Essendon Bombers defender Read More...
Babies get PFAS chemicals with their milk
Date of Posting: 14-09-2022
Babies are getting potentially harmful chemicals with their milk and may also be drawing down on the stores in their mothers' bodies, a conference in Adelaide has heard. Scientists at the international event, focused on the planet's contam Read More...
Ambulance delay a factor in SA man's death
Date of Posting: 14-09-2022
An Adelaide man who died on the side of the road while waiting for an ambulance may have survived if help had arrived in time, an investigation has found. The inquiry into the man's death last month was launched amid ongoing problems with ambu Read More...
Burnt-out GPs need help, peak body says
Date of Posting: 13-09-2022
An "undervaluing" of general practice medicine has led to high burnout rates and a low take-up of new staff, the new head of the peak body for GPs says. Dr Nicole Higgins has been named president of the Royal Australian College of Genera Read More...
Faster steps linked to better health
Date of Posting: 13-09-2022
The journey to 10,000 steps every day could be as important as the destination, according to research linking walking pace with lower rates of dementia, heart disease and cancer. Australian and Danish researchers examining health and activity data Read More...
Nurse charged over fake doc certificates
Date of Posting: 13-09-2022
A Melbourne nurse accused of procuring fake doctor's certificates for her sister and partner has had her suspension put on hold. The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency immediately suspended Joanne Mizzo's nursing registration Read More...
Doom-scrolling a negative behaviour that's stuck
Last Updated: 12-09-2022
A recent study found doom-scrolling, or compulsively seeking negative news, which became prevalent during the pandemic, is more than a passing trend. The study, published in the Technology, Mind and Behaviour journal, developed a way to measure do Read More...
Cognitive impairment and dementia - updated evidence-based resources to support care
Last Updated: 12-09-2022
Dementia Action Week (19-25 September) seeks to encourage all Australians to increase their understanding of dementia and learn how they can make a difference to the life of people around them who are impacted by dementia. Not a normal part of age Read More...
Bold plan to manage 'forever chemicals'
Date of Posting: 12-09-2022
Australians may not realise it but they are sharing their food, homes and even their bodies with potentially harmful substances dubbed forever chemicals. Technically they're not forever but are long-lived and don't easy break down in the e Read More...
Aged care deaths not being scrutinised
Date of Posting: 12-09-2022
The federal government should be scrutinised more over the rising number of COVID-19 deaths in aged care, an independent MP says. More than 3000 Australians have died with COVID-19 in aged care facilities this year, which is almost triple the numb Read More...
Call for security at Vic emergency depts
Date of Posting: 12-09-2022
Every Victorian emergency department should have security working around the clock to protect staff from unruly patients, Australia's top emergency medicine college says. The Australasian College for Emergency Medicine on Sunday issued a list Read More...
Firies climb 28 floors for mental health
Date of Posting: 11-09-2022
Hundreds of firefighters have laboured up 28 flights of stairs wearing 25 kilograms of gear and breathing apparatus, in the name of mental health. About 600 emergency crew scaled the steps at Melbourne's Crown Metropol Hotel on Saturday to rai Read More...
New York detects more polio in wastewater
Date of Posting: 11-09-2022
New York Governor Kathy Hochul has declared a disaster emergency in a bid to accelerate efforts to vaccinate residents against polio after the virus was detected in wastewater samples taken in four counties. Hochul's executive order followed t Read More...
