Mental health fight over NSW consent bill

Date of Posting: 19-11-2021

A fight over whether mental health conditions should mean people don't have to take active steps to seek consent is the final hurdle for a historic overhaul of sexual assault laws in NSW. The draft law creates a requirement of 'affirmative Read More...

Zoom in the room - childbirth in the pandemic

Date of Posting: 19-11-2021

Having been a midwife for 20 years, Claire Black* thought she'd seen it all. That was until one day during the midst of one of Victoria's lockdowns. "The restrictions were very tough on families”, Ms Black told HealthTimes.[subs Read More...

Tas quarantine escapee negative for COVID

Date of Posting: 18-11-2021

A Queensland man who arrived in Tasmania without approval has tested negative for COVID-19 after allegedly absconding from a quarantine hotel by climbing down from a third-storey balcony. The 37-year-old man, who arrived on a flight from Sydney on Read More...

Rapid COVID tests for NSW primary schools

Date of Posting: 18-11-2021

Rapid Antigen Home Testing kits will be rolled out to NSW primary schools in a bid to minimise the time children and teachers spend isolating when they are a close contact of a COVID-19 case. Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said the tests would Read More...

Victoria to enjoy summer of COVID freedom

Date of Posting: 18-11-2021

Vaccinated Victorians will be allowed back onto dancefloors, as the state looks towards a summer of freedoms many have not seen since the pandemic began. Almost all remaining COVID-19 restrictions will be scrapped from 11:59pm Thursday, as the sta Read More...

Vic hospital figures fall as cases spike

Last Updated: 17-11-2021

The number of Victorians hospitalised with COVID-19 continues to decline, despite the state recording a jump of almost 200 new cases. Victoria recorded 996 locally acquired virus cases and another nine deaths on Wednesday, up from Tuesday's ta Read More...

More malpractice claims at Qld hospital

Date of Posting: 17-11-2021

The Queensland Opposition has been accused of "scaremongering" after they revealed new cases of alleged medical malpractice at Mackay hospital in state parliament. Liberal National Party Leader David Crisafulli says three cases occurred Read More...

Vic doubles youth mental health capacity

Date of Posting: 17-11-2021

Hundreds more young Victorians will be able to access mental health support after the state government announced five new residential facilities will be built in regional areas. As part of a doubling of capacity in the state's Youth Prevention Read More...

Canberra records 12 new COVID-19 cases

Last Updated: 16-11-2021

The ACT has recorded 12 new cases of COVID-19 in the latest reporting period. There are now four COVID cases in Canberra hospitals, with one of them being in intensive care and on a ventilator.[subscribe] The apparent spike in hospitalisations Read More...

Record COVID-19 cases in NZ, another death

Date of Posting: 16-11-2021

Vaccine mandates are taking effect as New Zealand sets another daily record for community COVID-19 infections and a new death. A patient aged in their late 70s died at Auckland City Hospital, taking the country's pandemic death toll to 35.[sub Read More...

Specific COVID plan needed to protect kids

Date of Posting: 16-11-2021

A former premier has blasted as inappropriate the federal government's failure to model the consequences of COVID-19 for children under the age of five. Jay Weatherill, who now heads up childcare advocacy initiative Thrive by Five, told a Sena Read More...

Kids' use of mental health services surges following 2020 lockdown

Date of Posting: 16-11-2021

Hospital data reveals an increased use of children’s mental health services after Sydney’s first lockdown in 2020. More children and adolescents used hospital mental health services in NSW following the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown than in t Read More...

Flipping the gut microbiome-autism link on its head

Date of Posting: 16-11-2021

A new Australian collaborative Autism CRC study, led by Mater Research and The University of Queensland, has challenged the growing popular belief that the gut microbiome drives autism. The study’s findings may put the brakes on the experime Read More...

NSW records 165 COVID-19 cases, one death

Date of Posting: 15-11-2021

NSW has reported 165 new cases of COVID-19 and one death as hospitals were given the green light to resume elective surgery at full capacity. The locally acquired cases were logged in the 24 hours to 8pm on Sunday and the total was down 30 on the Read More...

Vic introduces silica licensing scheme

Last Updated: 15-11-2021

Victoria will become the first state or territory in Australia to launch a licensing scheme to protect construction workers from exposure to deadly silica dust particles. Four workers have died from silica-related illnesses so far this year and 59 Read More...

NZ okays boosters as COVID-19 marches on

Date of Posting: 15-11-2021

As COVID-19 creeps out of Auckland around New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern's government has given the go-ahead for booster shots from later this month. Any Kiwi who completed their two-dose vaccine treatment more than six months ago will be eligibl Read More...

Australia hits 90 percent first dose rate

Last Updated: 15-11-2021

Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed Australia has passed the 90 per cent first-dose COVID-19 vaccination mark. The prime minister labelled the vaccine rate of 90.1 per cent as extraordinary, while heaping pressure on states to reopen borders a Read More...

Respiratory health worries on the rise

Last Updated: 14-11-2021

Australians have become increasingly conscious of respiratory health and hygiene in public, with more than eight in 10 likely to have changed their attitudes towards it compared to 18 months ago. YouGov research commissioned by saline drop-maker F Read More...

Rare cancer drug to be subsidised

Last Updated: 14-11-2021

A drug to treat a rare stomach and bowel cancer will be subsidised after being listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. People suffering from advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumour will be able to buy the drug Qinlock for at most $41.30 per Read More...

Silent sleep danger for smokers unveiled

Last Updated: 14-11-2021

Australian researchers have quantified the link between smoking and silent killer sleep apnoea in a world first. To achieve the breakthrough, scientists from Sydney's Heart Research Institute established a connection between quantities of nico Read More...

AI glaucoma test delivers rapid results

Last Updated: 14-11-2021

A Melbourne-designed rapid screening test is set to advance the detection and treatment of one of the leading causes of irreversible blindness in older Australians. Some 80 million people worldwide have glaucoma, with more than 110 million expecte Read More...

National double dose deadline looms

Date of Posting: 13-11-2021

While more than 17 million Australians or 82.8 per cent of the population aged 16 or over are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19, the nation's reopening is still a way off. More than 90 per cent of NSW residents are double dosed, as are 87 Read More...

Get your booster shot: NSW health

Last Updated: 13-11-2021

NSW reported no new coronavirus deaths for the first time in almost three months, while health authorities encouraged people to get booster shots and increase their immunity. NSW Health's Dr Jeremy McAnulty said now the state has passed the 90 Read More...

Trial delayed for Vic jab challengers

Date of Posting: 12-11-2021

There will be no trial for a group challenging Victoria's COVID-19 vaccination mandate until March next year. Supreme Court Justice Melinda Richards says the "fruitless" actions of more than 120 people fighting against the state' Read More...

Libs call for end to Vic face mask mandate

Date of Posting: 12-11-2021

The Victorian opposition has called for an early end to the state's indoor mask mandate in a bid to encourage workers back to central Melbourne. Under the current rules, people aged over 12 must wear a face mask indoors unless they are at home Read More...

Postnatal psychosis is rare, but symptoms can be brushed aside as 'normal' for a new mum

Last Updated: 12-11-2021

The period after birth of a child is supposed to be a time of great happiness for women. However, a significant number of new mothers will experience a mental illness at this time.[subscribe]   One is postnatal psychosis (also know Read More...

New placenta model offers insights into pregnancy complications

Date of Posting: 12-11-2021

A USC researcher who has designed a novel 3D system that can mimic the cellular architecture of a human placenta has been awarded a Federal Ideas grant to continue her innovative research. USC Lecturer in Biomedical Science Dr Georgia Kafer said t Read More...

Calculating a dangerous heartbeat

Date of Posting: 12-11-2021

How ventricular fibrillation will behave in an individual patient can be accurately modelled and predicted using a single mathematical equation, according to Flinders University researchers. Ventricular fibrillation (VF) is a life-threatening hear Read More...

Victoria to resume some elective surgery

Last Updated: 12-11-2021

More elective surgery will be done in Victoria after procedures were put on hold to increase the state's COVID-19 capacity. Health Minister Martin Foley announced on Thursday private hospital and day procedure centres in Melbourne and Geelong Read More...

New Zealand reaches 90 per cent vaccination rate

Last Updated: 12-11-2021

NZ has reported 185 new COVID cases, along with another death - an Auckland man believed to have been murdered - as the country hits a significant vaccine mark. New Zealand has hit a fresh COVID-19 vaccination milestone, with 90 per cent of Kiwis Read More...

Coronavirus warning after vaccine milestone in Australia

Date of Posting: 11-11-2021

Australians have been warned not to let their guard down against COVID-19, despite the country reaching the 90 per cent first-dose vaccination milestone. Medical experts have warned Australians not to let their guard down on COVID-19 despite risin Read More...

Queensland will speed up home quarantine expansion

Date of Posting: 11-11-2021

Health Minister Yvette D'Ath says returning Queenslanders and eligible visitors can home-quarantine in the state once it hits the 70 per cent double-dose mark. Eligible domestic travellers will be allowed to fly in and home quarantine across Q Read More...

Steroid users face heart issues: study

Last Updated: 11-11-2021

Contrary to the caricature, when users of non-prescribed steroids walk into Beng Eu's clinic, their shoulders aren't stuck in the doorframe. Rather, world-first research led by the Melbourne GP and released this week suggests anabolic-andr Read More...

Little known, complex cancer on the rise

Last Updated: 11-11-2021

The number of Australians diagnosed with a little-known cancer that can pop up in any area of the body has increased by 20 per cent over the past five years. Neuroendocrine cancer is the seventh most common cancer in Australia this year after brea Read More...

Wastewater in NT tested positive in coronavirus

Date of Posting: 11-11-2021

Fragments of the coronavirus have been found in Katherine's wastewater as the Northern Territory's first community outbreak rolls on. Northern Territory officials are concerned COVID-19 could still be spreading in the community after waste Read More...

Working in fertility nursing is 'extra special'

Date of Posting: 11-11-2021

For Genea Australia fertility nurse, Jill Briggs, working with couples on their journey to parenthood and sharing some of the happiest moments of their lives is the most rewarding part of her job. “You might see a couple when they first come Read More...

$5.15M to grow Australia's mental health workforce

Last Updated: 09-11-2021

A new $5.15 million-dollar Australian Government scholarship program will support mental health nurses and allied health practitioners to enter or upskill in the mental health sector, boosting the mental health and suicide prevention workforce. Th Read More...

Olympic athletes excel at their sports but are susceptible to unproven alternative therapies

Last Updated: 09-11-2021

Australian Olympic swimmer Kyle Chalmers earned a silver medal and his personal-best time in the 100-meter freestyle event at the 2021 Tokyo Games. While most of the world focused on his thrilling performance, others were equally interested i Read More...

How your genes influence whether a certain type of exercise works for you

Last Updated: 09-11-2021

Genetics have a significant influence on many aspects of our life – from our height and eye colour, our weight, and even whether we develop certain health conditions. And now, our recent review has shown that our genetics even influence Read More...

Melbourne invention brings new hope for rheumatoid arthritis

Date of Posting: 09-11-2021

A new nerve treatment invented by Melbourne researchers at the Bionics Institute is bringing hope to people with rheumatoid arthritis. The tiny piece of ground-breaking technology – the size of a thumbnail - could replace drug treatment for Read More...