Australian

Warrumbungle national park. Credit: colinslack/Shutterstock Our new study published in Nature Geoscience on an ancient chain of Australian volcanoes is helping to change our understanding of "hotspot" volcanism. You may be surprised to learn eastern Australia hosts the longest chain of continental hotspot volcanoes on Earth. These…

Credit: Shutterstock Last August, the federal government set up an expert panel to look at the continuous improvement agenda in teacher education in Australia. The panel, led by Sydney University vice-chancellor Mark Scott (who also chairs The Conversation's board), has just released a discussion paper that is open for consultation…

Snapshot of retail industry statistics. Credit: Gendered disrespect and inequality in retail work: A summary of findings (2023). One in five retail workers has been sexually harassed at work in the past five years, most commonly by a senior colleague or a customer, according to a new report from the University of Sydney and the Australia National University. …

Sole parent families, women and people with a disability are all experiencing poverty at above average levels. Credit: Shutterstock People who are unemployed or receiving income support, renters, sole parents, women, children and people with disability are at highest risk of poverty, while those on Youth Allowance experience deepest poverty, according to "Poverty in Australia 2023: Who is affected," released today by the…

Credit: Karolina Grabowska/Pexels Australian workers are exhausted, unwell, at risk of quitting, and largely unprepared for future workplace challenges driven by automation and artificial intelligence, a new report from the University of Melbourne Work Futures Hallmark Research Initiative reveals. A comprehensive survey of 1,400…

Australian fintech firm Latitude Group Holdings Ltd said on Monday it had taken its platforms offline as the cyberattack detected last week remained active, adding the Federal Police was investigating the incident.Latitude, which provides consumer finance services to retailers Harvey Norman and JB Hi-Fi, said the attack appeared "well-organised" and that it would resume services "gradually over the coming days".Last week, the firm said personal information, mostly drivers' licence copies or licence numbers, of about…

Millions of dead and rotting fish have clogged a vast stretch of river near a remote town in the Australian outback as a searing heat wave sweeps through the region.​Videos posted to social media showed boats plowing through a blanket of dead fish smothering the water, with the surface barely visible underneath.​The New South Wales government said on Friday that "millions" of fish had died in the Darling River near the small town of Menindee, in the third mass kill to hit the area since 2018.​"It's horrific really,…

Australia's financial crime regulator said on Friday it accepted an enforceable undertaking from payments giant PayPal Holdings' local unit to ensure its compliance with the country's anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws.In 2019, AUSTRAC, which is tasked with ensuring compliance with the laws, had ordered PayPal Australia Pty Ltd to appoint an external auditor to look at fund transfers after the regulator identified concerns with its reporting obligations."PayPal Australia self-identified a reporting…

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Australians generated at least $287.86 billion in value through unpaid social contributions in 2021, according to a new report from the University of Sydney's Mental Wealth Initiative. The report, "A Contributing Life: A Snapshot of the Value of Social Production," shines a spotlight on the unseen…

Michelle Yeoh on Sunday became the first Asian woman to win best actress at the Academy Awards – but an Australian broadcaster has since unearthed archival footage of the actor at a beauty pageant at a Melbourne community festival in 1984.Yeoh, who was born in Malaysia, was studying at London’s Royal Academy of Dance in the early 1980s when a spinal injury forced her to return home.Yeoh told UK talkshow host Graham Norton this year that, upon her return, her mother entered her in the Miss World Malaysia beauty pageant and…