Top bureaucrats don’t want to be criticised on social media, but their fix may be unconstitutional
The Conversation Australiaby Luke Beck, Professor of Constitutional Law, Monash University·8 Sept 2026
Australia’s top bureaucrats want parliament to curtail politicians posting clips to social media of senior public servants answering questions before parliamentary inquiries.
Has hay fever season started early? And what’s the most common culprit?
The Conversation Australiaby Mary Hanson, Aerobiologist and Work Integrated Learning Academic Coordinator (Science), Edith Cowan University·8 Sept 2026
The 2026 Australian pollen season has started, with some people in the eastern states reporting their hay fever symptoms have begun earlier than normal.
Like a Goya of Google, artist Jon Rafman fixates on the internet’s perverse pleasures
The Conversation Australiaby Wes Hill, Associate Professor, Art History and Visual Culture, Southern Cross University·8 Sept 2026
Jon Rafman is a master of turning the internet’s trash, excess and alienation into strangely seductive art.
The Margaret Preston retrospective at the National Gallery of Victoria is a revelation
The Conversation Australiaby Sasha Grishin, Adjunct Professor of Art History, Australian National University·8 Sept 2026
The National Gallery of Victoria’s Margaret Preston is a breathtaking exhibition. It is Preston as we have never seen her before, and challenges many earlier preconceptions.
‘Digital duty of care’ laws will force tech platforms to look after users
The Conversation Australiaby Lisa M. Given, Professor of Information Sciences & Director, Social Change Enabling Impact Platform, RMIT University·8 Sept 2026
The federal government has today introduced draft digital duty of care legislation, designed to protect Australians from online harms. The legislation was first planned – but shelved – in 2024.
The ‘core’ of One Nation’s super proposal is sound, says former Grattan Institute chief John Daley
The Conversation Australiaby Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra·8 Sept 2026
Former head of the Grattan Institute John Daley has backed “the core” of One Nation’s controversial superannuation plan to allow people to withdraw part of their future contributions.
AI is becoming more common in uni courses. What can students gain and what might they lose?
The Conversation Australiaby Thomas Corbin, Research Fellow, Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning, Deakin University·8 Sept 2026
Universities are increasingly introducing artificial intelligence (AI) teaching tools into classrooms.
In junior sports, it’s all about having fun – then something changes. We set out to find out why
The Conversation Australiaby Amy Whitehead, Professor of Sport Psychology and Coaching, Liverpool John Moores University·8 Sept 2026
Finals have arrived for many winter sports. For young athletes, that can mean excitement, bigger crowds and games that suddenly feel more important.
A court will decide the future of Yuraygir’s feral horses. That matters for native plants and animals
The Conversation Australiaby David M Watson, Professor in Ecology, Charles Sturt University·8 Sept 2026
From poems to films and books of history, horses feature widely in Australian popular culture. Feral horses, also known as brumbies, are descendants of domesticated horses that now live and breed...
Can what we feed farm animals directly benefit our own health? Our research suggests it can
The Conversation Australiaby Pablo Gregorini, Professor of Agricultural Systems, Lincoln University, New Zealand·8 Sept 2026
Several chronic diseases – obesity, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and some cancers – have been linked to lifestyle and diets high in calories, based on processed foods and lacking...
Why does microwaving fish smell so bad?
The Conversation Australiaby Robert A Shellie, Professor of Food and Nutrition, University of Tasmania·8 Sept 2026
The work break room can be a place of rest, gossip, fun, or recovery. But it can also be a cause of complaint when yesterday’s fish dinner becomes a smelly microwaved lunch.
New research shows students experience extreme anxiety when accused of academic misconduct. Unis can do more to help them
The Conversation Australiaby Amanda White, Associate Professor in Accounting·7 Sept 2026
Since the launch of generative artificial intelligence (AI), many university students have claimed their teachers have falsely accused them of using AI to cheat.
Farmers can now produce more of their own energy than ever – but will they?
The Conversation Australiaby Shahbaz Mushtaq, Director of the Centre for Applied Climate Sciences, University of Southern Queensland·7 Sept 2026
Imagine you’re halfway through your annual wheat harvest when a global crisis sends diesel and fertiliser prices soaring. All at once, your costs surge and your slender profit margin shrinks.
We’re not protecting our oceans as well as we think: new research
The Conversation Australiaby Ella Clausius, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Reef Ecology, University of Tasmania·7 Sept 2026
Not so long ago, we thought the ocean was an inexhaustible resource. There would always be plenty more fish in the sea. We now know this isn’t true.
Can removing your fallopian tubes really reduce your risk of ovarian cancer?
The Conversation Australiaby Jenny Doust, Clinical Professorial Research Fellow, Australian Women and Girls' Health Research Centre, The University of Queensland·7 Sept 2026
Ovarian cancer has a particularly poor survival rate. Only one in two women will live five years beyond their diagnosis. There is no effective screening test, and symptoms can be hard to spot.
Government must be more transparent about who gets community grants – and why
The Conversation Australiaby Gabrielle Appleby, Professor of Law, UNSW Law School, UNSW·7 Sept 2026
Australian governments have an unfortunate history with community grants programs. Sports infrastructure programs, car park grants and other schemes have repeatedly raised the same concern: public...
Do tech billionaires dream of shared abundance? We should probably just tax them
The Conversation Australiaby Carl Rhodes, Professor of Business and Society, University of Technology Sydney·7 Sept 2026
On July 24, Elon Musk was interviewed by The Economist’s editor Zanny Minton Beddoes. The 85-minute discussion ranged from Musk’s business ventures to the war in Ukraine, China’s technological...
Cutting the tobacco excise won’t stop the illegal trade. This is how other countries solved the problem
The Conversation Australiaby Coral Gartner, Director, NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence on Achieving the Tobacco Endgame and ARC Future Fellow, The University of Queensland·7 Sept 2026
The Coalition has proposed slashing the tobacco excise, the federal tax on tobacco products, by 80%.
AI is helping businesses learn what customers will pay – and workers will accept
The Conversation Australiaby Hanoku Bathula, Professional Teaching Fellow in Management and International Business, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau·7 Sept 2026
US regulators are grappling with a controversial new frontier in online shopping: companies using our personal data to work out how much each of us is willing to pay.
View from The Hill: Pauline Hanson sets new hares running on super
The Conversation Australiaby Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra·7 Sept 2026
Pauline Hanson’s attention-grabbing policy to give mortgage holders and renters greater access to their super is high populism while being – according to its many critics – low economics and bad...
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