Australia’s wealth gap is growing and so is the anger over it. How do we fix this absolutely hopeless state of affairs? -- Zoe Daniel

Prices beyond our control, climate change, big tech, crime, the government itself. It’s no wonder people are so furious

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/oct/04/australia-government-cost-of-living-wealth-gap

Misogynistic views are biggest red flag for violent extremism, report finds

"Hostile and violent attitudes toward women are the clearest warning sign of violent extremism, a study has found.

As national cabinet prepares to discuss how to combat family violence, the research identifies misogyny as not just a social issue, but a matter of national security.

The University of Melbourne survey of Australians as young as 13 found that misogyny could predict support for extremist violence "way beyond" where someone sat on the political spectrum, what religion they belonged to, or how much time they spent online.

Report author Sara Meger said the study was the first of its kind to show that misogyny was not an isolated prejudice, but a robust, cross-cutting predictor of violent extremism.

"The number one thing predicting whether or not somebody is going to hold extremist attitudes is whether they think violence against women is acceptable," Dr Meger said.

The research was funded by the Office of National Intelligence and put forward five recommendations, the first being that misogyny and anti-feminism should be recognised as a form of violent extremism in the national counter-extremism framework."

"Teen boys most likely to hold hostile attitudes

Dr Meger's team surveyed 3,429 Australians about their attitudes toward women, gender roles, consent violence against women, and a range of extremist ideologies.

A significant minority of Australian men and boys shared beliefs that gender equality had gone too far, that feminism was a hate movement, that it was OK to pressure girlfriends into having sex, and that feminism should be resisted with violence if necessary.

Teenagers and young men were much more likely to express hostile views when compared with both young women, and with older men."

Extract from article:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-25/rising-misogyny-in-young-people/107053640

Note: This is not a topic about any specific investigation. It's about the broader issues, their roots and causes and the ways in which these might be addressed.

___

From the classroom to the locker room: nine days of ‘deeply disturbing’ sexual assault allegations shake Australia

" “When heterosexual men are socially conditioned to see sex and relationships as a conquest, that’s where a lot of this stuff goes awry,” (youth advocate and educator) Daniel Principe says. “When it’s not seen as something that should be mutual, but instead something to be taken from women, that is where it gets really troubling.”

Teachers and other educators who work in schools – and who could only speak on the condition of anonymity – told Guardian Australia a similar story: in class, male students will bark at female teachers, and the boys will laugh. They’ll post degrading content on Snapchat, knowing there are no repercussions because no one can trace it back to them. Covid has supercharged their views. And the government’s internet ban has all but failed.

This week, a first-of-its-kind report, Misogyny, Online Radicalisation and Youth Extremism in Australia, surveyed 3,429 Australians, including more than 1,000 people 13 to 17, to compare attitudes on women and gender equality.

About one in three teen boys expressed misogynistic attitudes, mistrust of women, and a belief in traditional gender roles, according to the University of Melbourne research, with Gen Z more likely than men in other generations to endorse traditional or hostile attitudes towards women.At the same time Gen Z girls were twice as likely as millennial women to believe marriage entitled a husband to sex even if his wife did not want intercourse.

Sociologist Michael Flood says research in the US across male-dominated spaces like the military, sporting codes and fraternities shows there are consistent indicators for sexual violence to be more prevalent.

“There are risk factors in any setting that make sexual violence perpetration and victimisation more likely,” the professor at the Queensland University of Technology School of Justice says.

“Where there’s strong codes of loyalty and bonding between men, where there’s strong norms of sexism and sexual objectification, high levels of alcohol and drug consumption, high levels of pornography consumption.”

>Well-designed prevention efforts in a school and in a sporting code ... and other contexts can make change.

Sociologist Michael Flood

Flood says research across sporting codes shows there are higher rates of sexual assault among men who play team-based contact sports, such as NRL and AFL, than those who play individual non-contact sports like tennis or swimming.

“But further research has found that it’s not just the nature of the sport,” he says. “It’s also the particular character of the clubs and communities associated with that sport or that setting.”

He says the key problem is there has not been “enough effort to change”. Even when institutions like the AFL or NRL tried to shift the culture in the mid-2000s, it was not enough.

“It takes comprehensive effort in a sporting code or in a school to really shift the cultures of sexism and objectification that feed into sexual violence,” Flood says.

“And if our efforts are only piecemeal or tokenistic, then they won’t shift the problem.”

Flood says there is a growing body of research that shows multi-session programs that focus on the key drivers of sexual violence can help to bring the number of assaults down.

“Well-designed prevention efforts in a school and in a sporting code, in the military and other contexts, can make change,” he says. “The question is, are they being implemented? Are they being supported comprehensively?” "

Text above is an extract from the article in The Guardian, From the classroom to the locker room: nine days of ‘deeply disturbing’ sexual assault allegations shake Australia. which can be read in full at the link.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/aug/21/nine-days-sexual-assault-allegations-shake-australia-ntwnfb

A shorter article on the study: Hostile attitudes toward women are driving extremism in young Australians by Sara Meger, University of Melbourne https://phys.org/news/2026-08-hostile-attitudes-women-extremism-young.html

Link to the study to which the article refers: Misogyny, Online Radicalisation, and Youth Extremism in Australia https://figshare.unimelb.edu.au/articles/report/Misogyny_Online_Radicalisation_and_Youth_Extremism_in_Australia/33250176

Science quiz: How much do you know about Australian native flowers? https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2026-08-18/amazing-flowers-quiz/106759588

Report score /10 here if you wish.

'Conservationists once asked: what is a bird without a tree to nest in?

This year, we may well wonder the grim inverse – what is a tree without a bird to nest in it? I can tell you. A tree without a bird is a miserable thing – and in a broader ecological sense, a tree without a bird could be in trouble.

In Australia, birds act in many roles that mammals or insects might fill elsewhere, from pollinating flowers to spreading seeds to keeping trees free of sap-sucking insects.

Bird flu doesn’t just threaten birds and mammals – it could well affect entire ecosystems.

Australia’s birds play vital roles in most ecosystems.

As honeyeaters squabble in the canopy, mound-builders such as orange-footed scrubfowls and Australian brush-turkeys turn over vast volumes of soil and leaf litter on the forest floor, as they look for bugs or make their giant mounds.

Their digging loosens and aerates the soil, giving seeds a better chance of germinating and encouraging leaf litter to break down.

In more open woodlands and shrublands, this work is done by birds such as malleefowl, quail-thrushes and babblers.

In Australia’s wetlands, plant-eating waterbirds such as black swans and whistling ducks disperse seeds and help balance plant growth, while insect eaters such as musk ducks do the same for aquatic invertebrates. As foraging herons and pink-eared ducks stir up mud at the bottom to flush out insects, they boost oxygen levels and circulate nutrients.

As seabirds and shorebirds move between coral reefs, mudflats, islands and oceans, they deposit nutrients. Guano and other organic matter from raucous seabird colonies supply nitrogen and phosphorus for a host of species – not least fish hatchlings.

My favourite group are the falcons. These swift predators cull sick and weak prey, keeping the species fitter and helping keep the lid on pest species such as starlings, rodents and locusts.

Bird flu is likely to hit some bird and mammal species very hard, but leave many others much less affected, if at all. Authorities estimate about 30% of Australian bird species are at high to extreme risk. Those at high risk face a “severe reduction” in population size, while the five species at extreme risk are potentially unable to survive.'

Penny Olsen Honorary Professor in Ecology and Evolution, Australian National University

Complete article at https://theconversation.com/from-the-coasts-to-the-plains-bird-flu-could-threaten-not-just-birds-but-their-homes-289709

"Conservationists once asked: what is a bird without a tree to nest in?

This year, we may well wonder the grim inverse – what is a tree without a bird to nest in it? I can tell you. A tree without a bird is a miserable thing – and in a broader ecological sense, a tree without a bird could be in trouble.

In Australia, birds act in many roles that mammals or insects might fill elsewhere, from pollinating flowers to spreading seeds to keeping trees free of sap-sucking insects.

Bird flu doesn’t just threaten birds and mammals – it could well affect entire ecosystems."

Penny Olsen Honorary Professor in Ecology and Evolution, Australian National University

Complete article: https://theconversation.com/from-the-coasts-to-the-plains-bird-flu-could-threaten-not-just-birds-but-their-homes-289709

4 lemurs die of human herpesvirus, including one that had been used in a 'lemur yoga' class https://www.livescience.com/health/viruses-infections-disease/4-lemurs-die-of-human-herpesvirus-including-one-that-had-been-used-in-a-lemur-yoga-class

"Have you ever watched online videos of people “playing” with cats and noticed the cat doesn’t actually look like they’re having fun? If so, you’re likely better than the average person at reading cat body language.

Regular interactive play supports cats’ physical health, reduces stress, and strengthens the human–cat bond.

But according to our most recent study, what many people think of as “play” may not be play at all. In fact, these interactions cause cats annoyance or stress.

When playing, both human and cat need to tell apart behaviours that might be threatening in other contexts, such as sudden movements, swatting or chasing.

Research shows people struggle to interpret cat communication and often fail to notice when a cat doesn’t want to play. Even when they do notice, many people choose to continue anyway."

https://theconversation.com/play-fighting-or-just-fighting-new-study-suggests-a-rethink-on-how-we-play-with-cats-285818

‘Lauf’ and ‘minceur’: the words that made a 13-year-old from Melbourne a world Scrabble champion

Dineth Fernando – who moved to Australia with his family in February – says he just needed to ‘find the word and play – that’s all’

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/aug/13/lauf-and-minceur-the-words-that-made-a-13-year-old-from-melbourne-a-world-scrabble-champion

As Australia is hit with mass mortalities, here’s how NZ has prepared for bird flu

Australia's neighbour has spent years investigating how the lethal virus would impact its unique wildlife.

In Brief

• An H5N1 vaccine was being rolled out in New Zealand, aimed at protecting the country's most vulnerable birds.
• Researchers say New Zealand had put resources into trying to understand how the virus would affect wildlife.

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/australia-bird-flu-mass-mortality-nz-response-vaccine/8vogcqplb

It’s the ABC’s job to be accurate and fair, not to chase the dangerous fallacy of ‘balance’

https://theconversation.com/its-the-abcs-job-to-be-accurate-and-fair-not-to-chase-the-dangerous-fallacy-of-balance-287489