Research stories
Indigenous education strategy failing remote communities
A policy where remote Indigenous students board 'off country' to advance education opportunities is having the reverse effect, a major new report warns. The report, the first of its kind and led by Dr Marnie O'Bryan and Dr William Fogarty from the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research (…
Worry increases, distancing decreases with COVID second wave
Victoria's COVID-19 second-wave outbreak and related lockdown has seen a spike in anxiety and worry among Australians everywhere, but particularly in Victoria, new data from The Australian National University (ANU) shows. The latest survey forms part of the ANU Centre for Social Research…
Indigenous banana cultivation dates back over 2,000 years
ANU archaeologists from the ANU Achool of Archaeology and Anthropology have found the earliest evidence of Indigenous communities cultivating bananas more than 2,000 years ago. The evidence of cultivation and plant management dates back 2,145 years and was found at Wagadagam on the tiny island of…
Brando’s atoll was holiday getaway for Tahitian royalty
A paradise lost has been re-discovered by on the tiny Pacific atoll of Teti'aroa, once owned by Hollywood icon Marlon Brando. The finds from ANU include two rarely-seen archery platforms and a huge open-air altar, likely used for ceremonial purposes and ritual offerings…
Stress and finances worse off during pandemic
Almost one in two Australians, 47 per cent, say they are more stressed because of the COVID-19 crisis, according to new data from The Australian National University (ANU). The findings also show three in 10 Australians say their finances have worsened during the pandemic. The report is based on a…
There’s another health crisis looming – what happens when the pokies switch back on?
When the COVID-19 restrictions came into force more than two months ago, it meant lights out for the country’s 200,000 poker machines. Now, the pokies are slowly turning on again across the country. This week, NSW became the first state to allow venues to reopen, with certain rules mandating…
Why good leaders need to hold the hose: how history might read Morrison’s coronavirus leadership
What does political leadership look like in a pandemic? Many of us probably carry images in our heads of what good leadership might be in a depression or a war. But before 2020 few of us would have had any conception of what political leadership might look like during a life-threatening public…