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Australia
Maani Truu is a Sydney-based journalist with diverse experience in print and digital reporting, production and editing.
She is currently working as a digital journalist at SBS News, focusing on social affairs. Her past bylines include The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Daily Life (Fairfax Media), Ciao Magazine, Honi Soit and The South Sydney Herald.
For work enquiries, you can get in touch at [email protected]
SBS News
The federal government originally denied the disability royal commission's urgent request for a 17 month extension before backflipping on its decision a month later, letters obtained by SBS News reveal. Correspondence between the Attorney-General's office and commission chair Ronald Sackville, released under freedom of information laws, also reveal the government will not provide any additional funding to support the extension of the $527.9 million inquiry.
Australians who are unable to leave home because of illness or disability fear they will never be able to get a COVID-19 vaccine, despite the high risk of health complications linked to the infection.
Friday will mark three years since a Tamil family of four were taken from their home in Biloela, Queensland, at dawn. The girls are the only two children left in Australian immigration detention and still have no pathway to freedom.
Former Manus Island detainee Behrouz Boochani says the Australian government should urgently accept an offer from New Zealand to resettle 150 offshore refugees, many of who have spent eight years in immigration detention.
New migrants will be forced to wait four years before accessing most government welfare payments under a significant cost-cutting measure included in Tuesday's federal budget. The government will save $671 million over five years by applying the four-year Newly Arrived Resident's Waiting Period to anyone granted permanent residency in Australia from 1 January next year.
There are fresh hopes a Tamil asylum seeker family could soon be released into community detention on Christmas Island after new Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews hinted at their possible release. Priya and Nades Murugappan and their two Australian-born daughters, Kopika, five, and Tharunicaa, three, have been the only family detained on Christmas Island since August 2019 after an urgent court injunction blocked their deportation to Sri Lanka.
The peak national body for disability service providers is calling for coronavirus vaccines to be made mandatory for frontline workers, warning that many staff members are hesitant about getting the jab when it is available.
Frontline disability support workers have aired their exasperation at the slow coronavirus vaccine rollout in a letter to federal government ministers, detailing their "whole life being taken over" by the pandemic.
An Australian professor who was detained and allegedly tortured in Qatar has separately been named by a Sri Lankan government probe into the deadly Easter Sunday terror bombings. Australian citizens Lukman Thalib, 58, and his son Ismail Talib, 24, were arrested at their home in Qatar on 27 July and imprisoned for almost six months without charge before being released without warning in January this year.
The government has unveiled its much-anticipated reforms to strengthen privacy safeguards for witnesses at the disability royal commission, almost 18 months after the inquiry commenced. Advocates have been calling for the changes to the Royal Commission Act for more than a year, warning that a loophole that allows the identity of witnesses to be released after the conclusion of the commission will stop potential whistleblowers from coming forward.
Disability advocates say they are disappointed by the government's failure to legislate urgent reforms to strengthen privacy safeguards for witnesses at the disability royal commission during this week's Senate sitting period, delaying the changes for more than six weeks.
Saad Al-Fagih, the head of Movement for Reform in Saudi Arabia, says Osama Al-Hasani was associated with a network of Saudi opposition groups before his arrest in Morocco, amid fears he could be pressured to reveal information about their activities.
The wife of Australian citizen Osama Al-Hasani says she's disappointed by the Australian government after her husband was handed to Saudi Arabian authorities in Morocco ahead of his expected extradition. The businessman and former Melbourne imam was arrested at his wife's home in Tangier, Morocco, on 8 February, hours after arriving from his home in the United Kingdom to visit his four-month-old baby.
A London-based lawyer has urged the United Nations to take immediate action to halt an Australian citizen's imminent deportation from Morocco to Saudi Arabia, warning that his life is at risk if the transfer goes ahead.
The wife of an Australian citizen detained in Morocco and facing extradition to Saudi Arabia has issued a desperate plea for help to Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Dual Australian-Saudi citizen Osama Al-Hasani, 42, was taken into custody on 8 February, hours after arriving in Tangier, Morocco, from his home in the United Kingdom to visit his wife and four-month-old child.
An Australian citizen has been detained in Morocco and is facing possible extradition to Saudi Arabia where his family fear he will face the same fate as murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert is believed to have been moved back to Tehran's Evin prison, days after she was moved from another Iranian jail to an unknown location. The University of Melbourne lecturer was imprisoned at the notorious Qarchak Prison up until last week when a group of supporters lobbying for her release said she had been removed.
The peak body for migration agents in Australia says they received no prior warning of government plans to add an English language requirement to partner visas, after it was revealed in last week's budget. Agents are still in the dark about how the requirement will function as they field calls from concerned clients, according to the Migration Institute of Australia.
At least two refugees are among about one hundred immigration detainees who have been transferred to Christmas Island, despite authorities previously stating no refugees would be moved to the recently reopened facility. The controversial North-West Point detention centre on the remote Australian territory was reopened in August to relieve pressure in onshore immigration detention, resulting from coronavirus travel bans halting deportations and the introduction of social distancing requirements.
Australians wishing to sponsor their partner to remain in the country will be forced to undergo a character test and have the results shared within the relationship before a visa application can be made. The government says the new changes will protect migrants from domestic and family violence.
Migrants applying for an Australian partner visa, and their sponsors, will need to demonstrate English language skills or an attempt to learn from late 2021 as the government seeks to maximise employment in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Australia's net overseas migration is set to fall into negative levels for the first time since World War II with a loss of 72,000 people forecast for the 2020-21 financial year. Net overseas migration will not return to positive levels until 2022-23.
Restrictions on temporary visa applicants with a disability or health condition hoping to travel to Australia have been quietly eased by the government. International students, temporary workers and tourists are subject to the government's immigration health requirement, which dictates that visa applicants be free from disabilities or illnesses which "would be likely to require health care or community services" and result in more than $49,000 in costs for the duration of their stay.
The number of occupied aged care beds is likely to drop by two to three per cent this financial year, the biggest one year drop in recent memory. The fall comes as elderly Australians leave their residence or delay moving to a facility due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Chinese state media has mocked US President Donald Trump for "his gamble to play down COVID-19", hours after he and the first lady tested positive for the virus. Both Mr Trump and his wife Melania were "well" and quarantining at home, the White House chief physician said on Friday, with plans for the president to continue carrying out his duties from isolation.
Australian consular officials have met with journalist Cheng Lei for a second time, more than six weeks after she was detained in China accused of "national security" offences. Ms Cheng, an Australian citizen, was working as a high-profile television anchor for state-run Chinese broadcaster CGTN before she was taken into custody on 14 August.
Three-quarters of temporary migrants seeking support for domestic and family violence during the coronavirus pandemic have said they feared for their lives, service provider case files reveal, as advocates warn of an influx of calls for help.
For Ludmila Stern, it was a media conference she didn't have to translate that has endured as one of the most memorable moments of the Russian interpreter's time at the Sydney Olympics. Superstar wrestler Aleksandr Karelin - known as the Siberian Bear - had been undefeated for 13 years, but at the 2000 Games he lost his chance to win a fourth gold medal to the United States.
After returning to the University of Melbourne as a lecturer following the completion of her PhD in 2017, one of the first things on her to-do list was to get a standing desk for her new office. "She didn't like the thought of sitting down all day because she felt that she was stagnant," said Chris*, a friend and colleague of Dr Moore-Gilbert.
A 10 square metre cell with no window, a mattress on the floor, lights that are never turned off and constant surveillance by secret service officers; these are the conditions Australian journalist Cheng Lei could be facing while she is detained in China.
Vomiting, bleeding gums, headaches, memory loss, fatigue, and shortness of breath. On the surface, these symptoms would seem completely unrelated, but they're exactly what two-time Olympian Joanna Halls has experienced since she contracted COVID-19 seven weeks ago.
An Australian journalist shared social media posts about the Chinese government's coronavirus response in Wuhan months before she was detained in Beijing. Cheng Lei has been detained by Chinese authorities for more than two weeks, Foreign Minister Marise Payne said in a statement on Monday. No reason was provided for her arrest.
There are signs posted all around Robert Bach's house in north-west Sydney, reminding him not to "go walkabout" and that there is no need for him to take food from the freezer and hide it around the house. The 80-year-old has Alzheimer's disease, a progressive brain disorder that impacts the ability to think and remember.
Announcing the introduction of Stage 4 coronavirus restrictions in Melbourne, and Stage 3 for the rest of the state, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews was desperate to drive home a key principle. "Stay at home means stay at home," he stressed.
Less than a year after violent pro-democracy protests brought Hong Kong to a standstill, another wave of youth-led political resistance is sweeping through Thailand. But in a country where criticising the ruling royal family could see you thrown in prison for 15 years, the mostly student protesters have been forced to get creative.
A rush to purchase masks before they become mandatory in Melbourne has left not-for-profits struggling to keep up with demand as they pivot their operations into producing reusable, fabric face coverings. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced on Sunday that residents in Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire, the areas currently under Stage 3 Stay at Home orders, would be required to wear a mask in public from midnight on Wednesday.
Parents split across state lines are struggling to maintain contact with their children as some premiers warn coronavirus border closures could remain in place for months. All states and territories other than New South Wales and Victoria have restricted interstate travel in a bid to prevent outbreaks of COVID-19, but as Australia enters the recovery phase of the pandemic, state leaders are facing pressure to reopen their borders for tourism.
When Rana Luka's three sons sit down to do their schoolwork from home, it isn't in front of a digital conference call with their teachers, or even a computer.
Community leaders on the remote Australian territory of Christmas Island fear the reopening of an immigration detention centre will see an influx of coronavirus on the island that has previously recorded no confirmed cases.
At 3pm on Saturday, Ikram* was sitting in her flat on the ninth floor of the North Melbourne public tower scrolling through social media when she saw the news. For the next five days, at least, the 18-year-old and the nine relatives she lives with would be confined to their three-bedroom unit, not even permitted to leave for exercise or to purchase essential supplies.
A former resident of the Flemington public housing estate in Melbourne emailed the Department of Health and Human Services in March asking what was being done to prevent the spread of coronavirus through the towers.
The disability royal commission has revealed it will ask for an almost one-and-a-half-year extension to complete its final report, hours before the inquiry's 560-page interim report is expected to be released.
As more than three billion people across the world isolate themselves against coronavirus, George Taleporos is forced to invite two or three people into his home every day. The disability advocate from Melbourne, who lives with a severe physical disability and uses a wheelchair, relies on carers to complete the daily tasks he needs to live, including eating, showering and getting in and out of bed.
The vetting process for expert witnesses appearing at the disability royal commission has come into question after it was revealed a previous witness had overseen the mistreatment of a woman with disability under his care. Western Australian Senator Jordon Steele-John grilled Royal Commission representatives in Senate Estimates late on Thursday night regarding the death of 59-year-old Lena Divola in 2007.
Privacy concerns are stopping witnesses giving evidence during a royal commission into the abuse of people with a disability, advocates say. The Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability - established in April 2019 - held its seventh public hearing this week, looking at the experiences of people with disability in educational settings.
Australian and New Zealand citizens on board the coronavirus-hit MV Greg Mortimer ship will be flown home on an emergency medical flight later this week, as the number of confirmed cases on board jumps to 128.
Eighty-one people on the Greg Mortimer cruise ship, which has been stranded off the coast of Uruguay for almost two weeks and has over 90 Australians on board, have tested positive for coronavirus. In a statement on Monday the cruise ship owners, Australian company Aurora Expeditions, said two crew members and one passenger had been taken off the ship which had been on an Antarctic expedition.
The federal government has announced an additional $154 million to support Australians with a disability who are vulnerable to coronavirus, but disability service providers say the response hasn't gone far enough to ensure the survival of the sector during the pandemic.
Australia's reliance on international students needs to be a "two-way street", the chair of a government taskforce aimed at strengthening the country's educational reputation said, after Prime Minister Scott Morrison told temporary visa holders to return home if they can't support themselves during the coronavirus pandemic.
A passenger onboard an Antarctic explorer ship stuck off the coast of Uruguay has tested positive to coronavirus, with fears of an outbreak after an additional nine people developed symptoms. Close to a hundred Australians have been confirmed as being on board the vessel, which has been stranded in Montevideo for almost two weeks.
An additional $21 million in domestic and family violence funding will not address support for temporary visa holders in New South Wales, despite calls from the sector following the alleged murder of an international student last week.
Thousands of Australians with disabilities rely on supported day programs to socialise and get out of the house, but coronavirus social distancing restrictions have made that almost impossible. Service providers have been forced to cancel these services, leaving many without a lifeline to the outside world, or adapt.
A father-of-seven who held an Australian passport and believed he was a citizen until the moment he was threatened with deportation will have his bid to remain in the country reassessed. On Thursday, the Federal Court ordered acting Immigration Minister Alan Tudge to reconsider Edward McHugh's application for his visa, which was cancelled on character grounds, to be reinstated on the basis he believed he was an Australian citizen.
A Tamil asylum-seeker family from rural Queensland will remain in Australia for the foreseeable future after the Federal Court ruled that the family's youngest daughter was not given procedural fairness when the government considered lifting a bar preventing her from applying for a visa.
It was a sunny spring evening when more than 50 people from the central Queensland town of Biloela gathered at their local park with candles and neon Post-it notes displaying handwritten messages of hope. Carrying signs declaring "bring them home" and "let them stay", the mood was one of sorrow, but also, defiance.
A Tamil family fighting deportation from Australia will find out whether they will be likely to return to their rural Queensland home this week as the Federal Court prepares to deliver its decision on the family's last-ditch legal bid.
As she blew out the candles in Sydney's Neutral Bay, her children's father, Christopher Bilsborrow, was staying with friends on the other side of the world. The family-of-four from Oregon in the United States recently decided to pack up, sell their house and move to Australia after Ms Emous, 41, landed her "dream job" in Sydney and was eligible for a temporary skills shortage visa.
The federal government has outlined a three-stage plan to allow businesses to reopen, large gatherings and interstate travel by the end of July with Prime Minister Scott Morrison declaring it's time to "get out from under the doona". Under the first stage, restaurants, cafes, shops, libraries, community centres, playgrounds, and boot camps reopened and gatherings of 10 people in public places allowed.
New South Wales police has denied an officer knew he was making a hand symbol frequently used by members of the alt-right after he was photographed doing the "OK" gesture during a response to protests against police brutality.
Two and a half hours was the difference between Urooj Usman being able to return to her home in Australia and a life in indefinite limbo. The mother-of-two has lived with her husband, Danish Ghori, in Pakenham, Victoria, on a skilled regional visa for almost four years.
Australian travellers stuck in Peru have been asked to pay more than $10,000 for a business class seat on an emergency flight home after the South American country locked down its borders last week. As part of the strict measures introduced to control the coronavirus pandemic, Peru banned all commercial flights out of the country leaving hundreds of Australians stranded throughout the country.
Children from first-generation migrant and refugee families could face significant challenges if Australian schools are forced to close due to the coronavirus pandemic. While many parents are preparing to teach their children at home when educational resources are moved online, multicultural groups are concerned about what this will mean for families that have recently arrived in Australia and speak languages other than English at home.
When Sydney residents Anne and Craig Dorrington embarked on their dream trip to Antarctica and Ecuador's Galapagos Islands they never thought they would end up volunteering to clean their hostel just to avoid being kicked out on the street.
Disease experts have warned against sharing worst-case scenario modelling that shows Australia could be on track to experience a coronavirus crisis similar to that in Italy. As the government ramps up its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, graphs showing the predicted trajectory of the virus in Australia, based on the number of confirmed cases and data from other countries, have been shared widely on social media.
The peak body for family violence services in New South Wales has called on the state government to do more to support temporary migrant women and children who are at increased risk of harm during the coronavirus pandemic.
University students will be used to bolster the New South Wales' health workforce amid fears the system could be overrun with an influx of coronavirus cases. The initiative follows a similar scheme which was introduced in Victoria just last week.
Disability advocates are calling for all supported working facilities to be shut down for the duration of the coronavirus pandemic after an employee at a Western Australian facility tested positive for COVID-19. The man, who has an intellectual disability, was a supported employee at an Activ Foundation workshop in Bentley, Perth, which employs more than 450 people with a disability.
Forced to leave her homeland in Syria due to war, Nour Al Abssi believed she and her family had nothing to lose when she saw a Facebook group offering help obtaining Australian humanitarian visas in May 2018. The group was administered by a man who claimed to be a member of the Australian parliament, the 27-year-old told SBS.
Mollie Manley has lived in Australia for 11 years. Her three grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren - all Australian citizens - visit her each week in an aged care home just outside of Perth. They sing together and listen to her tales of when she was a ballroom dancer.
Applicants with permanent medical conditions or disabilities will no longer be assessed in terms of their lifetime care cost, in a move that migration agents and human rights workers say is a step towards reducing discrimination in the immigration system.
Hundreds of Australians trapped under strict coronavirus lockdown measures in Peru and Uruguay have rejoiced after the government confirmed that two delayed evacuation flights would be going ahead in "the coming days".
The NSW Police Force raked in almost $13 million in just seven months by providing off-duty, uniformed, officers to private events - just weeks after two NSW music festivals were forced to cancel, citing the prohibitive cost of "user pays" policing.
EXCLUSIVE: After seven years in Sydney, the man from China was told he failed Australia's visa health requirement despite his hepatitis B medication costing just "a dollar a day". Now, he is risking his health to have the decision overturned.
Australia has an opportunity to learn from New Zealand's Indigenous recognition efforts, the country's first female minister for Māori development has urged during a visit to Canberra. Speaking to SBS News, Nanaia Mahuta said there were a lot of similarities between Australia's current efforts towards greater Indigenous education outcomes and what New Zealand has experienced.
A 10-minute drive from the tourist-packed areas of Monastiraki and Plaka, at the base of the Acropolis in Athens, is a non-descript gateway nestled between rows of industrial properties. Behind the metal fence, amongst the surrounding concrete and trucks, sounds of laughter and chatter can be heard as groups of young children ride roller skates and bikes around brightly painted shipping containers.
On any other Friday, Simon Sheikh and his staff would be busy at work in Sydney's CBD. But this week, on 20 September, the superannuation company's office will be empty. Mr Sheikh, chief executive of sustainable company Future Super, is part of a growing group of business leaders who are shutting their doors and encouraging staff to join the School Strike for Climate.
Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has told an anti-abortion rally that a proposed bill seeking to decriminalise abortion in NSW enables "infanticide on demand", while Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce labelled it "animalistic", days before the proposed legislation returns to the state's parliament.
Immigration Minister David Coleman will maintain a sharp focus on international students, skilled migrants and increasing migration to regional Australia under the Morrison government. Speaking at the Sydney Institute for the first time on Tuesday evening, Mr Coleman said immigration had been "absolutely fundamental" to Australia's success as a nation but it needed to be approached with "clear eyes".
Yazidi refugee Nihad Barakat says her new life in the sunny Queensland town of Toowoomba is "beautiful", but there is an important thing missing. "We don't know anything about [what happened to them]," she told SBS News, speaking about her brothers and cousins who were taken by IS during the attack on the Yazidi community of Sinjar in north-western Iraq.
Sarah* is incredibly proud to be a women's support worker in Western Sydney - but she doesn't want her real name, or the organisation she is part of, included in this article. The reason is two-fold: one, she worries anti-abortion advocates will single out the location for picketing, and two: the organisation is already struggling to handle the number of women accessing their abortion support services.
A two-year-old girl held in a Melbourne immigration detention centre had four teeth surgically removed and another four treated on Thursday after they began to rot during her time in detention. In May, a photo of Tharunicaa's black and decaying teeth was circulated as her mother claimed she was unable to eat solid food due to the pain.
The inner-Sydney suburb of Redfern has been the site of many historic moments for Indigenous Australia, and now its small fire station has become home to another. Fire and Rescue NSW's (FRNSW) first-ever all Indigenous crew was formed earlier this year and has already made its mark on the community.
Eleven weeks of unrest, more than 2,000 rounds of tear gas, hundreds of arrests and five demands - these are the important numbers of the Hong Kong protests so far, as the city gears up for another day of mass protest.
The Australian Government pays millions of dollars to a medical care contractor to treat asylum seekers on Manus Island, but detainees are regularly being sent to the ill-equipped local hospital, in what advocates are calling an "unprecedented medical crisis".
Polling experts and voters alike have been left baffled after the Coalition swept to an unexpected win on Saturday, flying in the face of weeks of opinion polls that predicted a Labor victory. ABC election analyst Antony Green summed up the mood early in the night, when the Coalition began to buck the polling trends.
It affects nearly everyone with a disability or illness applying for an Australian visa, it's been around for decades and has been labelled as discriminatory and ableist, but many people have no idea that the immigration health requirement exists.
It's been more than a year and a half since Australian man Naim Aziz Abbas has seen his brother after the former Sydney train driver was imprisoned in the United Arab Emirates, accused of passing secrets to Qatar. But at the arrival gate of Sydney Airport on Friday night, the pair laughed and shared tearful hugs, as if no time had passed.
Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has pushed for greater birth rates in the West and fewer migrants during a Hungarian demographic summit aimed at promoting the "traditional family model". During his speech, Mr Abbott praised Hungary's nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban and warned Europe against the "military-age male" migrants "swarming" their shores.
Eleven weeks of unrest, more than 2,000 rounds of tear gas, hundreds of arrests and five demands - these are the important numbers of the Hong Kong protests so far, as the city gears up for another day of mass protest.
The exiled West Papuan independence leader has called on Prime Minister Scott Morrison to condemn Indonesia's recent crackdown on pro-independence protesters or risk the situation becoming the "next East Timor".
Australia's immigration system unfairly discriminates against migrants with a disability and their families, a parliamentary inquiry found in 2010, but numerous families continue to face deportation under the controversial health requirement.
Australia's 2019 federal election campaign has so far been all about one thing: tax. And on Monday night, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten was once again forced to repeatedly defend Labor's plans to curb negative gearing and limit franking credits, as he appeared on the ABC's Q&A program.
The subject of controversial rape comments made by Liberal candidate Gurpal Singh told SBS News the community is "safer now" following his resignation on Thursday. Prime Minister Scott Morrison welcomed the resignation of Mr Singh, who was the Liberal candidate in the Melbourne seat of Scullion, after a social media post stating he had "no sympathy" for a woman who said she was raped by her husband was revealed by SBS News.
A team of international lawyers will this week launch a landmark bid in an NSW tribunal, seeking compensation for human rights violations suffered by Yazidi women at the hands of Australian IS fighter Khaled Sharrouf. The case, set to begin with a directions hearing at the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal on Friday, is reportedly the first of its kind internationally.
As Hakeem Al-Arabi's teammates at Pascoe Vale Football Club in Melbourne prepare to start a new season, their star defender is about to mark two-and-a-half months in a Bangkok jail. The Bahraini refugee and Australian permanent resident was arrested in November last year, on an invalid Interpol red notice from the country he fled as he entered Thailand for his honeymoon.
The only living victim of George Pell said on Wednesday that the judge's decision was "meticulous" and "considered" after the disgraced cardinal was sentenced to six years in jail for sexually abusing him and another teenage boy in 1996. "It is hard for me to allow myself to feel the gravity of this moment.
Australian Cardinal George Pell has been sentenced to six years in jail with a non-parole period of three years and eight months for sexually abusing two teenage boys in 1996.
The first International Women's Day was held in 1911, with more than a million people across Europe demanding women be given the right to vote and hold public office. Now, 108 years later, the world is a very different place.
Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says he was ousted by the Liberal Party because his colleagues were worried he would win the next federal election. "You could argue that their concern was not that I would lose the election, but rather that I would win it," he told the BBC's Politics Live host Andrew Neil, claiming the Liberal Party's chances of winning were "less favourable" now.
An Iraqi refugee who died by suicide inside Sydney's Villawood Immigration Detention Centre on Monday had appeared in court earlier that day. Milad Aljabiri, 24, had appeared in Burwood Local Court in the morning on two charges, common assault and affray. He had pleaded not guilty to both offences.
Content warning: depictions of sexual assault As International Women's Day is set to be marked on Friday and the #MeToo movement heads into its second year, we are talking about violence against women more than ever.
In 2016, the Papua New Guinea Supreme Court ruled that the detention of asylum seekers on the island was unconstitutional. Now, a group of lawyers acting on behalf of the men are claiming they are still being detained unlawfully.
Howard X may not be a household name, but his alter ego is well-recognised on the streets of Hanoi. So much so, that he has been kicked out of the country. The Australian Kim Jong-un impersonator, speaking from Singapore moments after arriving from the Vietnamese capital on Monday, said that he's a big fan of The Chasers.
On August 15, 2018, Janet Reynolds was preparing to water her vegetable garden when massive winds suddenly sent a bushfire straight towards her Numbugga, NSW, home without warning. Grabbing whatever she could and jumping in her car to flee, the 73-year-old retired school teacher found her driveway blocked by a wall of flames and a fallen tree.
After 77 days in a Thai jail, Bahraini refugee Hakeem Al-Araibi is home, having arrived back on Australian soil amid calls for an inquiry into Australia's involvement in his arrest.
Loujain al-Hathloul's Twitter has been inactive since 12 March 2018. The Saudi women's rights activist was once a prolific tweeter with 307,000 followers and is reportedly a friend of the Duchess of Sussex. Her feed is a record of causes she was passionate about, most notably, her efforts to abolish the kingdom's ban on women driving.
Researchers have called for the development of a national database of historical and culturally significant Indigenous sites after findings that the lack of an up-to-date, national record has led to issues with the management of sites, including an inability to engage with threats such as climate change.
New research looking at multicultural youth in Australia has found that a quarter of survey respondents had suffered racial discrimination, but they still believe they belong in Australia. The first ever Multicultural Youth Australia Census Status Report, released on Thursday by the University of Melbourne's Youth Research Centre, found that racial discrimination, particularly at school, was still a reality for many young Australians.
New research looking at multicultural youth in Australia has found that a quarter of survey respondents had suffered racial discrimination, but they still believe they belong in Australia. The first ever Multicultural Youth Australia Census Status Report, released on Thursday by the University of Melbourne's Youth Research Centre, found that racial discrimination, particularly at school, was still a reality for many young Australians.
As Hakeem Al-Arabi's teammates at Pascoe Vale Football Club in Melbourne prepare to start a new season, their star defender is about to mark two-and-a-half months in a Bangkok jail. The Bahraini refugee and Australian permanent resident was arrested in November last year, on an invalid Interpol red notice from the country he fled as he entered Thailand for his honeymoon.
My Health Record will mean better medical care and fewer hospital admissions for people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities (CALD), according to the national group representing Australia's ethnic communities. Mohammad Al-Khafaji, acting chief executive officer of the Federation of Ethnic Communities' Councils of Australia (FECCA) said the record can bolster communication between medical professionals and people with low levels of English proficiency, leading to better...
The gap between high and low socioeconomic high schools is widening as struggling schools are left to support the most disadvantaged students, a new report has found. Research from the Centre for Policy and Development, released on Wednesday, reveals that high achievers are increasingly populating the most advantaged schools while achievement levels for students in low SES schools are declining.
Victoria's homicide squad has confirmed international student Aiia Maasarwe was on the phone to her sister when she was attacked in Melbourne shortly after midnight on Wednesday. "We're pretty certain she was involved in a conversation with her sister who was overseas at the time of the attack," Detective Inspector Andrew Stamper said.
It was the news story that captured global headlines, and now, our country's Thai cave heroes have been named the 2019 Australians of the year - the first time the award has ever been given jointly to two people.
The pill testing debate was reignited following a spate of drug overdoses at Australian music festivals in 2018. A recent study found public opinion is in favour of pill testing, festival promoters have championed it and even Australia's peak representative body for doctors is on board.
The Sydney Morning Herald
Natalie Vernon was trying to enjoy a holiday in Tasmania last October when she received a call from her distressed daughter, informing her Mrs Vernon's son was threatening to kill himself. Liam*, aged 28, has autism, developmental delay, schizophrenia and post-traumatic stress disorder, and lives full-time in disability-supported group accommodation.
The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) provider that was the subject of complaints from parents, staff and former staff in a Fairfax Media investigation has launched legal action against a former employee who allegedly blew the whistle on company practices, seeking unspecified damages.
LiveBetter has dropped legal action for unspecified damages against a former worker who, it alleged, provided information referenced in a Herald investigation.
But when it came to her third child, Mrs Rayment didn't want her excess milk to go to waste. So she turned to the internet. What she found was twoglobal communities with a single goal in mind: connecting mothers with an oversupply of breast milk with parents who don't have enough.
Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Days after it was announced that she would not be granted an Australian visa in time for her scheduled appearance in Sydney, American whistleblower Chelsea Manning has received a standing ovation after speaking at the Sydney Opera House.
The head of the union representing NSW public school teachers has hit back at the state government's announcement of a review into the education curriculum, claiming that teachers are experiencing "reform and review fatigue".
Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Half of Australian men will suffer from cancer at some stage during their lifetimes, according to new data from the World Health Organisation's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).
People commuting from the CBD to Sydney's north west on Wednesday were advised to consider alternative travel options.
The man underwent life-saving surgery at the same hospital where he remains in a stable condition. It is understood there were no other injuries. "A gentleman has been shot by police. The reason is unclear, but he is in the operating theatre being operated upon," NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said on Thursday afternoon.
Well, for starters, it's up to the federal government to pull the plug and Assistant Minister for Treasury and Finance Zed Seselja said the government had no plans to do so, as "there is no compelling case" why it should.
NSW Police will be out in force in Sydney's CBD today, with an operation aimed at encouraging pedestrian and cyclist safety.
It's not a cure, but for Bethan McElwee the drug Spinraza is the difference between her daughter Aviana, who is turning two in July, not surviving past her first birthday and "thriving". "By the time Aviana started on the drug, she couldn't hold up her head and was only able to move her fingers and her eyes," said Mrs McElwee.
The University of Sydney has suspended or expelled 65 students in three years for forging or illegally purchasing doctor's certificates to support special consideration applications. The data, obtained under the Government Information (Public Access) Act, showed that "falsified documents" were the most common reason for suspension or expulsion.
This past New Year's Eve, my ex-boyfriend died suddenly. He was 25 years old. We hadn't been together for three years. We hadn't spoken for a year and a half. Years ago, however, I had lived with him in his mother's home and considered myself part of his family.
Monday morning we learnt university students will again be targeted by federal government budget cuts. In next week's budget, the Turnbull government plans to slash funding to unis while also raising student fees and requiring graduates to begin loan repayments sooner. Facing yet another proposed hike in student fees, it's hard not to feel we're being duped.
Over a year after the Name Your Ferry competition was launched, Transport NSW has announced the name of the final ferry in its new fleet: Ferry McFerryface. Sydneysiders were encouraged to vote on names for the new ferries through the Name Your Ferry website and using the #yourferry hashtag.
Four masked men dressed in Halloween costumes broke into a home in Sydney's south-west overnight, holding the family inside the house at gun point. The incident took place on Oxford Street, Belmore, just after 10pm on Tuesday. One of the intruders was armed with a metal pole and another with what appeared to be a firearm.
The driver of a car that crashed into a classroom at Greenacre in western Sydney, killing two eight-year-old boys, is "deeply sorry", her lawyer, Nick Hanna, has said. Maha Al-Shennag, 52, was charged with dangerous driving occasioning death and negligent driving after her Toyota Kluger crashed into a classroom at Banksia Road Public School where 24 students were starting their morning class on Tuesday.
Honi Soit
Elizabeth Broderick's review into college culture at the University of Sydney has been released today, detailing a number of issues within residential colleges and outlining recommendations to be implemented by the colleges within the next two years. At a media launch in Sydney this morning, former Sex Discrimination Officer Elizabeth Broderick said, "This is the...
The Broderick review into college culture, titled Cultural Renewal at the University of Sydney Residential Colleges, investigated practices at five of the University of Sydney's six residential colleges: Women's College, Sancta Sophia College, St Andrew's College, St John's College and Wesley College. Alongside the overarching report, each college received, and made public, a college-specific report detailing the...
A ceiling fan circles above our heads, clicking each time it completes a rotation. Flies zip in and out of vision. A puddle of sweat pools at the point where my school skirt ends and skin connects with the scratchy plastic of a stackable school chair.
The University of Sydney has removed a job advertisement and put a ban on further advertising from Rake Chambers in the University's CareerHub following allegations that Charles Waterstreet sexually harassed a USyd student while she worked for him. "The personal safety of our students is of primary concern," a University spokesperson said.
Content warning: racism, antisemitism, homophobia Posters bearing the imagery and name of the Antipodean Resistance, a neo-Nazi youth group, have been found glued to the walls of the Brennan MacCallum Learning Hub. "No drugs, no degeneracy, no tolerance," the poster reads before linking to the group's online info page.
Content warning: sexual assault Following a week-long trial, Jean Claude Perrottet, the brother of NSW Finance Minister Dominic Perrottet, has been found not guilty of three counts of sexual assault that were alleged to have taken place following a St John's College formal in 2015. The jury delivered their not guilty verdict before the NSW...
Content warning: sexual assault Jean Claude Perrottet, the brother of NSW Treasurer and Minister for Industrial Relations Dominic Perrottet, spoke softly as he delivered his version of what happened on the night of October 17, 2015 to the court. "I put up my hand to help her to her knees ...
"Universities attempting to take credit for the hard work of students and advocates, entrenches a power dynamic that stops survivors from speaking out," End Rape on Campus (EROC) ambassador Anna Hush tweeted this morning. She tapped out the post from the Australian Human Rights Commission's (AHRC) press conference, as they announced the results of their...
University student representatives say they feel left in the dark in the lead up to the release of results from the Australian Human Rights Commission's (AHRC) national survey into sexual assault and harassment in universities. Student representatives, including Wom*n's Officers, have been barred from viewing the substantive results of the AHRC survey prior to the official...
"How about we launch with John 14:1-3?" says the man across the table. His fingers skim the wafer thin pages of the leather bound book in his hands. He pauses, and begins the recital in a booming voice. The same one he would use three days later, as he officiated the funeral.
Across years of campus sexual assault campaigning, one call has often been repeated: that perpetrators of sexual assault or harassment should be expelled from campus. In the past, this hasn't happened; we've even seen cases where victims have been expected to attend lessons alongside the perpetrator.
University of Sydney Associate Professors Ben Goldsmith and Megan Mackenzie have come under fire for using deceptive methods to gain subjects for a research project. The study, titled 'An Open Door? Experimental Measurement of Potential Bias in Informal Pathways to Academia', aims to gauge the impact of perceived ethnicity in informal pathways to academic careers....
In the latest issue of Grapeshot, Macquarie University's student magazine, one page stands out against the rest. In the magazine, which came out this week, two lines of small text sit centre on a blood red page: "This was an article about assault and harassment on campus. It was blocked by the university."
St Paul's College has appointed a new Head of College following the resignation of the previous Warden, Reverend Dr Ivan Head, earlier this year. Dr Donald Markwell, who has previously worked in colleges in Oxford and Australia, will commence the role in February 2018. Since 2013, Dr Markwell has served as a senior advisor on...
Vice Chancellor Michael Spence has announced the resignation of Deputy Vice Chancellor (Registrar) Tyrone Carlin from his current role. In an email sent to University of Sydney staff, Spence disclosed Tyrone's decision to return to a teaching role within the Business School. "While it is sad to see him leave his current role, I am...
Police have arrested one person at a protest outside an on-campus screening of The Red Pill, a documentary about the Men's Rights Activist (MRA) movement which has been banned in various cinemas around the world. Protest against The Red Pill screening at USyd, scuffle breaks out between protesters #USyd @honi_soit pic.twitter.com/7WAo3bYXX7 - maani (@maanitruu) May...
As the holidays roll around, the University of Sydney Library is once again planning to dispose of hundreds of books in favour of digital editions. The target this round is the Law Library, with 671 Cambridge University Press books to be sent to landfill. The Library has purchased unlimited online access for the items in...
Grassroots has launched an appeal process against the Electoral Officer's (EO) decision to deem 17 Grassroots Student Representative Council and three delegate to the National Union of Students tickets ineligible to run in the upcoming election, arguing that the ruling "misinterpreted the regulations". The appeal, lodged by Grassroots campaign manager Daniel Ergas, represents 79 University...
Drastic levels of underreporting Reporting One of the most significant findings of the AHRC report was the extent to which sexual harassment and assault were underreported to universities. According to the report, the levels of underreporting suggest that "universities may not have a clear pathways and policies for reporting ...
The University of Sydney Survivors' Network will host its first meeting this Wednesday, providing a peer-run, safe space for survivors of sexual assault to receive support. The network's creation was spearheaded by Sydney University Postgraduate Representative Association (SUPRA) Women's officer Mariam Mohammed. The group will be run with the assistance of 2016 and 2017 Students' Representative...
We've said it once but we will say it again: It's that dreaded time of year once more. And while I'm sure you're sick of people who once accosted you on Eastern Avenue calling foul on the whole shamozzle, I'm going to do it anyway. Because what better time is there to call for the...
Director of Library Site Services Coral Black told Honi the process only applies to duplicate copies of material and in particular 'low use' assets. "The work we are doing is something called collection maintenance, and it is something all academic and public libraries do," she said.
The Students' Representative Council (SRC) exists - at least according to its website - "to defend and advance the interests of USyd students". In this vein, they offer a number of services, from the very important (free legal service, caseworkers, second-hand textbooks) to the less so (publishing your favourite weekly student newspaper) all under the...
Hi. I have approx. 900 ml of breast milk in freezer expressed in March. Pick up from Sydney. Non smoker, non drinker. Not on medication or drugs. Bub is currently 6 months. For most of us, this isn't a typical post we'd see scrolling through our Facebook feeds, but for users of the NSW page of Human Milk for Human Babies (HM4HB), it's nothing out of the ordinary.
A number of previously independent University of Sydney Union (USU) programs, including the Verge Awards, Hermes Literary Journal, Band Competition and DJ Competition, will this year be combined into a new USU Creative Awards. Hermes, which has been published since 1886 and is Australia's oldest literary Journal, will now function as the printed catalogue for...
The University of Sydney's Academic Board has today voted down a proposal that would see semesters shortened from 13 weeks to 12 from 2019 onwards. Deputy Vice Chancellor (Registrar) Tyrone Carlin, who spearheaded the proposal along with Deputy Vice Chancellor (Education) Pip Pattinson, confirmed to Honi that the changes would not go ahead at this time.
CW: Sexual assault A verbal altercation broke out between co-Wom*n's Officer Katie Thorburn and a plain-clothed campus security officer after the guard attempted to pull down new posters calling on the University to take greater action against sexual assault on campus, during yesterday's annual Information Day.
Confused about all this talk of a National Conference of students? Wondering why anyone would eat a piece of paper? Questioning who the hell pays these people? In preparation for our ongoing NUS National Conference coverage, here are the basics... Each year the National Union of Students (NUS) puts on three major national conferences: Presidents'...
The humble Arts degree has been a punching bag for a while now. Frequently described as a 'waste of time', it's easy to become blind to the fact that it represents a massive proportion of students in higher education, along with being the gateway to many necessary occupations.
Disclaimer: Honi Editor Michael Sun is not involved in any decisions or contributions to USU Board Election coverage. Ten students will be vying for six board director positions in this year's University of Sydney Union (USU) elections. The USU is responsible for the majority of University life outside of the classroom, taking care of everything...