I have been asked to write about the wellbeing of Jewish students on campus in the current climate, but to simply say that we are scared or anxious sounds ridiculous. Why would one people’s right to free speech and expression make us feel any type of way at all? To explain this, I need to contextualise the Jewish student experience. I started university in 2020 and my first year was almost entirely online. Getting into an arts/law degree was my biggest achievement to date, and I was bursting at the seems to be able to go on campus. On my first day on campus in 2021, as I walked to the bus park ..read more

The AFL has released the fixture for the 2024 NAB AFLW season, with exciting new plans to grow the game across the country. All 18 teams will compete in an 11-round home and away season in capital cities and regional parts of Australia. This season will also trial “Mid Week Footy”, where games will be played on a Tuesday or Wednesday night over a four-week block in Weeks 4-7. Round 1 kicks off during the men’s pre-finals bye week with the Sydney Swans up against Collingwood at North Sydney Oval, NSW on Friday August 30. It is the first time an AFLW season is starting in NSW. Later that evening ..read more

Queensland’s Gold Coast skateboarder Arisa Trew has become the first female to land a 900-degree spin in a half pipe.  The 14-year-old’s historic feat was captured on-camera and shared online, with Trew describing her accomplishment as “a dream come true”.  The 900 is considered one of skateboarding’s most technically demanding tricks, and it was first landed by skateboard legend Tony Hawk at the X Games in 1999.  The event’s Instagram page shared old footage of Hawk alongside Trew’s latest video, writing that “the legacy of the 900 continues” and that “the torch has been passed ..read more

Last week, Australia debuted the first ever A-League All Stars Women team in a match against Arsenal FC women’s team in Melbourne. Featuring Matildas on both sides, the match was the first of its kind, as previously only men’s international teams had made their way Down Under. The highly anticipated event gave female A-League players a platform to display their talents on an international stage, with A-League All Stars coach Joe Montemurro hinting that international talent scouts would be watching the game. The event comes at a record-breaking time in women’s football. Arsenal Women (home to M ..read more

Artificial intelligence, cyber safety, energy transition – these are terms we hear thrown around in conversations we have almost every day, especially those working in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) related industries. Australia’s STEM workforce has grown so much in the last decade – by 68 per cent, according to the Diversity in STEM Review report published in February this year. It shows no signs of slowing down either, with the federal government aiming to create 1.2 million tech-related jobs by 2030. Undoubtedly, the key to reaching that target is unlocking the pote ..read more

Imagine a world where some of the most vulnerable people are subjected to the unimaginable, yet their suffering remains largely hidden in the shadows. For more than one in three Australian girls and almost one in five boys who experience child sexual abuse, this world is their reality.  Pretty confronting statistics. I was one of those statistics, having experienced abuse as a child, and it’s one of the many reasons why I am so passionate about bringing this topic out of the shadows and into the light by talking openly about child sexual abuse and exploitation and what we must do to stop ..read more

Donald Trump is considering a possible advisory role for tech billionaire Elon Musk if he were to retake the White House next year, according to sources from the Wall Street Journal.  While the two controversial figures have had a tense relationship in the past, WSJ reports they’ve shared several phone calls since March this year when they connected in person at the estate of billionaire Nelson Peltz.  The phone calls are said to have been discussions for ways that Musk– who runs social media platform X, SpaceX and Tesla– might have “formal input and influence” over economic and bord ..read more

Former US President Donald Trump has been found guilty of all 34 charges in his hush money trail, seeing him become the first current or former US president to be convicted of felony crimes. The 34 counts cover falsifying documents including invoices and checks made in reimbursement payments to Michael Cohen, who issued the $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels to silence claims that she and Trump had sex in 2006. For weeks, prosecutors alleged the former president participated in the payment to Daniels, with the goal of covering up stories that he believed could harm his bid to win the 2016 pres ..read more

Jenna Roberts has been appointed as the Assistant Commissioner for the Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commission.  A proud Aboriginal woman, Roberts will work with the Commissioner for Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence, Micaela Cronin, to engage and work alongside Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in overseeing and reporting on the first Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Action Plan, a key element of the National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children. Roberts has had an extensive career across mental health, drug and alcohol services and the domestic ..read more

Partner and Head of Financial Services Tax at Grant Thornton, Himashini Weeraratne has always been a changemaker no matter what industry she worked in her career.  “I actually did law back in the day,” says Weeraratne, “And why I did law was to become a change-maker.” “I loved tax, and obviously tax is an amalgamation of law, accounting, and commerciality of all principles. Then I fell in love with superannuation.” Weeraratne has over 20 years of experience providing tax advisory and compliance services to financial service providers, fund managers, managed funds, superannuation funds and ..read more