Nov
4
2025
In this new age of AI-enabled warfare, Australia’s Defence Department needs to rethink the way it procures military equipment, says Professor Toby Walsh, Scientia Professor of Artificial Intelligence at the University of NSW’s Department of Computer Science and Engineering. “The ADF typically puts out a tender, a specification, and throws a lot of money at …read more
Oct
27
2025
Boarding is an “all in” experience at the Anglican Church Grammar School, says headmaster, Dr Alan Campbell. Better known as Churchie, the day and boarding school for boys in Brisbane doesn’t offer weekly boarding or flexible arrangements of that type, Campbell adds, because the school’s policy is to remain with the “traditional model of a …read more
Oct
25
2025
Most of the 180 boys who board at Marist College Ashgrove come from farming families in rural districts, says principal Michael Newman, and only a dozen or so of the school’s boarders are from city-based families in Brisbane. These boys board on a weekly basis – they leave the Brisbane school on Friday and return …read more
Oct
16
2025
Women comprise about 20.9 per cent of full-time Australian defence force personnel and there is no expectation that gender parity will ever be reached. Head of Military Personnel Rear Admiral Tish Van Stralen says while there are important targets for increasing women’s representation, with a goal of at least 25 per cent women in the …read more
Oct
16
2025
As Australia grapples with increasing geo-political uncertainty and rising transnational crime, the Australian Signals Directorate is “probably one of the busiest arms of government”, says Director-General Abigail Bradshaw. Sifting through a never-ceasing storm of foreign electronic communications to gather intelligence, ASD computer experts monitor electronic communications important to Australia and its allies and track down …read more
Sep
24
2025
Australia is on the cusp of the next big renewable energy leap: using the electric car to double as a home battery, according to experts in the field. Australia has already embraced solar energy with immense enthusiasm – one in three Australian houses now has solar panels – and with the recent government subsidy there …read more
Sep
24
2025
Australia leads the world in rooftop solar. About one-third of all Australian houses have rooftop solar installed and recently there has been a surge in demand for home batteries, so solar power can be stored and later used or sold. Yet some home-owners can’t afford or simply don’t want a solar system, others live in …read more
Jun
18
2025
Touch football is just as popular as netball at St Hilda’s, an independent day and boarding school for girls on the Gold Coast. AFL is one of the most popular sports at the school. “We have touch football, cricket, AFL, soccer,” says head of the school’s Athena Sports Program Lisa Cleverly. “Some of them are …read more
Jun
18
2025
Australian schools are increasingly using artificial intelligence tools for assessment and teacher assistance; to help provide individualised feedback to students and create new ways of learning. However, the take-up has been patchy, says Therese Hopfenbeck, director of the Assessment & Evaluation Research Centre (AERC) at the University of Melbourne, adding: “From a research perspective, we …read more
Jun
18
2025
Australia’s intense focus on nationwide numeracy and literacy test scores such as NAPLAN has made almost no difference to students’ measurable literacy and numeracy over time and comes at the expense of “values education”, says Dr Chris Duncan, CEO of the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA). “I think the model has …read more