Mountains Community Resource Network (MCRN)

“…very few people have the resources to obtain the sort of expert reports that are shielding some of these high-profile defendants. Where there is one court experience for the wealthy and another for those without means, faith in the justice system is at risk of erosion”

On Wednesday, 10 of the state’s leading media organisations, including The Age, and the Melbourne Press Club sent a letter to Attorney-General Sonya Kilkenny calling for action to improve the open administration of justice

AI fuels surge in Australian data centre emissions Lobby group claims data centres are 'energy efficient'.

Carbon emissions from Australian data centres have jumped 16 per cent in a year, with the country’s largest operators more than doubling their outputs since the start of the decade ia.acs.org.au/article/2026...

Leaders of Australia’s capital cities have issued a stark warning to Labor over the dangers posed to the nation’s energy grid by power-hungry data centres, which they say will drive up electricity bills without decisive commonwealth intervention www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/polit...

Bunnings to install facial recognition tech in NZ stores Bunnings will introduce facial recognition technology to combat retail crime in its New Zealand stores within weeks while preparing the ground for a longer-term Australian rollout.

Bunnings to install facial recognition tech in NZ stores as it prepares Australian rollout thewest.com.au/business/ret...

Commissioners call on government to support efforts to bring back Australian women and children from Syria The Australian Human Rights Commission’s President and Commissioners for children and women’s rights have called on the Australian Government to support efforts to enable 34 Australian women and child...

The Australian Human Rights Commission’s President and Commissioners for children and women’s rights have called on the Australian Government to support efforts to enable 34 Australian women and children held in the al-Roj camp in Syria to return to Australia humanrights.gov.au/about-us/med...

Sunlight travels 93 million miles to reach the earth None of them through the Strait of Hormuz

Sunlight travels 93 million miles to reach the earth

None of them through the Strait of Hormuz

billmckibben.substack.com/p/sunlight-t...

Strengthen public education to boost social cohesion

According to the Scanlon Foundation, social cohesion is “at its lowest level since it was first measured”. One response lies in education. Diverse public schools create the conditions where “stereotypes soften, suspicion eases and mutual understanding grows”. satpa.pe/nNeL8ak

How the wording of a trigger warning changes our psychological response A recent psychology study found that while trigger warnings don't reduce emotional distress, their wording drastically changes our cognitive response. Vague warnings leave the brain guessing, inadvertently causing a spike in intrusive memories days later.

How the wording of a trigger warning changes our psychological response

'Most brazen acts of corruption': Obeid family loses $30m worth of property After investigations spanning a decade, the New South Wales Crime Commission says it has taken control of more than $30 million worth of properties linked to former New South Wales Labor politician Eddie Obeid.

After investigations spanning a decade, the New South Wales Crime Commission says it has taken control of more than $30 million worth of properties linked to former New South Wales Labor politician Eddie Obeid.

Albanese’s policy on Iran makes us complicit in the collapse of international rules The Albanese government has stood by as the foundations of the international order were destroyed

Excellent by @emmashortis.bsky.social

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The ‘uberisation’ of part time roles is driving insecurity for women **Women are increasingly being exposed to gig-economy-style conditions and the ‘uberisation’ of their roles, as they make up the bulk of the part-time workforce. The United Workers Union has just surveyed 1200 female part-time employees across industries, with the findings revealing stark realities that must be considered this International Women’s Day.** **National President of the United Workers Union, Jo Scholfield, shares more on the findings below .** Across Australia, millions of part time workers – most of them women – are holding together a system that was meant to support them, not place them under strain. What was sold as a pathway for balance has become a fault line of exploitation. F The findings of our new survey _Women in part-time work: the slide towards an Uber economy_ highlight the worst of this new reality: workers rostered on “zero hours contracts” to work the bare minimum, stretched financially, juggling caring responsibilities, and being forced to avoid making plans in their time off in the hope that much-needed hours become available to boost their low pay. The survey, conducted in February this year, received more than 1200 responses from women working part time across multiple industries. The findings show that part-time female workers in caring professions and hospitality are reporting impacts on their roles from “just-in-time” gig-economy characteristics. Further, the research showed that part-time female workers are experiencing gig economy-style demands with little flexibility or financial reward. The “Uber-isation” of part-time workers’ jobs revealed in the survey is an unsettling story of unpredictable employment contracts with days, times and hours that are all over the place. It’s a chaotic picture: more than one in five do not have consistent hours or days from week-to-week or from one roster cycle to the next. This figure jumps to 68% of hospitality workers and 60% of in-home aged care workers. Similar signs of exploitation and uncertainty in the care and disability support sectors can be seen with workers reporting regular unexpected shift changes at well above the average rate of 22%. Regular unexpected shifts are experienced by 79% of in-home aged care workers, 35% of disability support workers and 34% of early childhood educators. Half of all respondents regularly work additional hours, and more than one-third do so on a weekly basis. Yet in a sign of the poor rewards for their flexibility, the overwhelming majority – a startling 70% – are not paid overtime for additional hours worked. Saying no, even when changes don’t suit a worker’s personal circumstances, is not an option for a third of those surveyed. Their reluctance is driven by fear that pushing back will mean fewer hours, poorer shifts or being overlooked in the future. This anxiety is especially acute in frontline sectors already stretched thin by chronic understaffing. Women often choose part time work due to the disproportionate share of caring responsibilities they carry. This was the case for 62% of the women who responded to the survey. More than half of these carers were over the age of 55. In theory, part-time work allowed these women to balance time with family, helping with grandchildren and school drop-offs. But this gets challenging when shifts change, workloads increase and flexible work arrangements operate in one direction. As one respondent noted, flexibility “just means that I end up … working longer hours”. Coordinating caring responsibilities when workers had no set days or hours was described as “hard” through to “impossible”. Finding time to attend medical appointments and balancing individual health needs when workers are denied leave and much-needed breaks were further challenges. The other story that came through is that of workers who benefited from clear rights under the enterprise agreements they negotiated. This group was more likely to have employment contracts that set out the days, times and hours of work each week. When there was a request to change the pattern or work, or to pick up additional hours, they said they had the confidence to say no to requests that did not meet their needs. More than 4.5 million workers currently work part-time, the majority of them women, representing roughly one-third of the workforce. The survey results suggest that current arrangements are failing millions of women, who are being left to paper over the cracks in a system originally intended to support their work-life balance. Part time work should not be a two-tier system of rights and certainty for some, and exploitation for others. The “Uber-isation” of part-time work, which is falling predominantly on women, is not the way things should be. There is an urgent need to narrow the widening gap to ensure all women have the security, certainty, and choice they need. Share this gig economyIWD 2026part time workUnited Workers Union by Women's Agenda 13 hours ago ## Stay Smart! Get Women's Agenda in your inbox * Email * Comments This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Δ ## Latest news ### Australia wasn’t the first place where women could vote but it was the first to do this: What Canadian PM Mark Carney got right ### Kristi Noem fired by Donald Trump as Homeland Security Secretary ### Two per cent is not progress. It’s a capital warning ### Every degree of global warming deepens gender inequality. Here’s what we can do about it. ### “I can’t go on the big swings”: One playground moment with my 3yo revealed everything about the gender gap in sport ### How an International Court judge thinks about hope

The ‘uberisation’ of part time roles is driving insecurity for women https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/the-uberisation-of-part-time-roles-is-driving-insecurity-for-women/ #AUSpol

‘Treating the floor like the ceiling’: Corporate Australia’s gender equity wins don’t add up On paper, corporate Australia is showing signs of success on gender equity, but ask the average woman working for a small business if she is feeling the financial benefits, and the odds are she will say no. We are witnessing a frustrating paradox where the latest Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) data shows the large-employer gender pay gap is improving and is down 13.1% to 12.7%, according to Dr **Leonora Risse** Associate Professor in Economics, Queensland University of Technology. Yet, simultaneously, the Financy Women’s Index (FWX) has suffered its first significant setback in years, falling to 77.76 points – the lowest it has been since December 2023. During this time, Australia has been more vocal and policy focused on gender equality. We have legislated superannuation on paid parental leave and climbed to 13th place on the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report. But there is a growing disconnect between the accolades reported in boardrooms and the lived experiences of everyday women. WGEA CEO Mary Wooldridge provided a reality check this week, noting that men remain nearly twice as likely as women to be in the highest-paid roles, while women still dominate the lowest-paid ones. Nationally, more than 50% of employers still have a gender pay gap larger than 11.2% in favour of men. The FWX, which includes 8.5 million women of working age, many of whom for small businesses that fall outside the WGEA spotlight, tells an even harsher story. In 2025, women effectively became the economy’s pressure valve, with a widening gender gap in underemployment as employers “hoarded” labour by reducing hours rather than axing them. Nowhere is this disconnect more glaring than in the upper echelons of ASX-listed companies. Female board positions on the ASX 200 fell to 37.6% in the December quarter, marking the lowest level since March 2025 (38.4%). This backward step, which we have yet to fully recover from, is a concerning signal for corporate culture, occurring despite a “reported” surge in women investing nearly $12,000 in short courses with the Australian Institute of Company Directors to prove they are “ready.” The talent is qualified, waiting, and exhausted. Our findings show the Education sub-index has surpassed a record 93 points, driven by a surge of women also “levelling up” in high-earning fields like Information Technology and Engineering, where female enrolment growth is outpacing male. Yet, despite this intellectual and financial investment, progress remains glacial. A large portion of corporate Australia is settling for a “near enough is good enough” approach to its 40% targets, treating the floor like the ceiling. The 40:40:20 vision was never meant to be a cap on the opportunities of a growing pool of highly qualified women, yet the appointments have stalled. To help Australia overcome this paradox, a company’s gender strategy must move beyond a policy tick-box mindset and if nothing else, address the “greedy jobs” and Motherhood bias that continues to disproportionately disadvantage women. According to WGEA, discretionary payments, including bonuses and overtime, remain a primary driver of the gender pay gap. Workplace flexibility, even when it is promoted in job ads, is being penalised while long hours in the office are favoured. It’s a dynamic that leaves women—who according to HILDA Data are performing 47 hours of unpaid work per week compared to 27 hours for men, in their peak parenting years—financially stranded. With more legislative changes happening in 2026 requiring WGEA reporting employers to set and actually meet at least three gender equality targets, the time for passive reporting must end. We must ensure real behavioural change is the result, because a narrowing pay gap in a CBD high-rise means nothing if it doesn’t translate to economic security for women on the ground. Share this corporate australiagender pay gapwomen in business by Bianca Hartge-Hazelman 8 hours ago ## Stay Smart! Get Women's Agenda in your inbox * Email * Name This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Δ ## Latest news ### Australia wasn’t the first place where women could vote but it was the first to do this: What Canadian PM Mark Carney got right ### Kristi Noem fired by Donald Trump as Homeland Security Secretary ### Two per cent is not progress. It’s a capital warning ### Every degree of global warming deepens gender inequality. Here’s what we can do about it. ### “I can’t go on the big swings”: One playground moment with my 3yo revealed everything about the gender gap in sport ### How an International Court judge thinks about hope

‘Treating the floor like the ceiling’: Corporate Australia’s gender equity wins don’t add up https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/treating-the-floor-like-the-ceiling-corporate-australias-gender-equity-wins-dont-add-up/ #AUSpol

Legislative harakiri. A rare win for transparency as FOI bill dead - Michael West The Government's attempt to limit transparency has been killed off. Widely condemned, the death of the FOI amendment bill is a good thing

Albo's 'transparency bill' was so bad Labor killed it themselves.

( @mrrexpatrick.bsky.social might have helped but can't say too much)
#auspol #FOI
michaelwest.com.au/legislative-...

Shown pornographic images, asked for threesomes: SES women's claims of sexism A review into SES member experiences hears allegations of sexual harassment, stalking and pockets of "boys' clubs" operating throughout the state.

A review into SES member experiences hears allegations of sexual harassment, stalking and pockets of "boys' clubs" operating throughout the state.

Family of Indigenous man who died in custody say justice 'won't be done' The inquest heard that Greg Merriman had a heart attack and died alone in his locked cell after tear gas was deployed by Corrective Services officers in his prison wing.

The inquest heard that Greg Merriman had a heart attack and died alone in his locked cell after tear gas was deployed by Corrective Services officers in his prison wing.

Deadly bombing of Iran primary school ‘a grave violation of humanitarian law’: UNESCO The UN education agency, UNESCO, says that the bombing of a primary school during the US and Israeli military attacks on Iran on Saturday constitutes a grave violation of humanitarian law.

Do you think it might be getting slightly different coverage, and more of it, in more prominent places, if Iran had just massacred a hundred-odd little girls in Tel Aviv?

news.un.org/en/story/202...

Australia’s official plan for AI safety isn’t much more than a single dot point. Will it be enough?

Australia is taking a ‘wait and see’ approach to AI regulation.

Surround and conquer: When bullying runs a campaign A covert campaign of pressure and manipulation can isolate a target while leaving the true architect of the bullying safely out of sight.

A covert campaign of pressure and manipulation can isolate a target while leaving the true architect of the bullying safely out of sight.

Surround and conquer: When bullying runs a campaign
~ Char Weeks

independentaustralia.net/politics/pol...

Researchers find forever chemical transfers to honey and 'threatens' colonies The study found that European honey bee colonies exposed to PFOS led to smaller bees being born and threatened the viability of their hives.

The study found that European honey bee colonies exposed to PFOS led to smaller bees being born and threatened the viability of their hives.

Trump says regime change in Cuba is ‘question of time' after Iran Trump administration has tightened sanctions meant to degrade Cuban economy and threatened to topple government.

Trump administration has tightened sanctions meant to degrade Cuban economy and threatened to topple government.

Iran’s regime has shut down the internet in the middle of war – placing civilians in the crosshairs

Most civilians in Iran have no idea when and where US and Israeli bombs will fall.

National plan to tackle elder abuse delayed by more than two years The National Plan to Respond to the Abuse of Older Australians lapsed in 2023 and the government has not given a timeline for the release of its replacement.

The National Plan to Respond to the Abuse of Older Australians lapsed in 2023 and the government has not given a timeline for the release of its replacement.

Getting an ADHD diagnosis may be easier, but will it make things better? The way ADHD is diagnosed and managed is changing across the country. Here's the reason for the change and how it will work in each state and territory.

The way ADHD is diagnosed and managed is changing across the country. Here's the reason for the change and how it will work in each state and territory.

There are just hours left for the thousands eligible for Australia’s largest class action payout to register before the deadline closes www.news.com.au/national/pol...

An Australian study of anti-feminist attitudes shows up to 30% of boys surveyed expressed agreement with various forms of violent extremism. 👉 theconversation.com/40-of-t...

Exclusive: US investigation points to likely US responsibility in Iran school strike, sources say U.S. military investigators believe it is likely that U.S. forces were responsible for an apparent strike on an Iranian girls' school that killed scores of children on Saturday but have not yet reache...

BREAKING via Reuters

U.S. military investigators believe it is likely that U.S. forces were responsible for an apparent strike on an Iranian girls' school that killed scores of children on Saturday but have not yet reached a final conclusion or completed their investigation.

The seeds Nixon sowed

"Those who see Aboriginal people as a 'problem'. Or conversely, brand all Australians as 'colonisers' reduces people to an idea. They are no longer human but a point to be made." | Stan Grant satpa.pe/YIsMrHN

"After two decades of campaigning... legislation has finally been tabled for Australia to join the new High Seas Treaty," writes Rebecca Hubbard, Director of @highseasalliance.bsky.social, and Kate Noble, Senior Manager of Oceans Policy at WWF-Australia.

Read more: https://theaus.in/4reNZ9G

Pornhub’s owner to block Australians over age check laws The Canadian pornography giant is preparing to block millions of Australians from its websites ahead of new age verification laws taking effect on Monday.

Pornhub is going to ban people located in Australia from using their platform from Monday onwards www.smh.com.au/technology/p...