The newly-elected Wollongong Lord Mayor has revealed she was targeted by misogynistic online trolls during her successful election campaign. Councillor Tania Brown, the first female Lord Mayor of Wollongong, told students on RadioU at the University of Wollongong today she had received misogynistic and homophobic comments on her social media pages. “I have had comments made about the sexuality of members in my family,” Clr Brown said. “I recently had someone tell me I was a woman and I should go home and menstruate there.” The Lord Mayor said she did not delete or hide the comments to highlight the…
Author: Hayley Prenter
Australian women have reported feeling abandoned and shamed by the health care system, with two thirds of women citing experiences of health care related gender bias or discrimination. The #EndGenderBias survey, conducted by the National Women’s Health Advisory Council, found gender bias in health care had a “far reaching impact on women’s lives” with many women claiming that a delayed diagnosis and treatment led to the progression of their disease and overall, worse health outcomes. Tasmanian Board Member of the Australian Women’s Health Alliance Heidi La Paglia Reid has been regularly in and out of the health system since she…
Australian artists are struggling more than ever to make a living from their creative practice. The Artists as Workers report found professional artists earn an average income of $54,500 per year, 26 per cent below the workforce average. Co-author of the 2024 report Katya Petetskaya said while artist income has increased with inflation, it hasn’t changed in real terms. “The income of artists hasn’t changed much since the 80s in real terms,” Ms Petetskaya said. The report reveals the latest findings in the longitudinal landmark study that began in the 1980s. The series tracks the working conditions of artists, providing information about their artistic practice, income, career…
Experts are not convinced that the new $6.5 million pledge to enact an age assurance technologies pilot will prevent young people from being able to access pornography online.
NSW organ donors saved the lives of 392 people last year, a 16.4 per cent increase compared to 2022. This is the first increase the Australian Organ and Tissue Authority has recorded since the COVID-19 pandemic. NSW Organ and Tissue Donation Service state medical director Michael O’Leary said the COVID-19 pandemic had a massive impact on donation activity. “We had over 20 per cent decline in the number of donors between 2018 and 2021,” Dr O’Leary said. “Last year, for the first time, it looked as though we were getting back to the same levels we were in prior to the…
The Australian LGBTQIA+ community experience mental illness at a rate two to four times higher than the broader population, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). The 2020-2022 National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing found three in four (74.5 per cent) of people in the queer community have been diagnosed with a mental disorder at some time in their life – compared with 41.7 per cent of heterosexual Australians. This is the first time the ABS has collected data on the mental health of LGBTQIA+ Australians. LGBTIQ+ Health Australia CEO Nicky Bath said the high rate…
The number of people living with dementia in Australia is expected to surge 94 per cent in the next 30 years.
Dementia Australia estimates more than 421,000 people are currently living with dementia. Without a medical breakthrough, they project this figure to increase to more than 812,500 by 2054.
The Australian Universities Accord Panel has recommended the federal government pay students for compulsory workplace placements that form part of a degree. It comes after a survey commissioned by the Australian Council of Heads of School of Social Work found a third of students lost their entire weekly income due to compulsory university placement. Another 25% of the cohort lost up to 75% of their regular wage. Professor Christine Morley led the research team late last year and said students were forced to choose between putting petrol in their car or putting food on the table. “Ninety-six per cent [of…
RadioU UOW · Calls to grow support for music therapy Music is said to have a healing power and that is true for six-year-old Sophie who accessed music therapy during treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. Music is said to have a healing power, and that is true for six-year-old Sophie, who accessed music therapy during treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. During her treatment, Sophie had a toxic reaction to the build-up of chemotherapy in her body, which caused her organs to shut down. “She was critically unwell,” Sophie’s mother Christine says. “We had the emergency crash team come into the…
The UOW Motorsport team is gearing up to compete in the Society of Automotive Engineers Australasia Formula competition. Their secret weapon is a state-of-the-art, all-electric, open-wheel formula-style race car, they hope will help them bring home the gold.