Award-winning journalist and disability advocate Zoe Simmons has labelled the federal government’s proposed National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) reforms a “manufactured crisis,” saying the cuts will cause “mass harm” to Australians with disability. Zoe, a University of Wollongong journalism graduate spoke with UOWTV’s Alumni Stories program, weeks after Health Minister Mark Butler announced major changes to the NDIS aimed at tightening eligibility and reducing cost growth. Zoe said the government had deliberately framed the reforms using language about fraud and spiralling costs to build public support for cuts. “That’s exactly what they did. That’s exactly what the media did,” Zoe…
Author: Ivy Swibel
https://youtu.be/FISXLbpnKSI Whale watching season opens along the Illawarra coast this Saturday, with humpback whales already being spotted offshore ahead of Shellharbour Wild’s first tours of the year. The season runs through November, overlapping with the annual migration of an estimated 40,000 humpback whales travelling between Antarctic feeding grounds and warmer breeding waters in Queensland. Shellharbour Wild Marketing Manager Sonia Tooley said the operator was already seeing whales daily ahead of the season’s official opening. “We think with so many whales, we will have whales on our first whale cruises heading out,” Ms Tooley said. UOW Marine Vertebrate Ecology Lab researcher…
A NSW parliamentary inquiry released last week has raised concerns about the University of Wollongong’s (UOW) governance and global commercial operations, prompting calls for greater transparency about how the university spends its money. The NSW Legislative Council Standing Committee on Social Issues’ interim report examined UOW’s obligations to the Illawarra region alongside the operation of its global commercial arm, UOW Global Enterprises, which runs overseas campuses in Dubai, Hong Kong, Malaysia and India. UOW Student Advisory Council Chair Alex Tegg said the university’s 2025 restructure had a tangible effect on students. “We have seen the direct impact on students, reduced…
The Creative Wollongong Short Film Festival at University of Wollongong’s University Hall attracted 900 people on Friday – a record turnout for an event that also drew a record 35 entries across three categories. Bogan Bird, co-directed, written and produced by Holly Trenaman and Tyrone McCrystal, placed second in the open category. Mr McCrystal said the decision to work independently came down to practicality – half of Bogan Bird was animated, a skill set largely absent from the region’s production companies. “I didn’t really want anyone over my back telling me what to do,” Mr McCrystal said. “We had the…
Wollongong is pitching itself to the world as a booming jobs hub, but a regional workforce dashboard updated this week revealed the region is struggling to fill the roles it needs most. The Invest Wollongong 2026 Investment Prospectus released last week set a target of 20,500 new jobs by 2035. The document frames Wollongong as NSW’s fastest-growing region and a ready-made alternative to Sydney for business investment, citing the University of Wollongong’s (UOW) graduate pipeline as central to delivering that vision. However, the RDAIS State of the Workforce dashboard, updated 22 March 2026, tells a different story. Drawing on the…
Hundreds of seabirds on Lord Howe Island are dying each year with stomachs full of plastic, according to new findings from Adrift Lab, a marine pollution research group that has tracked seabird health for nearly two decades. Researchers found that Flesh-footed Shearwaters, which migrate to nest on the island between October and May, are ingesting record levels of plastic – including balloon clips, bottle caps and pen caps. One chick, just 80 days old, had swallowed 778 fragments. Marine ecologist from Adrift Lab, Alix de Jersey said the research points to serious biological impacts including gut damage and signs of neurotoxicity.…
Global press freedom has entered “difficult” territory for the first time, according to the 2025 World Press Freedom Index, with new data revealing that more than half the world’s countries are struggling to sustain independent journalism due to worsening economic conditions. The annual report from Reporters Without Borders (RSF), released this week to coincide with World Press Freedom Day, shows a record drop in the Index’s economic indicator – now the lowest of all five assessed categories – placing the viability of independent media at crisis point. University of Wollongong journalism lecturer, Dr Benjamin Ball said the findings reflect a…
Tens of thousands of Australians were caught in a superannuation data breach, triggering fresh concern over the country’s escalating cybersecurity crisis. The breach, which compromised access to retirement funds through multiple superannuation portals, is the latest in a national trend of rising data breaches. Latest figures from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) show that 527 data breaches were reported in the first half of 2024 – the highest number in more than three years and a nine per cent increase from the previous six-month period. Privacy Commissioner Carly Kind told Australian Cyber Security Magazine that the scale…
A sharp rise in measles cases across Australia has reignited concerns among health officials, with young children most affected. Public health experts are urging stronger vaccination efforts to curb the resurgence, which has been linked to post-pandemic travel and declining immunisation rates. According to the Australian Department of Health and Aged Care, 46 measles cases have been reported in the country this year, with 11 in NSW linked to returned travellers. Health authorities have warned that these imported cases are triggering local transmission, placing unvaccinated individuals, particularly young children, at increased risk. University of Wollongong paediatrics specialist Associate Professor…
It’s 2013 and the Southern Ocean remains vast and unforgiving—a cold, wild expanse where the horizon blurs into endless grey water. Somewhere among the waves, a lone whale surfaces, exhaling a plume of mist into the frozen air. As mighty as a mountain, as defenceless as a lost child; in the distance, the dull hum of engines draws closer. It’s not the sound of rescue or sanctuary, it’s a harpoon ship, bearing down fast. Before it can take aim, another vessel barrels between predator and prey. The Bob Barker, black-flagged and relentless, cuts across the whaler’s path, its crew shouting…