This month, showering two days in a row has felt like a major accomplishment for NDIS participant Aspen Robson. In May, Robson received a new plan following a review, with her psychology sessions being cut to a quarter of what had previously been funded. Robson said that their support, aimed to help build independence over time, has been reduced by almost $15,000 a year. In addition, her support worker hours have been split into fixed home and community allocations, with no room to account for how needs shift from week to week. “It has taken absolutely everything out of me,”…
Author: Sydney Smith
Social media has overtaken news websites as a source of news for Australian adults, according to ACMA data released in May. The report found that free-to-air TV has remained the most used news platform in 2025, with 51 per cent of Australian adults accessing it in the seven days prior to the ACMA survey. Social media and communication apps were the second most used at 43 per cent, followed by news websites and apps at 39 per cent. Master’s student Adam Pierce said that his news habits have reflected the broader shift toward platform-based news sources. “I primarily use Reddit…
Households relying on government payments have recorded the sharpest quarterly rise in living costs, according to new data from Australian Bureau of Statistics. The Selected Living Cost Index has shown essential expenses are continuing to put pressure on tight budgets. The indexes rose 2.5 per cent for pensioner and beneficiary, age pensioner, and other government transfer recipient households in the March quarter, compared with a rise of 1.4 per cent for employee households and 1.1 per cent for self-funded retiree households. The March quarter marks the largest rise on record for pensioner and beneficiary households, and the sharpest increase for…
Enrolments in government schools have dropped to a record low as an increasing number of students pivot to independent and Catholic schools. According to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, government school enrolments fell by 4 per cent between 2021 and 2025, while Catholic and independent school enrolments increased by 5.7 per cent and 15.3 per cent respectively over the same period. An analysis conducted by Guardian Australia has found that enrolments in private schools grew at more than six times the rate of government schools over the past 10 years. The departure of students from the public school…