Federal and state politics, policy, and governance
With a new cash mandate in place for grocers and fuel retailers, advocates are calling on the government to expand requirements to major retailers like Bunnings and McDonald's.
Ella Sullivan 
Victoria will make public transport free for April, costing $71 million in forgone revenue, as fuel shortages and soaring prices strain household budgets across Australia.
Yuki Tamura 
Glasgow's housing emergency has fuelled rising anti-immigration sentiment, but the real problem runs much deeper than who the city chooses to house.
Andrew Marsh 
Millions of Americans participated in the third No Kings national day of action, signalling sustained grassroots opposition to Trump policies on immigration, Iran war, and governance style.
Priya Narayanan 
Newly unsealed court filings show Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk coordinating on government efficiency efforts in February 2025, marking a striking reversal of their long-standing feud.
Nina Papadopoulos 
Australia's biggest sporting names are calling for law reforms to stop employers discriminating against people using prescription medication. The campaign targets cases where job applicants are rejected despite their medication being legally prescribed.
Helen Cartwright 
The Australian Electoral Commission is launching a voter education push in Farrer ahead of May's by-election, concerned that confusion could leave thousands of votes invalid.
Bruce Mackinnon 
Insurance premiums and energy costs are climbing, but simple switching strategies can recover thousands of dollars annually. Here's where to start.
Oliver Pemberton 
A Hawkesbury City Council decision to fund a deputy mayor's overseas trip using a mayoral minute procedure has sparked questions about transparency and governance, with the local newspaper and councillors questioning the approval process.
Oliver Pemberton 
A damning admission from UK government officials reveals that Capita's £239 million pension scheme takeover was poorly prepared, leaving retired civil servants without timely payments and raising fresh questions about major outsourcing contracts.
Kate Morrison 
Within days of announcing a ban on researchers from US-sanctioned Chinese tech firms, NeurIPS apologised and reversed course. The episode exposes the fragility of open science in an era of strategic competition.
Kate Morrison The government says new supermarket price laws will protect Australian families from excessive costs. But the policy misses the real problem—and regulation rarely fixes what politics can't.
Andrew Marsh Starting April 1, Australians aged 50+ must develop formal retirement income strategies. The problem: their real wages just went backwards for the first time in years.
Rachel Thornbury Two major superannuation changes take effect this month and next, affecting retirement planning and employee payroll. Here's what you need to do.
Daniel Kovac 
Victoria has banned real estate agents from charging rental application fees, part of sweeping reforms to curb rental market practices that impose costs on renters.
Darren Ong HMS Anson's unprecedented maintenance at HMAS Stirling signals Australia is building nuclear submarine capability. But experts warn a yawning capacity gap threatens the entire AUKUS enterprise.
Aisha Khoury 
From 1 July, Australian parents welcoming a new child will access 26 weeks of government-funded paid parental leave, the final stage of a multi-year expansion that began in 2023.
Mitchell Tan 
The UK government is trialling social media restrictions on 300 teenagers to gather real-world evidence before deciding whether to follow Australia with a blanket ban on under-16s.
Kate Morrison Australia needs 42,000 additional electricians to meet clean energy and housing targets by 2030, but apprenticeship numbers aren't climbing fast enough. Government funding cuts may make the problem worse.
Ella Sullivan Australia expanded international student allocations to 295,000 in 2026, then doubled graduate visa fees to $4,600 on 1 March, undercutting the move and signalling that education revenue matters more than recruitment strategy.
Fatima Al-Rashid