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The Latest Breaking News from the Australian Research Council

Porn not ‘inherently harmful’, says first inquiry of its kind in Australia

The New South Wales parliament recently released a report exploring the impacts of pornography on people’s mental, emotional and physical health. It’s the first state-based inquiry of its kind, and rejects knee-jerk simplifications in favour of nuanced findings.

The Conversation

Australia is facing an ‘AI divide’, new national survey shows

In the short time since OpenAI launched ChatGPT in November 2022, generative artificial intelligence (AI) products have become increasingly ubiquitous and advanced.

The Conversation

Cuts to key research facilities threaten Australia’s ability to be a global scientific leader

There has been much excitement since Australia signed a landmark agreement with the United States last month to expand cooperation on critical minerals and rare earth elements.

The Conversation

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Engineering crops to photosynthesise better just got one step closer to reality

As Earth’s population grows, we will need more food. According to one estimate, we may need to nearly double our crop yields in the next century to keep up.

The Conversation

Grandparenting tells us much about our history. It’s important to preserve these stories

Grandparents can play a fundamental role in families, yet they have often been overlooked in Australian history.

The Conversation

Climate change is a crisis of intergenerational justice. It’s not too late to make it right

Climate change is the biggest issue of our time. 2024 marked both the hottest year on record and the highest levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the past two million years.

The Conversation

Most Australian government agencies aren’t transparent about how they use AI

A year ago, the Commonwealth government established a policy requiring most federal agencies to publish “AI transparency statements” on their websites by February 2025. These statements were meant to explain how agencies use artificial intelligence (AI), in what domains and with what safeguards.

The Conversation

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Queensland’s forests are still being bulldozed — and new parks alone won’t save them

The Queensland government celebrated the creation of new national parks this year, with Premier David Crisafulli saying it is time to “get serious” and be “ambitious” in protecting nature.

The Conversation

Ancient ‘salt mountains’ in southern Australia once created refuges for early life

Salt is an essential nutrient for the human body. But hundreds of millions of years before the first humans, salt minerals once shaped entire landscapes. They even determined where early life on Earth could thrive.

The Conversation

Misinformation was rife during the 2025 election. New research shows many people were unable to identify it

Misinformation has become a routine part of daily life, shaping public discourse and distorting perceptions. A new report reveals that in the two weeks prior to the 2025 federal election, almost two-thirds (60%) of adults reported coming across election misinformation. Only 19% didn’t come across it and 21% were unsure.

The Conversation

Most Australians agree there’s a housing crisis. But they differ on what’s causing it – and how to fix it

Housing was a key issue during the 2025 federal election. In a campaign fought on the cost of living, rising housing costs – rents, mortgage repayments and house prices – were issues that all parties had to address.

The Conversation

Our brains evaluate food within milliseconds, long before we’ve decided to eat it

Imagine you’re at the grocery store, standing before a selection of snacks. Seemingly without thinking, you skip over the rice crackers to pick out a bag of chips.

The Conversation

Some major Australian towns still have poor phone reception. It’s threatening public safety

Australians rely on their phones and the internet for education, business, socialising and in emergencies. And as Optus’ recent Triple Zero outage highlights, the consequences of a network outage can be fatal.

The Conversation

The government wants more of us living in high rises. Here’s why Australians don’t want to

Australia was once a nation where the great Australian dream was owning a home with ample space for a lawn and a garden. But by the 1990s, the dream had shifted, at least politically, with then prime minister Paul Keating famously saying there was “more to life than the quarter…

The Conversation

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The Conversation

It took just 60 years for red foxes to colonise Australia from Victoria to the Pilbara

To a newly-arrived red fox, the abundant rolling grasslands and swamps of Wadawurrung Country, around what is now called Port Phillip Bay, must have seemed like a predator’s paradise.

The Conversation

Labor is close to a deal on environmental law reforms. There are troubling signs these will fall short

The Albanese government has hinted it is close to a deal with the Coalition over the long-awaited overhaul of Australia’s environment laws. Environment Minister Murray Watt plans to introduce new legislation to parliament in November.

The Conversation

Queensland landlords could soon face jail for ignoring illegal tobacco. What are other states doing?

Reports of illegal tobacco crimes have sharply increased in Australia in recent years. Organised crime syndicates believed to be behind tobacco smuggling operations have also infiltrated the retail sector.

The Conversation

Our study followed Indigenous children for 15 years to understand what helps them thrive

Our new report follows the lives of around 1,700 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the largest study of its kind. We wanted to understand what helps them thrive as they grow up.

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The Conversation

‘Toothpick grooves’ in ancient fossil human teeth may not be from toothpicks after all

For decades, small grooves on ancient human teeth were thought to be evidence of deliberate tool use – people cleaning their teeth with sticks or fibres, or easing gum pain with makeshift “toothpicks”. Some researchers even called it the oldest human habit.

The Conversation

Dangerous, overpriced, crammed full: poor housing for seasonal workers revealed

Australia relies on seasonal workers, particularly in agriculture and hospitality, to fill shortages of much-needed skills.

The Conversation

From frog saunas to butterfly puddles: 8 ways to turn your homes into a wildlife refuge

Native animals can make excellent neighbours. Blue banded bees pollinate our vegetable gardens. Microbats eat up to 1,200 mosquitoes a night and powerful owls keep rodents at bay. But could we go one step further, and change our homes to invite native animals in as housemates?

The Conversation

Loot boxes are still rife in kids’ mobile games, despite ban on ‘gambling-like’ features

In September 2024, Australia introduced a new classification approach for games with gambling-like content.

The Conversation

Warn, hide or stand out? How colour in the animal world is a battle for survival

The animal world is incredibly colourful, and behind this colour palette is a constant game of survival.

The Conversation

Our new study found AI is wreaking havoc on uni assessments. Here’s how we should respond

Artificial intelligence (AI) is wrecking havoc on university assessments and exams.

The Conversation

Could making tobacco cheaper actually cut down smoking rates? We asked 5 experts

Australia aims to reduce rates of daily smoking to 5% or less by 2030. By 2023, we got down to 8.3%.

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