The Latest Breaking News from the National Health and Medical Research Council

Australia is now into its next COVID wave. We’ve seen hints of this for a while. Case numbers and indicators of severe disease began rising in Victoria in August. But it has taken several months for a consistent pattern to emerge across Australia.

The first Australian Capital Territory voluntary assisted dying bill in more than 25 years was tabled in parliament yesterday.

Interventions designed to limit the spread of COVID have been rolled back around the world. In New Zealand, the government removed all remaining public health measures last week.

Roughly one in three Australians rent their homes. It’s Australia’s fastest-growing tenure, but renting is increasingly unaffordable. From 2020 to 2022, our research found a large increase in the proportion of renters who said their housing was unaffordable.

The Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) is a A$20 billion fund to support Australian health and medical research. It was set up in 2015 to deliver practical benefits from medical research and innovation to as many Australians as possible.

Emotions can run high when the topic of how much red and processed meat to eat is raised. For many of us, eating these foods is culturally important – often tied to specific dishes and traditions.

The price of eggs is rising. So many of us may be looking for cheaper alternatives.

Voluntary assisted dying is legal in five Australian states with the sixth, New South Wales, following in November 2023. The territories are now permitted to legalise voluntary assisted dying, with the Australian Capital Territory intending to do so by the end of 2023.

Each Omicron wave so far in Australia has had distinguishing features – the sharp rise and fall of BA.1, the widespread transmission among children and families in BA.2, a shift to more infections in older people with BA.5, then the confusing variant mix in the summer wave of 2022-23.