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Our study does not suggest today’s youth mental health crisis is simply a result of greater openness. Even after accounting for changing reporting behaviour, younger generations still have substantially poorer mental health than previous generations did at the same age.

The fact that younger generations feel more comfortable talking about mental health should be seen as progress, not a problem. Greater openness makes it easier for people to seek help before problems become crises.

But our findings are also a reminder that older men, in particular, may still be suffering in silence. If we want mental health services, workplaces and public campaigns to meet real need, we need to understand not only who is struggling, but also who is willing to say so.

Federal Agriculture Minister Julie Collins says "some local transmission" has occurred between a number of greater crested terns in South Australia.

She says there is no evidence of mass mortality in animal populations, but it is expected to keep spreading among wildlife.

Paying for the Great Koala National Park with carbon offsets?

The other day I heard an interview with Abby Martin, the director of this documentary, and I can't wait to see the work.

It is a groundbreaking anti-imperialist environmental documentary.

Exempt from international climate agreements and rarely scrutinized in mainstream reporting, the Pentagon is the world’s single largest institutional polluter—spewing carbon, contaminating water, and scarring landscapes across the globe. Combining investigative journalism, striking visuals, and stories from impacted communities, this film challenges audiences to rethink the hidden costs of a global military empire and its planetary consequences. Provocative, urgent, and eye-opening, this is a documentary that will change how you see both the military and environmentalism.

Environmental advocacy group Market Forces analysed the direct investments made by Australia's 30 largest superannuation funds since January 2020. It found $99 billion had been invested in 514 renewable energy projects, with the country's top 30 funds contributing $771 million, or 0.8 per cent.

The analysis found that Canadian pension funds have contributed more to Australian renewable energy projects, at $1.2 billion.

Last year, the group also revealed that Australia's top super funds invested more than three times as much in companies with global fossil fuel expansion plans than backing clean energy companies.

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If governments continue directing billions towards fossil fuels while claiming to be serious about achieving net zero, investors receive mixed signals and the transition becomes slower, more expensive and more politically difficult. Imagine what even a fraction of those fossil fuel subsidies could achieve if redirected towards:

household electrification;

community batteries;

transmission infrastructure;

electric vehicle charging;

clean manufacturing;

biodiversity restoration; and

support for regional communities managing the energy transition.

The ACTU’s secretary, Sally McManus, and its president, Michele O’Neil, revealed on Monday night they would be stepping down after eight years together. Anthony Albanese described both as personal friends and “giants of the labour movement”.

“Union membership is growing and workers have over 47 new workplace rights,” McManus said. “But, of course, there are still big challenges with cost-of-living pressures, AI and billionaires who have too much wealth and power.”

The Greens’ leader, Larissa Waters, [said] "Sally and Michele have embodied that spirit in their leadership pushing the Albanese Labor government to implement a minimum 25% tax on gas exports and for action to address the housing crisis.”

Run yearly by the Australian Conservation Foundation,

Children from across the country are invited to create an original artwork of one of Australia's many threatened native animals or plants, along with a short written component on their chosen threatened species.

The competition is a fantastic opportunity for primary school children to unleash their artistic creativity while learning about Australia's threatened animals and plants.

If you have children who love art, they may really enjoy taking part in this competition

cross-posted from: https://aussie.zone/post/35023765

Leading AI researchers now expect artificial general intelligence (AGI) – where AI meets or exceeds human intellectual capabilities – within three to five years. When AGI automates thinking, the economy will need to reorganise around what machines cannot do: feel.

We are already in the intimacy economy. But if we are to thrive within it, we must wrestle back our most valuable economic asset from technology: the messy complexities of being human. My generation are the begrudging harbingers of what will happen if we continue to outsource intimacy: we will lose the emotional skills a post-AGI economy will depend on most, rendering us unemployable. We knew social media was addictive and slowing our cognitive development, but officials took until this year to act. We can’t make the same mistake with the intimacy economy.

Our new report, A Ripple Effect of Suffering, shines a light on these impacts. We interviewed over 100 children, young people and members of their families and support networks, and documented the harm children and young people are experiencing in the shadow of Australia’s immigration detention and deportation systems.

Australia’s Migration Act requires the detention of any non-citizen who is in the country without a valid visa. This applies to people who arrive at the border without authorisation. It also applies to people whose visas have expired or been cancelled for reasons such as failing the character test, breaching their visa conditions or presenting a risk to the safety, health or good order of the community.

Around 61% of the detention population is people who’ve had their visa cancelled. Many have been part of Australian society for years or even decades and have families in Australia. Often their children are Australian citizens.

When detention culminates in deportation, these families may face permanent separation...

Food poverty, bill stress and housing insecurity are common, especially when the parent in question was the family’s main breadwinner.

Leading AI researchers now expect artificial general intelligence (AGI) – where AI meets or exceeds human intellectual capabilities – within three to five years. When AGI automates thinking, the economy will need to reorganise around what machines cannot do: feel.

We are already in the intimacy economy. But if we are to thrive within it, we must wrestle back our most valuable economic asset from technology: the messy complexities of being human. My generation are the begrudging harbingers of what will happen if we continue to outsource intimacy: we will lose the emotional skills a post-AGI economy will depend on most, rendering us unemployable. We knew social media was addictive and slowing our cognitive development, but officials took until this year to act. We can’t make the same mistake with the intimacy economy.

While China has cracked down on AI companions, Australia has been leading the charge on young people’s use of social media.... but [doesn't] address social harms of AI companions, such as emotional dependency or displacing human connection.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also didn’t mention social harms from AI chatbots in his major speech on AI last week.

We propose that Australia’s age-restricted material protections should extend to unintended social harm of conversations with social, analytical and functional AIs.

The Australian government needs to explore how these virtual companions interact with Australians. And we must prepare to mitigate unintended social harms before these synthetic social connections become widespread and normalised.

Australia must prioritise developing social connectedness – in workplaces, productivity strategies, education curriculum, and in the design of our communities...

And Australia should leverage regulatory protections to mitigate social harms, extending on the work eSafety is already doing with social media.