Australia’s sugar shame: why we’re falling behind in the fight for our health
Australia once led the world in confronting tobacco harm. On sugar consumption – a major driver of obesity and chronic disease – more than 100 countries are now ahead of us, and health ministers face a critical test.
Recent articles in Health
28 January 2026
Female-only swimming saves lives: the overlooked gap in Australia’s drowning prevention
Female-only swimming sessions are not a cultural luxury. They are a proven, evidence-based public safety measure that too many Australian women still cannot access.
22 January 2026
Australia has clear evidence on women’s pain. The policy challenge is to act on it
A landmark Victorian inquiry has exposed deep, system-wide failures in how women’s pain is treated. The policy response now requires national leadership.
19 January 2026
Britain has banned junk food advertising to kids. There are big lessons for Australia
Britain has moved to limit junk food marketing to children, despite loopholes and lobbying. Australia still hasn’t acted.
11 January 2026
Best of 2025 - Australia faces a looming crisis of older women retiring in poverty. Here’s what we can do
Australia faces a serious challenge. Despite important progress on gender equality over recent decades, a looming crisis now threatens the economic security of older women. Without urgent and bold action, we risk consigning further generations of women to poverty in retirement.
10 January 2026
Best of 2025 - States increase pressure on Commonwealth to address hospital cost increases
Hark back to December 2023. National Cabinet endorsed a historic agreement setting the parameters for future Commonwealth-state sharing of public hospital costs over the next decade.
9 January 2026
Best of 2025 - Government is planning hardship for older Australians living at home
Aged care has again been in the media for all the wrong reasons. Two failures are attracting particular attention.
15 December 2025
A beginners guide to Australian aged care policy in 2025
Stereotypes about wealthy baby boomers are skewing aged care policy. New fees, the shift to Support at Home, and pressures on community services risk leaving many older Australians without affordable, safe support. The consequences will be felt across families, hospitals and future generations.
3 December 2025
UK–US drug deal risks turning the NHS into a casualty of Trump trade politics
A new agreement with the Trump administration would force Britain’s National Health Service to pay billions more for medicines to avoid tariffs – prompting outrage from MPs, health experts and patient advocates.
26 November 2025
Why multicultural aged care is the key to meeting Australia’s ageing challenge
Australia’s ageing population is growing faster than the systems built to support it, especially for culturally and linguistically diverse communities. A co-designed, public–private aged care model offers a practical, humane and economically sound path to meet this challenge before crisis overwhelms the system.
22 November 2025
Root canals and conspiracies
Social media misinformation is creating a public health problem of lost teeth, prolonged dental pain, unnecessary costs, and worsening inequalities in oral health.
3 November 2025
Clean your room
During 1937, Lang Hancock from the Mulga Downs pastoral station in Western Australia began mining and milling activities for blue asbestos (crocidolite) at the nearby Yampire Gorge.
3 November 2025
Vaping: A disruptive innovation of smoking and rapidly replacing cigarettes
Recognised as a concept over three decades ago, disruptive innovations are new and improved ways of meeting consumers’ needs that generally sweep away conventional approaches of market-leading firms by a process of creative destruction.
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Time to get real on taxing cigarettes and restricting vapes
