The theme for this year’s Volunteers Week is ‘Better Together’ and Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal (FRRR)’s CEO, Natalie Egleton, believes that theme could not be more true. In her opinion piece, she drives home the importance of volunteers and how…
I HAD no idea and was horrified that a 10-year-old Australian child could go to jail. In July this year, I wrote my first opinion piece for the Advocate. It was in response to learning the #RaiseTheAge campaign was calling on governments…

IF more of the world’s wealthiest people thought like Australian tech icon Melanie Perkins, we could very well live in a more equitable and just society. Ms Perkins is the CEO of Canva, the global graphic design platform she co-founded with her…
Silence - in our schools and briefly in our playgrounds, on our sporting fields, everywhere but online and in social media. That is what is greeting our kids.…
Today Tuesday, 31 August, is International Overdose Awareness Day An Opinion Piece by Mary Malak, CEO of Humanity Matters With the pressure and isolation caused by the current COVID-19 lockdowns, many agencies are reporting higher levels of drug and alcohol use, as…
I AM in favour of a universal basic income. So are 77 per cent of Australians, according to a new Anglicare survey. Basic income schemes propose citizens and residents receive government payments that are universal, unconditional and adequate enough to live about…
In August 1962, I turned ten in the isolation ward at Melbourne’s Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital.
It wasn’t jail, but it felt like it was; I was alone, scared and hadn’t seen my mum for three weeks.…

A recent nationwide survey of more than 500 women of colour in Australia found that 60 per cent have experienced discrimination in the workplace related to their identity as a woman of colour, despite almost the same number (59 per cent) of…
MÉDECINS Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) applauds the US Government’s decision to support waiving intellectual property protections for COVID-19 vaccines. Doing so will increase sufficient and timely access to these lifesaving medical tools as COVID-19 continues to ravage countries across the globe.…
Disappointing lack of leadership on affordable housing to address the grim shortage of low-cost, affordable housing and rising homelessness. Welcome the Federal Government’s reinstatement of funding for Equal Remuneration Order (ERO) supplementation for homelessness services. Welcome investment in natural disaster recovery. Urge…