Why everyone should stand up for ‘the most unpopular kid at school

Have we not come further in Australia’s school system? How come bullies are allowed to continue bullying, while the bullied are the ones who have to make changes? Why are Australian schools so slow on the uptake? Why is it so hard to stand up for the bullied and punish the bullies? When even our own Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has revealed that he was bullied in school as a kid, why isn’t more being done? Queensland girl Tayla Sekhmet’s heartbreaking story shows exactly how painful it is to be bullied at school, and why more has to be done to stop it. Tayla experienced severe...

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Pokémon Go – It’s more than just a game

Matthew Corley / Shutterstock.com A common problem we find and often complain about in our younger generations is that they are constantly at home playing computer games or head down playing with their smart phones. Seeing this common daily phenomenon, parents are often worried that their kids are unable to socialise or communicate with other people in the “real world”. The explosively popular Pokémon Go, which was released two weeks ago, has taken over the social media and mobile apps by storm and is now the biggest mobile game in U.S. history where they have surpassed the number...

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Seniors scammed $21 million

Last year Australians aged 55 years and over lost $21 million to scammers. The majority of these scams were related to online dating and investment, comprising $12 million in lost money. My grandmother is 77 years old and as technologically illiterate as one would expect of someone born in the 1930s (when I told her there was a Pokémon in her kitchen she asked who put it there). You can imagine her distress when she was called by someone claiming to be from the ‘Australian Taxation Office’ telling her that a warrant had been issued for her son’s arrest due to overdue unpaid fees....

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The role men need to play in stopping family and domestic violence

With a reported 2 women a week being killed by their partners (or ex-partners) in Australia, the time for talking about preventing domestic and family violence has ended. It’s now time for the community to lead by example, taking the initiative that policy makers seem hesitant to take. While domestic and family violence doesn’t only affect women and young girls, it is disproportionately our sisters, mothers, nieces, grandmothers and cousins who are directly impacted by domestic and family violence. Whether this is due to the lack of men reporting the crimes against them to the...

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Succeeding in the NFP sector: It’s a matter of trust

You may have heard the recent news about Street Swags founder and former Young Australian of the Year finalist Jean Madden, who was charged with fraud. Allegedly, Madden embezzled $441 000 from the organisation and took control of their website and email accounts over the weekend, before agreeing to hand them back after a court decision, according to the Third Sector website. It’s pretty confronting to hear about such alleged unethical behaviour from the founder and former leader of a highly values-driven organisation. We want to feel we can place our utmost trust in organisations representing...

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Consumer Directed Care (CDC): Is it an “Uber” Opportunity for Professional Associations?

The model of Uber is a modern iteration of a guild model and in turn an example of digital disruption influencing the supply of labour to the consumer. If this is correct it has significant implications for care based professions as they will have the opportunity to directly supply services to customers without have to go through a third party employer. As to how these professions respond will have significant implications for the supply of labour in the emerging Consumer Directed Care market. The Future of Labour Markets: - In servicing the needs of our ageing population the Australian...

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Supporting people to live with dementia

As the number of Australians living with dementia rises there has been a concerted effort to create a well informed and funded national plan for a comprehensive and positive dementia strategy.  At the centre of all discussions between stakeholders then must be the experience of people living with dementia and the impact of the strategy on them and their families and carers. Kate Swaffer, Chair and Founder of Dementia International Alliance and member of the World Dementia Council was diagnosed with early onset dementia at the age of 49. As an advocate for people living with dementia,...

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Digitally driving student acquisition

The most powerful marketing tool you can use today is free. 13 million Australians spend over 18 hours a day online and one fifth of their days are spent on social media. Digital acquisition strategies which infiltrate these platforms are thus more likely to succeed than those in traditional avenues. Given the drastic changes occurring within the vocational education sector, it is vital that providers find innovative ways to engage and attract their target audience. Tertiary educators have had to better engage with potential and current students not only through digital...

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Dementia treatment breakthrough on the horizon

It will come as no surprise to hear that dementia is one of the most significant health concerns in Australia. There are currently over 342 000 Australians living with dementia and it is the second leading cause of death. Dementia researchers and advocacy groups work tirelessly to understand its causes, and deliver hope to people living with dementia and their families. While it can feel like an endlessly battle, a significant breakthrough may be just around the corner. Researchers from Flinder’s University in South Australia along with US counterparts at the Institute of Molecular Medicine...

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Prepared to retire? Think again.

Baby Boomers are set to retire over the next 20 years, but are they really prepared to retire? It is projected that Australia will house more than 250,000 elderly people over the next ten years with most of the residents aged 95 and above. The nation is slowly developing to prepare for these people to retire by investing in building more nursing homes, hiring more nurses, changing of Australian policies aimed at looking after the older generation, however, how prepared are these people who are about to retire? With the late introduction of the compulsory super scheme in their working...

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