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Latest news: Social Problems

Gambling reform advocates up pressure in marginal seats

Gambling reform advocates up pressure in marginal seats

Gambling harm advocates will focus on marginal seats in the final days of the election campaign, urging politicians across the spectrum to find their voice.

Nation of waders: poor swimming puts generation at risk

Nation of waders: poor swimming puts generation at risk

Nation of waders: poor swimming puts generation at risk

Nation of waders: poor swimming puts generation at risk

Primary school students struggle to reach nationally recognised benchmarks for swimming and treading water, placing them at greater risk of drowning.

Fines for tech firms exposing kids to harmful content

Fines for tech firms exposing kids to harmful content

Fines for tech firms exposing kids to harmful content

Fines for tech firms exposing kids to harmful content

Social media platforms and internet providers could cop multimillion-dollar fines if they expose children to self harm or fetish porn content.

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Sober centre operator defends empty beds as row flares

Sober centre operator defends empty beds as row flares

The number of empty beds at sobering up centres shows community outreach programs are working, an operator says.

Chatbot therapy: can generative AI treat loneliness?

Chatbot therapy: can generative AI treat loneliness?

Researchers are creating artificially intelligent companions to help people get through challenges but that does not necessarily cut humans out of the picture.

Social cohesion holds despite inflation, high migration

Social cohesion holds despite inflation, high migration

Australians are able to disentangle how they feel about higher migration levels from their appreciation of diversity and multiculturalism, research suggests.

Australia's diversity a mark of pride, says Penny Wong

Australia's diversity a mark of pride, says Penny Wong

Foreign Minister Penny Wong has revealed the hardship she experienced as an immigrant child after being honoured at the Asian Australian Leadership Awards.

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Get off the internet: more dates, chats to go offline

Get off the internet: more dates, chats to go offline

Get off the internet: more dates, chats to go offline

Get off the internet: more dates, chats to go offline

It is not just governments considering social media bans: a study shows more Australians plan to disconnect and spend less time online.

Baby Shark won't bite: YouTube entertainers issue plea

Baby Shark won't bite: YouTube entertainers issue plea

Baby Shark won't bite: YouTube entertainers issue plea

Baby Shark won't bite: YouTube entertainers issue plea

Prominent Australian children's entertainers are urging the federal government to pardon YouTube from its proposed social media ban to save an industry.

Online safety court battles with X cost Aussies $60,000

Online safety court battles with X cost Aussies $60,000

Online safety court battles with X cost Aussies $60,000

Online safety court battles with X cost Aussies $60,000

The eSafety Commission spent $60,000 battling Elon Musk's social network X over footage of a terrorist attack, a Senate committee has been told.

Youth advocates poke holes in teen social media curbs

Youth advocates poke holes in teen social media curbs

Youth advocates poke holes in teen social media curbs

Youth advocates poke holes in teen social media curbs

A lack of detail about proposed social media curbs is causing teens anxiety, young online safety and mental health representatives have told an inquiry.

Adults only: online codes to limit porn, gaming access

Adults only: online codes to limit porn, gaming access

Adults only: online codes to limit porn, gaming access

Adults only: online codes to limit porn, gaming access

Australian internet users will have their age tested before they can access some gaming and pornographic websites under wide-ranging online safety proposals.

Banning kids from social media could cause greater harm

Banning kids from social media could cause greater harm

Banning kids from social media could cause greater harm

Banning kids from social media could cause greater harm

Mental health experts don't support proposals to ban children from accessing social media and are warning it could have unintended consequences.

Parent groups urge total ban on child social media use

Parent groups urge total ban on child social media use

Parent groups urge total ban on child social media use

Parent groups urge total ban on child social media use

No child should be allowed to access social media networks in Australia, an inquiry has heard, and parents would also benefit from a blanket ban.

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Housing crisis worsens amid renewed public tower debate

Debate has reignited over the redevelopment of public housing as residents continue to face ballooning rents amid stagnating social living options.

X Corp says Twitter does not exist, fines should vanish

American legal experts have taken the stand in Federal Court as lawyers for the social network known as X argue it should not have to pay Twitter's fines.

Women are terrorised but ministers avoid the T word

Youth Minister Anne Aly came the closest among federal ministers to compare treating family violence offenders like terrorism suspects.

'National shame': kids facing life on couches, in tents

For many of the 125,000 Australian children without stable housing, a life of disadvantage, crime and poor health outcomes await without intervention.

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Photos of Aussie kids scraped, used by popular AI tool

Child safety advocates have called for greater online privacy protections after Human Rights Watch identified photos of young Australians in an AI dataset.

Would you show Facebook your ID? The govt wants to know

A $6.5 million age-assurance technology trial will test whether it can prevent teens accessing social networks and whether adults are willing to use it.

Child Protection failed baby boy, coroner finds

More children will die if Child Protection keeps failing to take action, the SA coroner has warned in findings on the death of a baby boy in a squalid home.

Considering how to 'force' Meta to pay for news

Laws that would force Facebook to show and pay for Australian news, as well as tax changes, are being considered by the government, an inquiry has revealed.

Lies, bad ads, no rules - social media under scrutiny

Academics at six universities are teaming up to create a national body to investigate online misinformation, social media risks and missing regulations.

Paramedic caught high on drugs while working on shift

A Victorian paramedic who tested positive to a cocktail of drugs while working and admitted to a long history of drug abuse has been suspended for 12 months.

Teenage criminals to wear ankle bracelets under trial

Electronic monitors will alert police if teenagers charged with serious crimes don't follow their bail conditions as part of a new trial in Victoria.

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