Programs And Initiatives Videos
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Imported labour and indigenous workers Farmers say they can´t get enough local workers to harvest fruit and vegetables and they've welcomed the plan to employ seasonal workers from the Pacific islands. Anorexia: Lucy Howard-Taylor The eating disorder anorexia is an illness that can have devastating and sometimes fatal consequences. Sunlight and eyesight: Dr Kathryn Rose How many times have you heard this?

Talkback: Competition in sport In the UK there are moves to reintroduce competition in school sport, along with the individual races, prize-giving and trophies.

Professor Ross Garnaut's interim report on emissions trading is out later today. The government and community response will reveal how determined we are as a nation to tackle climate change and how much we are prepared to pay to lower our carbon footprint.

Child support changes Next week, parents will receive their first payments under the new child support formula. Online Dating: keep it real There are now hundreds and thousands of Australians looking for sex or love, or both, on internet dating sites. Tom Gilling: Dreamland Would you tell a lie to help a friend? And would you take money for doing it? Your Feedback This week we've had a big response to Friday's talkback on why friendships fall over. Listeners also welcomed the appointment of the new chief Commonwealth Nurse, Rosemary Bryant and paid tribute to Senator Natasha Stott Despoja as she departs Canberra.

Indigenous education and boarding schools Indigenous communities are sending their children to boarding schools in the hope of a better education. Who is Michelle Obama? Barack Obama has made his history by becoming the Democrat nominee designate for this year´s US Presidential elections. Community Idol 2008: Consumer Activity Network We've been hearing about Australia´s most innovative community organisations - all finalists in the Community Idol Competition being held in Melbourne this week as part of Our Communities Conference.

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Criminal Justice in Japan Iwao Hakamada has been languishing on death row in Japan for 40 years. And just recently a court ruled he's going to stay there even though the only evidence against him was a confession obtained under duress. Ebay's Big Adventure Internet auction giant Ebay is under scrutiny from the competition regulator. It wants to force all its Australian buyers and sellers to use just one method of payment. Is this a restrictive trade practice or a consumer friendly move?

Disability Investment Group The Australian Government has announced the establishment of a Disability Investment Group, to develop funding ideas from the private sector that will help people with disabilities and their families. CV fraud Have you ever fudged something on your resume? Just to make yourself look that tiny bit more accomplished or experienced? Other People's Country If you're familiar with the film 'The Rabbit Proof Fence', you may remember it as the home of the two girls who made their way back along the fence after being removed from their community and taken to Perth. Vita Activa Series 2: voluntourism A new series of Vita Activa, all about volunteering 21st century style.

2020 Summit To find out what happened in the health section of the 2020 Summit Norman Swan talks with Professor Michael Good who's Head of the Queensland Institute of Medical Research and he also chairs the National Health and Medical Research Council. Naltrexone implants Oral naltrexone is used to treat heroin and alcohol dependence. However, the effectiveness is sometimes compromised by patients not taking regular doses. This has led to the development of long-acting naltrexone implants and depot injections. These implants have not been approved for human use in Australia, but they are being supplied through some private clinics. There have been some adverse events suffered by patients who received naltrexone implants and it is suggested by some health professionals that an urgent review of the use of naltrexone for opioid dependence is needed.

Beyond the Round Table

The other infrastructure crisis

Conditonal cash for children's health Many governments have implemented conditional cash transfer programs to improve the lives of poor families through intervention in health, nutrition and education. Today we examine the success of a Mexican initiative called 'Oportunidades', which was established in 1997. Paediatric AIDS Unfortunately HIV and AIDS in children is still a huge problem in the developing world. One of the pioneers in paediatric HIV research talks about her research. Drug resistant tuberculosis Tuberculosis is a condition which is very difficult to treat, but it becomes a nightmare when people with TB develop a resistancy to almost every drug and the spreading of the disease has caused fear particularly in Africa.

HREOC's Ten Point Plan Tom Calma, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, tells us what he thinks the Rudd government should do to improve the Northern Territory intervention, in the interests of fairness. Teens and lying Most children lie and they learn it from their parents. Living with a black dog: Matthew and Ainsley Johnstone Matthew Johnston has a black dog. Multiple Choice: dumpster diving Where do you choose to buy your food? The supermarket, the weekend farmer´s market. Maybe you grow some of it yourself.

Helping the last unemployed The Job Network has to go. Indigo Magazine for Girls A new magazine for the `tween´ female market aims to reflects the real lives and concerns of young Australian girls. Music Track - Left of Centre Mark Watson's Earth Summit He's crap at the environment but comedian Mark Watson has now trained with Al Gore. The New Cultural Precincts - Hardware Stores! We know the images so well - solitary artists working away in their studios, only emerging to take coffee in small cafes or something stronger in neighbourhood bars or pubs.

Dr Adam Graycar is Dean and Professor at the School of Criminal Justice at Rutgers University in New Jersey, USA. Before that he was a senior bureaucrat, as Head of the Cabinet Office in South Australia. In this talk he suggests that sometimes obvious problems could be solved if government departments would work together, instead of working in their own jurisdiction without sufficient communications with other sections.

One Chance at Childhood Every State has examples of the failure of the child protection system, when children die or suffer abuse after leaving foster care to return to their biological parents. Lying in Children If you ever want to put a four year old between a rock and a hard place, ask him or her a question. Do you ever lie? True Tales: Georgia Blain Georgia Blain is a writer with four novels under her belt. Music Track - You and Steve McQueen Keeping crisis at bay In preparation for tomorrow's talkback on women of a certain age and their re-emerging passions, Life Matters producer Kerrie-Jean Ross has been pondering whether she's having a mid-life crisis.

Education Programs and the 2008 Budget A swag of education programs started by the previous Federal Government could be dropped in the May Budget. The science of weight loss You´ve had your annual check-up and your GP has ordered you to lose some weight. Families that Work: Deborah Brennan Helping working families has almost become a mantra of the new Labor Government, they´re at the centre of the policy agenda.

The Australia 2020 Summit - more hallucination than clear vision

New child support system The Child Support Agency is sending letters to 1.5 million parents from this week. Tech girls Is the IT industry more chic than geek? The accidental lawyer: Judith Fordham Judith Fordham grew up in a dysfunctional family. She married young, became a sole parent to four young children, one still a baby. Her part time jobs included swimming teacher, house cleaner and night shift at a nursing home. The Sexual Life Of Us: Lou Wilson How's your sex life?

New Dementia Advisory Group A newly appointed ministerial advisory group on dementia met for the first time yesterday at Kingscliff, on the Northern NSW coast. Picking Up the Peaces: PTSD A new group called Picking Up the Peaces has been formed to raise awareness about post traumatic stress disorder. Women for Peace in the Middle East The cycle of violence in the Middle East seems unending, but women on both sides of the conflict are working to build a lasting peace. Meet the Listener - From Salsa to Mandarin Meet the Listener Guest Helen Wang recently married into a Chinese family.

Nurse family partnerships Indigenous first-time mothers will soon have a nurse regularly visiting them at home. Diversity programs don't work A major study in the United States has found that programs to promote diversity in the workplace don't work and, even worse, they seem to be counterproductive. The Hephzibah Menuhin Story Hephzibah Menuhin was the younger sister of the famous violinist and conductor Yehudi Menuhin, but her life has received much less attention than her famous brother's.

A marriage made in Queensland The Nationals´ head honchos from all over the sunburnt country have met to discuss the way forward for Australia´s ailing, rural-based political party. One idea -- championed by Queensland Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg -- is to merge with the Liberal Party. Does this sound familiar? Mr Springborg campaigned hard for a state-based merger of the two conservative paries in 2006 but federal Liberal and Nationals leaders poo-pooed the idea. And chances are they´re not going to embrace the idea in 2008 either. So why is Mr Springborg so determined to push ahead with his wedding plans? The round-up The National Interest news round-up begins with a staggering statistic. The Financial Review reports on the huge increase in budget submissions going to Canberra. Before the last budget, Peter Costello mostly received submissions from organised lobby groups like the Business Council or the AMA. But all up there were just 172 submissions in total. Well, Labor's Wayne Swan has already received 30 times as many - more than 5000 submissions in all - many of them from concerned individuals. Now, what does that tell us? That Australians expect more largesse from Labor? That the Rudd promise to lead a government that listens is being taken seriously? One hopes that every submission is read and considered on its merits - which might mean putting on some extra staff at Treasury. And that wont help Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner's drive to cut public service numbers. The Fin also speculates on who will take over as head of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet - possibly the most powerful public service job in the nation. Incumbent Peter Shergold returns from holidays on Monday only to retire at the end of the week. As the Fin comments he'll have more farewells than Nellie Melba, with a valedictory oration, a National Press club speech, a secretaries' dinner and a departmental knees up. But who will replace Dr Shergold? Kevin Rudd is said to favour University of Melbourne Vice Chancellor Glynn Davis - an old colleague from Queensland. But Professor Davis has promised to stay at the uni to oversee his controversial revamp of course structures - the so-called Melbourne model. Figures released by the Australian Electoral Commission´s Local IR problems. National IR solutions? Remember WorkChoices? It was supposed to create a national industrial relations system, so as to save business the trouble of mucking around between state and federal legislation. Well, the Howard government´s IR laws fell short of that aim. About 75 per cent of workers were drawn into the national system, but some, like small business employees, stayed under state laws; the status of others (such as council workers) is still the subject of complex legal argument. What´s odd is that business, unions and governments at all levels actually agree that a national system is the way to go. The tricky part is deciding how to go about it. Whither Australia´s ports? Melbourne´s usually tranquil Port Phillip Bay has become the unlikely backdrop to an environmental battle. A huge Dutch vessel called the Queen of the Netherlands is ready to start dredging to deepen shipping channels into the Port of Melbourne. But the ship is sitting idle as activists opposed to dredging take their concerns to court. But just how important is deepening the shipping channels to the port´s future? And how much planning has gone into preparing Australia´s ports for the rapidly growing number of containers moving across the docks?