Social Policy

It's been five years since an inquest laid bare the chaotic lives of children, including a 10-year-old girl, who took their own lives in outback Australia. Are kids any safer now? 

They have pledged to bring back a version of the controversial scheme if they win the next federal election, suggesting there have been "devastating consequences" since it was scrapped.

Following the directive by Republican Senator Josh Hawley, Mark Zuckerberg has apologised to parents at a U.S. Senate hearing about the impact of social media on children.

Like many young Australians 26-year-old Cody is struggling with the housing crisis and with dwindling vacancy rates in Perth she, her partner and her friends have landed at her grandmother's place as a last resort as their search continues.

In two campaigns for the presidential nomination, Bernie Sanders stunned US politics with the support he got for the progressive cause and his fight against inequality.

In Queensland last year, fuel prices jumped 13.9 per cent and gas and other household fuels surged 12.9 per cent.

Millions of Americans are doing it tough, the wealth gap is widening and despite the Democrats letting many of those people down, Bernie Sanders tells 7.30 a vote for Donald Trump would be much worse.

St Vincent de Paul calls for an urgent shake-up of power bills, warning the cost of Australia's clean energy transition is disproportionately falling on poorer customers.

Karl O'Callaghan is urging the state's director of liquor licensing to consider a police proposal to restrict the sale of alcohol in more regional areas, warning "children's lives at stake".

Homeless people in the City of Moreton Bay say they are being harassed by local residents, while a local action group is lobbying for the council to have the camp removed from the coastal suburb.

The 74-year-old woman says she will be forced to live on the streets if evicted weeks out from Christmas, while WA's housing minister calls it a matter for the courts.

The government says the 'migration mix' has been focused on attracting the wrong type of skilled workers for a long time.

The NDIS is often described as having become the only lifeboat on the ocean for people with disabilities. It was also always one of the most complex and ambitious bits of public policy in the world, writes Laura Tingle.

Kristy and Matt Turner were forced to move earlier this year when the owners of the house they were renting moved back in. It happened at a time when dozens of state housing homes sat empty in their regional South Australian town.

The Kaurna community is angry with the decision by the two South Australian councils, with the Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians saying the move is telling about the climate in Australia.

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young helped broker the plan with the government, which will see water returns, an audit and assist First Nations communities to participate in the water market.

Among its emerging promises it's moving to make age-verification compulsory before accessing online porn, a policy lead by Shadow Communications Minister David Coleman.

Iranian cinema has long been the darling of the international film festival circuit, earning praise and awards at prestigious film festivals. But protests across Iran sparked by the death-in-custody of Mahsa Jina Amini in September 2022 ushered in a new kind of challenge for filmmakers working under the strict censorship rules of the Islamic Republic. 

Welfare recipients are often told to "just get a job". But health, economic and structural challenges mean it's not that simple. 

Multimedia artist Roberta Joy Rich uses family memories and archival news footage to ask deep questions about the impact of apartheid policies in South Africa and Australia.

New South Wales women's groups say they're "absolutely stunned" by the recent publication of development applications for domestic violence shelters by local councils.

An Alice Springs minibus driver has avoided jail after admitting to selling several thousand dollars' worth of alcohol out of his vehicle and charging customers through their stored-value welfare payment cards.

The public is paying for private security guards to patrol city streets, but they are in the dark about just what powers these guards have been given.

A Neo-Nazi who a judge had just deemed to have good prospects of rehabilitation was filmed doing a Nazi salute as soon as he stepped outside the court.

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) releases a summary of data on key mental health issues. ABC Health reporter Alison Branley says the data suggests rates of anxiety are rising among young people.