iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 24/08/2026

Statement on ANU apology for ‘indefensible treatment’

I am pleased with the resolution agreed with the Australian National University. I look forward to helping the University rebuild trust, and helping to ensure that what happened to me is not the experience of future whistleblowers.
I would like to thank: my lawyer Dougal Hurley who has worked tirelessly in pursuit of accountability, my friends in parliament and academia, and my husband and family whose unwavering support sustained me.

Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 13/08/2026

My colleagues at the Australian Data Archive have released some very awesome data! Electric Vehicle Survey 2025. Get on it! www.linkedin.com/posts/austra...

Australian Data Archive
21 tollowers
1dl
What influences Australians when choosing their next car?
The Australian Data Archive (ADA) is pleased to announce the publication of the Electric Vehicle Survey 2025, providing new research data on how Australian consumers make decisions when purchasing a new vehicle.
The survey captured responses from 3,756
Australian consumers who had either recently purchased a vehicle or were planning to purchase one within the next 12 months. It explores the considerations that influence whether consumers consider or purchase electric, hybrid, petrol or diesel vehicles.
Explore the Electric Vehicle Survey 2025 dataset through the Australian Data Archive:
https://Inkd.in/e7-xffUM

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Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 29/07/2026

How to navigate shifting political views in your romantic relationship www.abc.net.au/news/2026-07...

"[And remembering] you might disagree about political issues, but there's a lot in the relationship that's meaningful and that brings you joy."

She also recommends:

Being charitable during discussions
Picking your battles
Trying to reconstruct arguments with facts
Don't automatically assume bad motives
Find out if there's compromise

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Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 29/07/2026

This feels dystopian. Not a life or limb service. Just more inequality.

Australia's first stand-alone private ED opens pitching shorter wait times
$375 gets you private emergency treatment and shorter queues.
Steve Evans • 1hr ago

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Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 23/07/2026

The good people ABS have compiled the options for getting help with #Census2026au in language. Check it out and tell your friends. www.abs.gov.au/media-centre...

In-language support options for the 2026
Census

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Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 21/07/2026

ANU has been to hell and back. It’s time we come together. It’s time for a BIG community block party! ANU turns 80 this year and to celebrate the campus is opening up to all. Please come along. Bring your friends, the family! There’s free face painting!! www.anu.edu.au/about/our-hi...

ANU Community Day on 15
August
The Australian National University (ANU) turns 80 this year, and we're inviting Canberra to join the celebration. Experience our beautiful campus and discover the rich stories of the ANU community.

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Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 20/07/2026

Come join us @ourANU for a symposium in November on the topic of grandparents. Hurry, abstracts are due the end of July! Please share.

Grandparenting in Australia:
A Multidisciplinary Symposium
Thursday 26 November 2026
The Australian National University
Call For Papers

We are planning a special issue of a Q1 journal to follow the symposium, with full papers due by April 2027.
Indigenous and ECR scholars may be eligible for a limited number of travel subsidies. The symposium will also be free and catering will be provided.
Please submit a 300-word abstract and a short bio to Associate Professor Francesco Ricatti (francesco.ricatti@anu.edu.au) and Dr Emily Gallagher (emily.gallagher@anu.edu.au) by 31 July 2026.

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Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 18/07/2026

'Social media bans are likely to make things worse: psychologist Candice Odgers on kids, tech and mental health. Maybe we should just kick all men off the internet? www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

The quickest way to make being online safer for children and teens would be to kick all adult men off the internet, the Canadian psychologist Candice
Odgers believes. Men are the biggest perpetrators of sextortion and most likely to spread misinformation, she says.

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Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 13/07/2026

Don’t be a census vandal. Answer truthfully. P.S. More Australians report no religion on the census than any other single religion. #Census2026au

Jill Marinelli
@JillMarinelli1
X.com
Something to remember Census night
Make sure to tick a Christian religion even if you are an atheist on census night.
We need to ensure Australia stays primarily a Christian country.
Please do your bit to help keep Australia
Christian

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Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 13/07/2026

Principles listed here won’t prevent what happened at ANU. The government has the opportunity to make good change to prevent wrongdoing. This is putting lipstick on a pig! www.canberratimes.com.au/story/930902...

Australia's universities will be forced to publish consultancy expenditure, the decisions of governance meetings and salaries of executives under a set of new federal principles.
A new standard on preventing and responding to racism, which will force universities to adopt a contentious definition of anti-Semitism in an attempt to stamp out discrimination, is also set to be implemented.

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Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 04/07/2026

Financial advice columns are just rich people scabbing free stuff

Opinion Ask an expert
My super will soon hit the $2m cap. What should I do with the excess?
Paul Benson
Money contributor

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Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 28/06/2026

‘Everything is about status’ and they’re willing to do whatever it takes to be the top. Very triggering! www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06...

They are insidious and pernicious, says US psychologist Ramani Durvasula. "Quietly hostile, passive aggressive, sullen, brooding, victimised. A covert narcissist's tactics only show up when there are no witnesses, apart from the victims."

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Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 09/06/2026

The sample sizes differ, as do the rate of non-responses between 2020 and 2025 it appears.

Number
%
Fully responding

Total
5,304
60.5
Non response

Refusal
79
0.9
Non Response
3,327
37.9
Part Response
58
0.7
Total
3,464
39.5
Total
8,768
100
Some survey respondents were unable or unwilling to provide a response to certain data items. The records for these people were retained in the sample and the missing values were recorded as 'Not stated' or 'Don't know'. No imputation was
undertaken for these missing values.

Achieved sample
• Target responding sample: 10,002
persons
• Achieved responding sample: 13,302
persons
• Approach sample: 27,129 dwellings
Of the 13,302 fully responding households who completed the survey in 2025, 10,368 were self-completed by the household online. The remaining 2,934 were completed over the phone with an ABS Interviewer.

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Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 09/06/2026

Lots of talk of life satisfaction in Australia being worse now than during COVID. I hate to be the bearer of bad news/reality, but it’s a beat up. There’s NO appreciable difference between 2020 and 2025 rates. Decline since 2014 is a worry though. www.abs.gov.au/statistics/p...

On average, overall life satisfaction was 7.1 in 2025, similar to 2020 (7.2), but lower than 2019 (7.5) and 2014 (7.6).

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Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 03/06/2026

No, Dick, projections for 2100 show Australia’s population will reach 43.1 million not your ridiculous figure. Please stop with the scaremongering. population.gov.au/sites/popula...

Dick Smith's warning as Australian population explodes: "100 million by 2100'
Australian entrepreneur Dick Smith has issued a grim warning on Australia's future, revealing what he sees as the
'relentless' problem.

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Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 03/06/2026

I'm joining Vogue Australia in their upcoming #VogueCodes event! You can still nab some (but very limited) tickets. Join me in Sydney on 13/6 alongside trailblazing women! www.vogue.com.au/vogue-codes/...

Me pictured in a pastel Vogue codes image.

Dr Liz Allen
Demographer, the Australian national university

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Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 02/06/2026

Australia’s population clock has ticked over 28 million www.abs.gov.au/statistics/p...

Population clock and pyramid
Population clock
28,000,139

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Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 31/05/2026

FECCA conference | Navigating Change, Shaping Australia Many stories, One future fecca2026.com.au

FECCA
2026
Proudly brought to you by
FECCA
ACT
CANBERRA, ACT
15 - 16 OCTOBER 2026

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Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 30/05/2026

‘…investment in data centre equipment, specifically server racks and processing equipment, significantly boosting overall investment figures…builds on a similar spike in data centre investment recorded [last quarter]’ www.abs.gov.au/media-centre...

Data centre
investment drives new capital expenditure

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Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 28/05/2026

Today marks the beginning of bargaining for a new workplace agreement at ANU. Meeting at 1:30pm today to endorse the log of claims. Here's to a new start! @nteuact.bsky.social

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Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 27/05/2026

#Census2026au is coming 11/8. Australia’s audit office assessed readiness of the statistics office to guard against cyber weakness. Four recommendations were made concerning risk management, preparation & infrastructure. ABS has agreed to recommendations. www.anao.gov.au/work/perform...

1
2
3
What did we recommend?
There were four recommendations to the
ABS regarding: Census risk management arrangements; early establishment of cyber security advisory arrangements; preparation, approval and review of security architecture documentation; and addressing risks stemming from the broader ABS ICT environment.
• The ABS agreed to the recommendations.

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Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 24/05/2026

lol 5yos panicking about climate change and they* want to stop teaching kids science. Dear reader, kids start school at about 5. Schools aren’t indoctrinating kids w/ climate dread, it’s happening way before that. PS closing your eyes doesn’t make climate change go away. *IPA

Opinion
Is climate education in primary schools doing more harm than good?
By Megan Doherty
Updated May 24 2026 - 6:31am, first published

"As a clinician, to see children as young as five are experiencing fear, hopelessness and a sense of impending doom related to what they are taught at school about climate change is alarming. Parents need to understand the psychological burden being placed on their children," Ms Rowe said.

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Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 15/05/2026

It’s that time again. Let’s play population bingo!

Let’s play population bingo @drdemography
Big Australia
Outbreed
Overpopulation
Perpetual growth
Importing people
It’s not racist
Explosion
Reclaim
Swarm
Immigration inflates house prices
Unchecked growth Influx
Foreign Carrying capacity
Mass immigration
Overrun
Queue jumpers
Population ponzi
Job thief
Termites
Illegal alien
Population control
Swamped
Breeders
Malthus
Immigration suppresses wages
Humans are cancer Apocalypse
Population-fuelled economy
Congestion
White replacement
Flood gates
White flight I’m not racist, but
Assimilation

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Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 13/05/2026

Late last year I was among the first to apply for and get a spot in the government’s help-to-buy scheme. After 10 rentals in 25 years, including social housing support, I bought a home. It’s a humble home perfectly suited to my family’s needs. I NEVER dreamed I’d ever own a home.

Liz sitting a SOLD sticker on a for sale sign

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Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 28/04/2026

Qld lawmaker says people with addiction should simply exercise, as the government cuts vital services for people with substance use disorders www.cairnspost.com.au/subscribe/ne...

"Look, exercise is free. Drugs cost money.
So if you're under financial pressure, go for a walk."
Barron River MP
Bree James

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Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 12/04/2026

Australia’s national statistics agency is inadequately funded. Redundancies during a census year is deeply troubling. A smart nation is an informed one; data is key. www.canberratimes.com.au/story/921947...

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Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 11/04/2026

ANU Council apparently more concerned about reputation - theirs? - than potential wrongdoing. Surely stamping out wrongdoing is in the best interest of the university and taxpayers?! Far out. www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/educati...

There are allegations Bell requested minutes of meetings be changed, sought to change employment records, breached conflict of interest provisions, undermined the university's promotions processes, ignored professional guidance, used her seniority to gain advantage for Meares, and overturned the university's central promotions committee after it rejected his bid to become a full professor.

The Saturday Paper understands it was Bell's suspension that led to a heated exchange at a university council meeting on February 18, during which interim vice-chancellor Professor Rebekah Brown was yelled at by a council member and ultimately asked to leave the meeting. Chancellor Julie Bishop did not intervene and a complaint about the conduct was made after the meeting.

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Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 03/04/2026

‘Can’t be trusted’ yet the former public servant is given air time and appears on expert panels. What does it take in this country for wrongdoing to be taken seriously?! Oh to be rich and powerful. www.theage.com.au/national/can...

The official who headed Australia's Home Affairs department acted so recklessly and improperly, particularly in his secret dealings with a lobbyist and Liberal Party powerbroker, that it would be very difficult for him to ever work in the public service again.
That is among a series of damaging findings contained in a confidential report that led to the sacking of Michael Pezzullo as Home Affairs secretary in late 2023 but which the government declined to release at the time.

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Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 10/03/2026

Masquerading as a self-made man, Angus Taylor is actually a rich, privileged nepo baby who owns/has interests in so much property he could house much of the poor. www.smh.com.au/politics/fed...

By any ordinary measure, Angus Taylor is a rich man.
We know this by the trappings of his privileged life: a fourth-generation farmer from south-eastern NSW, alumni of the exclusive The King's School, Sydney University graduate, and a Rhodes scholarship at Oxford University that fast-tracked him to a successful career as a consultant
at McKinsey & Company. Much of his life has been divided between Sydney's eastern suburbs and his country homes.

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Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 08/03/2026

Declining humanity - driven by loss of real-life connection - to blame for fraying social cohesion, not immigration. www.smh.com.au/politics/fed...

When social media first arose, we all remarked on how
dehumanising it was, as people began to speak not directly to each other but via the mediation of computers. Now we
are moving into a new era, as many people begin to conduct both their most frequent and most intimate conversations not through the mediation of computers but directly with them. This is occurring within an economic system that many are coming to distrust, even detest, for the way it treats them as something other than people.

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Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 03/03/2026

ANU has confirmed pro-chancellor (2nd to the chancellor) has stepped down, nearly a fortnight after the fact. Rumours have been swirling since a uni website was quietly updated. It took Reddit for the uni to be more transparent, despite the council committing to do better. Uni governance is broken.

Pro-Chancellor
Council advises that Ms Alison Kitchen AM has stepped down from her role as Pro-Chancellor, effective 18 February 2026, due to increasing workload commitments.
Importantly, Alison remains a committed member of Council. She will continue as Chair of the University's Audit, Finance and Risk Committee and as a member of the Investment Committee.
We are grateful for her ongoing contribution in these critical governance roles.
Alison has made a significant contribution to the University in her role as Pro-Chancellor, providing thoughtful and considered leadership. Council thanks her for her service and continued commitment to the University.
Council is currently considering the process around the appointment of a new Pro-Chancellor.

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Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 02/02/2026

Life was very messy for me growing up. I survived with the encouragement of educators and was able to overcome adversity. I was lucky. But life shouldn't about luck. Policy can help young people like me thrive. Imagine a place where all kids get a go?! I explore this with The Smith Family.

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Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 28/01/2026

Your chance to be part of the most progressive census Australia has ever seen! Join the #Census2026au team. www.abs.gov.au/media-centre...

ABS ramps up national recruitment for the
2026 Census

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Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 25/01/2026

Frontier violence and introduced diseases saw deaths and devastation to First Nations peoples in Australia from the moment of colonisation. By the 1840s, the First Nations population had been more than halved by the brutality of colonisation. www.researchgate.net/publication/...

Chart. Population takeover: Aboriginal & Colonist populations, 1780-1850

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Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 07/01/2026

So politicians hoard homes AND charge taxpayers to cover their costs? Entitlement and rort culture from the political class is next level, especially given the attacks on people needing actual welfare.

Political expenses
Taxpayers foot $1.5 million accommodation bill for politicians who already own
Canberra homes
Michaelia Cash has claimed $123,978 over 40 months, or more than $3000 a month, to stay in a home she owns in the capital.

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Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 20/12/2025

Even fictitious cartoon dogs find it easier to get promoted to professor than women

• GOOD VIBES
Griffith University
announces renowned archaeologist Dr Bandit Heeler has been offered a professorial chair

Image: Linkedin/Griffith University

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Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 19/12/2025

Kissing. Why? ‘It's quite risky — you're literally swapping saliva, and we know we can get ill from that.’ www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12...

"It's a non-agonistic interaction involving directed intraspecific oral-oral contact with some movement of the lips or mouth parts, and no food transfer," she tells triple j hack.

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Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 19/12/2025

Net overseas migration down, latest data for Australia reveals. Decline driven by decrease in arrivals and increase in departures. www.abs.gov.au/media-centre...

Overseas migration for Australia 2015 to 2025

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Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 08/12/2025

Great Grattan 🔥❤️‍🔥 theconversation.com/view-from-th...

There are two glaring lessons for politicians from the Anika Wells' entitlements affair.
First, don't grab greedily at every generous entitlement MPs and especially ministers can get, even if "the rules" allow you to do so.
Second, if you do get into trouble, show some humility and apologise early (and often).

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Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 08/12/2025

“I think that if we, as politicians, expect respect from the Australian public, clearly we’ve got to respect them.” PM (2015) www.smh.com.au/politics/fed...

Under the current rules, family members may travel to join or accompany a parliamentarian when the MP is away from home for the dominant purpose of parliamentary business.
The dominant purpose for the family's travel, in turn, must be to support the MP's family life.
For most, this means spouses and children flying to Canberra during sitting weeks or meeting the MP elsewhere in Australia when duties take them interstate.

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Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 02/12/2025

No job allows poor performance without accountability, outside a dictatorship. This is what’s happening on government boards: unchecked poor performance and potentially problematic behaviour. Ordinary ppl answer to a boss; privileged ppl answer to no one. www.apsc.gov.au/sites/defaul...

My consultations have revealed that there is virtually no process associated with measuring and benchmarking board member performance. Poor member performance can seriously undermine board teams and entity effectiveness. I recommend an external performance review process for boards each five years that would enable Ministers and Secretaries to be alerted early about issues and, with the support of the Public Service Commissioner, address individual board member performance, including through dismissal.

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Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 29/11/2025

#Census2026au will be the most progressive population stocktake Australia has ever seen, as gender and sexual orientation are finally added www.abs.gov.au/census/2026-...

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Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 29/11/2025

In honour of Australia’s first couple, did you know that most weddings occur in spring & autumn on a Saturday. Both the bride and groom are over the median age of marriage, but their backyard wedding reflects a trend toward more humble civil ceremonies. www.sbs.com.au/news/article...

The top 10 days Aussies said 'I do' in 2024

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Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 08/11/2025

‘We have disconnected our humanity from housing’ www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11...

As an ageing nation, where baby boomers have become a frequent target of a cross-generational blame game, Dr Allen thinks the current housing debate - and policy approach — needs an urgent overhaul.
"Australians are at war with each other in an
intergenerational sense and that undermines our future, it actually doesn't help the cause," she says.
"We've got a whole-of-system housing mismatch and at each stage of the life cycle, we have a problem. This is not just a young person problem - don't be fooled into thinking that.

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Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 03/11/2025

Xmas comes a month early for #Census2026au watchers

Tuesday 25 November 2025 11:30am AEDT | First release
2026 Census topics and data release
plan
Presents the final topics included in the 2026 Census and the plans of how and when this information will be released.
Reference period 2026

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Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 02/11/2025

Stats NZ is moving away from traditional census taking and is seeking public input on the new era of enumeration www.stats.govt.nz/news/public-...

Public consultation opens on design of the next census
03 November 2025, 11:00am
Stats NZ is seeking feedback on the proposed data collection and content for the next census.
New Zealand is moving to a census model that prioritises the use of information already collected by government, known as administrative (admin) data, supported by information collected through a new annual census survey and other tailored

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Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 30/10/2025

My colleagues and I are embarking on the first history of grandparenting in Australia, you can be involved too grandparentsaustralia.net

Liz selfie of a zoom screen with the grandparenting national snap shot

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Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 26/10/2025

ANU appears to be in continual breach of FOI requirements to publish documents on its website. Right to Know is being relied on by the University, possibly to circumvent access to vital information, in potential breach of the law. www.anu.edu.au/freedom-of-i...

Agencies are required to publish details of documents released under the FOI Act within ten working days of an applicant being given access to the documents.
The disclosure log requirement does not apply to documents released under the FOI Act containing personal or business information that
ANU considers would be unreasonable to publish.

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