Reposted by Gemma KillenThe Australia Institute @australiainstitute.org.au · 02/02/2026New research from The Australia Institute finds that Australia is the most expensive developed country for families to send a child to high school. It costs Australian families $4,967 per year - almost four times the OECD average. Read more: theaus.in/4anjEAp 86142
Gemma Killen @gemkillen.bsky.social · 20/01/2026Why do we only operate a buyback scheme after an unspeakable tragedy? Why not before? Why not regularly, so that we might get more guns off the streets and prevent a thousand tragedies as women are murdered by their partners? Surely that would be a good use of government money. 2122
Reposted by Gemma KillenJesspooka Kant 🎃 @jessdkant.bsky.social · 19/01/2026This is the sort of thing that defines fascism more than most other aspects. The installation of secret police to monitor everyone for suspicion not of doing anything wrong, but of being the wrong kind of person. 2513168
Reposted by Gemma KillenTim Lyons @picketer.bsky.social · 27/12/2025SUVs and big Utes "are 44 per cent more likely to kill an adult pedestrian or cyclist in a crash compared with a sedan, and 82 per cent more likely to kill a child" www.theage.com.au/national/vic...theage.com.auPedestrian fatalities reach 17-year-high. This trend could be whyFifty-one pedestrians had been killed on the state’s roads this year as of Saturday – the most in any calendar year since 2008. 19444212
Reposted by Gemma KillenClare Southerton @claresoutherton.bsky.social · 03/12/2025Great to have the chance to talk about our research in this article for The Point! In it we emphasise the risks GenAI raises for Indigenous Education and what came from our recent study testing LLMs on Indigenous topics. 🦘🎓 #edusky #academicsky thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...thepoint.com.auWhat teachers need to know before using AI for Indigenous educationIf you ask ChatGPT to write a Welcome to Country, it might caution that only an elder can deliver a Welcome and instead offer you a template of an Acknowledgement of Country. There’s just one problem:... 075
Reposted by Gemma KillenNTEU ACT @nteuact.bsky.social · 25/11/2025Former #ANU Vice-Chancellor, Genevieve Bell, will receive remuneration of more than half a million a year for the next five years - despite taking 12 months off. For context, that's more than ANU hoped to 'save' annually by disestablishing the School of Music. 🫠 @nteunion.bsky.social 01016
Gemma Killen @gemkillen.bsky.social · 14/11/2025Anti-abortion campaigner Joanna Howe spent close to $100,000 in one month on anti-abortion advertising on Meta, in the lead up to the anti-abortion bill debate in the SA Parliament. She outspent BHP! www.indailysa.com.au/news/just-in...indailysa.com.auSA anti-abortion lobbyist in top three national social media spenders - News | InDaily, Inside South AustraliaSarah Game’s controversial abortion bill lost in the upper house last night – as details emerged about big spends on Meta advertising. 010
Reposted by Gemma KillenHannah McCann @binarythis.bsky.social · 05/11/2025Thank goodness for advocates like @gemkillen.bsky.social speaking truth to those in positions of power www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...theguardian.comMy son was stillborn in 2020. By allowing working parents time to grieve, Baby Priya’s bill will change lives | Gemma KillenI can hardly imagine how hard it would have been to return to a workplace that had declared that I was not a parent – and that my baby didn’t really count 071
Gemma Killen @gemkillen.bsky.social · 08/10/2025This would have been very funny if it wasn't also a terrifying part of the complete eradication of democracy in the states. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...abc.net.auTrump aide freezes on live TV after controversial claim about presidentA Trump administration official faces criticism after allegedly claiming US President Donald Trump has "plenary authority" while on a live interview with CNN. 030
Reposted by Gemma KillenSenthorun S. Raj @senthorun.bsky.social · 22/09/2025At a time when some use the language of feminism to attack trans rights, it’s vital to see feminist activists and scholars counteract such attacks. Feminist Legal Studies is inviting papers for a special issue that will explore how feminist goals and trans liberation are connected. Check it out. ✊🏾🏳️⚧️ 04927
Gemma Killen @gemkillen.bsky.social · 17/09/2025I don't know how anyone is getting anything done while the world is the way it is. How to focus on writing my silly little policy briefs or my budget submission when SO MANY things are SO TERRIBLE. 150
Reposted by Gemma KillenABC News Bot (unofficial) @abcnewsbot.bsky.social · 11/09/2025Australian National University vice-chancellor Genevieve Bell has resigned from her position.abc.net.auBreaking: Embattled ANU vice-chancellor Genevieve Bell resignsAustralian National University vice-chancellor Genevieve Bell has resigned from her position. 12516
Reposted by Gemma KillenGreg Jericho @grogsgamut.bsky.social · 04/09/2025Disgraceful decision. www.theguardian.com/books/2025/s...theguardian.comDecision to close Meanjin criticised as act of ‘utter cultural vandalism’Shutting long-running literary journal, which published emerging writers as well as the cream of Australia’s literary talent, described as ‘enormous loss’ 823465
Reposted by Gemma KillenNick Miller @nickdmiller.bsky.social · 01/09/2025Here's fun. The Business Council of Australia put out a press release and new report about how to make healthcare more efficient. One of the big claims in the press release: "AI has the potential to free up 30 per cent of a clinician’s time, allowing them to spend more time with Australians" 84728
Reposted by Gemma Killenmariecolemanao.bsky.social @mariecolemanao.bsky.social · 01/09/2025'Disgraceful': Marchers storm Indigenous group www.thenewdaily.com.au/news/nationa...thenewdaily.com.au'Disgraceful': Far-right marchers storm Indigenous groupConfronting footage has emerged of protesters storming an Indigenous camp in Melbourne after Sunday's "March for Australia" rallies. 3145
Gemma Killen @gemkillen.bsky.social · 22/08/2025To be clear, I feel strongly about safety in childcare, but it is understaffing and high turnover that creates signficant risk in ECEC, and CCTV - with no assurance for workers' or children's right to privacy - will make it worse. 071
Gemma Killen @gemkillen.bsky.social · 22/08/2025Let's surveil the predominantly female workforce that is already underpaid and over-stretched and see what that does for staffing levels. Even where they mention privacy it's in relation to children, not the workers - who are ignored in the whole conversation. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08...abc.net.auCCTV trial for hundreds of childcare centres to be rolled out later this yearEducation Minister Jason Clare says the new measures won't be a "silver bullet" but they will help improve the safety of children in childcare. 0110
Gemma Killen @gemkillen.bsky.social · 18/08/2025Didn't you know it was ok to starve sick and disabled people? 052
Gemma Killen @gemkillen.bsky.social · 08/08/2025Of course, women work less hours than men in many jobs - but in most jobs, that doesn't explain the pay gap. @theguardian.com have made this helpful graph to show the difference btween the pay gap and the hours worked gap. Pathologists have a pay gap of 74% but an hours gap of only 12%. 104
Gemma Killen @gemkillen.bsky.social · 08/08/2025I am nerding out over the data in Jobs and Skills Australia's Gender Equality Study. Did you know that female truck drivers work 10% more hours and get paid 5% less than male truck drivers? Female family day care workers work 28% more hours and get paid 22% less than male family day care workers! 2146
Reposted by Gemma KillenBen Eltham @beneltham.bsky.social · 06/08/2025Well done to Josh Taylor for sinking the boot into the Productivity Commission's risible report on AI. Rubbish like this suggests it's well past time to abolish the Productivity Commission altogether. Put the funding into actual research, not this nonsense www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...theguardian.comAustralia’s potential surrender of creative content to tech giants for free is shocking. Labor must decide where it stands | Josh TaylorThe Productivity Commission appears to have bought into tech companies’ brazen arguments – and caught the Australian government off-guard 311962
Reposted by Gemma KillenAlice Grundy @alicektg.bsky.social · 06/08/2025The Productivity Commission has floated an idea to expand the fair use provision, which would make the kind of scraping AI companies do to train ChatGPT et al legal. Authors and other creatives are rightly outraged. NB: this isn't the first time the PC has come for book publishing.theconversation.comThe Productivity Commission is floating AI copyright exemptions – with worrying implications for Australian authors and publishersExemptions to copyright legislation for AI would disadvantage Australian writers – and set a bad precedent. 35927
Reposted by Gemma KillenNTEU ACT @nteuact.bsky.social · 31/07/2025"If ANU is serious about preparing students to lead in the public interest as public servants, community organisers, researchers and analysts, it must retain an autonomous, standalone school of sociology." @nteunion.bsky.social stands against #ANU job cuts. www.canberratimes.com.au/story/902804...canberratimes.com.auThe loss of the school of sociology undermines decades of intellectual investmentIt would be a big loss for the ANU 041
Gemma Killen @gemkillen.bsky.social · 26/07/2025A whopping 16% of the top THIRTY were women! Only FIVE songs! I don't think it's true that there aren't as many women in Australian music, I think it's just that many Australians don't think of the work of women as exemplary or iconic. 173
Gemma Killen @gemkillen.bsky.social · 26/07/2025Literally screamed when Untouched started playing 011
Gemma Killen @gemkillen.bsky.social · 26/07/2025So far top 20 is all men (and Julia) - what's what about 000
Gemma Killen @gemkillen.bsky.social · 25/07/2025The ABS have calculated the monetary value of unpaid care in Australia. In Sep 2024 quarter, unpaid care in Aus was valued at $308.4 billion! Women are responsible for two thirds of that value! Imagine, if we had actually been paid, we might have been able to buy a couple of hypothetical submarines! 042
Reposted by Gemma KillenJessica Faecks @jessicafaecks.bsky.social · 24/07/2025#AcademicSky: Are you a social scientist researching the future of #work and #care? Do consider submitting an abstract for a contributed volume, edited by a stellar team: docs.google.com/forms/d/11V0... #sociology @hss.springernature.com @lutfunlata.bsky.social @drshereegregory.bsky.socialdocs.google.comChapter abstract submission for Future of Work and CareArtificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly changing the traditional labour market by substituting human employment areas that were previously thought to be uncomputerizable (Bruun and Duke, 2018; Joyce e... 073
Reposted by Gemma KillenThe Australia Institute @australiainstitute.org.au · 25/07/2025Chief Economist Greg Jericho reviews Acoss’s new myth-busting report on Australia’s tax system. “If you can’t admit Australia is a low-taxing nation, then you should not get entry into any roundtable discussion on the topic.” @grogsgamut.bsky.social #auspol 14715
Reposted by Gemma KillenHannah McCann @binarythis.bsky.social · 19/07/2025“We sleep hungry and wake up hungry, and thirsty, too, with the desalination stations barely operating,” Heba said. “The entire world sees everything, yet they close their eyes as if they don’t.” www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...theguardian.comKilling of young siblings at Gaza water point shows seeking life’s essentials now a deadly perilKaram al-Ghussain, 9, and Lulu, 10, were fetching water from a nearby distribution station when an Israeli strike hit it, and them 0128
Gemma Killen @gemkillen.bsky.social · 23/06/2025The PALM visa program is unbelievably flawed. A regional GP says 95% of women she sees for reproductive care are choosing abortions so they don't breach visa conditions. Others have babies that sleep on the floor in beyond substandard living conditions. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06...abc.net.auWomen choosing abortions to keep work visas, slavery inquiry toldThe NSW inquiry into the risk of slavery for temporary migrant workers hears from a doctor who says many women are choosing to have abortions to stay in Australia. 000
Reposted by Gemma KillenDr Richard Denniss @richarddenniss.bsky.social · 07/06/2025While the media drone on about how hard it is for people with most than $3 million in super to lose some of their tax breaks, in reality the vast majority of Australians have less than $200k in super. The median for a 60 year old woman is just $158k, which means half of women have less than that! 1621893
Gemma Killen @gemkillen.bsky.social · 03/06/2025Yesterday the Commonwealth Ombudsman released a report that there is at least $1.9 billion in child support debt in Australia that Services Australia is doing nothing to address. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06...abc.net.auParents 'manipulating' child support system without consequence: reportA Commonwealth Ombudsman's investigation finds Australia's child support system has been weaponised by financial abuse that is "amplified" by Services Australia. 066
Reposted by Gemma KillenEmily Mayo @emilymayo.bsky.social · 03/06/2025www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06...abc.net.au'Completely worthless': Flawed abortion pill 'study' cited in parliamentA recent US report on an abortion pill which experts have called "misinformation", "not scientific" and "scaremongering" has been cited in NSW Parliament by no less than 11 MPs across the spectrum. 042
Reposted by Gemma KillenEmily Mayo @emilymayo.bsky.social · 03/06/20253.5% Annual Wage Review — good decision, recognising minimum wage workers wages have been squeezed for years, and now is the time to decide a ‘real increase’. 1456
Reposted by Gemma KillenRod Campbell @rodcampbell.bsky.social · 02/06/2025"Confected outrage at the very wealthy paying slightly more tax is misguided and misdirected." Great piece on proposed super changes by @gemkillen.bsky.social womensagenda.com.au/latest/dont-...womensagenda.com.auDon't let the confected outrage fool you, the super tax reform is good for womenConfected outrage at the very wealthy paying slightly more tax on their super is misguided and misdirected. 19737
Reposted by Gemma Killenbeestung @beestung.bsky.social · 01/06/2025"Not queer like a rainbow slapped onto a Wells Fargo debit card, gay as in let's hurl a Molotov cocktail thru the window of the bank at nightfall and kiss while we watch the glass shatter like a supernova." —Ally Ang beestungmag.com/issue21/two-...beestungmag.comTwo Poems by Ally Ang – beestung 18740
Gemma Killen @gemkillen.bsky.social · 01/06/2025I ordered one of these too, and I am so excited to wear it! 131
Reposted by Gemma KillenThe Cathy Wilcox @cathywilcox.bsky.social · 29/05/2025Comfort. My @smh @theage cartoon. 14443136
Reposted by Gemma KillenLee Constable @constababble.bsky.social · 28/05/2025When our major parties tell us who they are when it comes to addressing climate crisis or First Nations rights and heritage, we need to believe them. Approving a 'carbon bomb' that will threaten over 50 000 year old rock art. A disgraceful use of power. www.theguardian.com/environment/...theguardian.comLabor approves extension of Woodside’s contentious North West Shelf gas developmentMurray Watt will approve the extension of one of the world’s biggest liquified natural gas projects from 2030 to 2070 1268
Gemma Killen @gemkillen.bsky.social · 21/05/2025If environmental activists behaved in this way, we would see swift and draconian action. What does that tell us about priorities? www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...theguardian.comState and federal MPs describe death threats and vile abuse in wake of Joanna Howe’s anti-abortion campaignRepresentatives around the country say third parties sent abusive messages after they were targeted for their stance on abortion 251
Gemma Killen @gemkillen.bsky.social · 16/05/2025I wish the government had to justify their policy choices on all of their websites. For example, nannies, housekeepers, and private domestic carers are not entitled to superannuation unless they work more than 30 hours a week. 9/10 of these workers are women, and 3/4 work part time. Wtf?? 020
Reposted by Gemma KillenThe Australia Institute @australiainstitute.org.au · 16/05/2025The government’s $16 billion in HECS debt relief is welcome, but it does nothing for students new to the system. They still face unreasonable fees, including over $50,000 for an arts degree. This is a great piece from the VC of Western Sydney Uni, outlining a vision for the future of higher ed.smh.com.auYoung people are turning away from higher education. Now’s our chance to change thatAustralia needs more students graduating from university to support new industries and emerging jobs. The Albanese government has a gild-edged opportunity to reset the sector. 37225
Gemma Killen @gemkillen.bsky.social · 15/05/2025How boring it must be to believe that everything is a consequence of "biology" and nothing can ever change or improve 090