The Human Rights Commission notes that there are rights protected by international treaties for which it has local responsibility, as well as a broader range of human rights as understood by the community. Among those is the right to a healthy environment. Protecting the natural world has impacts on our health, our mental wellbeing, our ability to produce the food we eat and the water we drink, as well as the spiritual comfort we draw from our surroundings
When I was born, the human population was about two billion. Today, it is approaching seven billion. In the 1960s, US biologist Paul Ehrlich warned of the consequences of uncontrolled population growth. In forecasting mass starvation if the population continued to grow, he was echoing the gloomy thoughts of Malthus, who argued over 200 years ago that population was increasing faster than food production could be expanded
In 1989, I wrote a book on climate change, Living in the Greenhouse. At the time the scientific community was still divided about climate change. It was clear that the planet was getting warmer and that other changes were happening, like rising sea levels and altered rainfall patterns
Scientific understanding of the world has enabled us to improve material wellbeing on a scale that previous generations would find difficult to believe. For all but the last few decades, most humans have struggled to obtain the basic necessities for a civilised life: clean water, sanitation, adequate nutrition, shelter and health care
City planning is now recognised as an important part of a compre-hensive solution to noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). By 2050, some 75% of the world’s population will live in cities. Almost 80% of Australians already reside in Australia’s major cities, as a result of population movements from rural areas to urban centres since the turn of the 20th century
The human brain is the most complex object in the known universe. Such is its complexity, that even the number of brain cells (neurons) within it remains in dispute, with common estimates ranging from between 86 billion to over 100 billion. Each of these cells forms multiple connections, called synapses, with its neighbouring neurons, with perhaps 125 trillion of these connections existing in the cortex, or surface layer of the brain, alone
This chapter describes the roles that new media might play in rebuilding links between Australia’s diverse publics and the formal political system. We will show that democratic engagement has been hollowed out. This is partly an unintended consequence of the significant (broadly bipartisan) policy reorientation that has occurred since 1983; and partly a consequence of the new diversity in Australian society
Artificial intelligence offers a daunting challenge for government: a potent mix of high expectations, big budgets, a competitive international “AI arms race”, and elevated public fears. Some governments, such as China, France and Canada, are determined that their countries be leaders in AI; others have been slower to make public policy statements but may be watching to see where their country might best fit in a field that is moving quickly
Most of you will know someone with mental illness. How long did it take for them to receive help? How does it affect their lives and those around them? How do you personally feel about mental health? This chapter endeavours to paint a picture of mental health around the globe: the burden, the challenges and the opportunities
The most remarkable human achievement of the past 200 years has been the conquest of premature death. It has been a task of great complexity, drawing on political and economic changes, safe water, improved food supply and distribution, government regulation, medical and technological advance, the spread of literacy, the emancipation of women, the moral struggle against discrimination in all forms, revolutions in communication and connection, and above all, changes in human expectations and values