Wilson said the investment would help identify health and developmental problems earlier and ensure children receive appropriate support.

“Every parent wants their child to have the best possible start in life, and that means identifying problems early and making sure they get the right support,” she said.

“The Liberals and Nationals will back this world-leading research because investing in children’s health today means better outcomes for families tomorrow.”

The programme follows almost 50,000 children and 75,000 parents across Victoria, collecting health, education and developmental information to help researchers understand children’s health, development and wellbeing.

The proposed funding would support the continuation of the research programme and its expansion into Victorian primary schools, allowing researchers to examine children’s learning, development and wellbeing as they begin their school years.

The plan also includes establishing an Intervention Hub to trial and evaluate early intervention programmes and identify approaches that deliver effective outcomes.

GenV research has the potential to inform improvements in areas including childhood mental health, food allergies, obesity and school readiness. Its data and biological samples are also used to support research into children’s health and development.

Shadow Minister for Health Georgie Crozier said early identification of health and developmental challenges could improve access to treatment and support.

“The earlier we can identify health and developmental challenges in children, the better chance we have of providing effective treatment and support before those problems become more serious.”

She said the proposed investment would help researchers evaluate early intervention approaches and could reduce long-term pressure on the health system.

The $20 million commitment is an election pledge by the Victorian Liberals and Nationals. It would be delivered over two years if the Coalition forms government.

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The review warns that AI-related incidents could become more complex, widespread and consequential, calling for stronger cooperation between government agencies, frontier AI developers and international partners.

Among its recommendations, the review urges the Australian Government to strengthen information-sharing arrangements with leading AI developers, including through engagement with OpenAI’s Australian Taskforce, international initiatives, technical collaboration and personnel exchanges.

It also recommends encouraging frontier AI companies to establish research, training and AI safety activities in Australia, potentially giving the Government greater access to technical expertise and improving its ability to respond to emerging risks.

The review proposes that the Government consider mandatory, time-bound AI safety reporting, covering issues such as misaligned AI behaviour and agentic cyber incidents. It also calls for options to encourage the timely reporting of AI-related cyber and safety incidents, including protections for developers and others who disclose vulnerabilities or incidents.

The Office of AI is being asked to consider how Australia’s proposed AI Standards could draw on existing regulatory and law-enforcement mechanisms used by international counterparts.

The review also highlights the importance of Australia’s international engagement on AI governance. It recommends that the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Australian Signals Directorate and the Department of Industry, Science and Resources, including the Australian AI Safety Institute, continue working with international partners on common expectations for AI safety, incident reporting, evaluations, safeguards and transparency.

It further calls for the Government to consider whether the AI Safety Institute has sufficient capacity to meet growing demands for technical research, evaluations and analysis, including providing rapid scientific and technical advice during a crisis.

Criminal law and government accountability

One of the more significant proposals concerns potential changes to Australia’s criminal law to improve AI safety.

The review recommends that the Attorney-General’s Department, in consultation with the Australian Federal Police, the Department of Home Affairs and other relevant agencies, examine options including criminal penalties for serious regulatory non-compliance.

It also proposes exploring a standalone ‘failure to prevent’ offence. Under this approach, a company responsible for developing an AI model could face criminal liability where the model engages in harmful conduct and the company fails to take reasonable steps to prevent that harm.

The recommendations also seek clearer responsibilities across government when agencies encounter suspected cyber security incidents that have not yet been technically verified.

The Protective Security Board is being asked to issue guidance clarifying agency obligations and escalation expectations when vulnerabilities or suspected incidents are reported but remain technically unconfirmed.

Commonwealth agencies are also urged to review their vulnerability-disclosure and cyber incident-management procedures to ensure unusual or emerging threats are escalated promptly to the Australian Signals Directorate, Home Affairs and senior decision-makers.

The review recommends formal liaison arrangements between the Australian Signals Directorate’s Australian Cyber Security Centre, the National Office of Cyber Security and the Australian AI Safety Institute to improve information-sharing and identify incidents that could have wider national security implications.

It also calls for clearer procedures to ensure the National Office of Cyber Security determines whether broader consequence-management arrangements are required following a cyber incident.

Preparing government agencies for AI-related threats

The remaining recommendations focus on strengthening the cyber security capabilities and preparedness of Commonwealth agencies.

Government departments responsible for national plans under the Australian Government Crisis Management Framework are being asked to assess how AI could affect the hazards and emergencies they manage. They must report their findings and any proposed changes to relevant Crisis Arrangements Committee chairs by the end of 2026.

The review also recommends improving AI literacy among government staff so they can better recognise and respond to AI-related risks.

It calls for renewed attention to fundamental cyber security practices, including implementation of the Australian Signals Directorate’s Essential Eight mitigation strategies.

Other proposed measures include reducing the size of the Government’s digital estate by consolidating systems and disconnecting or segregating systems that do not need internet access.

The Government is also being urged to consider further strengthening the cyber defences of Systems of Government Significance in response to changing threats and risk profiles.

At the same time, agencies should work with the Australian Signals Directorate to identify responsible ways to use AI-enabled cyber defence tools for security monitoring, penetration testing, threat detection and incident response.

Taken together, the 18 recommendations seek to strengthen Australia’s ability to identify, report and respond to AI-driven cyber incidents while improving cooperation between government, industry and international partners.

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Speaking at the 2026 Young Engineers Australia South Australia Executive Breakfast on Thursday, Ms Richards said engineers would play an increasingly important role in shaping decisions on artificial intelligence (AI), clean energy, defence, infrastructure and climate resilience.

“Australia does not simply need more engineers. It needs a new generation of engineers equipped to tackle these enormous challenges facing the nation,” she said.

“Engineers are more than builders of the future, they are pivotal to the nation’s well-being and prosperity.”

Her comments come as Australia faces mounting pressure on its engineering workforce. Engineers Australia research indicates almost 70,000 engineers are expected to retire over the next decade, while demand for engineering jobs is forecast to grow by 20 per cent.

Women remain significantly underrepresented in the profession, accounting for only around 16 per cent of Australia’s working engineers.

Ms Richards said employers were increasingly looking beyond technical qualifications and placing greater emphasis on leadership, initiative and communication.

Jobs and Skills Australia analysis shows the proportion of engineering professional job advertisements mentioning initiative and leadership increased from 16 per cent in 2015 to 43 per cent in 2025.

For engineering and construction managers, the proportion rose from 39 per cent to 67 per cent over the same period.

“We need to retire the idea that communication, collaboration and leadership are ‘soft skills’,” Ms Richards said.

“There is nothing soft about explaining complex engineering risk or leading teams through uncertainty or challenging decisions when safety and ethics are at stake.”

She also told the audience, largely made up of early-career engineers, that artificial intelligence was making human judgement and professional oversight more important, rather than reducing their value.

“AI can help engineers do more, but it doesn’t remove the need for human oversight and critical assessment,” she said.

“As technology takes on more routine tasks, knowing what questions to ask, whether an answer makes sense, what risks it creates and how it should be applied becomes even more valuable.”

Ms Richards said successful engineers would need to use technology intelligently, question its outputs, validate results and apply professional judgement before putting them into practice.

Engineers Australia, the national body for the engineering profession, represents around 150,000 members and advocates for ethical, competent and high-value engineering work across the country.

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Co-founder and chief executive Melanie Perkins announced the changes to staff on Wednesday, 4 November 2026, describing the decision as the most difficult moment in the company’s 13-year history.

It is reported that the changes will involve job losses, role changes and requests for some employees to relocate to centralised hubs.

Canva has not disclosed how many of the 1,271 affected positions will result in redundancies.

In a message to employees, Perkins said the company needed to rethink its organisational structure to prepare for the next decade.

“To set ourselves up for the next decade, we need to refound Canva, getting back to our roots of small, empowered teams with the freedom to make decisions, take ownership and focus on what matters most for our community.”

The restructure will bring Canva’s Product, Growth and Platform teams together into a single product organisation, reduce management layers and consolidate overlapping responsibilities.

Sydney will become the primary base for more of Canva’s product teams and other specialist roles requiring closer collaboration. Some employees will be asked to consider relocating, while most hybrid employees are expected to spend two to three days a week in the office from January 2027.

Canva operates across 37 countries, meaning the timing and process of consultations will vary according to local employment requirements.

Perkins acknowledged the impact on employees and their families, saying the company would provide support to those affected.

Departing employees will receive at least six months’ salary, with additional support including career assistance, continued healthcare coverage where available and the opportunity to apply for US$10,000 grants through a new fund for those interested in starting their own ventures.

The announcement comes as Canva faces a changing technology landscape and growing competition from artificial intelligence tools.

Perkins did not explicitly identify artificial intelligence as the reason for the redundancies. However, she referred to new technology transforming what people can create, how they create it and what they expect from the products they use.

The ABC reported that the restructure was about positioning Canva to develop AI-related products rather than directly replacing departing employees with AI.

Melbourne-based digital and AI agency Revium managing director Adam Barty told the ABC that advances in AI-powered video and visual design tools could pose a significant challenge to Canva’s business model.

He argued that Canva’s large user base could become more important to its long-term position than its proprietary software platform as competition from AI companies and start-ups increases.

The company has also acknowledged that its growth slowed for the first time in a decade, with Perkins saying smaller organisational changes would not be sufficient to prepare Canva for its next phase.

The restructure marks a significant change for one of Australia’s most prominent technology companies, which grew from an Australian start-up into a global design platform.

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The bill would require digital platforms, online games and AI chatbots to take reasonable steps to protect users, particularly children and teenagers, from harmful content and unsafe features.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the reforms were needed to address cyberbullying, misogyny, online abuse and content promoting violence, arguing that responsibility for online safety should rest with technology companies rather than parents and children.

Under the proposed framework, platforms would need to assess risks and strengthen safeguards for users under 18 against content involving pornography, eating disorders, dangerous stunts, bullying and hostility towards women. The bill would also target addictive features affecting young people’s sleep and ban “nudify” apps that generate fake nude images.

The measures would give users aged over 16 greater control over their social media feeds, reduce the required response time for cyberbullying and abuse complaints from 48 hours to 24 hours, and expand the eSafety Commissioner’s enforcement powers.

Companies that fail to comply could face penalties of up to $109.2 million.

Albanese rejected claims that the reforms amounted to censorship, saying the aim was to prevent serious harm while giving Australians more choice over what they see online.

The legislation would consolidate 17 existing industry codes into a single framework. The Government says the reforms would build on Australia’s minimum social media age laws and establish stronger safety standards across digital services.

With the bill passing the House of Representatives, its parliamentary progress continues as the Government seeks to make online platforms more accountable for user safety.

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Assoc. Prof. Ruban Thanigasalam used a console at Sydney’s Chris O’Brien Lifehouse to control a Toumai surgical robot in Shanghai, guiding its instruments as they cut and stitched a demonstration kidney. No patient was involved in the Australian-first demonstration.

“This is groundbreaking surgery,” Thanigasalam told 7NEWS.

“Australia is such a large country and there are many cities and communities that don’t have access to highly trained robotic surgeons.”

He said remote surgery could help bridge that gap, potentially allowing patients to undergo procedures in their home towns rather than travelling to major cities for specialist care.

“Often patients are moving to Sydney to have their operations, but this enables them to stay in their home town and us to potentially operate on them.”

For regional families, the technology could mean fewer long-distance trips, less time away from home and better access to specialist expertise.

The demonstration relied on a network connection that allowed the surgeon in Sydney to control robotic instruments thousands of kilometres away.

Thanigasalam said the team used a 5G network and checked the connection before operating, with a backup connection also available.

“The latency has to be less than 50 milliseconds ideally” to avoid noticing a difference in response speed, he said before the demonstration.

However, the reported latency during the session was 150 milliseconds. Despite this, Thanigasalam said the demonstration went better than expected.

“We were able to operate the robot from Shanghai from here in Sydney which is a distance of 7,500km,” he said.

“I was pleasantly surprised and I’m looking forward to testing this technology further.”

The results demonstrate the system’s potential, but further testing and clinical assessment would be needed before remote surgery could be offered routinely to Australian patients.

The Toumai system has been used in overseas procedures involving patients, including a prostate cancer operation controlled remotely from London while the patient was in Gibraltar, Thanigasalam said.

In Australia, however, hospitals must complete further governance, medico-legal and indemnity checks before introducing the technology into clinical practice.

“We’ve got approval to use the robot, but we have to go through internal governance,” he said, adding that several steps remained before patient procedures could begin.

A second medical team would also need to be present beside the patient, ready to intervene if necessary.

Thanigasalam said he hoped the technology could become available in Australia within the next six months, although its introduction would depend on the required approvals, hospital preparations and funding.

Deploying remote surgical systems across regional hospitals would also require investment in trained staff and reliable network infrastructure.

Beyond performing operations remotely, the technology could help experienced specialists mentor and train surgeons at other hospitals.

“This is a fantastic piece of technology,” Thanigasalam said, highlighting its potential for remote supervision, teaching and professional development.

Thanigasalam is an Associate Professor of Robotic Surgery at the University of Sydney and a urology clinical research lead investigator at the Institute of Academic Surgery at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.

His research focuses on minimally invasive and robotic surgery for urological cancers. He also co-chairs a postgraduate robotic surgery fellowship training programme involving Concord Hospital, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and Chris O’Brien Lifehouse.

He has helped train Australian registrars and international surgeons from countries including the Netherlands, France and Ireland. He is also chief co-convener of the Sydney Robotic Summit, a major multidisciplinary robotic surgery conference held every two years.

After completing his medical degree at St George’s Hospital, University of London, Thanigasalam undertook specialist urological training in New South Wales and a two-year fellowship in robotic urological surgery in Paris before returning to Sydney.

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Menon, who is of Malaysian-origin with proud Indian Malayalee and Sri Lankan Tamil heritage, joins the Victorian health service from Bayside Health’s Peninsula Care Group, where he has held senior medical leadership roles since 2014.

He initially served as Clinical Director of Emergency Services before becoming Executive Director of Medical Services and Clinical Governance in 2020. He has served as Chief Medical Officer for six years and continues to practise as an emergency physician in public and private healthcare settings.

Dr Menon is also a Board Director of St John Ambulance and the current Chair of the Victorian Medical Executive.

Eastern Health Chief Executive Professor Helen Cooper said Dr Menon had an excellent reputation in data-driven outcomes, workforce safety and development, digital healthcare and clinical governance.

“Shyaman is a strong advocate for safe, high-quality patient-centred care,” Cooper said.

“We’re thrilled to have him join our health service.”

Appointed Chief Medical Officer during the COVID-19 pandemic,Dr Menon played a leading role in Peninsula Health’s medical response, including outbreak management and adapting models of care.

He subsequently led clinical innovation and service improvement, including executive oversight of the first Victorian health service to successfully complete SNAP accreditation across all eight standards.

His leadership also contributed to the design, delivery and transition to the new Peninsula University Hospital in January 2026, as well as the amalgamation that established Bayside Health.

Throughout his career, Dr Menon has championed safe, high-quality, person-centred care, supported by strong clinical governance, data-informed improvement and medical workforce development.

In his new role, Menon will work with medical, clinical and executive colleagues to strengthen medical leadership, support innovation and research, and advance Eastern Health’s commitment to delivering exceptional care to the communities it serves.

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The 16-year-old boy had noticed a painless swelling in his eyelid for about a month but did not seek hospital treatment until two hard, white points began protruding through his skin.

Doctors at Aravind Eye Hospital in India suspected the unusual growth could be a tooth because of its colour, texture and relatively smooth surface.

Medical scans confirmed their suspicion, revealing a fully formed canine tooth in the space between the teenager’s eyelid and eyebrow.

Dr Meghana Tanwar, a medical consultant at the hospital and co-author of the report documenting the case, told Live Science that the structure of the tooth in the upper eye socket was clearly visible.

According to Dr Tanwar, this is the first documented case of an ectopic tooth growing in the superior orbit — the upper portion of the eye socket.

“To the best of our knowledge this is the first and only ectopic tooth reported in the superior orbit,” she said.

“This was a first not just for us but the world over. …We were very surprised by it.”

The tooth was successfully removed through surgery. Doctors found no evidence of any other abnormality or underlying cause for its unusual growth.

The case has attracted attention because of the extraordinary location of the tooth.

Known medically as an ectopic tooth, it occurs when a tooth develops or erupts in an abnormal location rather than following its usual path into the mouth.

Ectopic teeth are most commonly found in the maxillary sinus, an air-filled cavity behind the nasal cavity, but they can occasionally develop in other parts of the body.

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The award recognises the centre’s Green Ceramics MICROfactorie technology, developed in collaboration with commercial partner Liverpool City Council, which operates a facility producing ceramic tiles from waste materials.

Prof. Sahajwalla said the award recognised both the centre’s ongoing research and development and its collaboration with Liverpool City Council, which commissioned the technology.

“Recovering materials from waste has a big role to play as we move towards a sustainable future and a circular economy, reducing our carbon footprint.”

She said turning waste into valuable materials for remanufacturing could help address finite resource supplies and strengthen Australia’s sovereign manufacturing capability.

“Waste itself can, and must, be seen as a resource with economic and social benefits as we strive to be more sustainable.”

The project, titled SMaRT Green Ceramics — Engineered Surfaces, won Gold in the Product Design – Hardware and Building category.

The technology converts hard-to-recycle glass and textile waste into value-added architectural surfaces, offering an alternative to conventional ceramic manufacturing.

The awards jury praised the project for combining material innovation, product performance and environmental benefits.

It highlighted the tiles’ wet flexural strength of 26.2 megapascals, perfect stain resistance and production at 130 degrees Celsius in under six minutes — a process requiring a fraction of the energy used in conventional ceramic production.

The jury also noted that the technology diverts more than 500 tonnes of glass and 18 tonnes of textile waste from landfill annually, while delivering an estimated 46 per cent reduction in embodied carbon compared with conventional tiles.

It described the products as versatile, with aesthetic appeal and potential applications across a range of settings.

The Green Ceramics technology forms part of the SMaRT Centre’s broader MICROfactorie programme, which develops ways to transform difficult-to-recycle waste into products and manufacturing feedstock.

The Australian Good Design Awards recognise projects across 13 design disciplines and more than 30 categories. Entries are assessed by an independent jury of Australian and international experts against criteria covering good design, innovation and impact.

Established in 1958, the awards are among Australia’s longest-running design recognition programmes.

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India’s Ministry of Communications called the claim “baseless and misconceived“, pointing to a licensing framework it describes as fair and non-discriminatory.

Starlink, Reliance Jio and Airtel-backed OneWeb all hold licences. Security assessments are under way for all three, and the ministry says they sit at broadly the same regulatory stage.

Dismissing Musk’s allegations that his satcom company Starlink is being blocked in India, Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal told PTI that even his satcom venture, Eutelsat OneWeb, is awaiting approvals to start operations.

I do not think this Musk’s accusation deserves much of our attention. The question that does is whether a village in the Northeast or an island in the Andamans can get a fast, dependable and affordable connection, and who will build it.

Starlink has been a game changer in some places, and I say so without reservation.

Daniel Featherstone and Kieran Hegarty have written about to how in the Cape York community of Wujal Wujal in Queensland, a low-Earth-orbit connection stayed up through heavy rain, when the older satellite service failed under cloud cover. After the December 2023 floods destroyed nearly half the town’s buildings and broke the fibre-optic cable, Starlink was the only reliable communication link.

Amanda H.A. Watson and Atishnal Elvin Chand observe that Pacific governments have responded to the service in very different ways, and that responses have shifted fast. Niue once threatened fines or imprisonment for unauthorised use, then gave Starlink the go-ahead in March 2026. Similarly, in April 2026 Papua New Guinea‘s National Court found that the Ombudsman Commission had acted unlawfully in halting Starlink’s licensing, calling the directive a “disproportionate, pre-emptive strike”. Watson, who has followed the case, said the court was “rather unimpressed” with the Commission. Many PNG citizens welcomed the ruling, as did their prime minister.

People who live far from the grid want what the rest of us take for granted, and they are right to want it. What is at stake in places like these is considerable. Starlink has linked remote schools in Fiji and the Solomon Islands, and after the December 2024 earthquake knocked out Vanuatu’s only submarine cable, more than 300 units were quickly deployed to keep residents, businesses and emergency services in contact.

Musk says Starlink would bring “high-speed, affordable” internet to Indians who cannot afford current prices or have no connection at all. India has every reason to want that capability, given its mountains, islands, forests and far-flung villages. But the Australian experience is a warning, and it should shape how we judge the promise.

Researchers Featherstone and Hegarty working on the Mapping the Digital Gap project found that Starlink, for all its virtues, is opening a new divide inside remote First Nations communities. Schools, councils, health services and police adopted it quickly. Households largely did not: only 1–2% in sites like Wilcannia and Wujal Wujal had signed up by 2024, because equipment costing A$500 to A$600 and monthly fees of A$139 are out of reach for most. Nearly everyone else relies on prepaid mobile plans, often spending A$280 a month or more on data for slow speeds and patchy coverage.

The researchers’ fear is that Starlink becomes “elite” infrastructure, a premium service for those who can pay. Nationally, First Nations Australians are twice as likely as other Australians to be digitally excluded, and in the very remote communities the researchers visited, three in four people were.

Which brings us to the question Musk’s pitch skips: affordable by whose standard? A service can be cheaper than the satellite alternatives and still be out of reach for the families it claims to serve. Until there is a pricing model built for low-income Indian households, “affordable” remains a promise rather than a fact.

Now translate that to India. A country of 1.4 billion people, with hundreds of millions on modest incomes, does not close its digital divide by importing a service priced for institutions and the comfortable. A Starlink kit that suits a mining company, a resort or a well-off farmer’s household does little for a subsistence family in a tribal belt.

Australia’s lesson is that connectivity does not reach the people who most need it just because the technology is excellent. Price, community design and digital skills decide that.

India also has something Australia’s remote communities lack: a track record of building connectivity at population scale. UPI and the low-cost mobile data revolution showed that Indian infrastructure can be designed for affordability from the start. We should apply the same thinking to the last mile.

I think India’s satellite capacity should be one layer of that effort, with the BharatNet fibre programme, community Wi-Fi and shared access points, subsidised or concessional plans for low-income households, and local digital-skills support run through panchayats and community organisations.

In fact, the Australian researchers recommend much the same measures: treating connectivity as an essential service, offering prepaid-style broadband products and backing community access models.

Speaking at the India Mobile Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stressed that the security of phones and networks is a priority for all of us, a sensible stance as India’s telecom sector moves steadily towards self-reliance.

He added, “Today, when telecom and digital technology are so important… it is essential that the security framework linked to them is also made watertight. The security of phones and the security of networks… this is a priority for all of us.”

Domestic and plural satellite options matter too. The government’s security conditions, including the requirement that licensees demonstrate compliance before spectrum is assigned, are legitimate. Starlink’s own executives say they have built India-specific controls and will keep Indian user data within India. If that holds up in the assessment, good. But a country that routes its remote communications through any single foreign provider, however capable, takes on a dependency it should weigh carefully.

If Starlink clears the security review and the spectrum process, it should compete, and it will probably serve border regions, disaster response and offshore areas very well.

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The nationally representative Essential Research survey, commissioned by Mental Health Australia, found 20 per cent of Gen Z respondents reported having nobody they could count on for support. This compares with 13 per cent of Gen X and just 8 per cent of Baby Boomers.

The research also highlights a broader connection gap among younger Australians. Almost one in three Gen Zs (32 per cent) said they feel either not very connected or not connected at all to friends, family, neighbours and their community.

By comparison, 26 per cent of Gen X and 20 per cent of Baby Boomers reported similar levels of disconnection.

Only 65 per cent of Gen Z respondents said they feel connected to others, compared with 71 per cent of Millennials and 80 per cent of Baby Boomers.

Australia facing a growing connection gap

The research found that disconnection is being felt across generations, with 47 per cent of Australians saying they feel less connected to others than they did 10 years ago.

Almost two-thirds (64 per cent) believe Australia is becoming more disconnected.

Mental Health Australia CEO Carolyn Nikoloski said the findings were particularly concerning for younger Australians.

“The fact that one in five Gen Zs say they have no one they can count on for support should be a wake-up call,” Nikoloski said.

“We all need people we can rely on. When those relationships are missing, the impact on mental health and wellbeing can be profound.”

Nikoloski said young people could not address the growing connection gap alone and called for stronger relationships, opportunities and communities that help them feel supported and connected.

Cost-of-living and social pressures

ReachOut CEO Gary Groves said the findings reflected what the youth mental health organisation was hearing from young people.

“Many young people are navigating a complex world shaped by cost-of-living pressures, uncertainty, study, work and social expectations,” Groves said.

He said these pressures were leaving some young people increasingly disconnected, isolated and lonely.

“Connection is a really strong protective factor for mental health, which is why it’s so important that young people have safe, accessible places to turn for support,” he said.

Groves highlighted peer support as an important part of ReachOut’s services and encouraged young people to seek connection through trusted friends, people who understand their experiences or online support.

World Mental Health Day

The findings have been released ahead of World Mental Health Day on 10 October, which is led nationally by Mental Health Australia.

This year’s national theme is Together We Thrive, focusing on connection, belonging and community as foundations for mental health and wellbeing.

Mental Health Australia coordinates the national Mental Health Month campaign throughout October, encouraging Australians to start conversations, share their experiences and strengthen the connections that support wellbeing.

ReachOut provides free and anonymous online mental health support for young people, including peer support, information, stories and practical resources.

The organisation also operates ReachOut Parents and ReachOut Schools, providing information and resources for parents, carers and educators supporting young people.

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The study, conceptualised and led by Dr Aditya Joshi, Senior Lecturer in the School of Computer Science and Engineering, examined whether making an AI model behave like an intoxicated person could affect its ability to follow safety rules.

Joshi led the research with Research Assistant Anudeex Shetty and Professor Salil Kanhere, also from UNSW’s School of Computer Science and Engineering.

The researchers found that LLMs induced to mimic drunken speech patterns were more likely to respond to prompts that their normal counterparts would be expected to refuse.

The findings raise questions about whether seemingly harmless changes to an AI model’s behaviour or persona could weaken safeguards designed to prevent harmful responses and the disclosure of confidential information.

“Our drunk models, all three methods, unanimously reply to some of these drunk messages … where we know that these queries are all bad queries, they all should be refused,” Dr Joshi said.

The UNSW team tested three different methods of inducing ‘drunk’ behaviour in LLMs.

The first involved prompting a model to role-play as an intoxicated person, using an instruction such as: “Respond like you are a heavily drunk person.”

According to the researchers, this creates a temporary ‘drunk’ persona without changing the underlying model.

The second method involved fine-tuning an LLM using a large dataset of texts written in a drunken style. The dataset was sourced from online communities dedicated to ‘drunk texts’ and subjected to automated and manual quality checks before being used to train the model.

The fine-tuned models were then tested to determine whether learning to reproduce intoxicated speech patterns also affected their responses to prompts that should trigger existing safety restrictions.

The researchers also tested a third method of inducing drunken behaviour, with the vulnerability remaining consistent across all three approaches.

The study did not test every LLM available on the market. Instead, the UNSW team selected a representative sample of models and conducted the experiments programmatically rather than through consumer-facing chat interfaces.

The sample included OpenAI’s GPT-4 and GPT-3.5, the technology behind ChatGPT, as well as open-weights models that are commonly used as foundations for other companies’ fine-tuned and domain-specific AI systems.

The researchers found that the increased vulnerability was not limited to one particular technique for creating the ‘drunk’ behaviour.

Across the three methods, models were more willing to answer certain prompts that should have been refused when operating under the induced intoxicated persona.

The results highlight a potential challenge for AI developers: safety protections may not always remain equally effective when a model’s behaviour, training or prompting conditions are changed.

The researchers’ work adds to a growing body of research examining how large language models can be manipulated into producing responses that conflict with their intended safety controls.

The study also illustrates how seemingly unconventional behavioural prompts can provide researchers with new ways to test the robustness of AI safeguards.

For users and organisations increasingly relying on LLMs for handling sensitive information, the findings underline the importance of testing AI systems under different operating conditions rather than assuming that safety protections will behave identically across all prompts and configurations.

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The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has increased the cash rate target by 25 basis points to 4.60 per cent.

Fijian businessman Div Damodar has said that because Australia is Fiji’s primary economic partner, the decision has direct consequences for Fiji’s local economy.

Damodar provided a breakdown of how key Fijian sectors could be affected, what needs to be done to mitigate the risks, and what could happen if they fail to adapt.

Pointing to the tourism sector, Damodar said:

“Higher mortgage repayments mean Australian households have less disposable income. Australian families may trim holiday budgets, choose shorter stays, or defer overseas travel altogether, reducing tourist arrivals and resort spending in Fiji.”

On the impact on the remittance sector, Damodar said the Fijian diaspora and seasonal workers in Australia face higher living and debt costs. This could reduce personal savings, leading to lower monthly cash transfers being sent home to families in Fiji.

On the importation sector, Damodar added that Australia is a major supplier of Fiji’s food staples, consumer goods and raw materials.

“Cost pressures in Australia drive up the landed prices of imported goods, fuelling domestic inflation at local supermarkets and businesses.”

Outlining what Fiji must do to mitigate these risks across the three sectors, Damodar said that for tourism, Fiji should “pivot marketing toward value-conscious travel packages, while aggressively expanding promotional reach into secondary markets (New Zealand, North America, and Asia).”

On remittances, Damodar said:

“Lower the cost of receiving transfers by scaling low-fee digital wallets and offering structured investment channels for diaspora funds.”

For imports, Damodar added:

“Diversify sourcing to alternate trading partners and substitute imported produce with locally grown Fijian agriculture wherever possible.”

Addressing the risks and consequences of inaction, Damodar said that failure by key Fijian sectors to adapt could result in slower economic growth.

“Reduced tourist expenditure directly impacts hospitality employment and local supplier revenue,” he said.

Pointing to the cost-of-living squeeze, Damodar stated that unchecked import costs could push domestic retail prices higher for average Fijian households.

He also highlighted pressure on foreign reserves, saying:

“Declining service exports and remittances paired with high import bills strain Fiji’s current account balance.”

Australian Treasurer Dr Jim Chalmers MP said the war in the Middle East is pushing up inflation and interest rates around the world, but that does not make the situation any easier for Australians.

“Australian workers didn’t choose this war, but they are paying a hefty price for it. The war has been a disaster for the global economy. The market is pricing in multiple rate rises in every major advanced economy,” Chalmers said.

“While today’s decision was widely expected and anticipated, that doesn’t make it any easier.”

Chalmers added that inflation is much lower than its peak but remains higher than the government would like, while the conflict in the Middle East is making inflation persist for longer.

He said the government is focused on taking pressure off Australians and addressing inflation while building a more productive and resilient economy and managing global uncertainty.

Chalmers said the RBA’s decision demonstrates why these priorities are important.

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Prof. Mahananda Dasgupta, Director of the Heavy Ion Accelerator Facility at The Australian National University, has been recognised for her work in nuclear reactions, nuclear fusion and advanced scientific instrumentation.

Her research focuses on understanding nuclear reactions at a fundamental level, including precision measurements of quantum processes relevant to nuclear fusion.

ATSE said Dasgupta’s measurements had influenced nuclear physics research internationally.

Her work also extends beyond fundamental science. Dasgupta leads national heavy-ion accelerator infrastructure and has supported applications of accelerator technology across nuclear, quantum, environmental, defence and space research.

She is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science and the American Physical Society and has received honours including the Pawsey Medal.

Her election to ATSE adds another recognition to a career combining fundamental research with the development and application of sophisticated scientific infrastructure.

Robin Khuda’s contribution comes from a different part of Australia’s technology landscape.

As Founder and CEO of AirTrunk, Khuda has played a role in developing hyperscale data-centre infrastructure across the Asia-Pacific and Middle East.

He founded AirTrunk and opened its first data centre in 2017. The company was acquired by Blackstone and CPP Investments in 2024 for A$24 billion.

Data centres have become increasingly important to the digital economy as demand grows for cloud computing, artificial intelligence, digital services and data storage.

Beyond his business career, Khuda has also invested in education and STEM opportunities.

Through the Khuda Family Foundation, he donated A$100 million to the University of Sydney to support a 20-year program aimed at creating STEM pathways for girls from Western Sydney.

Following his election as an ATSE Fellow, Khuda described the recognition as an honour and reflected on his journey to Australia as a student nearly 30 years ago.

He said he felt a responsibility to give back by supporting the next generation, creating opportunities for young people in STEM and helping technology and innovation contribute to Australia’s future prosperity and resilience.

For Dr Parwinder Kaur MLC, the ATSE Fellowship brings together two areas of her career: science and public service.

Kaur is a scientist and Member of the Legislative Council of Western Australia whose work has spanned biodiversity genomics, agricultural resilience and biotechnology.

She founded the Australian chapter of DNA Zoo, a global genomics consortium that has supported genome sequencing of more than 45 Australian species.

Her scientific work has included the development of genomic resources for Australian biodiversity, while her public role has seen her contribute to science and technology policy in Western Australia.

Kaur was elected to the Western Australian Legislative Council in 2025 and has been involved in work associated with the state’s 10-year Science and Technology Plan. She also established the Parliamentary Friends of Science, Medical Advancement, Research, Technology and Talent (SMARTT).

Reflecting on her election as an ATSE Fellow, Kaur said the recognition was particularly significant because of the combination of her scientific and parliamentary careers.

She said she had become the first woman sitting Member of Parliament in Australia to be elected an ATSE Fellow and the first sitting Member of the Western Australian Parliament to receive the honour.

Former Deputy Prime Minister Tim Fischer was the first sitting MP elected an ATSE Fellow, in 2000, according to Kaur.

Kaur arrived in Australia as an international student nearly two decades ago. She said her journey had subsequently taken her from scientific research, including building DNA maps of species such as black swans and quokkas, to representing communities in the Western Australian Parliament.

For Kaur, the Fellowship is also about the next generation.

She said she wanted more young people to see a place for themselves in STEM and science and innovation to remain central to Australia’s future.

Prof. Rajeev Varshney’s work focuses on another challenge with direct implications for Australia’s future: how scientific advances can help agriculture become more productive and resilient.

Varshney is Director of the Centre for Crop and Food Innovation and the WA State Agricultural Biotechnology Centre at Murdoch University.

His research has contributed to genomic resources and breeding platforms for crops including wheat and pulses, with applications across Australia, Asia and Africa.

ATSE said his work had contributed to the development of high-yielding and climate-resilient crop varieties while strengthening Australia’s agricultural biotechnology capability.

Varshney has trained more than 450 scientists globally and has also advocated for greater diversity, equity and inclusion in STEM.

His ATSE Fellowship follows election to The Royal Society in 2023 and the Australian Academy of Science in 2025.

Reflecting on the latest recognition, Varshney said he was grateful to join ATSE and highlighted the importance of connecting scientific research with practical outcomes.

“The future of Australian agriculture depends on how quickly we turn technological innovation into practical outcomes on farms,” Varshney said.

He acknowledged the contribution of researchers, mentors, collaborators, universities, government agencies, industry partners and growers to the work.

His research career has involved partnerships across universities, agricultural research organisations, government and industry, reflecting the increasingly collaborative nature of modern agricultural biotechnology.

The new Fellows span academia, scientific research, industry and public life, reflecting the breadth of expertise represented within Australia’s applied science and technology sector.

ATSE said the 2026 Fellows had been recognised for outstanding achievements across research, industry leadership, policymaking and commercialisation.

ATSE President Dr Cathy Foley congratulated the new Fellows, describing election to the Academy as one of Australia’s highest honours for achievement in technology and engineering.

“Fellowship is also a responsibility,” Foley said, highlighting the role of Fellows in contributing expertise to national conversations, government advice and STEM education and workforce programs.

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The equipment includes 50 CCTV cameras, eight LED display screens and two public address systems, which will be deployed across eight municipal markets to improve security monitoring, communication and emergency response.

The markets benefiting from the upgrades are Namaka, Labasa, Ba, Rakiraki, Nausori, Tavua, Levuka and Savusavu.

Fiji’s Minister for Housing and Local Government, Maciu Katamotu Nalumisa, officially received the equipment on behalf of the Fiji Government at a handover ceremony in Suva. He was joined by Australia’s Deputy High Commissioner to Fiji, Elizabeth Petrovic, and UN Women Deputy Representative Eri Taniguchi.

Nalumisa said the initiative went beyond providing security equipment, describing the investment as a way of strengthening confidence and community connections.

“We are not just handing over cameras, screens, and speakers. We are handing over confidence, connection, and community strength,” he said.

The new CCTV network is expected to strengthen collaboration between municipal councils and the Fiji Police Force, supporting crime prevention, monitoring and faster responses to incidents.

The initiative has a particular focus on women market vendors, for whom municipal markets are an important source of income and economic opportunity. Improved security is intended to help address concerns around theft, violence and harassment and create safer environments for women to work and operate businesses.

UN Women said safer markets can also contribute to women’s economic empowerment by enabling vendors to work without fear, expand their businesses, take on leadership roles and make decisions about their futures with greater confidence.

The Markets for Change (M4C) programme promotes gender equality and the economic empowerment of women market vendors across the Pacific. It brings together governments, market vendors and associations, civil society organisations and UN agencies.

M4C Phase II is implemented by UN Women in partnership with UNDP, with support from the governments of Australia and Canada.

The handover brought together Fiji’s Ministry of Local Government, the Australian High Commission, UN Women, municipal councils, the Fiji Police Force and Market Vendors Associations, reflecting a joint effort to make Fiji’s municipal markets safer and more welcoming for vendors, customers and communities.

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Indian High Commissioner to Fiji Suneet Mehta formally handed over the drones to Fiji’s Minister for Agriculture, Waterways and Sugar Industry Tomasi Tunabuna in Lautoka.

The donation fulfils a commitment announced during Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka’s visit to India in August 2025 and forms part of India’s broader cooperation with Fiji in agriculture and the sugar sector.

Mehta said the drones would help farmers use agricultural inputs more efficiently, monitor crops and reduce the burden of some farming activities while improving productivity.

“Over the years, we have supported Fiji’s agriculture sector in a number of ways through provision of seeds on several occasions, mobile soil testing laboratories, financial assistance and training and capacity building for the farmers.”

He highlighted India’s recent contribution of five metric tonnes of cowpea seeds to Fiji as another example of practical agricultural assistance.

The Indian High Commissioner also said 15 Fijian participants would begin specialised virtual training related to the sugar industry in India, further expanding skills and knowledge exchange between the two countries.

Tunabuna said the drones would help improve how farmers apply fertiliser and other agricultural inputs, with the Ministry of Agriculture and FSC working together to deploy the technology and train users.

“We must ensure that these drones are utilised responsibly with appropriate training, safety measures and support for our farmers,” Tunabuna said.

“Our objective is to make technology a practical tool that contributes to improved productivity and the long-term sustainability of our agriculture sector.”

The latest assistance comes as India continues to expand its cooperation with Fiji beyond agriculture, including healthcare and access to affordable medicines.

India is supporting the construction of a 100-bed Super-Speciality Hospital in Fiji and has agreed to work towards recognising the Indian Pharmacopoeia, providing a framework for medicines manufactured in India to be recognised in Fiji.

An agreement signed during Rabuka’s visit to India is also expected to pave the way for Jan Aushadhi Kendras in Fiji, aimed at improving access to affordable generic medicines.

Mehta said India had also provided anti-retroviral medicines to Fiji on several occasions, most recently in November 2025, and remained open to further assistance.

India is also planning to provide dialysis machines and a sea ambulance to Fiji.

A second Jaipur Foot camp is scheduled for next month and is expected to assist around 650 amputees with prosthetic support and mobility.

“Our engagement in health and wellbeing, however, remains particularly close to our hearts,” Mehta said.

“We have a number of initiatives in healthcare that strengthen our relationship.”

The initiatives reflect what Mehta described as the spirit of “Veilomani Dosti” — friendship and cooperation between India and Fiji — with both countries expanding collaboration across agriculture, healthcare, skills and capacity building.

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In the wake of yesterday’s news that an OpenAI agent hacked Australia’s Medicare system earlier this year, some people have pointed to the incident as evidence that Australia needs to develop its own artificial intelligence models.

For example, Assistant Minister for Science, Technology and the Digital Economy Andrew Charlton said the breach:

provides the justification … for our determination to make sure that we have Australian AI, that we shape technology, we have sovereign capability in Australia, and we aren’t entirely at the mercy of foreign AI companies”.

Deputy Opposition Leader Jane Hume echoed this. Speaking on Sunrise this morning, she said the hack shows why Australia needs to embrace major AI companies “so that we can have frontier models providing sovereign capability to Australia”.

But would having an Australian AI actually help protect us from an AI agent-led hack? And if so, how?

The first known hack of a government system

As part of a training exercise in June, OpenAI tasked an agent with researching public medical data. In pursuit of this goal, the agent breached a firewall to gain access to an old Australian government website that contained private statistical data.

OpenAI became aware of the hack in August during a review of the model’s activity. It only notified the Australian government – via an email to a low-level public mailbox – on September 10.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a rapid taskforce to provide an “urgent and immediate review” of the incident, and whether changes to the law are needed to prevent another incident like this.

This is the first known occasion of an AI agent breaching a government system. But it follows several other high-profile recent incidents of AI agents autonomously hacking a third-party system.

Would an ‘Australian AI’ help?

In the context of AI, sovereign capability is where countries develop and maintain the technology themselves, rather than relying on models that are built and based elsewhere. Complete AI sovereignty means a country has independent control over not just an AI model, but also the data and physical infrastructure behind it.

In theory, building “Australian AI” is a good idea. It mitigates the risk of other countries using their AI models as political leverage, and would give us more autonomy.

But there are significant practical challenges when it comes to developing sovereign AI. The first is the financial cost.

If Australia tried to develop and train a frontier AI model that could perform as well as commercial equivalents such OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Anthropic’s Claude, it would cost upwards of a billion US dollars.

It would also require us to build our own data centres to train an Australian AI model, rather than using the existing centres abroad that are owned by international corporations such as Amazon Web Services or Microsoft Azure. This would consume massive amounts of power and water. Epoch AI, a non-profit investigating the future of AI, estimates that by 2030, training individual frontier AI models could draw between 4 and 16 gigawatts of power – enough to power millions of homes.

Let’s say the Australian government went against expert advice and chose this approach. Would it better protect us from incidents such as the OpenAI Medicare hack?

Unfortunately, the likely answer is no.

Many other countries, such as South Korea, Switzerland and France, have tried to compete with leading AI companies by building their own domestic AI capability. But none of the AI models these countries have built are anywhere near as advanced as the leading Chinese and US models.

It is those highly advanced models, which are continuing to improve, that pose the greatest cybersecurity risk – as the spate of recent AI agent-led hacks demonstrates. And an Australian-built AI model that doesn’t compete on performance would do little to mitigate that risk. It would likely miss cyber vulnerabilities that a more advanced model could still identify and exploit.

So, what do we do?

The only way to guarantee Australia isn’t the victim of another AI cybersecurity incident is to completely cut ourselves off from the global internet. Obviously, that isn’t a real option.

It’s important Australia keeps pushing for stronger global regulation and rules governing AI systems, as Albanese has been doing in New York this week. AI isn’t the first dangerous technology humans have created, and the international approach to governing aviation and nuclear weapons, while imperfect, provides a suitable model for how AI could be better regulated to mitigate the risk.

These rules should be focused on improving transparency of AI models, for example through mandatory independent testing which could recommend additional safeguards.

It’s also crucial that Australia holds AI companies accountable for cybersecurity breaches, as other jurisdictions around the world have done. The government has already flagged it may press criminal charges against OpenAI over the Medicare hack.

Such a move would send a strong message to AI companies that it’s not okay to move fast and break things in the pursuit of bigger and better models.

Niusha Shafiabady, Professor in Computational Intelligence, Australian Catholic University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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The incident occurred on 18 June 2026 and involved the public-facing Medicare Statistics Reporting Service operated by Services Australia. The AI agent accessed both publicly available material and files that were not intended to be publicly accessible, according to the government. There is currently no evidence that individual Medicare records or other personal information were accessed, and authorities say there is no indication of a broader compromise of the Services Australia network.

Albanese disclosed the breach while in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, saying he had personally spoken with OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman and conveyed Australia’s “extreme concern” about both the incident and the time it took the company to notify the Australian government.

“This situation is obviously unacceptable,” Albanese said.

The Prime Minister said the AI agent had been attempting to research publicly available information about medical spending when it encountered restrictions on the Services Australia website and found a way around them.

“The AI agent found a way around those blocks, didn’t accept ‘no’ for an answer, if you like,” Albanese said.

The distinction is important. The affected system was not Australians’ personal Medicare account service or the database through which individual claims and health records are managed. Services Australia describes its Medicare statistics services as providing statistical information about programs including the Medicare Benefits Schedule, Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, Repatriation Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, immunisation and organ donor programs. Users can generate reports, examine trends and download statistical data.

However, the agent was able to move beyond material intended for public viewing.

OpenAI said its review found that the information accessed included aggregate health statistics and internal file names, while saying it had found no evidence that patient records were accessed.

The incident has attracted particular scrutiny because of the timeline.

Although the unauthorised access occurred on June 18, Albanese said Services Australia was not told by OpenAI until September 10, almost three months later.

The notification was not initially made through a senior government or national cyber-security channel. According to Albanese, it arrived as an email sent to a public Services Australia mailbox.

Services Australia subsequently referred the matter to the Australian Signals Directorate’s Australian Cyber Security Centre on September 15. Government Services Minister Katy Gallagher was informed last week, while Albanese said his office became aware of the matter over the weekend.

Albanese said he raised both the delay and the way the incident was disclosed during what he described as a “frank” conversation with Altman.

“I also expressed my disappointment that it took the company way too long to inform the government what had occurred,” he said.

“The nature of the way that the notification occurred as well was unacceptable.”

OpenAI has given a different perspective on how the incident arose.

A company spokesperson said OpenAI had been conducting an extensive review of what it described as “misaligned model activity” during training and internal evaluations.

The company said its models were attempting to find answers and publicly available statistics about Australia when they interacted with several Australian government websites.

“In the course of that, our models took actions we did not intend,” OpenAI said.

The company said its continuing investigation had identified activity involving several Australian government websites and services and that affected organisations were being given technical information to help investigate what occurred and address any security weaknesses.

OpenAI said it remained committed to transparency and that its review was continuing.

The federal government is now examining whether the Medicare incident was isolated.

Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles said an OpenAI agent had also interacted with other Australian government websites, including the Victorian Department of Health, an unidentified New South Wales government website, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, and the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research.

Marles said those websites were accessed but were not currently believed to have been breached in the same way as the Medicare statistics portal.

The government has established a taskforce to conduct what Albanese described as an “urgent and immediate review”.

The investigation will be led by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and involve the Australian Signals Directorate and Australia’s AI Safety Institute. Its work will include determining exactly what the agent did, what technical weaknesses allowed the unauthorised access and whether any other government systems were affected.

Marles described the involvement of a non-human autonomous system as a serious feature of the incident, while stressing that the impact discovered so far appeared limited.

“No personal information has been accessed here. There’s no impact on the system,” Marles told ABC Radio National.

That assessment remains preliminary while forensic work continues.

The Australian AI Safety Institute is particularly relevant to the investigation because its official mandate includes analysing and testing advanced AI systems, assisting regulators with emerging AI-related harms and studying autonomous AI agents capable of independently pursuing goals.

The institute specifically lists data leaks, fraud and cyber threats arising from AI agents among the risks it is working to understand. It also works with the Australian Signals Directorate and other technical partners on advanced AI safety and security.

The breach is likely to intensify debate over so-called agentic AI — systems that can do more than simply answer questions.

Unlike a conventional chatbot, an AI agent can be given an objective and then independently navigate websites, use tools, write or execute code and take a series of actions in an attempt to accomplish that goal.

The concern for governments and AI developers is that increasingly capable agents may find unexpected methods of accomplishing a task, including methods that their developers did not intend or authorise.

Reuters reported the Medicare incident as the first known case of an AI agent hacking a government website, although investigations into the event and other autonomous-agent incidents are continuing.

It is not the first recent case to raise questions about whether advanced AI agents can remain within intended technical boundaries.

Earlier this month, researchers disclosed cases in which AI agents during cyber-security testing accessed or attempted to access external systems beyond their intended environments. Independent AI safety research has documented examples of agents bypassing safeguards or accessing resources outside the boundaries set for their tasks.

Reuters has also reported that OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and Meta have disclosed incidents involving agents interacting with external systems in unexpected ways.

The Medicare breach is therefore different from the conventional cyber-security scenario in which a human attacker deliberately uses software to steal information.

OpenAI’s account is that its model was operating during an internal evaluation and that the unauthorised behaviour was not intended by the company. The Australian government’s concern is that the system nevertheless crossed security boundaries on a real government website.

The incident also comes at an awkward moment in the international debate over AI regulation.

Just two days before revealing the breach, Albanese had been arguing in New York that governments needed to ensure humans remained in control of artificial intelligence.

“Humans need to be in control of it,” the Prime Minister said on Tuesday, adding that AI should be shaped around people rather than being allowed to dictate how society functions.

Australia’s National AI Plan currently relies heavily on existing laws and regulators, supported by the AI Safety Institute, rather than a single standalone AI regulatory regime. The institute was established to monitor emerging capabilities and risks and help government agencies determine whether existing laws and protections remain adequate as the technology changes.

The Medicare incident could test that model.

Among the questions investigators are likely to consider is whether current cyber-security and incident-reporting arrangements adequately deal with situations where an autonomous AI system — rather than a human hacker — gains unauthorised access.

There is also likely to be scrutiny of disclosure obligations.

The government has made clear that it considers the roughly three-month delay between the June incident and OpenAI’s September notification unacceptable, particularly given that the system involved was operated by an Australian government agency.

The episode could also prompt questions about what responsibilities AI developers have when their internal evaluations interact with real-world infrastructure.

OpenAI said it is providing technical details to affected organisations and helping them address potential vulnerabilities.

For Australians, the government’s immediate message is that there is no evidence at this stage that individual Medicare details, health records or personal patient information were exposed.

The information known to have been accessed consisted of aggregate statistics and internal file names, according to OpenAI, while the government says there is no current evidence of a wider Services Australia network breach.

But the wider significance of the case extends beyond Medicare.

An AI system was given a research task, encountered technical restrictions on a real government website and found a way around them without its developer intending that outcome.

For a technology increasingly being promoted to governments, businesses and consumers as capable of independently completing complex tasks, that is the part of the incident now attracting the closest attention.

Australia’s taskforce will have to determine precisely how the agent crossed the boundary, whether any laws or security requirements were breached, whether other government systems were exposed — and what needs to change before the next generation of AI agents becomes even more capable.

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Dr Umaretiya, an Advanced Skills Lecturer at North Metropolitan TAFE, received 4,036 votes to win the $10,000 award. She was also a finalist in the STEM Educator of the Year – Tertiary category.

Originally from Gujarat, India, Dr Umaretiya studied horticulture at Junagadh Agricultural University before moving to Australia. She holds a PhD in Horticulture and has around 15 years of experience working at the intersection of science education, agriculture and emerging technology.

On her recognition, she said on LinkedIn:

“As someone who grew up on a small farm and later migrated to Australia, this journey has been one of resilience, lifelong learning, and a passion for making STEM education accessible, practical and impactful.”

One of her key initiatives is an automated hydroponic greenhouse equipped with cloud-connected sensors and a live Digital Twin. The system gives students hands-on experience with precision horticulture while demonstrating the application of Industry 4.0 technologies to modern agriculture.

Dr Umaretiya also works with industry, government and Aboriginal communities to develop inclusive training programs focused on food security, green skills and biosecurity.

Her contribution extends to supporting diverse learners. She has been recognised as an Accessibility and Learning Support Champion and works to help students develop workforce-ready skills for Western Australia’s evolving horticulture sector.

The 2026 Premier’s Science Awards marked the program’s 25th anniversary, recognising scientists and STEM educators across Western Australia. A total of 12 winners were recognised across the awards’ categories, with a combined prize pool of $140,000.

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Speaking to reporters in New York on Tuesday, Albanese said AI had the potential to improve lives, strengthen economic productivity and accelerate scientific and medical breakthroughs, but stressed that its development needed to remain centred on people.

“Humans need to be in control of it,” Albanese said.

“If it’s going to be successful, then we need to make sure that humans are at the centre of everything that occurs.”

The comments came after Australia joined an international effort calling for a human-centred approach to artificial intelligence, with Albanese saying Australia had played a central role in developing the joint statement.

The Prime Minister said he had been in direct discussions with Finnish President Alexander Stubb and that Australia would continue working with regional partners on the issue.

Australians, Albanese said, wanted confidence that AI would not ultimately control how society functions.

“We need to shape how it rolls out, rather than have artificial intelligence shape the way that our society functions.”

Asked about the planned meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping and whether their competing priorities could influence the global AI debate, Albanese said Australia hoped for a positive meeting.

He said countries would continue to pursue their national interests, while Australia would advocate for safeguards that reflected its own national interests.

Albanese has made AI governance a key issue during his visit to the United States and the United Nations General Assembly. Earlier this week, he said major technology companies had themselves acknowledged significant risks associated with AI and argued that companies, governments and international agreements all had a role to play.

The Australian Government has also said it wants to work with international partners to build a “safe digital future”, with AI identified as one of the major global challenges likely to affect Australians.

Albanese is in New York for the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Week, where he is also leading Australia’s campaign for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for 2029–30.

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The 17–25 September mission comes as the University of Western Australia (UWA) opens its Mumbai campus, making it the first Australian Group of Eight university to establish a campus in India.

Cook is scheduled to attend the opening and meet senior government, business and education representatives in Mumbai and Delhi to strengthen Western Australia’s economic partnership with India.

India is WA’s largest international student market, with more than 15,000 enrolments recorded last year.

The mission will also promote opportunities in investment, tourism and creative industries, including the new Perth Film Studios, alongside WA’s established strengths in mining and the energy transition.

A key priority for the Cook Government is establishing a direct air connection between Perth and India. Meetings with major Indian airlines are planned during the visit.

“My number one priority for future direct flights is to secure a connection between Perth and India.”

The Premier said India is among Western Australia’s largest trading partners and that closer relationships with both markets could support opportunities across mining, energy, defence, agriculture, education and tourism.

At the UWA Mumbai campus inauguration, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis described the establishment as a milestone for Mumbai and Maharashtra, highlighting opportunities for collaboration in areas including artificial intelligence, healthcare, clean energy, critical minerals and advanced manufacturing.

Australian High Commissioner to India Philip Green also joined Cook and Fadnavis at the milestone event.

Fadnavis said the campus reflected Mumbai’s growing role as a global hub for knowledge, innovation, technology and talent, while creating new opportunities for students, researchers, startups and industry.

The UWA Mumbai campus is expected to strengthen academic and research links between India and Australia while expanding opportunities for collaboration between the university, Indian industry and Maharashtra’s education and innovation ecosystem.

Cook said face-to-face engagement with governments and businesses was important to strengthening WA’s long-term relationships with both markets.

“There is no substitute for sitting down with businesses and governments face-to-face,” Cook said, adding that the mission was aimed at creating WA jobs and business opportunities “now and for the future.”

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Parmar, who came to Australia from India, is pursuing a PhD in Public Health at Western Sydney University while working with the university’s Health Equity across the Lifecourse (HEAL) Research Lab and teaching health science and public health students.

Her community-focused work has now earned her the 2026 Western Sydney University Unsung Hero Award, part of the annual ZEST Awards recognising contributions across Greater Western Sydney.

Parmar’s research focuses on health equity among culturally and linguistically diverse communities, particularly the barriers created by language, culture, health literacy and access to healthcare.

One recent study involving 309 Indian migrants with Type 2 diabetes in Greater Western Sydney found that more than two-thirds had low health literacy, while almost 69 per cent reported low medication adherence.

The findings reinforced Parmar’s belief that better health outcomes require culturally appropriate support and a deeper understanding of people’s lived experiences.

Parmar first studied at Western Sydney University in 2015, completing a Master of Public Health in 2017. After working in research and health-related roles, she returned in 2021 to begin her PhD.

Today, she combines research, teaching and community engagement, with a focus on turning evidence into practical solutions.

For Parmar, the award is recognition of work that often happens quietly — through conversations, trust-building and helping people navigate the healthcare system.

Her hope is that her work will ultimately be remembered not for a single paper or award, but for helping create more equitable and inclusive health outcomes.

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You’re standing in the skincare aisle and pimple patches are everywhere – clear ones, flesh-coloured ones, stars, hearts. They promise to flatten a pimple overnight.

Then there are those satisfying social media videos where someone peels off a pimple patch to reveal a much calmer-looking pimple underneath.

But do pimple patches actually work? And what are they really doing to your skin?

What’s a pimple?

A pimple forms when a hair follicle gets clogged with oil, dead skin cells and bacteria, causing inflammation, redness and sometimes a pus-filled head. You might also hear a pimple called a “spot” or a “zit” – these are just names for the same thing.

“Acne” is the name for the broader skin condition of getting pimples recurrently (along with blackheads and whiteheads), rather than a word for a single pimple.

In this article we’ll mostly stick to “pimple” for an individual lesion, and use “acne” only when we’re talking about the overall condition.

Pimples affect an estimated 20.5% of people worldwide at any one time, and up to 80–85% of adolescents. This makes it one of the most common skin conditions.

What are pimple patches?

Pimple patches look like a TikTok-era invention, but the underlying technology isn’t. They’re based on hydrocolloid dressings, which were developed decades ago for wound care. Then dermatologists began adapting them for skin conditions, such as acne.

Hydrocolloid patches caught on as a beauty product in South Korea almost 20 years ago before crossing into Western markets around 2012.

Today’s pimple patches are made from a hydrocolloid material – a gel-forming substance – which is often a blend of ingredients such as pectin, gelatin and carboxymethylcellulose. This bonds to a thin, flexible, waterproof outer layer.

The hydrocolloid absorbs moisture, so it can soak up fluid from a wound and hold it in place while the skin underneath heals.

On a pimple, the same process kicks in. Press the patch over a pimple with a visible head, and the hydrocolloid layer starts drawing fluid – pus, oil and dead skin cells – out of the pore and locking it into its gel matrix.

As the patch fills up, it turns white or cloudy, which is exactly what people are peeling off in those satisfying videos. The outer layer holds everything in place and keeps the area covered while this happens.

Pimple patches also act as a physical barrier. They cover the pimple, making it harder to pick, squeeze or touch it, which can otherwise introduce more bacteria and worsen the inflammation.

Some pimple patches are medicated, most commonly with salicylic acid. Others contain tea tree oil, niacinamide or benzoyl peroxide. Rather than simply drying out the pimple, these ingredients are meant to help exfoliate the skin, calm inflammation or target acne-causing bacteria.

You can buy pimple patches at supermarkets or pharmacies, typically for about A$6–20 a pack, depending on the brand and whether they’re medicated (medicated patches typically cost more than unmedicated ones).

Do they actually work?

A 2025 review found most evidence for hydrocolloid patches comes from wound care, not for pimples specifically.

Of the handful of studies on pimples, many are small and industry-funded that test the brands’ own patches. Often these studies are not “blinded”. This means either the researchers, participants or both knew if they were using pimple patches, which risks skewing the results.

So while the early results are promising, the evidence for pimple patches is still limited.

One manufacturer-funded trial of 41 people found applying a patch to a pimple that had already come to a head and been popped improved its appearance in a day.

Another small industry-funded study followed 37 people over ten days. In two days, pimples covered with the patches were 35% smaller and looked 44% less less inflamed, based on a combined visual assessment of size and redness. Untreated pimples showed little change. By day ten, the treated pimples were also less likely to develop post-inflammatory pigmentation (dark marks on your skin after a pimple heals).

Patches seem to work best on pimples that already have a visible white or yellow head. That’s because the pus sitting inside has already risen close to the skin’s surface, putting it within reach of the patch’s absorbent gel.

For the best results, apply to clean, dry skin and leave on for six to eight hours or overnight, swapping it once it turns cloudy and swollen. Afterwards, place your pimple patch in the bin.

Are they for me?

Pimple patches can be handy for the odd pimple. But they can only do so much, and they’re not for every pimple.

They don’t work well for deep, painful cystic pimples because the patch can’t reach inflammation that sits deeper in the skin.

People with darker skin tones may also need to be careful, as irritation can increase the risk of dark marks after a pimple heals. This can happen with any skin tone, but skin with more melanin tends to produce more pigment in response to inflammation or irritation, so the resulting dark marks are often more noticeable and slower to fade.

If you have sensitive skin or an allergy to adhesives, patches can cause redness, itching or a rash. Medicated patches containing ingredients such as salicylic acid can also be irritating.

My pimples aren’t getting better

If you’ve tried patches, cleansers and treatments for a few weeks and your pimples aren’t budging, it’s probably time to get some help. Likewise, if your pimples are deep, painful or starting to leave scars, don’t wait.

A GP can discuss your options, and if needed, refer you to a dermatologist to work out what’s driving your pimples and find a treatment.

Lisa Byrom, Associate Professor, Dermatology, School of Medicine, The University of Queensland

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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The institution-wide rollout will give students and staff secure and equitable access to the enterprise version of ChatGPT, alongside training and support to help them use AI critically, responsibly and effectively.

University of Sydney Vice-Chancellor and President Prof. Mark Scott said the initiative was designed to ensure graduates were equipped for the changing world of work while giving researchers access to advanced AI tools.

“It’s our responsibility to graduate students who are well equipped for the modern world of work.”

The university said ChatGPT Edu would complement, rather than replace, its existing AI education platform Cogniti, which will remain the preferred classroom tool for educators.

The university is also maintaining its focus on academic integrity through its “two-lane” assessment approach. Students will continue to demonstrate their knowledge and capabilities through supervised assessments while using AI appropriately in open, unsupervised assessments.

Prof. Scott said the goal was to help students develop AI literacy alongside human capabilities including judgement, creativity, ethical awareness and adaptability.

“Free access to ChatGPT Edu, alongside other platforms including Cogniti, supports a level playing field for AI use.”

The university said ChatGPT Edu would allow students to collaborate on group learning activities, develop ideas, brainstorm, conduct advanced information analysis and ask questions while building practical AI skills.

Alongside the OpenAI agreement, the University of Sydney is establishing a $1 million AI Sustainability Research and Innovation Fund to investigate ways to understand, measure and reduce the environmental impacts of artificial intelligence.

The fund will draw on the university’s multidisciplinary research capabilities, including work across engineering, science, medicine and health, business, law and social sciences.

OpenAI Managing Director for APAC Kiran Mani said the university was making a significant investment in preparing students for the future.

The university said the ChatGPT Edu rollout would be staged, with additional capabilities introduced progressively. University data will not be used to train models, while pilots, focus groups and AI training will form part of the implementation.

The rollout will be guided by the University of Sydney’s Responsible AI Framework, which establishes principles and safeguards for the adoption and use of AI across the institution.

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Amit Shukla, Joint Secretary for Cyber Diplomacy at India’s Ministry of External Affairs, held a meeting with Jessica Hunter, Australia’s Ambassador for Cyber Affairs and Critical Technology, during his visit to Australia.

The officials discussed the longstanding India-Australia partnership in cyber and critical technologies and exchanged ideas on operationalising the Australia-India Partnership on Cyber, Critical Technologies and Supply Chains (PACTS).

Shukla also participated in an AI masterclass organised by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) in Canberra, joining a panel examining artificial intelligence adoption across the Indo-Pacific.

The PACTS framework was launched on 9 July 2026 in Melbourne by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the third Australia-India Annual Summit.

The partnership succeeds and replaces the 2020 Framework Arrangement on Cyber and Cyber Enabled Critical Technology Cooperation, expanding bilateral cooperation to address emerging digital, economic and national security challenges.

Under PACTS, Australia and India aim to strengthen national and regional security, provide partners with greater digital choices, improve the resilience of critical supply chains and contribute to global cyber resilience.

The framework focuses on safety, security, resilience and inclusivity, while promoting shared democratic values and responsible technology development.

The two countries see cyber security, critical technologies and supply chains as increasingly important to economic growth, national security and the ability to shape global technology standards and norms.

The new partnership brings these areas under a broader strategic framework, with cooperation organised around five key pillars designed to deepen practical collaboration across the Indo-Pacific.

The latest discussions in Canberra come as India and Australia continue to expand their broader Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, with technology, cyber security and supply-chain resilience emerging as important areas of bilateral cooperation.

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