AQ: Australian Quarterly

For over 90 years AQ: Australian Quarterly has been packing its pages with the debates that have shaped Australia and the world, tackling the big topics in science, politics and society. Grounded in evidence, yet written in a style accessible to everyone, AQ is unique in Australia’s publishing landscape, pushing back against the trends of subjective truth and media spin. If it matters to Australia then it matters to AQ.

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A WORD

NOTES FOR CONTRIBUTORS

AQ: Australian Quarterly

Investing in the Future: Kids and the Neuroscience of Pain • When we imagine chronic pain, most of us think about older Australians living with long-term debilitating symptoms - yet the latest international data has found that 20.8% of children are also challenged by chronic pain.1 On top of that, children with chronic pain are missing 22% of school days.2 It can often lead to long-term physical, emotional, and social challenges and we need to act now.

Case Study: • Tegan’s Journey with Chronic Pain (from One Thing Season 2 - https://onething.painsci.org/tell-people-around-you-whats-going-on-tegan/)

We See You: AI Facial Recognition Software & Your Privacy • As Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning systems advance, we are going to see an inexorable push for AI to be used in countless applications.1 One of the applications in which AI has already been controversially deployed is in face recognition and surveillance. The technology has the scope to dramatically remake our concepts and assumptions of the boundaries between public and private when every CCTV camera, electronic doorbell, and traffic light can identify and track your every move. What are our rights to privacy, or has that ship already sailed?

Subsidising Destruction: The Wasteful Logging of Native Forests in Australia • The World Economic Forum recently argued that approximately 50% of the world’s economy is at risk from ecosystem changes such as biodiversity loss, strongly implying that subsidies that harm the environment also have negative economic impacts. In essence, these subsidies amount to governments wasting money with processes that involve poor stewardship of both our natural resources and our collective future prosperity.

Tall Poppy Awards 2024 Winners

2024 TALL POPPY POLICY BRIEFS • For over 25 years the Australian Institute of Policy and Science has been awarding Young Tall Poppy awards to the best and brightest researchers/communicators. In each state we highlight one winner as an exemplar. This year, for the first time, we invited all the 2024 Young Tall Poppies of the Year to give us a short, sharp policy brief on the key issues in their fields.

Mouth Matters (or does it?) • In 2024, it is estimated that the world will spend almost a trillion dollars (AUD) on the beauty and cosmetic industry1 - feeding a perfection obsession that is barely epidermis-thick. Yet what about the layers and systems that support and maintain the form and function? If we spent half as much money on preventing disease as we do on trying to prevent ageing, then our communities would be healthier, happier, and better off financially – oral health is the perfect example.

Race Mathews: A Life in Politics

REFERENCES