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The Age

The Age has the latest local news on Melbourne, Victoria. Read National News from Australia, World News, Business News and Breaking News stories.

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Featured Writers

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Katie Cincotta

Katie Cincotta began as the national writer for television game show Sale of the Century, and went on to be a magazine editor before starting her own freelance writing business. …

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Cade Lucas

Teacher, writer and broadcaster from Melbourne.

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Indi Brummelen

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Amy Fallon

I am a widely-published and experienced Australian-Canadian journalist, communications and media specialist who has worked all around the world for a plethora of global media outlets and organisations. Please scroll …

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Maxim Boon

I'm a writer, critic, editor, digital producer and art director with more than five-years experience specialising in the culture, arts and lifestyle sectors. Formerly the Group Senior Editor and National …

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Kristine Ziwica

Kristine Ziwica is a Melbourne-based columnist and consultant who has 20 years' experience working in Australia, the United States and the UK on human rights and gender equality campaigns.

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Latest Articles

Is it the end of the #GirlBoss era in Australia? That wouldn’t be all bad

Earlier this week, news broke in this masthead that the corporate feminist behemoth Business Chicks was either shutting down or scaling down. For more than a decade, the women’s networking group has been at the forefront of a dominant strain of rah, rah, you go girl, #GirlBoss feminism in Australia. …
By Kristine Ziwica
• The Age

Challenging essays that divert from the ideological rails

In the introduction to his new essay collection, Provocations, Jeff Sparrow states he feels “tremendously isolated” as a socialist writer in a country as anti-intellectual as we. Like most Australian greats, Sparrow rejects the “persona of ocker larrikinism” that mainstream writers adopt to avoid accusations of elitism. He also admits …
By Kurt Johnson
• The Age

Stop telling fat people their bodies are costing our healthcare system

Allow me to be clear: A person’s health status, or the status we assign their health due to their appearance, is not information that is owed to anyone, aside from perhaps a trusted medical professional. I choose to share my health status publicly because I’m able to do so without …
By Hannah Vanderheide
• The Age

‘We had to try a few home visits’: Concern for student welfare peaked in lockdown six

At one point, more than 80 per cent of secondary schools were “very concerned or concerned” about student mental health and wellbeing, while almost 70 per cent of secondary schools were worried about academic progress. Jo Camozzato, principal at Edgars Creek Secondary College, said there was no doubt this year’s …
By Petra Stock
• The Age

‘We had to try a few home visits’: Concern for student welfare peaked in lockdown six

At one point, more than 80 per cent of secondary schools were “very concerned or concerned” about student mental health and wellbeing, while almost 70 per cent of secondary schools were worried about academic progress. Jo Camozzato, principal at Edgars Creek Secondary College, said there was no doubt this year’s …
By Petra Stock
• The Age

Westmead Children’s Hospital saved Kobi’s life. His family is trying to give back

When Sydney locked down in June, Grant Doyle, along with his brother Craig and niece Georgia, signed up to the Sydney Children’s Hospital team for the Sun-Herald City2Surf. For Grant and his 12-year-old son Kobi, the Children’s Hospital at Westmead holds a special significance. “That hospital is the only reason …
By Daniel Lo Surdo
• The Age

Feeding the soul: Everybody needs good neighbours, especially in lockdown

Everybody needs good neighbours. Particularly in lockdown, when the people living nearby have become a much-needed source of human connection and social interaction, whether that’s pet-sitting, produce sharing or simply stopping for a chat. William Reid first met his neighbours as they headed to the park with their ragdoll kitten …
By Petra Stock
• The Age

Unknown, uninvited strangers joining Victorian online classrooms

Unknown and uninvited people have joined classrooms held on digital platform Webex at least 13 times during remote learning in Victoria. Education Department documents obtained under Freedom of Information laws reveal the incidents include strangers posting “images of a concerning sexual nature”, making racist comments and engaging in aggressive and …
By Petra Stock
• The Age

Federal cash cut-off leaves Victorian businesses in limbo

Continuing COVID restrictions will leave many Victorian businesses unable to trade for months after their federal government financial lifeline is cut off in November. The events, hospitality and entertainment sectors are set to be the hardest hit when, two weeks after 80 per cent of eligible Victorians are double vaccinated, …
By Petra Stock
• The Age

Octopuses, artworks and dinosaurs on the moon: Children’s tiny galleries pop up in the streets

A red octopus hangs above a sign that reads “Please do not touch” as a small crowd peruses seascapes of sailing ships and ocean liners on the walls. As Melbourne’s lockdown drags on, tiny galleries are popping up in Brunswick streets. Their pre- and primary-school aged curators, stuck at home, …
By Petra Stock
• The Age

Parents speak out against inconsistent quality of remote learning

“My concern is that Elissa is not being educated,” he said. Victorian schools have had six terms of moving in and out of lockdown. The minimum guidelines have not shifted in that time: 45-60 minutes of literacy, 30-45 minutes of numeracy and 30-45 minutes of additional learning, play-based learning and …
By Petra Stock
• The Age

Octopuses, artworks and dinosaurs on the moon: Children’s tiny galleries pop up in the streets

A red octopus hangs above a sign that reads “Please do not touch” as a small crowd peruses seascapes of sailing ships and ocean liners on the walls. As Melbourne’s lockdown drags on, tiny galleries are popping up in Brunswick streets. Their pre- and primary-school aged curators, stuck at home, …
By Petra Stock
• The Age

Calls grow for return of children to classroom, as regions get new student safety measures

Mr Merlino said on Friday he wanted children back to face-to-face learning as soon as possible, “but with hundreds of children with coronavirus, including children seriously unwell in hospital, we won’t put the health of Victorian kids and teachers at risk and flood schools with people before we get public …
By Petra Stock
• The Age

Calls grow for return of children to classroom, as regions get new student safety measures

Mr Merlino said on Friday he wanted children back to face-to-face learning as soon as possible, “but with hundreds of children with coronavirus, including children seriously unwell in hospital, we won’t put the health of Victorian kids and teachers at risk and flood schools with people before we get public …
By Petra Stock
• The Age

‘Bored out of my mind’: Children and parents rejoice at playgrounds reopening

After spending almost all their time inside since Melbourne’s playgrounds were shut last month, Corinne Moesch’s three children are jumping for joy at news they will soon reopen. Premier Daniel Andrews made the expected announcement on Wednesday afternoon that playgrounds would reopen from 11.59pm on Thursday. Rocco, 9, Reggie, 7, …
By Petra Stock
• The Age

At his first swimming carnival, Ricky came last. Now he’s aiming for Paralympic gold

When Ricky Betar competed in his first swimming carnival at age 9, he came last. When he joined a squad, he couldn’t keep up for the first six months. Today he is in Tokyo ready to compete at his first Paralympic Games. Betar, 17, is the son of an Australian …
By Daniel Lo Surdo
• The Age

Remote learning security concern after threatening strangers breach online classrooms

Uninvited and threatening people joined online Google Classroom sessions with Victorian school students on at least three separate occasions last year, amid privacy concerns from parents and schools. Victorian Department of Education documents obtained under freedom of information laws revealed the incidents, including one in which a teacher was forced …
By Petra Stock
• The Age

ADHD no excuse for poor behaviour

As you’re probably well aware by now, Queensland MP Andrew Laming, has, in typically understated fashion, declared that he has been diagnosed with the Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD. Before we start, let me be clear: this is a good thing. As someone who lives with ADHD and has …
By Cade Lucas
• The Age

‘Not a fitting end’: Veteran survived the war but not COVID in aged care

On Anzac Day you could usually find Allan Lorraine eating lunch with his family at his local RSL. But the WWII veteran, who worked in signals for Australia’s Sixth Battalion in New Guinea from 1942, won’t be there on Sunday. Born in then working-class South Melbourne in 1923, he was …
By Isabella Podwinski
• The Age

‘Is this enough?’: The fret of preparing a fast-breaking feast

When you’ve spent the day fasting, there’re few things better than sitting down to a dinner table laden with food. But when you’re the one in charge of preparing the feast, that can prompt a moment of doubt. “You look at your dinner table and think: is this going to …
By Isabella Podwinski
• The Age

Evictions ramping up with worse to come, tenants groups warn

Renters across Victoria are being ordered from their homes by their landlords in a wave of evictions after COVID-19 tenancy protections ended last week. No hard data is yet available on the after-effects of lifting the state government’s rental moratorium, but tenants’ advocacy groups, legal services and the real estate …
By Isabella Podwinski
• The Age

Teens dealing vaping products on TikTok, Instagram

Seventeen-year-old Peta was introduced to e-cigarettes by her older brother over summer and now vapes most days. “Most of my friends vape,” said Peta, who declined to use her last name. “People my age feel as though it won’t affect them because it’s not tobacco. “It’s become an issue at …
By Isabella Podwinski
• The Age

A year in love, but lockdown leaves couple short of sunshine

Having got together as the pandemic hit Australia, Jess Abrill and Rick Hayden had hoped to mark one year as a couple with a trip to the Sunshine Coast over Easter. They cancelled their trip after Brisbane’s snap three-day lockdown prompted Victoria to, in effect, shut its border to the …
By Isabella Podwinski
• The Age

‘Very disappointing’: Brisbane cluster dashes Easter plans

Sarah Krieg was looking forward to celebrating Easter with her Brisbane-based parents after missing out last year when COVID-19 forced lockdowns and border closures. But her family’s Easter plans have been dashed for a second time by Victoria’s decision to shut the state’s border to Greater Brisbane on Monday afternoon, …
By Isabella Podwinski
• The Age

'Intercontinental pigeon' spared death row after authorities announce it is actually Australian

The racing pigeon thought to have flown a heroic 13,000 kilometres from the United States to Melbourne has been spared death row after quarantine officials announced it is "highly likely" the bird is actually Australian.
By Chanel Zagon
• The Age

Students exposed to risk of fraud and grooming while learning online

Victoria’s Education Department took more than two weeks to warn schools not to use Zoom because the digital platform carried significant privacy and security risks, potentially exposing children to fraud, grooming and identity theft. The rapid shift to online learning at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic led schools to …
By Petra Stock
• The Age

I had anorexia but you won't see a 'before' photo from me

I walked past my local GP clinic and stopped cold. Did I imagine it? Stepping back a few paces, I could see it clearly, written in bold letters, positioned on the highway for all to see: “Lockdown bulge? Call now!” I might have expected this from my local gym trying …
By Hannah Vanderheide
• The Age