Some articles on the NT Intervention

Several articles have appeared in today’s The Australian regarding the Northern Territory intervention, and on indigenous health and welfare more generally.  Of most interest to me was a report on calls to soften some aspects of the new government regime.  The article notes that while there have been some reported positive outcomes of the new [...]

‘White flight’ in Australian schools

The term ‘white flight’ is one I associate with the USA. I have never heard it used in an Australian context before. However, the Herald has just published a report about this phenomenon, which it says is producing an ever more ‘racially’ and religiously segregated education system. In both city and country [...]

Child sexual abuse, the law, and ‘culture’

News Limited sources recently ran a story about a new case involving Judge Sarah Bradley, a Queensland judge who became the centre of a furore after not imposing gaol terms on nine indigenous youths who gang raped a 10-year-old girl in their community in Cape York. In this new case, she has allowed a [...]

how dictionaries mark the evolution of language

When I arrived in Australia 5 months ago, one of the first things that struck me was how different the English here is. When a student pronounced one of the class assignments “a bit naf,” I ran to Jovan to ask him what it meant. He soon delighted in feeding me baffling [...]

Macquarie University’s Initiatives for the Indigenous People

Macquarie University has some initiatives for indigenous people, which I believe are the kind of things the Australian government and society should be talking about in relation to the indigenous people rather than sensationalising ‘sexual child abuse’ and sending troops to Northern Territory.  
Macquarie University has an Indigenous Traineeship Program. According to the http://www.pers.mq.edu.au/ies/traineeshipprogram.html,          
 The Indigenous Traineeship [...]

New ban on female circumcision in Egypt

Jovan brought to my attention a Yahoo! news item reporting that Egypt has just banned all female circumcision (aka female genital mutilation or FGM). There is a decade’s history of the practice being banned in Egypt, yet it has persisted. In 1996, the Ministry of Health banned any state-affiliated medical personnel from involvement [...]

New film on young Australian Muslims

I just receive an announcment about a new film called Temple of Dreams, about young Australian Muslims in Sydney’s west. Directed by Tom Zubrycki, it will be premiering in the Sydney Film Festival on Saturday 16 June at the State Theatre. Here is the description of the film from the brochure:
Fadi Rahman is [...]