Photo QLD Police Dash Cam Media outlets across Australia have carried headlines about a “youth crime crisis” in recent months. While drawn from actual events, often involving serious criminality and antisocial behaviour, these often sensational reports have the same narrative subtext. The story is one of “bad kids” doing bad things in otherwise “good communities”. Our understanding, as a society, of who we are is informed in part by the media. What the youth crime crisis is and who we understand young offenders to be corresponds with media framings of these individuals and their actions. More often than not, the reports present a “good-bad” binary: where “bad” young people who do bad things should be locked up to protect “good” people. It’s a basic, albeit understandable, reaction that makes sense in terms of a logic of punishment and retribution. For the Youth Community Futures research project, we have been working with groups of young people to explore how they engage w...
Centrelink Payments pittance Increase for pensioners, JobSeekers in a cost of living crisis
Pensioner struggling to buy food in Supermarket Photo by Gemini AI Centrelink Payments Are Increasing in 2025: What You Need to Know In a move to provide financial relief amid rising living costs, the Australian Government is increasing Centrelink payments through its regular indexation process . This will provide a welcome boost to millions of Australians, including pensioners , students , and job seekers . Payment Overview A number of key Centrelink payments are set to increase in 2025. These increases are part of the government's commitment to ensuring social security payments keep pace with the cost of living. The increases are being implemented in two stages: on March 20, 2025, and again on July 1, 2025. The payment increases are not a one-off "cash boost" but rather an ongoing adjustment to fortnightly payment rates. This aims to provide sustained support for those who rely on these payments to cover essential expenses. Who is Eligible? The payment increases will ...