Background Briefing

They create copycat 'science journals', exploit academic authors and publish junk 'peer reviewed' science. Hagar Cohen investigates one of the biggest of the alleged 'predatory' publishers, and the dubious tactics used in this growing sector.

ISDS, a provision in trade agreements that allows foreign investors to sue host governments, has become a ticking time bomb inside trade agreements like the soon to be signed Trans Pacific Partnership. Jess Hill investigates. (This program was originally broadcast on 14 September 2014)

Burning native timber for renewable energy could prop up an ailing native forest industry but the forests could earn millions in carbon credits if they’re not logged. Both options are hotly disputed and the argument opens a new front in the long running and politically-charged ‘forest wars’. Gregg Borschmann investigates.

While Italy and Greece struggle with waves of migrants crossing the Mediterranean, further north many are trying to make it to the UK. Jane Deith follows their route to the French port of Calais, where they join the 'New Jungle’ of homeless migrants desperate to buy or steal a ride across the English Channel.

Gambling techniques are permeating free online and mobile app games. Social casino games that mimic real slot machines are among the most popular, with no restrictions on children playing. Ann Arnold investigates the convergence of gambling and gaming, which is rendering Australia’s interactive gambling laws obsolete.

More than 7,000 disabled Australians under 65 languish in nursing homes because of a lack of proper housing, leaving them isolated from loved ones and surrounded by death before their time. Rachel Carbonell entered the world of young people in aged care.

Ancient rock carvings on the Burrup Peninsula are among more than 1,000 sites the WA government removed or blocked from its Aboriginal heritage register in the last two-and-a-half years. In 2012 the government created a narrower definition of sacred sites. The Supreme Court has thrown out those changes, but the government now wants a single public servant to determine sacred sites. Sarah Dingle investigates.

In a number of Family Court cases, where claims of child sexual abuse have been made against a father, the court has switched care from the mother to the father after a recommendation by a child psychiatrist or psychologist. Jess Hill investigates the role of expert report writers in the way the court decides on claims of abuse.

The government has declared an ice epidemic, but users who want to go to rehab face long waiting lists unless they can afford costly private treatments. Recovering addicts speak to Background Briefing about their descent into addiction, and their recovery, while New Zealand’s emphasis on affordable treatment offers a model for others to follow. Anne Connolly reports.

The height of the coal boom has passed and Background Briefing returns to the Queensland mining town of Moranbah to find local job losses, collapsed house prices and business failures. Is the prevalence of fly-in, fly-out employment arrangements to blame? Nance Haxton reports.