Background Briefing

With HIV infections at a 20 year high there’s a push to subsidise a daily pill that can stop infection. But health professionals and the gay community are split over the use of the PrEP pill, which many say will encourage risky sexual behaviour and could place a huge burden on the public health purse. Hagar Cohen investigates.

It’s estimated thousands of Australians are risking arrest by using cannabis for medical reasons. A national clinical trial has been announced but legalisation could be many years away, and then for expensive pharmaceutical drugs only. Di Martin investigates the science and the politics of medical cannabis.

Twenty million feral cats are behind a deadly second wave of extinctions in Australia. Can they be stopped or will they finish off what 230 years of settlement began? Gregg Borschmann investigates

New legislation to give businesses twice the vote in choosing the Sydney City Council is under attack for being undemocratic and an attempt to oust the long serving Lord Mayor, Clover Moore. Ann Arnold reports on the players behind this contentious bill. 

A big win in the federal court should have delivered fairer wages for people with disabilities. But could it throw thousands out of a job? Melinda James investigates

The deaths of two elderly women raise serious questions about the way nursing homes are accredited and who is held accountable for failures of care. Anne Connolly investigates.

A common provision allowing foreign investors to sue host governments has become a ticking time bomb inside trade agreements, like the soon to be signed TPP. Some countries are now refusing to agree to the provision and question its legal legitimacy. Jess Hill investigates.

The Aquis casino resort planned for Cairns would dwarf its competitors. So do the numbers add up, and what are the downsides?

There's growing pressure on the Victorian Government to dump religious instruction after more than 50 schools removed the controversial Christian religious organisation Access Ministries from their campuses.

In the last few years prescriptions of opioids for chronic pain have skyrocketed creating a new wave of drug addicts. Ann Arnold investigates Australia's new drug war.