Big Ideas

The Covid pandemic has tested every political leader. And female leaders seem to have come out on top. Countries with women at the top have some of the lowest Covid infection and death rates. So could the pandemic deliver an unexpected boost to gender equality?

Born of her own brutal experience as a witness in the Cardinal Pell case, award winning journalist Louise Milligan lays bare the flaws of our adversarial court system and the devastating impact that can have on the delivery of justice. She describes how witnesses in sex abuse cases are being intimidated and belittled.

Trial by jury is the cornerstone of our criminal justice system. Not all countries believe it’s the best way to get justice. They prefer judge-only trials instead. And when you think of it, trial by jury puts the fate of the accused in the hands of ordinary people, chosen at random, with no particular expertise. So why do we think this is the best system and how did it evolve?

Few things are more difficult for children than their parents separating.   The Family Court becomes involved when parents are unable to agree on custody arrangements.  Disputes between separating parties can get ugly. Sometimes family violence is involved.  Are children listened to throughout the family law process? Do we put their rights first?

The real-life thriller of destroying war-torn Syria’s stash of chemical weapons: Pulitzer winner Jody Warrick reconstructs the key decisions and the unprecedented international effort to remove the weapons under fire and then - when no country was willing to accept them - to destroy them at sea. The humanitarian crisis in the region could have been even bigger.

As China rolls back rights and freedoms in Hong Kong pro-democracy citizens are in a dilemma about whether to stay or go. And as Indonesia struggles with the economic damage of Covid-19, can President Joko Widodo deliver on his promise to make Indonesia an economic powerhouse?

“Convicted for offences against good order” – that was the fate of many women in the early 20th century in Australia. Their crime was not so much being drunk in public or selling their bodies, but to fail social expectations. Regardless of the circumstances leading them down this path. Women simply don’t behave like that. Historian Leigh Straw analyses this past battle for gender equality.

A year ago the pandemic arrived. En masse, we evacuated our offices and started working from home.  For many, the home is now their permanent workplace, and they have little desire to return to the daily commute. The potential of telecommuting had been touted for decades, but it took Covid-19 for it to take off.  Where to now for the office? Is working from home - and communicating via Zoom - all it's cracked up to be?

After decades of military rule it looked as if Myanmar had turned the corner with the release of Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest and democratic elections. But all that changed a month ago with a military coup. The military are on the streets in Myanmar to shut down mass protests against the suspension of democratic government. They’ve opened fire on demonstrators yet citizens are still taking to the streets. So how should the international community and in particular Australia respond to the military takeover?

An evening of love letters and storytelling. Women of six generations share their tales of love: love for a fulfilled dream, loving advice to an unborn daughter, passion for a past decade or the kind of love with the power to heal yourself. Each of their stories will not only make you feel love but will give you food for thought.