Children are hearing about climate change at school and on the news, and rural kids are noticing its changes in their local environments. But how do we have honest conversations with kids about climate change without adding to their increasing climate anxiety?

To explain, we are joined by Melbourne Law School's Dr Lily O'Neil and Dr Linden Ashcroft from the School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Melbourne.

Together, Lily and Linden have created Climate Kids, a YouTube series that brings together researchers across the University of Melbourne to answers kids' climate questions.

You can watch episodes from season one of Climate Kids here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhOObpoQndRmgMyR7gOBBIvCPnXVyt_8j

New episodes will be released monthly from August 2026.

Justice is a podcast of Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne. We acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples as the Traditional Owners of the unceded land on which we record, publish, work, learn and live. 

Each State and territory has ‘independent’ agencies that are meant to keep governments accountable. But how independent are they really? Deborah Glass OBE, former Victorian Ombudsman and now honorary fellow at Melbourne Law School, has new research on the question.

Further reading:

• There are invisible strings that the powerful use to keep critics at bay: The Age 

Justice is a podcast of Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne. We acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples as the Traditional Owners of the unceded land on which we record, publish, work, learn and live. 

False scare campaigns and scams are common on Chinese-language media and social media in Australia, particularly targeting people who are anxious about their residency status. Who is behind it, and what can be done to protect our Chinese-language community?  

Dr Fan Yang is a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Melbourne node of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making & Society (ADM+S). Her work focuses on technologies and governance, digital ethics, innovative research methods, migration politics, and postcolonial technoscience. Her doctoral thesis, entitled ‘News Manufactories on WeChat’, provided one of the first insights into the internal operation of WeChat in Australia as a content production platform. 

Read more of Fan’s work: 

• Contextualizing critical disinformation during the 2023 Voice referendum on WeChat: Manipulating knowledge gaps and whitewashing Indigenous rights 

Justice is a podcast of Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne. We acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples as the Traditional Owners of the unceded land on which we record, publish, work, learn and live.  

Melbourne Law School and host Jon Faine bring you Justice: a biweekly podcast about the law behind the news. 

In this episode, Associate Professor Jason Bosland explains what defamation is and why politicians sue over it, updates to Australian defamation law, and why some deserve to succeed in their court cases. 

Further reading: 

• Melbourne Law School’s Dr Jessica Lake explains what the Higgins v Reynolds ruling tells us about defamation in Australia 

Cases mentioned in this episode: 

• Reynolds v Higgins (2025) WASC 345 

• [2022] FCA 1235 - Burston v Hanson 

• Palmer v McGowan (No 6) [2022] FCA 927 

• Greenwich v Latham [2024] FCA 1050 

• Hanson-Young v Bauer Media Ltd [2013] NSWSC 1306 

  Russell v Australian Broadcasting Corporation [2023] FCA 38 

It has long been a legal truism that the High Court does not have the power to rule on issues of Aboriginal sovereignty, or the right to self-govern. But this idea is based on a legal misunderstanding, argues Associate Professor Olivia Barr.  

Further reading from this episode: 

• You can read Olivia’s journal article here 

• Read more about the soco-economic benefits of modern treaties in Canada here 

• Read more about Victoria’s first statewide treaty here 

• Read the Treaty of Waitangi here 

Cases mentioned in this episode: 

• Coe v Commonwealth [1979] HCA 68; (1979) 53 ALJR 403; (1979) 24 ALR 118 (5 April 1979) 

• • Mabo v Queensland (No 2) ("Mabo case") [1992] HCA 23; (1992) 175 CLR 1 (3 June 1992) 

  
  

  Justice is a podcast of Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne. We acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples as the Traditional Owners of the unceded land on which we record, publish, work, learn and live. 

This episode contains material some people might find disturbing. Listener discretion is advised.

Melbourne Law School and host Jon Faine bring you Justice: a weekly podcast about the law behind the news.

Should doctors be obliged provide all services that are ethically approved by their colleges and legal under the law, or should they have the right to refuse terminations, assisted dying or any other forms of care on the basis of personal conscience?

Professor Julian Savulescu FAHMS is the Chen Su Lan Centennial Professor in Medical Ethics at the National University of Singapore, where he directs the Centre for Biomedical Ethics. He is an award-winning ethicist and moral philosopher, trained in neuroscience, medicine, and philosophy. He is Distinguished Visiting Professorial Fellow at Murdoch Children's Research Institute and Melbourne Law School.

Read more about medical ethics here: 

• Coelho, Ramona, et al. Unravelling Maid in Canada. McGill-Queen’s University Press, 15 Apr. 2025, www.mqup.ca/Books/U/Unravelling-MAiD-in-Canada2. 

Melbourne Law School and host Jon Faine bring you Justice: a weekly podcast about the law behind the news.

New apps make it all too easy for real estate agents to collectintimate information from people applying to rent homes. Ever been asked for your marriage certificate? Or to do a personality quiz?  Lina Przhedetsky on the privacy pitfalls.

To learn more about the use of digital technologies in the rental application process, take a look at the following links: 

• https://www.ahuri.edu.au/sites/default/files/documents/2026-01/AHURI-Final-Report-454-Implications-of-tenant-data-collection-in-housing_protecting-Australian-renters_.pdf
• https://theconversation.com/what-are-rent-tech-platforms-action-on-reining-in-these-exploitative-tools-is-long-overdue-239602
• https://www.choice.com.au/data-protection-and-privacy/data-collection-and-use/how-your-data-is-used/articles/choice-renttech-report-release
• https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/nov/17/imperfect-match-australian-renters-in-the-dark-over-use-of-data-by-tech-company-snug
  

Justice is a podcast of Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne. We acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples as the Traditional Owners of the unceded land on which we record, publish, work, learn and live. 

Melbourne Law School and host Jon Faine bring you Justice: a weekly podcast about the law behind the news.

AI is now listening in in the doctor’s clinic, with products known as ‘AI scribes’ increasingly being used to draft patients’ medical records. This might save doctors time and reduce burnout.  But what are the legal implications of this new practice? Are regulators doing enough to make sure AI scribes are safe and fit for purpose? 

In this episode we hear from Associate Professor Megan Prictor, Co-Director of the Health, Law and Emerging Technologies (HeLex) research centre at Melbourne Law School. Megan has published widely including on dynamic consent, medical consultation recording, data breach notification laws and privacy and confidentiality in healthcare.

Read more on AI scribes in healthcare: 

•  https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07-07/ai-scribes-gps-and-hospitals-accuracy-data-breach-risk/105490478

• https://theconversation.com/some-clinicians-are-using-ai-to-write-health-records-what-do-you-need-to-know-237762

•  https://theconversation.com/can-you-say-no-to-your-doctor-using-an-ai-scribe-264701

Justice is a podcast of Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne. We acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples as the Traditional Owners of the unceded land on which we record, publish, work, learn and live. 

President Trump started the war on Iran without Congressional approval and reissued tariffs after the Supreme Court’s ruling.

Some of his political strategists are floating plans to control who can vote in future elections. Is any of this legal? Constitutional Law expert Associate Professor Will Partlett explains. 

FIND MORE OF WILL'S WORK:

• Read: Why the Russian Constitution Matters: The Constitutional Dark Arts
• Read: The People's Guide to the Australian Constitution
• Follow the Centre for Comparative Constitutional Studies

Justice is a podcast of Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne. We acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples as the Traditional Owners of the unceded land on which we record, publish, work, learn and live.

Melbourne Law School and host Jon Faine bring you Justice: a weekly podcast about the law behind the news.

More than a third of 2800 young Australian workers surveyed reported having been ripped off by employers, according to a new study by Professor John Howe, of Melbourne Law School. They have been underpaid, not paid, forced to pay for equipment or clothing…. What remedies are available, and what reform is needed?

You can access the Fair Day's Work portal mentioned in the podcast, here.

And you can read more about the project here.