Keeping people safe, helping people out, giving people a leg-up, giving people a chance to shine – it’s what a functioning society does.
In this episode of Making a Difference, journalism students at Deakin University bring us stories about looking out for people: keeping apprentices safe on the job, helping those with addiction and incarceration, creating a new world for visually impaired children, supporting emerging musicians, and encouraging artists to live their fantasy through their idol.

Hosts: Piers Van Der Heide and Alissa Schleebs

Stories:
"Safe Apprentices" - Reporter: Shaelyn Harris 
"Beating Addiction: The Power in You" - Reporter: Cooper Watkins
"Spotified" - Reporter: Aidan Knight
"Reaching For The Stars" - Reporter: Cat Quash
"There’s a Podcast For That" - Reporter: Ben Cashin
"Impersonator" - Reporters: Emily Wunhym and Ruben De Franceschi
"Brat Summer" - Reporter: Bella McGreevy
"Penguin Parade" - Reporter: Nicolas Thurn-Valsassina

Sound Design: Chris Scanlon
Episode Executive Producer: Alison McAdam
Supervising Producer: Simon Brady

More stories from Deakin University:
https://www.dscribe.net.au/

More stories from The Junction:
https://junctionjournalism.com/

Music:
‘Betelgeuse’ / Kunal Shingade
‘Come Back Home’ / Olexy

Images:
'Weld' - Mike Linderer / Pixabay
'Jail' - Simone Gatterwe / Pixabay
'Sonification' - Joel Filipe / Unsplash
'Elvis' - ARC fotos / Pixabay

As Gen Zers become more socially and politically aware, they’re starting to understand the world they inhabit and will inherit. In this episode, journalism students at UNSW Sydney look at the impact of some of those issues such as social media, politics and smoking. And possibly one of the biggest – mental health – is explored through the experience of two autistic sisters who mask their disorder.

Host: Dominique Lakis-Nash

Stories:
"Social control" - Reporter: Caitlyn Todorovski
"Celebrity scandal: PDiddy - Reporter: Marian Caburian
"Masking autism" - Reporter: Nerissa Caviliere
"On the vape" - Reporter: Daniel McLaren-Kennedy
"Speak my language" - Reporter: Mae Rawson

Sound Design: Peter R. White
Episode Executive Producer: Connie Levett
Supervising Producer: Simon Brady

More stories from UNSW:
https://www.newsworthy.org.au/

More stories from The Junction:
https://junctionjournalism.com/

Music:
‘Betelgeuse’ / Kunal Shingade
‘Peach Ice’ / Big Moist and the Smoking Durries
‘Come Back Home’ / Olexy

Images:
'Thinking' by Sukinah Hussain / Pixabay

As Gen Zers become more socially and politically aware, they’re starting to understand the world they inhabit and will inherit. In this episode, journalism students at UNSW Sydney look at the impact of some of those issues such as social media, politics and smoking. And possibly one of the biggest – mental health – is explored through the experience of two autistic sisters who mask their disorder.

Host: Dominique Lakis-Nash

Stories:
"Social control" - Reporter: Caitlyn Todorovski
"Celebrity scandal - PDiddy - Reporter: Marian Caburian
"Masking autism" - Reporter: Nerissa Caviliere
"On the vape" - Reporter: Daniel McLaren-Kennedy
"Speak my language" - Reporter: Mae Rawson

Sound Design:Peter R. White
Executive Producer: Connie Levett
Supervising Producer: Simon Brady

More stories from UNSW:
https://www.newsworthy.org.au/

More stories from The Junction
https://junctionjournalism.com/

Music:
‘Betelgeuse’ / Kunal Shingade
‘Peach Ice’ / Big Moist and the Smoking Durries
‘Come Back Home’ / Olexy

Images:
'Thinking' by Sukinah Hussain on Pixabay

Representation matters because it helps us imagine our place in the world: our identity, self-worth and sense of belonging. Come on an entertaining and informative ride as journalism students from Griffith University look at representation: how it’s being done well and where it can improve.
*Language warning for this episode.

Hosts: Lucy Ingham, Sophia Thomas and Nicole Symens

Stories:
"It's Her Video Game, Too" - Reporter: Sophia Thomas
"Women in Horror" - Reporter: Molly O'Dempsey
"Love Your Body" - Reporter: Nicole Symens
"Rom Com Rebirth" - Reporter: Lucy Ingham
"Spike" - Reporter: Isabelle Garland

Sound Design: Heather Anderson
Episode Executive Producers: Bridget Backhaus and Heather Anderson
Supervising Producer: Simon Brady

For more stories from Griffith University:
https://thesourcenews.com/

For more stories from The Junction:
https://junctionjournalism.com/

Music:
‘Betelgeuse’ / Kunal Shingade
'Wedding' / Nesterouk
‘Come Back Home’ / Olexy

Images:
'Video games' / StockSnap
'Black Coat' / Ovan
'Female body' / Ri Ya
'Heart balloons' / Peggy Marco

In a world of heightened tension and conflict, there is lots to be wary and anxious about. But as the experts say: focus on the things you can control and don’t worry about what you can’t.

This episode is the first appearance on our podcast by students from Western Sydney University. And they look at the things that scare us…and how people deal with those fears.

Host: Claire Brownlie

Stories:
‘Parra-normal’ – Reporter: Claire Brownlie
‘Finding Home’ – Reporter: Polina Krongauz
‘Not So Social Media’ – Reporter: Bianca Paige Tropiano
‘Gore-lore’ – Reporter: Emily Mah-Chut

Supervising Producer: Roger Dawkins
Executive Producer: Simon Brady

More stories from the best student journalism in Australia:
https://junctionjournalism.com/

Music
‘Betelgeuse’ - Kunal Shingade
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XANS2XsG4DE
‘Come Back Home’ – Olexy
https://pixabay.com/users/olexy-25300778/

Photos (social media)
'Tunnel’ – Bruno
https://pixabay.com/users/bru-no-1161770/
'Backpack traveller' - Tumisu
https://pixabay.com/users/tumisu-148124/
'Ghost silhouette' - Nick Magwood
https://pixabay.com/users/magwood_photography-6599853/

This episode by student journalists at Curtin University in Perth makes us think about the concept of trust and the belief in the goodness of people.
The things they say, the way we rely on them…and the potential risk of placing our trust in others.

Hosts:
Madigan Spooner and Camila Egusquiza Santa Cruz

Stories:
‘Man or Bear’ – Reporter: Camila Egusquiza Santa Cruz
‘The Aliens Are Coming’ – Reporter: Andrew Hanlon
‘Pet Custody’ – Reporter: Madigan Spooner
‘Moondyne Joe’ – Reporter: Aimee Glossop
‘The End Zone’ – Reporter: Beth Mackiewicz

Supervising Producers: Kayt Davies, Sarah Taillier and Glynn Greensmith
Executive Producer: Simon Brady

More stories from student journalists at Curtin University.
https://westernindependent.com.au/

Music
‘Betelgeuse’ - Kunal Shingade
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XANS2XsG4DE
‘Come Back Home’ – Olexy
https://pixabay.com/users/olexy-25300778/

For many people, food and the simple act of cooking can provide solace and comfort, particularly for those who go through the upheaval of migrating to another country. Cooking reminds them of home – not just the food but the people and places as well.
Nicole Alcantara from the University of Sydney spent an evening with two young men from Nepal. And as they cooked a traditional Nepali curry, the conversation around food revealed a lot more about their new life in Australia and the enduring connections to home.

Reporter: Nicole Alcantara
Editor and Supervising Producer: Lea Redfern
Executive Producer: Simon Brady

Avishek’s Nepalese fish curry recipe
https://alcantaranicole.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/avisheks-fish-curry-1.pdf

More stories from the best student journalism in Australia.
The Junction

Music
'There Is Only The Unknown Ahead' – Get Music
‘When the Ash Settles’ – The Westerlies
‘Ngoni’ – The Mini Vandals
‘Bridgewalker’ – Bitters
‘Basketliner’ – Bitters
‘High Life’ – The Mini Vandals
‘Come Back Home’ – Olexy
 

It’s hard enough for anyone to find a home to rent in Australia. The difficulty factor is multiplied many times more for hundreds-of-thousands of international students who come to the country each year, also needing a rental. In this episode, reporter Gwen Liu reveals the desperate measures many students are turning to that are exposing them to potential scams and exploitation.

Reporter: Gwen Liu
Executive Producer: Simon Brady

Original stories
Crikey – Rental crisis: desperate students turn to Chinese brokers and pay the price
https://www.crikey.com.au/2023/08/14/rental-crisis-desperate-students-chinese-brokers/
The Citizen – Rental crisis: Desperate students turn to Chinese brokers and pay price
https://www.thecitizen.org.au/articles/rental-crisis-desperate-students-turn-to-chinese-brokers-and-pay-price

More stories from the best student journalism in Australia.
The Junction

Music
'There Is Only The Unknown Ahead' – Get Music
https://motionarray.com/royalty-free-music/there-is-only-the-unknown-ahead-840056/?q=there%20is%20only%20the%20unknown%20ahead&search_header=1
‘The Art of Silence’ – DHD Music
https://motionarray.com/royalty-free-music/the-art-of-silence-1066952/
‘Steps’ – Lance Conrad
https://motionarray.com/royalty-free-music/steps-1012004/?q=steps
‘Come Back Home’ – Olexy
https://pixabay.com/users/olexy-25300778/ 

Our Long Read series continues with a reckoning from Australia's past and the way it might influence our future. Our reporter Sydney Lang looks at the legacy of governor Lachlan Macquarie from the early colonial settlement days. Macquarie was considered a visionary who wanted to turn a penal colony into an egalitarian nation. But there is a dark side to his legacy that has an enduring, as well as painful, lesson.

Reporter: Sydney Lang
Executive Producer: Simon Brady

More stories from the best student journalism in Australia.
The Junction

Additional links
Professor Bronwyn Carlson on ABC Radio National
State Library of NSW documentary on Lachlan Macquarie

Music
'There Is Only The Unknown Ahead' – Get Music
‘Silent Cry’ – Valster
‘Thinking in Silence’ – Ashot Danielyan
‘Come Back Home’ - Olexy

In the next episode of our Long Read series, Tylah Tully from Curtin University reports on the site of two of Australia's greatest riches. The Burrup peninsula in the north of Western Australia is home to more than one million rock carvings by First Nations people that date back tens-of-thousands of years. It's also the site of a multi-billion dollar gas and oil development. Can the two co-exist as neighbours? And what threat does a petrochemical plant pose to a sacred rock art museum?

Production
Reporter: Tylah Tully
Executive Producer: Simon Brady

For more stories from the best student journalism in Australia:
The Junction

Episode images
Social media and web: Robin Chapple, Tylah Tully

Music
'Spirituality' by Maximus Sound
'Anxious' by Oleksii Kaplunskyi
'Desert Orchid' by Alisha Studio
'So Many Memories' by Myton Music
'Just a Light Secret' by MooveKa
'Come Back Home' by Olexy