NewsMatch Alert: Press Release Summary | 29 January 2025
Medianet - Media Intelligence Made Smarter
Medianet | Australia’s fully integrated media intelligence solution for PR and Communications professionals.
Welcome to Medianet’s daily media alert featuring a curated list of today's most newsworthy press releases handpicked by our editorial team.
Today's highlights
Up to 700,000 retirees could be paying more tax than they should – new research finds
Thousands of retirees are paying more tax than necessary because they haven’t received basic advice to switch their super into the tax-free retirement phase.?The Super Members Council (SMC) found that around 700,000 Australians over 65 who aren't working full-time still have an accumulation (savings-phase) account. This means retirees could be paying an extra $650 in taxes each year on average. Altogether, they have $90 billion in accumulation accounts.
Insurer sanctioned by CGC for serious claims and complaints handling failures
General Insurance Code Governance Committee
The General Insurance Code Governance Committee (CGC) has sanctioned an insurer for significant breaches of the industry Code of Practice, requiring it to make a $100,000 Community Benefit Payment. Serious failures in the insurer’s handling of claims and complaints significantly impacted 35 customers, including 22 affected by severe weather events. Chair of the CGC Ms Veronique Ingram PSM GAICD explained that the insurer did not meet expectations.
Testing underway of Putricia's pollen as global conservation mission continues
Staff at Botanic Gardens of Sydney are eagerly waiting to find out if their late-night attempt to hand-pollinate Putricia the ‘Corpse Flower’ was successful. During the first night of her short bloom, the busy glasshouse became an operating theatre as Alyse Baume , Conservation Horticulturist in the Garden’s Nursery, delicately sliced a square into Putricia’s spathe and used a paintbrush covered in donated pollen to hand-fertilise her in the hopes of producing fertile seed. ?
Monash study maps civic values, media use and affective polarisation
People who rely on social media as the main source of news score lower on a measure of civic values than people who rely on newspapers and non-commercial media for news and information, according to a study by researchers at Monash University.?The study was led by Professor Mark Andrejevic and Associate Professor Zala Volcic both? in Media Studies at Monash University's Faculty of Arts. “It has become something of a truism that social media is not great for democracy,” said Professor Andrejevic. “But no one has really systematically tested that until now.”
Success in online lifestyle trial to improve cognition in older adults
A clinical trial has shown an internet-delivered lifestyle intervention has resulted in significantly better cognition in older adults.?The team, led by Professor Henry Brodaty AO, Co-Director of UNSW’s Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA), calculated a global cognition score from online tests that measured memory, reasoning and speed of information processing, and published their findings in Nature Medicine today.
Mental health check-ins essential for families of young people during back-to-school transition
With young people across the country heading back to school this week, headspace is encouraging families to continue to check in on their young people’s mental health in the face of study, work and relationship pressures. New findings from the first-ever National Family Mental Health Survey released today reveal the issues Australian families believe are most impacting their young person’s mental health, with social media (52%), online bullying (28%) and body image (26%) identified as the top three issues impacting young people.
RACV reminds drivers of road safety around schools
The Victorian school year resumes this week, with more than a million students expected to walk through school gates in 2025. The return to the classroom serves as an important reminder for all road users, not just parents and carers, to be alert for children when driving and understand the road rules around school zones. According to the Transport Accident Commission(TAC), around seven children aged 0 to 15 die each year on Victorian roads.
All underground tunnel workers down tools on Snowy 2.0
All underground work has completely stopped on Australia's biggest renewable energy project over safety concerns after all workers downed tools on Tuesday night. Tunnel boring machines have been turned off and all drill and blast works have ceased. Workers are concerned some refuge chambers on the project, crucial for worker survival in the event of an underground emergency, are inoperable and not maintained to the manufacturer’s specifications.?AWU NSW Secretary Tony Callinan says someone is going to get killed if safety issues aren’t addressed.
Housing costs continue to rise despite trimmed inflation reaching target
Some good news for the economy today with new monthly inflation data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics confirming underlying inflation is below three per cent for the first time in three years.?However, peak building and construction industry association Master Builders Australia has warned policy makers not to become complacent as rents continue to rise at unsustainable levels.
With inflation falling, RBA must cut rates
Today’s inflation figures must prompt the RBA to cut interest rates at its February meeting to ease growing financial distress and keep people in jobs. “With inflation consistently falling and firmly in the target band, it’s hard to justify leaving rates this high,” said ACOSS CEO Dr Cassandra Goldie AO .
Government’s commitment to address disability and homelessness an important step
Homelessness Australia welcomes the Federal Government’s renewed focus on addressing homelessness among Australians with disabilities, as outlined in the revised national Disability Strategy. “The inclusion of a dedicated homelessness priority area in the revised national disability plan, and introduction of the Targeted Action Plan for 2025-2027 on Inclusive Homes and Communities is an important step to address a major problem,” said Homelessness Australia CEO Kate Colvin .
领英推荐
PWDA condemns Queensland Government’s Trans Health Ban
People with Disability Australia (PWDA), the national peak representing LGBTQIA+ people with disability, condemns the Queensland Government's decision to suspend the provision of puberty blockers and hormone therapies to minors seeking gender-affirming care in state health facilities. This decision undermines the rights of young people and their access to essential health care.
ACN welcomes streamlined processes for overseas nurses
The Australian College of Nursing (ACN) welcomes the Australian Government’s announcement of new streamlined processes for registration of overseas nurses, with nurses coming to work in Australia from comparable countries having their assessment and registration time cut by as much as 6-12 months.
Free vaccine will protect NSW from deadly Meningococcal B: RACGP
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners is calling on the New South Wales government to protect families by providing the life-saving Meningococcal B vaccine for at-risk groups. ?To ensure more people in NSW are protected from the potentially deadly infection, the RACGP recommends free Meningococcal B vaccines for every child aged two and under and every teen aged 15 to 19-years-old. ?
$17 million Laverton North liquid and hazardous waste management upgrade: world's best
A $17 million dollar revamp of Evoro’s Laverton North liquid and hazardous waste management facility will transform the operation into one of the world’s best. Upgrade works are underway at the Melbourne site and scheduled for completion by late 2025, following a comprehensive planning and approvals process spanning five years.
Mapping Antarctica’s hidden ice-free lands: a blueprint for conservation
悉尼新南威尔士大学 researchers unveil a new map and classification system that will help protect the unique plants and animals of Earth’s most remote and fragile continent.?Antarctica, often regarded as the planet’s last true wilderness, harbours unique ecosystems that support extraordinary biodiversity and contribute to global diversity and environmental stability. These ecosystems, which occupy permanently ice-free land covering less than 0.5% of the continent, are now under growing threat from human activity and climate change.
CDU EXPERT: Tech expert says AI should stay out of the Grammys
Quotes attributable to Associate Professor Niusha Shafiabady: “The purpose of the Grammys is to honour outstanding achievements in the music industry. No one is denying ‘Now and Then’ is a remarkable technological achievement, using AI to isolate John Lennon’s voice to complete a song 50 years after the Beatles broke up and more than 40 years after the fame singer died. It shows how AI can be used to preserve history – but should it have been nominated for two Grammys? No."
19 days of culture, food and entertainment celebrate Lunar New Year
Sydney Lunar Festival is set to captivate thousands of residents and visitors for more than 2 weeks of family-friendly music, feasts and performances welcoming the Year of the Snake.?With a bigger than ever Sydney Lunar Streets, 12 illuminated lanterns, lunar feasts, dragon boat racing, lion dancing and colourful banner galleries, festival-goers are spoilt for choice. The City of Sydney has overseen the festival’s programming for 29 years and it continues to be one of the largest outside Asia.
Endeavour sails to Hobart for Australian Wooden Boat Festival
This January, the Endeavour will sail from its home at the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney to Hobart to celebrate the Australian Wooden Boat Festival . As a proud partner of Festival, the Museum is thrilled to be participating by sailing Endeavour to Hobart for Australia’s largest gathering of wooden boat enthusiasts.?
Log in to Medianet for Journalists to view all of today's releases
How can my press release be featured in Medianet's NewsMatch Alert?
All releases distributed through Medianet are eligible to be featured in our NewsMatch Alert, based on their editorial merit. NewsMatch is distributed to journalists daily via email and our new LinkedIn newsletter.
I'm a journalist, how do I subscribe to NewsMatch?
This newsletter is sent daily to email subscribers. To subscribe, sign up to our NewsMatch email alert.
Where can I see all press releases?
To read all press releases, visit our NewsHub. Journalists also have access to embargoed press releases and the ability to setup personalised alerts by signing up to Medianet for Journalists (free).