Robodebt explained: Does the Government owe you money?

There’s a growing awareness about the damage hard core contact sports is doing to our players, and in today's briefing we go deep on what football is doing to player’s brains and what should be done about it. In Australia five players have been diagnosed with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). This is a brain disease caused by repeated knocks to the head. It doesn’t cause immediate symptoms and is degenerative so it happens over time affecting the thoughts, moods and behaviours of those who have it. In September this year Former AFL player Shaun Smith received an historic 1.4million dollar insurance payout that acknowledged the permanent damage caused by repetitive concussions while playing. Shaun joins the Briefing along with player agent Peter Jess and Associate Professor Michael Buckland who set up the Australian Sports Brain Bank to research CTE. In today's headlines: Scott Morrison says alleged war crimes will be dealt with seriously South Australia records no new Covid-19 cases Australia fires back at China’s list of “grievances” Australians making more money but not as happy, survey finds Follow The Briefing Instagram: @thebriefingpodcast Facebook: TheBriefingNewsAUTwitter: @TheBriefingAU See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

19 Nov 202020min

What’s is going through Donald Trump’s head right now? It's more than two weeks since the US Presidential election and Donald Trump has still not publicly conceded. To understand more about the man his mind and what he might do next, we’re joined by his niece, Mary Trump. In the lead up to the election Mary published a book ‘Too Much and Never Enough - How my family created the world’s most dangerous man’. In today’s episode Tom Tilley goes deep with Mary Trump to find out: What is going on in his head right now? Will he just bat this loss away like he has with so many other of his problems? Will this be the downfall of Donald Trump? Major media has turned on him and called out misinformation, how will that be affecting him? Where does she see things going from this point forward? How does she feel about what’s happened personally? Does she want to see him go down? Would she like to see him broken by this loss? Would she like to see him in jail as a result of the legal problems he might face? With 73 million Americans voting for him, why does Mary think he holds so much appeal to so many Americans? In today's headlines: South Australia has entered day one of 6 day hard lockdown China outlines official list of reasons to be angered with Australia A redacted report into alleged war crimes by Australian soldiers in Afghanistan is due to be made public today A glimmer of normality, with sports stadiums filling up.. And now live music return announcements. President Trump has fired his top election official Christopher Krebs … via Twitter! Follow The Briefing Instagram: @thebriefingpodcast Facebook: TheBriefingNewsAUTwitter: @TheBriefingAU See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

18 Nov 202019min

Australia’s Trade Minister Simon Birmingham joins this episode of The Briefing as we look at the growing trade tensions between Australia and China, and what Australia is going to do to fix it. This year after our political leaders called for an independent inquiry into the origins of COVID-19 China announced restrictions on some of our key exports including Barley wine, timber, coal, copper ore, sugar and seafood, all of which are now on the banned list by China Customs. So how bad is our relationship with China right now? How did we get here? Who is at fault? Is this a coordinated act of punishment out of Beijing? And has Australia been too outspoken for our own good? We’re also joined by Geoff Raby AO, an Australian economist and diplomat and former Ambassador to China. In today's headlines: More sponsors ditch Pete Evans over cartoon featuring neo-Nazi symbol Adelaide cluster continues to grow as thousands forced to isolate Australia and Japan agree 'in principle' to historic defence pact Follow The Briefing Instagram: @thebriefingpodcast Facebook: TheBriefingNewsAUTwitter: @TheBriefingAU See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

17 Nov 202018min

Financial and economic abuse is a form of domestic or family violence. It can be really hard to identify and to escape from as money is often used as a powerful tool for control or exploitation. The Commonwealth Bank and the UNSW’s Gendered Violence Research Network have looked into this in a new report for financial institutions so they can better support people impacted by economic and financial abuse. So what exactly does this form of abuse look like and what can we do to aid those caught up in it? To help us answer these questions we're joined by Professor Jan Breckenridge, Head of School, School of Social Sciences and Co-Convener, Gendered Violence Research Network (GVRN) and Natasha Janssens, the founder of Women With Cents. In today's headlines: US biotech firm says its Covid-19 vaccine is 94.5% effective Defence force to be deployed to South Australia amid potential second wave Robodebt victims to receive $1.2 billion settlement Pete Evans dropped by publisher after sharing image with neo-Nazi symbol Follow The Briefing Instagram: @thebriefingpodcast Facebook: TheBriefingNewsAUTwitter: @TheBriefingAU See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

16 Nov 202021min

Oregon has become the first US state to decriminalize the personal use of all drugs. The "Drug Addiction Treatment and Recovery Act" will allow people arrested with small amounts of hard drugs to avoid going to trial, and possible jail time, by paying a $100 fine and attending an addiction recovery program. In today's episode we find out how Oregon got here, and how Australia’s drug reform advocates have been pushing for a similar harm minimisation approach here when it comes to drug use and criminal punishments. Our guests today are Kate Chatfield - Director of Policy with The Justice Collaborative a non-profit advocating law reform in America and Reverend Simon Hansford - Head of the Uniting Church Australia. In today's headlines: Donald Trump comes close to admitting Joe Biden won the election WA shuts door on South Australia amid hotel quarantine outbreak Vaccine factory to be built in Melbourne under $1.8b deal Follow The Briefing Instagram: @thebriefingpodcast Facebook: TheBriefingNewsAUTwitter: @TheBriefingAU See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

15 Nov 202018min

What could you accomplish if you knew how to improve concentration and overcome distractions? What if you had the power to stay focused and become “indistractable?” In today's Briefing we're going deep on distractions. Nir Eyal is a behavioural scientist and former marketing lecturer at Stanford University and he’s written a number of books on technology and talks us through his groundbreaking new book Indestractable. In today's Briefing we discuss: What is distraction? Our internal and external distraction Triggers The 4 steps to becoming indistractable How to master our internal triggers and hack back external triggers Getting the best out of technology, without letting it get the best of us In today's headlines: Prime Minister warns Australians to brace for “difficult” and “disturbing” news about soldiers Hottest years will feel cool in coming decades, says CSIRO WA’s hard border is softening from midnight Follow The Briefing Instagram: @thebriefingpodcast Facebook: TheBriefingNewsAUTwitter: @TheBriefingAU See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

12 Nov 202020min

After Pfizers exciting announcement this week, the reaction from experts around the world has been positive. We’ve already learnt some important things about the vaccine, and in today’s Briefing we’re going to dig deeper and find out how it might speed up our path back to normal life? How it will be rolled out? Who gets it? And how will it change travel? Dr Mary-Louise McLaws is an epidemiologist from NSW University who’s been part of World Health Organisation COVID-19 advisory panel talks us through this possible pathway back to life as we knew it. In today's headlines: Five million Australian vaccinations could happen from March President Trump’s first formal public appearance since election defeat NSW smashes QLD sending State of Origin to a decider Follow The Briefing Instagram: @thebriefingpodcast Facebook: TheBriefingNewsAUTwitter: @TheBriefingAU See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

11 Nov 202019min

A vaccine being produced by Pfizer may be 90 per cent effective in stopping the transmission of COVID-19 which has created a lot of excitement about getting the deadly virus under control and getting our lives back to normal. The Pfizer trial is one of four potential vaccines the Australian Government has signed an agreement to purchase if it is successful. Pfizer have announced they could produce 50 million doses by the end of this year and 1.3 billion by the end of next year. In today’s Briefing topic we ask Dr Norman Swan about some of his concerns about the trial and what it means from here. We’re also joined by Dr Sheryl Recinos, a Californian doctor who was part of this very vaccine trial. In today's headlines: Pfizer vaccine reportedly being fast-tracked for Australian approval Jobseeker supplement extended but reduced Prime Minister won’t take disciplinary action after Four Corners report Follow The Briefing Instagram: @thebriefingpodcast Facebook: TheBriefingNewsAUTwitter: @TheBriefingAU See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

10 Nov 202022min