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Articles by Catherine McAloon
The bigger, hungrier AI data centres set to escape looming water and power restrictions
Dozens of already-approved but yet-to-be-built AI data centre projects will escape the federal government's proposed restrictions around energy and water use because the new rules are not expected to be retrospective. ABC analysis of planning records and company documents has revealed this new generation of data centres will be significantly bigger and power hungrier than existing ones.
Experts warn NAPLAN core skills associated with employment, health outcomes later in life
Education experts are warning low literacy skills can be linked to poorer employment and health outcomes later in life, encouraging parents to address concerns early while keeping NAPLAN results in perspective. Literacy and reading Professor Tanya Serry from La Trobe University said while it could feel "very stressful" for parents whose child was not meeting expectations, a low score was not cause for alarm.
Program: A school 'closes the gap' on indigenous literacy
At Djidi Djidi Aboriginal School in South West Western Australia most of the students used to finish primary school with a year three reading level and faced a tough transition to high school. The school has transformed its results by changing its teaching practices and experts say it's a model that could help improve Australia's chronically poor literacy scores. A student practising writing and spelling during a literacy session at Djidi Djidi Aboriginal school. (June, 2026)
How this school cracked the code to close the gap in early reading
Four years ago, testing at Djidi Djidi Aboriginal School revealed 16 of the 18 students in years 5 and 6 were at or below year 3 level in literacy. "They struggled when they got to high school," principal Karen Augustson said. "A lot of our kids have dropped out in year 8 and 9." Today, all but one or two of the 23 students in the senior class are reading at their year level and well prepared to make the jump to high school.
How One Nation turned a small country town orange
In just a few short weeks, a small country town became One Nation heartland. Annette Smith didn't want to approve the post, but she couldn't think of a reason not to. Two of the things the 68-year-old takes most seriously – free speech, and her role as the local community Facebook administrator – were in conflict. Her commitment to the former won out.
Despite growing up online, test shows school students' digital literacy at new low
Australian students have recorded their worst-ever results in national tests that measure digital literacy, with just 37 per cent of year 10 students and 50 per cent of year 6 students assessed as proficient. Approximately 10,000 students across both year levels took the test in May last year and were marked on creating presentations, searching for information, analysing data and online safety.
Program: Ghost community population under-counted
Despite efforts to count Australia's population every five years, there's at least one place where the true size of the community is thought to be more than double the official record. It's a problem because the statistics influence the number of doctors and other services setting up in town. With another count about to start, authorities hope to fix such anomalies.
Welcome to Robinvale, the town where people are not counted
In a community like no other, what happens when people aren't counted? On one side of a stainless-steel bench, chips and fish swim against a tide of spluttering hot oil in full fluorescent visibility of a seemingly unremarkable takeaway shop. On the other, obscured slightly from view, a chef assembles a laksa so deeply flavoured and bracingly spicy it would likely prompt a line out the door if it were in Melbourne. Welcome to Robinvale, where things aren't always as they appear.
How the fuel crisis is hurting small regional Australian tourist towns like Foster
In one small-town community, the ripple effects of the fuel crisis aren't always where you would think. It's roughly 12,000 kilometres from Foster, nestled deep in Victoria's verdant South Gippsland hills, to the Strait of Hormuz. Lately, it hasn't felt so far. "It's really disappointing that this has all happened," says local caravan park owner Noel Sheard.
Rising insurance costs risk turning Australian retirements into a 'prison'
The promise of Australian retirements is often sold to look something like Carolyn Smith's. A sea change to a small, like-minded community. Modest but affordable living, propped up by superannuation cultivated over a lifetime's hard work. Comfort, contentment, happiness. Only, for the 67-year-old Ms Smith, and many other Australian retirees, that promise has started to break. A phase of life that looked quietly hopeful now prompts a sense of dread.
Household battery uptake booms on back of 'game changer' rebate
For a long time, Kim Hammond had wanted to add solar power and a battery to her home on Victoria's surf coast. Concern for the environment and the impact of her carbon footprint were motivating the 61-year-old, who works in conservation, to move away from relying on fossil fuels, but the cost was prohibitive until recently. "Affordability-wise … now's the right time," she said.
Australia's PALM workers are leaving their employers, becoming 'extremely vulnerable' in visa limbo
When Susan Pinu was pregnant with her daughter, she was far from her home in Solomon Islands and found herself wandering an Australian town looking for help. It was not what she expected when she joined the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme in 2021, hoping to build a house and support her family back home with her income.
In regional Australia, country communities are forced to become developers amid a scarcity of downsize housing
Since 1985, Margaret Reid has lived a kilometre or so from Winchelsea's main street, down past the paninis and coffees of the corner café, in a handsome country cottage. It's now time to move, but not to leave. Margaret couldn't imagine calling another town home, but the sprawling garden of her property in Victoria's south-west has been growing on the 71-year-old's mind. "That was what was keeping me occupied," says Margaret, who lives by herself.
How distance, disadvantage and the digital divide impact country schooling
When Rob Berlin received his teaching registration, his phone began buzzing with job offers almost immediately. "Because my location … came up on a register, people were watching it and went 'I'm going to give this guy a call, see if he's interested in a job'," he says. But Rob already had a job. The former engineer, based in regional South Australia, was training to become a maths and science teacher as part of the Teach for Australia program.
Home abortions and hiding pregnancy, research reveals hard realities for migrant workers
An Australian researcher has uncovered shocking accounts of workers employed on temporary visas hiding pregnancies, attempting home terminations, or spending thousands of dollars to access abortions. Australian National University's Lindy Kanan has been investigating the experiences of workers from Pacific Island countries and Timor Leste employed in Australia under the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility Scheme (known as PALM).
Coalition candidates tapping into community concern about crime ahead of federal election
As polling day draws closer, federal Coalition candidates have been campaigning on crime and believe it could swing votes in some seats. Candidates have seized on the issue, with one suggesting people in his electorate don't feel safe taking public transport and going to the shops. Peter Dutton, the police officer turned politician, has promised that a Coalition government would "take crime seriously" and "reduce the problem" in suburbs across the country.
Regional leaders welcome Coalition election campaign pledge for future fund, call for more detail
Regional leaders are welcoming a key Coalition election pledge to channel money into much needed services through a $20 billion future fund, but questions remain about how and when the fund will deliver dollars to the bush. The Regional Australia Future Fund (RAFF) is one of two new funds the Coalition outlined plans for this week, using money from windfall receipts — where revenue raised from commodities exceeds what was projected.
Has Instagram killed magazines or are glossies making a comeback?
At a newsagent in Toowoomba in regional Queensland, Trudy Groves is stocking the store's magazine racks — a job she's been doing for years. Here, among the long rows of glossy publications that cater to the reading needs of home renovators, gold hunters, hobby farmers, celebrity watchers, and puzzle lovers, Trudy is witnessing a resurgence in demand for print magazines. Trudy's newsagency is in a magazine-buying heartland, according to the CEO of AreMedia, Jane Huxley.
Deep space experts prove Elon Musk's Starlink is interfering in scientific work
Australia is lucky to have some of the darkest skies in the world, but that is rapidly changing. Thousands of satellites can be seen at night circling the globe, with many of them there to improve how we communicate on Earth, and that number is predicted to explode in coming years. Scientists, looking deep into space, have been voicing their concerns that these satellites are encroaching on their ability to study the cosmos.
Voice vote could be swayed by keyboard warriors inciting vigilantes and racism, ...
Criminologists and academics say some members of community Facebook groups, fed up with crime rates, are endorsing vigilante action and stirring ...
Voice vote could be swayed by keyboard warriors stirring racism, inciting vigilantes, say academics Original
On a community Facebook page for residents of a town in Western Australia's Pilbara region, a member posts an account of alleged incidents at a local shopping mall. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains images and the name of a person who has died. They detail an assault on a worker, property damage, theft and general concerns for community safety.
Catherine McAloon
Property price growth is tipped to ease in Sydney and Melbourne this year, for many buying a home in the capitals remains out of reach. Buyers are now shifting to the country with regional real estate agents reporting strong sales in the last 12 months.
A Big Country - ABC Radio National
On a small vegetable farm at Tower Hill, in Victoria's south west, a gaggle of excited primary school students wearing gigantic gumboots plod into rich, near-black mud, and file down into a field of overgrown cabbages. They are here to get their hands dirty while helping hungry people — seeing how harvesting cabbages will end up being delivered free to local residents experiencing food insecurity.
A Big Country - ABC Radio National
The outback golf course drawing tourists in for a uniquely Australian round; camp oven cooking undergoing a resurgence as competitions heat up; graveyard mystery leads to family reunion; young brothers juicing business returning profits to country community. Crows, kangaroos and wombat holes are just some of the unique hazards on the world's longest golf course that snakes along Australia's Nullarbor Plain.
Using examination performance data and focus groups to inform teaching - a case study from final year students of veterinary medicine
Abstract Background Student feedback has played an important role in the maintenance of quality and standards in higher education. Perhaps the most commonly used method to capture feedback is a series of questions or statements where students indicate their degree of satisfaction or agreement. Focus groups offer an alternative means of capturing ‘richer’ qualitative data relating to students’ thoughts on course structure.
Families and friends flock to Rockaway Beach for sun, sand and sandwiches
Every week, we'll be heading out to a beach or hopping on a tour bus to see what we're all doing in the city this summer. Here's a look at where we're going, what we're eating and who we're with when we're having fun. WHO: Two families headed to the beach spontaneously after Yuisa De Leon, 28, invited Triston Sergeant, 27, and Gabriela Varela, 28, on an outing.
Pubs in the country strive to adapt to our changing drinking culture - or they die
Country pubs have long held a special place in the heart of rural communities, but for publicans operating in smaller towns to make a living off alcohol alone is becoming a tough sell. Long-time publicans point to a cultural shift of people drinking less, choosing to drink at home rather than the pub, as well as ageing and declining populations in rural areas. All of these pressures put the once venerable institution of the country pub under threat.
Moving to the country the answer to housing affordability for some, but prices are rising
Real estate agents are reporting strong interest in regional property sales as first home buyers and retiring baby boomers realise the savings that can be made by a move to the country. He told would-be buyers if they could not afford Melbourne or Sydney prices, they should stop complaining and 'go out west' to rural and regional Australia.
Agriculture Minister heads to India to resolve pulse tariff dispute, but warns 'megaphone diplomacy' won't work
Australian growers have significantly increased the value of pulse crops exported to India in recent years. Federal Agriculture Minister David Littleproud will travel to India in an attempt to resolve a dispute over tariffs on Australian chickpeas and lentils. Late last month, India slapped a 30 per cent tariff on the imported pulses, sparking concerns Australian farmers would see their incomes slashed.
Jackfruit: The fruit that looks and tastes exactly like meat
Since adding jackfruit to the menu at her vegan eatery, Allie Pyke and her staff have found themselves having to reassure customers that what they are eating is definitely not meat.The tropical fruit, which holds the title of the world’s largest tree fruit, is the key ingredient in the Hawaiian burger dished up at Ms Pyke’s The Alley in Melbourne.At The Alley, jackfruit is prepared to look and taste like pulled pork, as it is at a growing number of cafes and restaurants in Australia.“I had a...
Jackfruit increasing in popularity as a meat alternative as plant-based diet trend continues
Since adding jackfruit to the menu at her vegan eatery, Allie Pyke and her staff have found themselves having to reassure customers that what they are eating is definitely not meat. The tropical fruit, which holds the title of the world's largest tree fruit, is the key ingredient in the Hawaiian burger dished up at Ms Pyke's The Alley in Melbourne. At The Alley, jackfruit is prepared to look and taste like pulled pork, as it is at a growing number of cafes and restaurants in Australia.
Jackfruit increasing in popularity as a meat alternative as plant-based diet trend continues
Since adding jackfruit to the menu at her vegan eatery, Allie Pyke and her staff have found themselves having to reassure customers that what they are eating is definitely not meat. The tropical fruit, which holds the title of the world's the largest tree fruit, is the key ingredient in the Hawaiian burger dished up at Ms Pyke's The Alley in Melbourne. At The Alley, jackfruit is prepared to look and taste like pulled pork, as it is at a growing number of cafes and restaurants in Australia.
Sex requests and obscene gestures 'the norm' for genuine Asian massage businesses
Men exposing their genitals and requesting sex has become the norm for Asian massage therapists who say they are being "tarred with the same brush" as illegal sex workers. Thai and Chinese massage therapists report regular cases of sexual harassment despite clear signage stating that there are no sexual services. A sign on the door at 'Yin's Chinese Traditional Massage' reads: "Keep your underwear all the time.
Mountain bike boom a boon for country towns in the race for tourism dollars
Glen Jacobs remembers the first day he visited the north-east Tasmanian town of Derby — "It was like a ghost town", he said. Mr Jacobs heads World Trail, a company which specialises in constructing mountain bike trails, and was there to scope out forest around the small town which had been left devastated by job losses in mining and timber industries.
Rise of the female firefighter: Bushfire brigade ranks filling up with women
Female firefighters across the country are increasingly taking on frontline volunteer roles that were once the sole preserve of men. Traditionally, the New South Wales Rural Fire Service's volunteers were drawn from rural landholders with men fighting the fires and women in support roles. But the service has made a concerted effort to encourage women to take on a broader range of roles, including in rapid aerial response and remote area firefighting, to bolster volunteer numbers.
Higher education reforms: Fears for future of regional universities and student opportunities
Regional universities say country campuses and students will suffer if higher education reforms pass the Senate, and students may be discouraged from pursing tertiary education. Regional universities and students claim Federal Government reforms to the higher education sector, which passed the House of Representatives last week and now will now go to the Senate, will unfairly disadvantage them.
Coconut faces a looming global supply shortage, but could an Australian industry crack it?
Demand for coconuts is booming and as ageing trees threaten to curtail world supply, researchers suggest northern Australia could develop a local coconut industry. Australians, like many in the western world, are developing a taste for coconut. While we have long enjoyed a dusting of dried coconut on lamingtons and other baked treats, it is now health conscious consumers that are driving exponential growth in the market for high-value products like coconut water and virgin coconut oil.
APVMA boss orders review into chemical regulator's performance slump
The APVMA is relocating from Canberra to Armidale. The boss of the national chemical regulator, which has been bleeding staff since the announcement of its relocation from Canberra, has ordered a review into the agency's performance.
How do we keep track of record snowfalls in Australia? It all happens at remote Spencers Creek
Snow depth measurements taken at a remote location in the Kosciuszko National Park have kept track of the Australian snow seasons and charted record-breaking snowfalls for more than six decades. Midway between Perisher Valley and Thredbo, Spencers Creek has been visited by weather observers every week during winter since the mid-1950s, when the Snowy Hydro scheme was being constructed.
Heading to the slopes this winter? Why much of the snow you'll see comes from a machine, not the sky
With below average rain and warmer than usual temperatures, this Australian winter has produced conditions that would have once spelled disaster for the local ski industry. The first month of winter was the driest June on record in much of the country's south, while July brought record-breaking heat and little rain. But despite the mild conditions, it has been pretty much business as usual at many of the major alpine resorts, with visitor numbers tracking around average.
Warning even two degrees of global warming 'very risky' for farm production, will increase food prices
As world leaders meet in Paris to set a target to reduce carbon emissions, scientists and farmers fear even the ambitious aim of limiting global warming to two degrees would have huge impacts on Australian farm production, leading to more expensive food prices. Lesley Hughes, a professor of biology at Macquarie University and a councillor on the independent Climate Council, has examined the impact of global warming on Australian farming and says two degrees of warming creates real risks.
Competition watchdog finds pork brands misled on 'free range' claims
The competition watchdog says many Australian consumers who thought they were buying free range pork products from pigs raised outdoors have been misled. The pork industry is the latest to come under the spotlight of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's (ACCC) crackdown on truth in food labelling.
Wool industry group warns against decreasing marketing spend ahead of grower vote
Australian Wool Innovation says investment in marketing will be crucial for selling wool in the face of global economic uncertainty. The wool industry's peak marketing and research body has launched this year's WoolPoll, a three-yearly vote by growers on the levy amount they contribute to the organisation. Chief executive officer Stuart McCullough said AWI was recommending growers vote in favour of maintaining the current 2 per cent levy.
Weather bureau says new Himawari 8 satellite will improve forecast accuracy
The weather bureau says a new satellite which provides images of earth more regularly and in far greater detail will lead to more accurate forecasts and faster issuing of weather warnings. The Japanese Meteorological Agency's new weather satellite, known as the Himawari 8, provides full colour images in twice the resolution of current satellite images, updated every ten minutes.
Tiny sensors to monitor bees as international researchers unite to save colonies from collapse
Australia will take a leading role in an international research initiative to prevent the collapse of honeybee populations. More than a year ago, Australian researchers started monitoring bees using tiny micro-sensors to see how bees behaved in different climatic conditions and how they responded to stresses, like pesticides. Their research drew interest from around the globe.
Scientists predict weather will swing from drought to flooding rains as La Nina follows intense El Nino
Scientists are tipping this year's forecast El Nino will be closely followed by a reverse La Nina weather system, swinging conditions from drought to flooding rains in some parts of Australia. There are predictions the coming El Nino, which typically brings hot and dry conditions to the country's east, could be one of the strongest ever recorded. CSIRO principal research scientist Wenju Cai said the forecast El Nino was likely to be followed by a La Nina, bringing extreme wet weather in 2016.
Wealthier, choosier consumers among trends tipped to impact farming in next 20 years
Wealthier consumers with higher expectations about the food they purchase are likely to change farming, according to a report that identifies emerging trends that will have an impact on Australian agriculture in the next 20 years.
Farmers fighting feral pigs welcome move to lift ban on controversial shotgun
Rural landowners and shooters have welcomed news the government will lift a ban on the importation of a controversial rapid-fire shotgun. Importation of the Adler brand lever-action shotgun, which is opposed by gun control advocates because of its fast firing rate and seven-shot magazine capacity, was suspended last month pending a national review of firearms regulations.
Call for national regulation of labour hire companies in wake of worker exploitation
The peak industry body for the employment services sector is calling for a mandatory code to stamp out unscrupulous practices by dodgy labour hire contractors. The Recruitment and Consulting Services Association (RCSA) wants the government to legislate a code that would not only cover contractors, but also the workplaces that engage them. The association already has a voluntary code for its members, and has now released an Employment Services Industry Code for public consultation.
Winter rain in wheat growing regions leads analysts to boost crop forecast
Good winter rainfall in some wheat growing regions has led some commodity forecasters to upgrade their outlook for the national wheat crop. There have been significant falls in southern New South Wales and in Western Australia's wheatbelt region in recent weeks, boosting soil moisture. National Australia Bank agribusiness economist Phin Ziebell says the bank is now tipping a better wheat crop than the 20 million tonnes it had initially forecast for the season.
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