The Latest Breaking News from the National Health and Medical Research Council

You may have heard reports in recent days of a “flesh-eating bacteria” spreading in Japan, referring to an illness that can occur with streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS).

Victoria has just announced all government schools will be required to use phonics to teach reading from next year. This brings it in line with approaches in New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia.

Australia has often been called the “allergy capital of the world”.

The cost of living crisis is affecting how we spend our money. For many people, this means tightening the budget on the weekly supermarket shop.

Dementia is the second leading cause of death for Australians aged over 65. More than 421,000 Australians currently live with dementia and this figure is expected to almost double in the next 30 years.

A startling number of Australian rental homes come with an unwanted housemate: mould.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is already being used in health care. AI can look for patterns in medical images to help diagnose disease. It can help predict who in a hospital ward might deteriorate. It can rapidly summarise medical research papers to help doctors stay up-to-date with the latest evidence.

From today, eligible people in New South Wales can ask for voluntary assisted dying.

Health-care professionals have recently called on the Queensland government to mandate fluoride in drinking water across the state, where water fluoridation coverage lags behind other Australian states and territories.