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Good morning!
Today marks the start of the annual Burning Man music festival - here are three things you didn’t know about the iconic desert festival, held in the middle of the Nevada desert:
The only things you can buy with money at Burning Man are ice and coffee at the central camp. For everything else, you can swap something you’ve got with something you want.
You can bring your vehicle to the festival on two conditions: it’s artistically decorated, and you can only go a maximum of 5 mph (8km/hr). The “Department of Mutant Vehicles” inspects and licenses all art cars before they can drive on the playa.
You won’t find any phone signal in the desert, but you will be able to tune into BMIR (Burning Man Information Radio), which broadcasts info, weather updates, and music.
I’ve got 10 seconds
Quote of the day
“It’s in my DNA. So it doesn’t matter if it’s now or 30 years from now … tennis will always be one of the most important parts of my life.”
Tennis player Venus Williams, ahead of her U.S. Open match today. Williams, who is 45 years old, made her debut at the same Open when she was 17.
Stat of the day
$1.2 billion
The amount Mexican fast-food chain Guzman y Gomez made in sales in the 2024/25 financial year.
Today in history
2012
The Voyager 1 spacecraft became the first human-made object to exit our Solar System. NASA launched it in 1977.
I’ve got 30 seconds
Some headlines from this morning:
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) has declared that parts of Gaza are officially experiencing famine. The IPC was established by the UN, aid groups and governments and monitors global hunger levels. Its latest report found “reasonable evidence” that “over half a million people in the Gaza Strip are facing catastrophic conditions characterised by starvation, destitution and death”. It attributed this famine to Israel’s “complete halt of humanitarian and commercial food deliveries”, coupled with the “collapse of local food production” due to the ongoing war. The report concluded that “an immediate ceasefire” and end to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza is “critical to enabling an unimpeded, large-scale humanitarian response to save lives”. UN Secretary General António Guterres called the famine a "man-made disaster, a moral indictment and a failure of humanity itself” and called on Israel to ensure food and medical supplies reach the Gazan population. The Israeli Foreign Ministry criticised the report’s findings, calling it “a tailor-made fabricated report to fit Hamas's fake campaign,” and saying “there is no famine in Gaza.”
Aussie sunscreen brand Ultra Violette has recalled one of its products, after Choice found the sunscreen contained significantly lower SPF than its advertised 50+ protection factor. In June, the consumer group released test results showing popular sunscreens that weren’t meeting their SPF claims. Ultra Violette's Lean Screen product returned an SPF of four, and was the worst-scored sunscreen tested by Choice. At the time, Ultra Violette contested the findings. However, the brand has now released the results of its own independent testing, which showed Lean Screen returned SPF data ranging between 4 and 64. A statement from the company said its decided to withdraw Lean Screen from the market, effective immediately. “We are deeply sorry that one of our products has fallen short of the standards we pride ourselves on,” Ultra Violette said. “Purchases of this product will be eligible for a refund and a product voucher, regardless of where it was purchased,” the statement noted.
Recommendation of the day
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I’ve got 1 minute
Ex-Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation appeal has ended early after Federal Court judges said they “struggled to understand” his lawyer's argument.
Lehrmann launched defamation proceedings against Network 10 and journalist Lisa Wilkinson over a 2021 interview with Brittany Higgins.
During the interview, which aired on the Project, Higgins alleged Lehrmann raped her in Parliament House in March 2019. She did not name him, but Lehrmann claimed the broadcast damaged his reputation.
Last year, Federal Court Justice Michael Lee found it was more likely than not that Lehrmann had raped Higgins. Lehrmann was back in court this week to appeal the decision.
On the second day of hearings, the court expressed frustration with his lawyer, Zali Burrows, who claimed Justice Lee turned the defamation case into an unfair "quasi-rape trial". The three judges presiding over the appeal said they were confused over Burrows' argument, and asked her to be more specific about the grounds of Lerhmann’s appeal.
The hearings have wrapped a day earlier than scheduled, with the judges’ decision to be handed down at a later date.
Note: TDA’s editor-in-chief is Billi FitzSimons, Lisa Wilkinson’s daughter. Billi had no editorial oversight or involvement with this story or any post we’ve made about this story’s developments.
Reporting by Emma Gillespie.
I’ve got 2 minutes
The Vic information watchdog has found Melbourne Uni breached privacy law by collecting students’ location data during 2024 campus protests
Victoria’s privacy watchdog has found the University of Melbourne breached privacy law by collecting staff and students’ location data during on-campus protests last year.
The investigation by the Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner (OVIC) found the university used Wi-Fi location data to monitor and trace people involved in demonstrations against Israel’s actions in Gaza.
Melbourne University has avoided a formal compliance notice by voluntarily making “improvements to its policies and practices”.
Protests
In May 2024, a group of students staged a sit-in protest against Israel’s war in Gaza inside Melbourne University’s Arts building. At the time, data cited by the UN showed Israeli forces had killed an estimated 36,000 Palestinians in Gaza.
On the fifth day of the sit-in, the Vice-Chancellor ordered demonstrators to leave the campus, warning that those who refused could be suspended or referred to police.
The uni later launched an investigation to identify students who defied the order, relying on Wi-Fi location data, ID photos, and CCTV.
Misconduct proceedings were launched against 20 students, alleging they had failed to comply with the order to leave, and/or used campus facilities “recklessly or unsafely”.
Ultimately, 19 students were found guilty of breaches and formally reprimanded.
The same surveillance practices were also used to identify up to 10 staff members who had participated in the protests, as well as looking at their emails.
Of the 10, three employees were found to have engaged in similar breaches, and received formal warnings.
Wi-Fi tracking
The OVIC investigation focused on the uni’s collection and use of Wi-Fi location data.
When students and staff use to the campus Wi-Fi, the system records information about their location via the internet access point their devices connect to.
Legally, the uni is required to “take reasonable steps” to notify users why this data is being collected and how it will be used.
OVIC found Melbourne University didn’t take reasonable steps to notify students and staff Wi-Fi data could be used against them in misconduct proceedings.
The report said the uni Wi-Fi’s terms and conditions were not “clear, explicit, and unambiguous” in explaining that data could be used in contexts “unrelated to their use of the network.”
The uni argued its terms and conditions do notify users of this possibility. However, it conceded that a technical issue dating to a year before the protests may have prevented some users from receiving the notice.
University
Melbourne University has admitted it could have “provided clearer active notice” about its use of Wi-Fi location data.
However, Chief Operating Officer Katerina Kapobassis defended the practice, saying it was needed for campus safety.
“The use of Wi-Fi location data in student misconduct cases was reasonable and proportionate in the circumstances, given the overriding need to keep our community safe and conduct our core activities of teaching, learning and research,” Kapobassis said.
Reporting by Achol Arok.
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Give me some good news
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has discovered a new moon orbiting Uranus.
The previously unknown object was spotted by researchers in February, NASA has confirmed, expanding the planet’s “known satellite family” to 29. The newly discovered moon is considered relatively small, at around 10 kilometres in diameter. Astronomers said “No other planet has as many small inner moons as Uranus, and their complex inter-relationships… hint at a chaotic history. The discovery means Uranus is likely “even more” complex a planet than originally thought, according to researchers. NASA said the James Webb telescope “is providing a new eye on the outer solar system,” to unlock the mysteries of the cosmos.
Want more good news? Sign up to our weekly Good Newsletter here - we promise it’ll make your week better!
Reporting by Emma Gillespie.
TDA titbit
A restaurant in England has launched a water menu. Yep, that’s a real thing that’s happened.
The menu consists of seven different bottled waters, ranging from still to sparkling. Customers can order from the menu like they would for wine.
The most expensive bottle retails for around $AU40 and is described as having an “effervescent” feeling (no, I don’t know what that means).
The owners told CNN they “initially thought it was a ridiculous idea,” but have since found that “water isn’t just water.”
Reporting by Annabel Whitehouse.
Want more from The Daily Aus? Listen to our podcast!
Last week, the death of a French man was live-streamed on a platform co-founded by Australia’s youngest billionaire, called Kick. Over two years, thousands of viewers watched the man, who died in his sleep, being physically assaulted in real time by several other people.
In today’s episode, we’ll explain what you should know about the man who died, the streaming platform that saw the last two years of his life unfold, and the Australian billionaire who founded it.
TDA asks
