☕️ Inflation drops to 3-year low

And happy Halloween to all those who celebrate.

If you’re in need of some costume inspiration, Google has revealed the top ten trending costumes for Halloween this year.

Coming in at number 2? None other than our very own Raygun.

"The fact that [Russia] now need to outsource for foreign troops to help support their forces… indicates that there's some serious questions in terms of their ability to continue to sustain their personnel requirements.”
U.S. Department of Defense spokesperson Major General Pat Ryder on news that 10,000 North Korean troops are training with Russian soldiers.

8.2 million
How many people were diagnosed with tuberculosis for the first time in 2023, the highest recorded number since the World Health Organisation began records in 1995.

2011
The world’s population reached 7 billion people according to the United Nations. The current population is around 8.2 billion people.

Prices rose by 2.8% in the year to September 2024, according to new figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). This is the lowest annual inflation rate in more than three years.

The annual inflation figure is down from the last quarter, when prices rose 3.8% over the previous year.

Here’s the latest.

Inflation measures price growth. It summarises prices in around 90 categories (e.g. fruit, rent, furniture). When inflation is high and unpredictable, your money buys less.

Quarterly inflation figures are calculated based on the prices of a wider range of goods and services than the monthly figures, and are considered to be more representative.

The latest quarterly ABS figures show prices increased by 0.2% from July to September 2024. This means everyday goods and services cost 0.2% more in September than they did in July.

Over the 12 months to September 2024, prices increased by 2.8%.

Despite some fluctuation, the rate of inflation has been gradually trending down from a peak in December 2022.

According to the ABS, the slowing of inflation was driven by Federal and State/Territory Government discounts on energy bills, which came into effect in July.

The cost of fuel also fell from July to September, which the ABS said was due to “lower global demand” bringing down the cost of oil.

Alcohol and tobacco saw the biggest price increase in the year to September (up 6.7%).

This was largely driven by the tax on tobacco increasing in September.

Reporting by Lucy Tassell.

A residential college at the University of Sydney has expelled six students and suspended 21 others following a bullying incident last week.

A group of students at St Paul’s College conducted a fake court “trial” that reportedly involved gagging a student with a sex toy and verbally abusing him.

The College said it is “shocked and deeply disappointed” at the behaviour.

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare told TDA more needs to be done “to tackle sexual violence in our universities”.

St Paul’s is one of several residential colleges at the University of Sydney. It’s home to roughly 300 students.

The College was all-male until last year, when it started allowing female residents.

It’s the oldest residential college in Australia. Two former Prime Ministers attended St Paul’s.

On Monday, the Sydney Morning Herald revealed there had been a serious bullying incident at the College last week.

On Tuesday, Nine-owned radio station 2GB reported a group of second-year male students held a fake court “trial”, where another student was put on the stand.

The student who “lost” the trial was reportedly gagged with a sex toy and verbally abused.

CCTV footage showed who was present at the “trial”.

The College expelled six people who were directly involved. 21 bystanders were suspended.

St Paul’s warden Dr Ed Loane oversees day-to-day matters at the college. In a statement to TDA, he said: “The college has been shocked and deeply disappointed that some of our students engaged in serious bullying of another student within their friendship group.”

Dr Loane said the college would “review and strengthen” training to deal with bullying and harassment.

University of Sydney Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Education Professor Joanne Wright told TDA she is “shocked and deeply disappointed” by the group of students’ conduct.

“Any form of bullying or harassment is absolutely unacceptable and we support the disciplinary action the College has taken”.

Professor Wright said the University had reached out to the College to obtain further facts and ensure it’s responding appropriately to student misconduct.

Education Minister Jason Clare told TDA the hazing ritual reports are “sickening”.

“Not enough has been done to tackle sexual violence in our universities and residential colleges and for too long students haven’t been heard.”

The Federal Government is expected to roll out a new student complaints body – the National Student Ombudsman – by February. It will be tasked with handling uni students’ complaints of sexual harassment, assault, and violence.

In 2018, former Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick conducted a review of the culture at St Paul’s College.

She found a culture of widespread sexism, sexual harassment, and bullying at the residential campus, including hazing — intense and often demeaning initiation rituals.

The report included stories of first-year students being forced to eat sheep hearts, and drink a mixture of goon and raw eggs. It’s since been taken down from St Paul’s website.

Reporting by Harry Sekulich.

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Archaeologists uncovered temples and pyramids in the city they’ve named Valeriana. Using laser survey technology, researchers were able to produce a digital recreation of monuments and structures that would have existed beneath the greenery.

PhD student Luke Auld-Thomas told the BBC that the three sites were uncovered when he “was on something like page 16 of Google search and found a laser survey done by a Mexican organisation for environmental monitoring.”

Want more good news? Sign up to our weekly Good Newsletter here - we promise it’ll make your week better!

Reporting by Nandini Dhir.

If you injure yourself while working from home, can you get workers’ compensation?

An employee at a South Australian city council has won a workers’ comp case, after she tripped over a pet-proof fence while working from home in September 2022.

She fractured her right arm and injured her right knee in the fall.

Her argument was that because she had been explicitly told to “take regular breaks”, “get out in the sunshine” and “enjoy time with the dog” while working from home, it was a work-related accident.

Now, the South Australian Employment Tribunal has ruled in her favour.

Reporting by Nandini Dhir.

A new report into the Federal Government’s response to COVID-19 has found it wasn’t “adequately prepared” for a pandemic.

It also found that public trust in government has been eroded, and that more transparency around decisions made during a health emergency is needed.

Plus, it has recommended Australia establish a new Centre for Disease Control.