Morgan Harrington is a social scientist with a decade of diverse experiences within and beyond academia. He was previously a research fellow at the Australian National University. He is the Australia Institute’s Postdoctoral Research Manager.
After a NSW Parliamentary Inquiry recently found that the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme is putting people at risk of modern slavery, their lost super might seem like a minor problem, but it’d be an easy one to fix.
The latest data from the National Accounts shows that gambling losses reached a new, all-time high of $36 billion in the 2025-26 financial year. Losses went up $1.2b more than in 2024-25, which is the biggest increase in three years.
“Humanity is not an abstract concept. It becomes truly meaningful and tangible precisely when it begins to disappear.” This is the message at the heart of Ai Wei Wei’s beautifully presented essay Manifesto Without Borders, and it’s a message that is as uplifting as it is timely.
A broad coalition of industry groups, unions, NGOs and statutory bodies have published an open letter calling on the NSW Government to regulate the labour hire firms that employ large numbers of working holiday makers and PALM visa holders. The letter has been published amid a hotly contested debate over Australia’s national migration levels.
The NSW parliament has released the final report of its inquiry into the modern slavery risks that temporary migrant workers in the state are facing. Its findings make clear that there is modern slavery in Australia.
New polling from the Australia Institute shows that the majority of Australians would support the rights of PALM visa holders to change employer if they are not being treated fairly.
There’s no denying the power of music in bringing people together. What if that power was harnessed for social change? This is exactly what Planet Reimagined is doing in the United States, and around the world, through Amplify, which partners with artists, venues, and local climate organizers to turn live music moments into opportunities for meaningful civic action.
The best available evidence supports President Ramos-Horta’s claim that Australia nets the lion’s share of the benefits of the PALM scheme
The Government has now released its formal response to the Australian parliament’s inquiry into online gambling and gambling advertising. The response was tabled in Parliament at about 4pm on the Tuesday afternoon that most of Parliamentary press pack were locked in a room without their phones or laptops so that they could read an advanced copy of the budget.
Around 600,000 of Australia’s teenage gamblers are aged just 12-17 years old, which is enough to fill the MCG six times over.
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