Stigmabase | Australia - New Zealand

Teenage pot smokers are risking mental illnesses in later life - Mr Mustonen, who worked alongside experts from Cambridge and Queensland, Australia , added: “If possible, we should strive to prevent early-stage cannabis use.” Going from being an occasional marijuana user to indulging every day increases the risk of psychosis by up to 159%, research from ...

Migrants at risk if welfare waits approved - find work, with nagging perceptions about their lack of Australian experience or language skills. The network, which represents community legal centres helping migrants navigate access to welfare payments, is concerned they and their families will either plunge into poverty or fall prey to exploitation.

Do Increased Cigarette Prices Encourage Smokers to Quit? - health specialists at the World Bank, attempted to predict the effect that a 50% cigarette price hike would have on health and poverty in 13 countries, ... “For the first time ever, there has been no statistically significant reduction in the smoking rate, and an increase in the number of smokers in Australia ,” ...

Theresa May 'deeply' regrets anti- LGBTI colonial-era laws -  Peter Tatchell, a prominent British LGBTI rights activist who is director of the Peter Tatchell Foundation, on Monday urged May to apologize for the laws. May's comments come less than a week after a judge in Trinidad and Tobago, which is a Commonwealth country, struck down the former British ...

Greg Hunt interview goes off rails over 'free speech' and gay conversion therapy - The health minister told Radio National presenter Patricia Karvelas he does not support gay conversion therapy but refused to say if he was concerned by a motion that was to be debated at the upcoming Liberal state council. On Monday Fairfax Media reported that the Victorian Liberal president, ...

Qantas to stand by Rugby Australia despite disquiet over Israel Folau's comments - Qantas will stand by Rugby Australia and honour its major sponsorship agreement following the governing body's decision to not take action against Israel Folau over his ... Last week, Qantas expressed its disappointment at Folau's comment on Instagram that god's plan for gay people was "HELL".

SA's move to ' gay panic' provocation law reform more complicated than it seems - The first Australian state to legalise homosexuality , in 1975, is also the last state where a killer can mount a partial defence to murder by claiming they were provoked by the victim's unwanted homosexual advance. This month the South Australian Law Reform Institute will deliver its second and final ...

Australian rugby star Folau avoids punishment for anti- gay comments - Two weeks ago, the 29-year-old full-back made a controversial comment on his Instagram account, in reply to a question from someone who asked: “what was gods [sic] plan for gay people??” “HELL... Unless they repent of their sins and turn to God,” Folau responded, provoking outcry, with many ...

Young inmates receive top award from behind bars - One 20-year-old offender who took part received a Gold Award, making him the first New Zealand prisoner to achieve this level while behind bars. ... "A lot of young people end up in prison because they haven't had the best role models, environment or opportunities growing up. Helping them gain the ...

Student union presses govt to restore post-grad allowances - The New Zealand Union of Students' Associations is pressing the Minister of Education to reinstate post-graduate students' eligibility for student allowances in next month's budget. NZUSA says Labour made this promise during the 2017 election campaign and the student body is now looking for a start ...

Taking traditional Māori medicine to the masses: Inside the story of Aotea - In order protect the family from illnesses, Toki's kuia (grandmother) would have a pot of kumarahou or kawakawa (both native New Zealand plants) tonic always simmering on a woodstove during winter. The tonics became a staple part of the family diet. It was these traditional Māori herbal remedies, ...

China's Weibo site backtracks on gay censorship after outcry - It was the latest of new measures imposed by President Xi Jinping's government to tighten control over what China's public can see and say online while still ... Hua Zile, the founder of "Voice for China LGBT ," Weibo's first LGBT -themed account, said he was encouraged by the outrage against the site's ...

Maori approach suits tourism trend - More than 350 tourism operators from here and abroad are in Waitangi this week for the World Indigenous Tourism Summit. New Zealand Maori Tourism chair Dale Stephens says tourists are increasingly looking for the indigenous element of a country. He says New Zealand is now perceived as being ...

New rehabilitation program for offenders - Macfarlane has established his own programme called Puwhakamua. He says it's aimed at high risk offenders. Māori make up 51 percent of the prison population and Macfarlane says once someone is in the system it's hard for them to get out. “I reconnect them with Māori protocols in an effort to stop ...

Prostate cancer conference to look at inconsistent diagnosis and treatment - Dr Barry Smith, Population Health Analyst and health ethicist with the Lakes DHB in Rotorua, says Maori men feature poorly in the prostate cancer survival rates, often visiting their GP late in the piece when treatment options are more limited. “The health sector faces some significant challenges and ...

Rongoā Māori completes the health picture -  New Zealand's healthcare system is premised by offering prescription before acknowledging a clear description (diagnosis) of what is really at the root of health issues for Māori and indeed many of New Zealand's wider population . The only tools available to our medical professionals in order to respond ...

Commonwealth Games closing ceremony: Scathing attack to Australian Idol reunion, social media ... - Some people even related the flag handover to true Australian culture with its uncanny resemblance to a classic fish and chips package. “Is that what three pieces of fish and minimum chips looks like from Southport surf club?” one user commented. Another said: “is that a flag she's carrying or a serve of ...

A drop-in centre with a difference - A small hall in Alice Springs is the catalyst for change in the way young Aboriginal people experience life in central Australia . Advertisement ... Into that context, Bevis and the team at Alice Springs Uniting Church decided they wanted to create a safe space for Aboriginal youth. They have called it The ...

Indigenous locals call for more information at site of Flying Foam Massacre - A tragic chapter in North Western Australia's history started over a stolen bag of flour, historians believe. Dozens gathered at the site of the Flying Foam massacre, on the Burrup Peninsula near Karratha to mark its 150th anniversary, and to preserve the history of the area for future generations. Up to 60 ...

Qld researcher shifts focus on racism - She hopes her work will help non- Indigenous people better understand themselves and their relationship with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. "There's an ulcer that hasn't been healed in Australian culture," Dr Muller said. "People have a feeling of guilt or sadness and they want to change ...