Opinion Pieces

By Peter Singer and Norman Gillespie

We're the lucky country - it's about time we let that luck rub off on others.
Australians are stingy. Do you believe it? Well, when it comes to international aid, among the world's 23 richest countries, we come in a lowly 13th when aid is measured as a percentage of our income.

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The failings of Australia in meeting its obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the world’s most ratified human rights treaty, are stark. Indeed the idea of Australia as a ‘lucky country’ becomes a facade when stacked against the telling figures. Read more...

By Tara Moss, UNICEF Australia’s Patron of Breastfeeding

Last year, when supermodel Giselle Bündchen made her infamous comment thatthere should be a “worldwide law” that mothers breastfeed for six months,I was one of those who jumped up and down with outrage. A law? More pressure on mums? Bünchen later retracted her statement, saying that she didn’t mean it literally. But it was too late. Women hated her. Read more...

By Aivee Chew, UNICEF Australia

Australia is a lucky country, it’s the old adage. Yet recent research from UNICEF shows it’s not the case for all its children. On Monday, Australia comes before the UN in Geneva to put the spotlight on children. Read more...

This article was first published on The Punch, 4 July 2011
It’s hard to wipe your bum if you have no hands. It’s hard to win at marbles when you only have one eye. And it’s pretty hard to work as a farmer when you have no legs.

Seems pretty wacky, but this is the reality of living in a country beset with bombs dropped by our coalition partners over thirty years ago. Read more...

Australians are renowned as a generous mob. This Christmas we are expected to spend an estimated $438 each on food and gifts – placing us amongst the most generous in the world when it comes to spending at Christmas. Read more...

It's hard to argue that Australia, the land of the ''fair go'' has ever been better off. Our GDP is booming, we are at full employment and we are, of course, one of the few countries where the global financial crisis has had comparatively minimal impact. Read more...

A LOT has changed since 2000. Sydney was euphoric following the Olympics. John Howard was our prime minister. The Broncos and the Bombers were on the march to their respective premierships. And more than 33,000 children were dying every day because of extreme poverty. Read more...

Up to 20 million people are affected by the floods in Pakistan. The equivalent of our total population has lost loved ones, homes, businesses, crops and, in many cases, their hopes for the future. Yet amid the disaster, for some a new light is shining. Read more...

In Australia, the humble mozzie is mostly an annoyance. Like sunburn and flies, it’s a hazard of summer, particularly on hot sticky nights. Yet imagine if every time you got bitten there was the risk of death. Read more...