Aged Care
Quality and continuity, not profits, should be priority in aged care The Age 13 August 2022
Does the Albanese government really want to strip older Australians of their rights? The Guardian 5 August 2022
Shire not forced to drop aged care services MP News 2 August 2022
Funding is not the problem Heraldsun 4 April 2022
Oh dear Josh: is that aged care joke funny or sad? Michael West 29 January
A Poor Knock: Colbeck carousing at the cricket amid aged care crisis just tip of incompetence iceberg Michael West 29 January
“Living with Covid” – not so easy if you’re in an aged care home! Michael West 11 January 2022
The Coalition’s ‘hands-off’ approach to aged care Covid outbreaks is having heartbreaking consequences The Guardian 10 January 2022
Amended dignity: our elders denied their human rights again Michael West 27 November 2021
Chasing the gold, we trade away rights of the old Michael West 8 November 2021
Profits over People: in-home care a cash bonanza for greedy aged providers Michael West 10 October 2021
Almost 700 deaths. Zero heads have rolled. Why? The Klaxon 5 June 2021
Richard Colbeck can no longer pass the buck on the failure to protect Australians in aged care homes The Guardian 2 June 2021
“Political Stunt”: how the Budget cash splash means profit to providers over aged care reform Michael West 19 May 2021
Aged Care fail – and now a Budget bonanza for Home Care freeloaders Michael West 10 May 2021
End neo-liberal experiment: gutting of bureaucracy led to vaccine and aged care failures Michael West 11 April 2021
Aged care giants extort government for funding hike, threaten campaign in marginal seats (with Elizabeth Minter) Michael West 9 March 2021
Glib response to Aged Care Royal Commission portends another failed roadmap Michael West 3 March 2021
The royal commission report should give the Australian government a plan to fix aged care. Will they act on it? The Guardian 25 February 2021
Royal commission proves we need a new Aged Care Act The Age 23 February 2021
Aged care, quarantine: open and shut cases of federal responsibility but Morrison won’t step up to the plate Pearls and Irritations 5 February 2021
No Plan PM: how government’s lack of an aged care plan cost lives Michael West 1 January 2021
Aged care residents have endured brutal lockdowns. They deserve Christmas with their families The Guardian 16 December 2020
El Cheapo Aged Care: why the Coalition’s make-work schemes won’t work Michael West 10 December 2020
Coalition Spin Kings: real reform in aged care trumped by re-announcements and a deluge of cash Michael West 4 December 2020
Yes, Minister: aged care, it’s not my fault Michael West 30 October 2020
Aged care Covid tragedy was years in the making The Age 7 October 2020
No strings attached: aged care providers have the Coalition wrapped around their little fingers Michael West 5 October 2020
Tone deaf: aged care providers’ PR campaign strikes wrong note Michael West 9 September 2020
Older people and families should not have to put up with the secrecy of the aged care sector The Guardian 7 September 2020
Why did we expect Australia’s aged care to cope amid Covid when it was struggling before it? The Guardian 22 August 2020
Covid-19 aged care guidelines: ‘they’re not a national plan. This is a plan!’ Michael West 16 August 2020
Covid-19 tragedy in aged care: whose side is the Coalition government on? Michael West 13 August 2020
Aged care has been failing for years – coronavirus has merely highlighted systemic problems The Guardian 27 July 2020
Passing the Buck: why Victoria’s Covid is raging in private aged care homes Michael West 24 July 2020
Lendlease puts 100-year-old WWII survivor through the retirement village wringer Michael West 7 July 2020
Financial abuse already hurts older people, especially women, the economic downturn now heightens the risk Women’s Agenda 15 June 2020
Social media and defamation Online Opinion 2 June 2020
Ruby Princess-style inquiry needed into Newmarch House Sydney Morning Herald 6 May 2020
Aged care operators exploit lockdown to squeeze more grants from Government Michael West 3 May 2020
Are political donations protecting Bupa’s aged care licence? Michael West 3 February 2020
Government caves to a “few big interests”, ignores Aged Care Inquiry reforms Michael West 10 December 2019
Do We Need Mandated Staffing Ratios Or Staff Transparency In Aged Care? 22 July 2019
Improving Transparency In The Aged Care Sector Will Benefit Everyone 10 July 2019
Older People At Risk Of Being Financially Abused – By Their Children 14 June 2019
Slinging mud during an election campaign did not help resolve the aged care crisis 20 May 2019
We should be talking about aged care during the election campaign 29 April 2019
Open disclosure is needed in all aged care homes 18 April 2019
Aged Care Matters: Solutions Through Evidence And Dialogue 26 March 2019
Bullying and abuse by aged care advocates must stop 19 March 2019
Home Care: operators snipping 50pc fees from the elderly in home care Michael West 6 March 2019
We need a complete rethink on aged care HeraldSun 23 January 2019
Russell S Google translator did not help me understand the Aged Care Workforce Strategy Taskforce Report 6 December 2018
Rethinking The Staff-Quality Relationship In Aged Care Homes 1 October 2018
Has government by media replaced consideration of evidence in aged care? The Guardian 18 September 2018
‘I’d rather die’: the horror stories of aged care don’t tell the whole story The Guardian 16 September 2018
‘Robbed of precious time’: chemical restraints and aged care The Guardian 14 September 2018
What is it like to work in an aged care home? 4 June 2018
To Ratio Or Not To Ratio 4 June 2018
Better aged-care begins with more registered nurses in homes ABC Online Opinion 3 June 2018
The aged care crisis can be traced back to Howard’s Aged Care Act. We need a new act The Guardian 20 April 2018
Would You Eat The Meals Served In Some Aged Care Homes? 26 February 2018
Turning away from evidence and data in aged care Croaky 9 February 2018
So many inquiries: so little action 8 February 2018
Reports of poor standards in aged care are just the tip of the iceberg The Guardian 31 October 2017
The rise – and risk – of ‘early inheritance syndrome’ The Age 13 June 2017
Markets must stay out of aged care The Courier Mail 26 March 2017
Aged care reforms: who really benefits Croaky 4 October 2016
Here is why we need nurse-resident ratios in aged care homes The Conversation, 13 September 2016
Reverse the aged care cuts? On Line Opinion 5 July 2016
There is something very wrong with our aged care system The Medical Republic 2 June 2016
Profiteering: the disgrace infecting aged care homes The Sunday Age 29 May 2016
We’re ignoring the needs of our ageing population The Age 18 April 2016
The Aged Care Gravy Train The Age 9 January 2016
Infantilising older women to disguise financial abuse Women’s Agenda 19 November 2015
Keeping an eye on the bank of mum On Line Opinion 8 May 2015
Elderly women deserve their age of respect The Age 11 December 2014
Male champions of change On Line Opinion 24 April 2015
Good bloke or smug thug? On Line Opinion 15 April 2015
Beaches may be free to all but access is another matter The Age 26 January 2015
Important voices missing in ice debate The Age 5 January 2014
Elderly women deserve their age of respect The Age 11 December 2014
The problem of parental plunder The Age, 2 December 2013 (with Philomena Horsley)
Mental Health
Do we need more parks or Prozac Perspective, Radio National 2007
Health
Terminally ill patients must have greater choice On Line Opinion 23 February 2011
What if doctor doesn’t know best? The Age 9 February 2011
Gender equity
Entrenched sexism in surgery On Line Opinion 7 December 2015
Male champions of change On Line Opinion 24 April 2015
Good bloke or smug thug? On Line Opinion 15 April 2015
Gender goggles’ strip away men’s sense of entitlement towards women The Age 10 December 2014 (with Kathleen Brasher)
Education
Grant credit where credit is due The Australian Higher Education 12 February 2014
Time to rethink the ethics issue The Australian Higher Education 27 November 2013
Authorship, ethics prove tricky The Australian Higher Education 26 June, 2013
Social issues
The Batman campaign was the final straw: Why I quit the Greens The Age 18 March 2018
Health risks of mobile phones: what we don’t know might be killing us The Sunday Age 15 Jan 2017
Are mobile phones causing hang-ups On Line Opinion 17 November 2015
Russell S Our lives are too messy to reduce to a statistic Sydney Morning Herald 12 Jan 2017
Female opinions count: we need more of them The Sunday Age 10 December 2016
Beaches may be free to all but access is another matter The Age 26 January 2015
Important voices missing in ice debate The Age 5 January 2014
Give plan for mandatory tests wide berth The Age 13 January 2014
Unreliable statistics leave many out in the cold The Age 25 February 2011
What if doctor doesn’t know best? The Age 9 February 2011
Potential parents put through wringer in attempt to adopt a child The Age 4 November 2010
Being a mother is about more than biology The Age 9 May 2010
Staying well: You can have a mental illness and a life The Age 5 May 2009
Definition of family: mum, dad, two kids? Not any More The Age 14 October, 2008
When school sport is just an exercise in frustration Education Age 3 March, 2008
The politics of test-tube parenthood The Age 2007
Give me strength, and the rural footy club always does The Age 2007 (with Heather Ladson
The gift of life can be the reward for donated embryos The Age 2007
Mother of all myths that only mums mother The Australian 2007
Russell S Do we need more parks or Prozac Perspective, Radio National 2007
On a collision course Higher education supplement, The Australian 2006
One in five Australians: are you one of them? Perspective, Radio National 2006
Live Aid and Live 8: one hit wonders? Perspective, Radio National 2005
Mental illness: being well and staying well Perspective, Radio National 2005
Life after life support Perspective, Radio National 2004
Curse of Corporate culture Higher education supplement, The Australian 2004
Sterile Nursing limits research Higher education supplement, The Australian 2004
If you really need care, public is the way to go The Age 2003
Staying Well with a mental illness Perspective, Radio National 2003
Terminally Ill patients must have greater choice The Age 2002
Nurses are simply setting a market price The Age 2002
Nurses shouldn’t have to fight alone The Age 2001
Excuse me if I don’t get excited The Age 2001
More depressing than mental illness The Age 2000
An obese bureaucracy starves health care The Age 1999
Letters to newspaper (aged care)
Protection in advance The Age 16 November 2022
And The Rorts Keep Coming The Age 18 October 2022
A futile hope that extra funds will go to wages The Age 10 August 2022
Supporting aged care The Age 1 July 2022
Better to incentivise rather than punish The Age 30 June 2021
Funding Transparency The Age 4 March 2021
Standards of Care The Age 10 June 2020
Regulator should allow for a humane lockdown The Age 28 April 2020
Aged care concern The Age 23 March 2020
An absurd necessity The Age 18 February 2020
Staff who treat the aged with love and respect The Age 2 November 2019
Fear of litigation The Age 27 June 2019
Failing older people The Age 11 May 2019
Protect the vulnerable The Age 6 September 2018
Battle will continue The Age 12 March 2017
Aged need protections The Age 8 September 2016
Bags of money in aged care The Age, August 2 2016
Silence on elder abuse The Age, July 27 2016
Adult kids getting away with murder The Saturday Paper, July 16 2016
Behind the numbers The Age, 8 May 2016
Pain is real, not a myth The Age 20 January 2016
Respect living wills The Age 11 August 2015
Too quick to prescribe The Age 6 August 2015
Risk of abuse escalates The Age 10 November 2015
Greedy son syndrome The Age 5 June 2015
Generation Google The Age 9 August 2013
Letters to newspapers (not aged care)
Going to jail is not a preference The Age 19 November 2022
Home truths The Saturday Paper 11 September 2021
Try negotiation first The Age 19 February 2021
We need physical distancing, not social The Age 19 March 2020
Good and bad science The Age 15 February 2020
We need a Federal ICAC The Age 10 February 2020
Impeach Prime Minister The Age 7 February 2020
Wrong decision The Age 11 November 2019
Preserve our beaches, not our beach boxes The Age 19 September 2019
We all have a stake in the future of our nation The Age 16 January 2018
A shared responsibility The Age 9 January 2018
Righting an imbalance The Age 29 March 2017
Tantrum has passed The Age, August 12, 2016
Q&A’s lost opportunity The Age, July 15, 2016
Face up to racist past The Sunday Age, April 3, 2016
Pain is real, not a myth The Age, January 27, 2016
Lunches’ bad taste The Age, December 27, 2015
Time for some action The Age, December 26, 2015
An entrenched culture The Age, December 2, 2015
Sisterhood is a fallacy The Age, September 4, 2015
A world away The Age, May 25, 2015
Loads of rubbish The Age, May 22, 2015
Novel political approach The Age, May 11, 2015
Negating our views The Age 2015
Tread with care The Age 2015
Free ourselves from endless involvement The Age 2014
Getting away with it The Age 2014
When patients know their own mind The Age 2013
Parties’ preference deals demean system The Age 2013
Seeking refuge The Age 2013
Shop tactics The Age 2013
Google Generation The Age 2013
Going to the dogs The Age 2013
Is it really abuse? The Age 2012
Epidemics The Age 2007
Lighten our tread Sunday Age 2007
Brand Power The Age 2006
Community service Leader Newspaper 2006
Hope for bipolar sufferers Sunday Age 2006
Remote diagnosis The Age 2005
Bite-sized isn’t filling Education Age 2005
Dangerous myths about mental illness The Age 2005
Bipolar is an illness, not a sentence Herald Sun 2005
How to lay or lie with statistics The Age 2005
Turning homes into prisons The Age 2004
Doctors, patients must speak out The Age 2004
Abusive Nurses The Age 2004
Good News Story Sunday Age 2003
Patient Counsel Sunday Age 2003
Hysterical ‘Pandemic’ The Age 2003
Let’s broaden the population debate The Age 2003
Down is all in the eye of the beholder The Age 2003
Stem cell debate must look at broader issues The Age 2002
Listen to youth on chroming The Age 2002
Why drugs aren’t always administered The Age 1999
Health concerns shared by many The Age 1999
What discrimination? The Age 1998
Careless The Australian 1998
Morality should not enter medical picture The Australian 1997
Giving help at the brink The Age 1996
A holistic approach on Aboriginal health The Age 1995
Life and death not just up to doctors The Age 1993