Who's driving policy on autonomous vehicles?

Editor's note

Three distinct groups are promoting autonomous vehicles and the benefits they offer cities. While each has its own agenda, a review of these developments suggests there’s every chance that, without firm public policy steering, driverless vehicle technologies will entrench the ills of car dependency.

John Watson

Editor

Top story

More than 6,000 passengers have travelled on the RAC’s driverless electric shuttle bus during a recent trial in South Perth. AAP/RAC

We must plan the driverless city to avoid being hostage to the technology revolution

John Stone, University of Melbourne; Carey Curtis, Curtin University; Crystal Legacy, RMIT University; Jan Scheurer, Curtin University

There's every chance that, if mismanaged, driverless vehicle technologies will entrench the ills of car dependency.

Education
Teenagers who are both bully and victim are more likely to have suicidal thoughts Anne Kavanagh, University of Melbourne; Naomi Priest, Australian National University; Tania King, University of Melbourne When it comes to bullying, there is a common misconception that children neatly fall into a category of bully, victim, or not involved. This is not the case.

Politics + Society

Grattan on Friday: Turnbull's pipe dreams channel ghost of Rex Connor

Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra

As the government seeks to rein in the excessive expectations of what it can do to make housing more affordable, Malcolm Turnbull is throwing everything at his energy security policy.
Merged minor parties chase votes on the right as identity crisis grips Coalition

Zareh Ghazarian, Monash University

While minor right-wing parties are advancing specific policy agendas, Australia's major right-of-centre force appears to be grappling with internal divisions about its policy direction.
Australian politics explainer: the MV Tampa and the transformation of asylum-seeker policy

Alex Reilly, University of Adelaide

The Tampa incident in 2001 has formed the underlying basis of the approach to asylum seekers attempting to reach Australia by boat ever since.

Arts + Culture

Friday essay: moving autism on TV beyond the genius stereotype

Katie Sutherland, Western Sydney University

The introduction of a new Muppet on Sesame Street represents an encouraging cultural shift in the portrayal of characters with autism. But there is still a way to go.
Unstacked: revealing the hidden gems of the State Library of NSW

Elisa Lee, University of Technology Sydney

A new website allows you to see what other people search for in the State Library of NSW's vast collection of artefacts -- and discover things you'd never think to look up in the first place.
Talking to John Clarke: a friend and biographer reflects

Anne Pender, University of New England

John's conversations were full of hysterical laughter, and he had a way asking questions that drew extraordinary answers.
Why S-Town invites empathy not voyeurism

Siobhan McHugh, University of Wollongong

The podcast S-Town has been both rapturously reviewed and described as 'morally indefensible' for its intrusion into the life of a mentally ill man. But it validates, rather than violates, a fierce, flawed life.

Science + Technology
Every picture tells a story, but visualisation can tell the right one Quang Vinh Nguyen, Western Sydney University Along with machine learning, data mining and statistics, visualisations are playing an important role in current-day data analytics.

Business + Economy
Vital Signs: what will end up in Scott Morrison's 'good' books? Richard Holden, UNSW In the lead-up to the federal budget, the government has made a number of significant and sometimes surprising policy announcements.

Health + Medicine

Why brain stimulation isn't what it's cracked up to be

Martin Héroux, Neuroscience Research Australia; Colleen Loo, UNSW; Simon Gandevia, Neuroscience Research Australia

Electrical brain stimulation is used to treat a range of conditions, from depression to epilepsy. But how confident can we be that it works?
The multi-billion-dollar subsidy for private health insurance isn't worth it

Elizabeth Savage, University of Technology Sydney

The 30% subsidy for private health insurance was predicted to be a bad and costly policy many years ago. And 20 years later, the only thing that's changed is the $6 billion-plus hole in the budget.

Environment + Energy
French and Australian experts on solving the world's sustainability challenge François Raulin, École de Management de Normandie; Dani Alexander, University of Technology Sydney; Joachim Claudet, Université de Perpignan A recent French-Australian roundtable on sustainability identified a range of ways our societies can be greener, from smart solar panels to urban road congestion tolls.