Past Programs
Babies - 2008
The baby bonus
01/07/2008
Kevin Rudd's beloved working families will benefit from a range of budget measures that come into effect today. On top of the list of government handouts is an increase to the baby bonus. Women who give birth from today will pocket $5,000, almost $800 more than if they gave birth yesterday. Next year the baby bonus will not only be means tested but paid fortnightly -- whether that targets families in real need remains to be seen.
Australia's baby boom
20/03/2008
It's official, Australia is in the grips of a new baby boom. According to data released yesterday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 278,500 babies were born in the year to September last year. That's an increase of nearly 6 per cent on the previous year. It's also the largest number of births since the introduction of quarterly records 26 years ago. The jump in fertility however has caught federal and state governments by surprise and they are now frantically trying to meet the increased demand for maternity and early childhood services.
Good tucker, better health
11/03/2008
Australia's Third World Indigenous health statistics are well documented, with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living nearly 20 years less than non-Indigenous Australians and ending up in hospitals at twice the rate of other Australians. With a strong medical focus on fixing some of these problems, are we neglecting some of the basic building blocks, like better nutrition? That's one of the issues on the agenda at the Good Tucker-Good Health Conference starting later today in Alice Springs.
