Australia’s immigration policies have been questioned by the UN committee against torture, which has demanded answers on asylum seeker deaths and claims of sexual abuse in offshore detention centres.  Read more: http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2014/s4125591.htm

Australians’ mistrust of Muslims has risen recently but negative attitudes towards asylum seekers have fallen, according to a comprehensive national survey on social cohesion. Of the 25 per cent of people who expressed negative views on Muslims, most were 65,…

History will probably remember Gough Whitlam for his reformist government, for the way he was elected after Labor’s 23-year political banishment and for the way he was dramatically dismissed. Indeed, since his death on October 21, much has been said…

The act of basketweaving always brings Evelyn Miburo bittersweet memories of home in Burundi, so it’s no surprise that when the craftswoman and refugee camp survivor finally arrived in Australia, she was quick to pick up the needle. Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/burundi-refugee-evelyn-miburo-weaves-meaning-into-new-homeland-20141016-116z3k.html#ixzz3GemKyn7m

A new digital magazine is hoping to change the way women from diverse backgrounds are represented in the media. Ascension Magazine has been founded by former model Sasha Sarago, who was forced to quit the industry because of a lack…

A refugee from Vietnam who survived a perilous voyage across the South China Sea in a small boat and whose first job in Australia was labouring in a boat shed has been shortlisted for the Nobel Prize for Chemistry. Dr…

A tragedy in which 700 would-be illegal migrants were feared drowned off Malta this month after people traffickers rammed their boat has catapulted the issue of migration into Europe to a new level. The boat was rammed by the traffickers…

There is a word that is often used in the west to describe harsh or uncharitable situations. The word is ‘un-Christian’ – which I take to mean actions or words that go against the basic teaching and values of the…

Britain’s increasingly heated debate on migration risks creating a perception among students that it is not a welcoming country to study in, according to one of the UK’s top educators. Vice-chancellor of Cambridge University Professor Leszek Borysiewicz this week spoke…

Overseas migration continues to be the major contributor to Australia’s population growth, according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data. New South Wales and Victoria have continued to experience high population growth in the year to 31 March…

The Human Rights Commission hopes to inject more cultural competency into Australian businesses with a new online tool to assess how well they encourage diversity.  Read more: http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2014/09/19/new-tool-measures-companies-diversity-efforts

Music is increasingly playing an important role in education, social and health and wellbeing campaigns being delivered to children in the developing world. US-based charity The Global Fund for Children (GFC) has invested more than $30 million in small, agile,…