ACL compiles a daily media monitoring service of stories of interest to the Christian constituency relating to children, family, drugs and alcohol, marriage, human rights, religious freedom etc.
Visit the ACL’s website each day to see what’s of interest in the news. Please note that selection of the articles does not represent ACL endorsement of the content.
.Charities & NFPFor app creator Jeffrey Tobias, the giving just got easierCheryl Jones - The AustralianThe Cancer Council NSW, the Smith Family and Legacy are among 350 charities that have signed up to an app that let's the public make donations from their smartphones and tablets. The numbers making donations through the GiveEasy app is growing as people warm to “digital fundraising”, an alternative to traditional methods based on mail and street collectors.
Children & Family Is same-sex parenting better for kids? The new Australian study can’t tell usMark Regnerus - The Public DiscourseThe Australian Study of Child Health in Same-Sex Families has been getting copious positive press coverage. Unfortunately, it has some serious methodological weaknesses—it studies only the lives and experiences of the LGBT elite.
Drugs & Alcohol
Washington becomes second US state to legalise sale of marijuana for recreational useBen Knight - ABCPeople have queued for hours after the US state of Washington became the second in the country to allow the legal sale of marijuana for recreational use. America's biggest social experiment since Prohibition began six months ago when Colorado became the first US state to allow marijuana to be sold to anyone over the age of 21.
Human Rights
State Labor promises to override any changes to Racial Discrimination Act if it wins electionJosh Gordon - The Age
State-based anti-discrimination laws will be introduced to override any move by the Abbott government to water down the Racial Discrimination Act if Labor wins the November state election.
School naughty corner and disciplinary suspensions in schools may be human rights abuses, say South Australian academics Dr Anna Sullivan and Professor Bruce JohnsonTim Williams - The Advertiser
The naughty corner and disciplinary suspensions in schools may be human rights abuses against children, according to South Australian academics who will present their concerns to a national summit on child behaviour.
Indigenous
Indigenous kids more at risk of death, injury and abuse: AIHW reportSBSA new report has found Indigenous children are nearly eight times more likely than non-Indigenous children to be the subject of substantiated child abuse or neglect.
Aboriginal leaders reject call to halt English lessonsJustine Ferrari - The Australian A prominent literacy academic responsible for training English teachers has challenged the need for Aboriginal children in remote communities to learn English and the assumption that their reading and writing skills need fixing.
Marriage
Same sex marriage: Liberal-aligned students want free vote for MPsDaniel Hurst - The Guardian A group of Liberal party-aligned university clubs has added its voice to calls for the legalisation of same-sex marriage, arguing government MPs should be granted a free vote on the issue.
Prostitution & Sex Trafficking
Sex-worker advocates fear bill would increase risks to safetyJosh Wingrove - The Globe and MailCanada’s proposed new prostitution law will make sex work more dangerous, critics warn, by banning certain advertising, exposing sex workers to criminal charges and driving the sex trade further underground. Bill C-36, tabled after the Supreme Court struck down Canada’s existing laws in part because they threatened the safety of sex workers, is designed to instead target clients by criminalizing the purchase of sex.
Refugees
Claims of Tamil persecution in Sri Lanka a myth, says Bob CarrJared Owens - The AustralianLabor's last foreign minister, Bob Carr, has ridiculed refugee advocates’ “urban mythology” about endemic persecution of Tamils in Sri Lanka, saying the previous government “couldn’t find a single case” of returned asylum-seekers being abused by authorities.
Other
Judge compares incest and paedophilia to past attitudes towards homosexuality, claiming they might not be taboo anymore
Louise Hall - SMHA Sydney judge has compared incest and paedophilia to homosexuality, saying the community may no longer see sexual contact between siblings and between adults and children as “unnatural” or “taboo”.
Focus on jobless need, Anglicare tells AbbottJudith Ireland - SMH
The Abbott government needs to focus on individuals and what is going on in their lives, rather than forcing them into intensive job searching, if it is to fix long-term unemployment, one of the country's biggest providers of community services says.