Problems with weight are getting the better of her, Queensland Premier Anna Bligh admitted yesterday. Not personally – Ms Bligh said her government had found itself underperforming in its aim to combat the rising obesity numbers among the Queenslanders. “It is a very serious issue for our health system,” Ms Bligh said. “We are not […]

The Queensland Health Department has been accused of wasting money on an oral health scheme for schools where nothing is happening. Liberal National Party member for Mudgeeraba Ros Bates said the Government was “wasting money on an oral health scheme which is not achieving and is sitting idle wasting taxpayers’ money.” She said a leaked […]

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh is calling Queenslanders to reach out and take care of their neighbours, families and friends, especially over the Easter holidays. “We all have a role to play in looking out for our family members, our friends, our neighbours, and our work colleagues [who were affected by the recent natural disasters],” Ms […]

My dear late mother always said when one door closes another opens. How right she was. Confined to my home – can’t drive, can’t walk – after a really stupid domestic accident, I find myself increasingly bereft of my loss of mobility and freedom. Each day is the same. After reading the morning newspaper, being […]

Euthanasia advocate Dr Philip Nitschke is reportedly looking for a location in Adelaide to build Australia’s first euthanasia clinic. A bill to allow doctor-assisted euthanasia is close to being passed by the South Australian parliament – but there are mixed opinions on this issue. We went to Queen Street Mall to find out people’s opinions […]

With rates of depression increasing in developed countries, support groups and government programs have emerged to give help and raise awareness. But is enough being done, with more than 2000 Australians taking their own lives every year? Newsbytes visited Brisbane’s Queen Street Mall to ask people their views.

A union boss has made a scathing attack on Anna Bligh, calling the Queensland premier “disingenuos, deceitful and cruel”. Secretary of the Queensland division of the National Tertiary Education Union, Margaret Lee (pictured left), was speaking at a weekend rally in Brisbane organised by the Pro-Choice Action Collective. The rally was organised in the lead-up […]

Independent Gladstone MP Liz Cunningham has called on the Health Minister to investigate new cancer data that has revealed higher incidence in Gladstone compared with the Queensland average. Ms Cunningham (pictured) said she wanted Deputy Premier and Health Minister Paul Lucas to look into the new data, which showed a 10 percent higher cancer rate […]

The State Government has been forced to defend its record on health in the face of a barrage of questions from Liberal National Party shadow ministers and independents. More than half of Wednesday’s question time in Parliament was spent on the topic of health, with Deputy Premier and Minister for Health Paul Lucas (pictured) fielding […]

The major parties’ mental health policies in the current federal election campaign are an improvement but still a long way short of Australia’s needs, the chief executive of the Mental Health Council, Mr David Crosbie, said today. Mr Crosbie (pictured) said the Greens’ policy was the most comprehensive and well-developed put forward by any party, […]

Environmental activists and farmers will hold a rally outside Brisbane parliament house tomorrow to call for an end to coal seam gas extraction research due to fears it may cause irreversible environmental damage. Friends of the Earth spokesperson Bradley Smith said farmers from Kingaroy and the surrounding Surat Basin would join environmental groups at a […]

In the face of an epidemic of self-harm, with more than half a million Australians injuring themselves each year, a counsellor urges people not to feel guilty if they self-harm. “Be strong and try not to feel guilty,” says Zoe Farris (pictured), a former self-injurer and long-time telephone counselling team leader for the Mental Health […]

A prominent university pain expert is working with a Brisbane-based biotechnology company to develop a new generation of pain killers. University of Queensland School of Pharmacy Head of the Pain Research Group Professor Maree Smith (pictured) said her collaboration with Alchemia Limited sought to reduce the side effects associated with opioid pain killers like morphine. […]

Brisbane blood donation levels were given a welcomed boost over the weekend when motorcycle enthusiasts united to give blood in the fifth annual Merlo Coffee Red Ride for Life campaign. More than 115 riders from across south-east Queensland roared into the Springwood Red Cross Blood Donor Centre on Saturday to help resuscitate much-needed blood supplies […]

In the last few days the public discussion around smoking in the Mall has fired up. Brisbane City Council opposition leader Shayne Sutton is spearheading this movement. “The issue of banning smoking in the Queen Street Mall is not new and organisations such as Cancer Council Queensland have been calling for the ban for some […]