Nearly 8000 people have signed a petition calling for the end of unpaid student placements. Second year RMIT student Olivia Armitage created the change.org petition on May 3, urging the Victorian Government to legalise a payment of at least minimum wage for all compulsory educational placements. Ms Armitage said the ongoing effects of Covid-19 on Victorian students has meant change is needed now more than ever. She said students were one of the most financially affected grou

Research animals should be allowed to find a home after they’ve done their time in testing laboratories, rather than being killed, Animal Justice Party MP Andy Meddick says. Mr Meddick has given notice that tomorrow in Victoria’s Upper House he’ll ask for a six-year limit to be placed on the working life of lab animals, at which time they would be offered to rescue services. Mr Meddick’s electoral officer, Gary Hall, said accountability was important. Essentially, we are push

Good characters make for great family viewing, and Sony Pictures Animation’s new film for Netflix, The Mitchells vs. the Machines , delivers. Produced by Christopher Miller and Phil Lord, the same duo who directed 2009’s Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs , it’s hard not to draw comparisons between the two family films. These projects don’t seem too similar at first, aside from the production company, composer (Mark Mothersbaugh) and contributions of Miller and Lord. However,

Revealing child sex offender information to the public doesn’t improve children’s safety and could actually do more harm than good, an expert says. Child Safety foundation Bravehearts research director Carol Ronken said similar schemes elsewhere had demonstrated publicising information could even pose greater risks for children. “Unfortunately, public notification schemes, along the lines of Megan’s Law approach , may, in fact, increase the risk of reoffending,” she told Vict

About 30,000 people tuned into the Astronomical Society of Victoria live stream of last week’s lunar eclipse, with hundreds more attending in person—a sign of a strong increase in interest in the sky. Society president Chris Rudge said a large number of Victorians were taking up astronomy. “I guess people were looking for things to do, and astronomy is one thing that you can do on your own, or you can equally well do it with a group of friends,” he said. Astronomy speaker an

For a film set solely in one location with a talented cast and exciting writer/director at the helm, Stowaway should’ve been a gripping survival tale. Instead it’s a decent Friday night flick not likely to be remembered. Director Joe Penna hit the ground running with his thrilling and nuanced feature debut Arctic in 2018 and has followed it up with yet another survival thriller, this time set in space. The film is well directed and performed, with production and sound desi

Students at Swinburne University Residence are fearing for their studies with all of Victoria in stage four lockdown once again due to a rise in Covid-19 infections. Student residents at Swinburne are worried about what might happen to their university performance, after going into lockdown just before the SWOT-VAC period of exam revision began. First-year student William Kneebone said he was concerned about the loss of on-site resources previously available. “It made it a lo

A teenager developing superpowers is a story we’ve seen time and time again on both the big and small screen. It has become a trope of the superhero genre, but Invincible proves that with a unique twist on the idea, it can become fresh once more.  The Walking Dead comic book creator and producer of the TV adaptation Robert Kirkman now brings us Invincible , an adult animated superhero show based on his comic book series of the same name. Invincible ultimately follows the li

Homelessness will continue to increase after the Victorian government ended its support for the Homeless Emergency Response package and the moratorium on rent, homelessness experts say. Haven, Home, Safe communications director Sue Masters said after the end of the moratorium period on March 29, there was a significant rise in people requesting help from their service. “In metro Melbourne, we have seen a 400 per cent increase in people presenting to our service. Some of them

As Victoria plunges into a seven day circuit breaker lockdown the team at The Standard have compiled a list of tunes to get you through. From feel good classics to dance in your room songs, lockdown will fly by with this playlist. 1. t r a n s p a r e n t s o u l (Transparent Soul) – Willow Despite being a new release, this song’s crashing wave of drums and guitar will take you on a nostalgia trip to a simpler time. Forget the lockdown by dancing around your room and preten

New Pokémon Snap is visually breathtaking in a way you would expect from a Nintendo Switch title, and it’s perfectly poised to let yourself unwind after a long day. If only it wasn’t such a grind. The first-person photography game is a long-awaited sequel to the N64’s Pokémon Snap , a breakout hit for the franchise released in 1999. Fans loved seeing their favourite Pokémon come to life—until then, they had only seen them in 8-bit grayscale on a tiny GameBoy screen—and casua

Planned new capacity rules for Melbourne’s small and medium-sized live music venues – originally due to come into effect on Friday – have been delayed by this week’s Covid-19 outbreak. After about three months without a local Covid case, the outbreak has brought new restrictions across Melbourne, including a requirement for masks indoors and limits to visits at home. The government today announced that that planned new rules for audiences at bars and music venues – originall