As a long time singleton, you decide perhaps it's time to open yourself up to romance on the dating apps. But then you come across someone you work with.  You now see this person in a new light and have begun to view them as potential partner material.  As a co-worker, can you let them know you're keen?

Do you flirt? In essence, flirting is about paying someone attention. The purpose of that can be sexual but it can also be playful and witty -- as long as the other person thinks so! Sadly, flirting's image has been tarnished by the "pick-up artist" self-help books of the mid 2000s. So how do people flirt well in the age of apps? 

Australia faces an ongoing housing crisis and there have been many ideas as to how to provide more much-needed affordable housing. Now, new research from the Housing and Urban Research Institute suggests another path forward. And this concept targets small-scale landlords... so-called 'mum and dad' landlords.

Nina Oyama is a comedian, writer and actor who has breathed life into some of Aussie TV's most loveable characters. She shares her hard-learned lessons about posting online, and pushing yourself out of your comfort zone.

Anti-racism, anti-sexism and consent programs have been integrated into Australian schools across the country for a number of years. We teach kids to recognise prejudice and we ask them to stand up for what's right.   But what do kids risk when they call out behaviour in their peer group? And how can adults better support children and teens to have social courage when the stakes feel so high? 

Connected cars transmit personal and vehicle data continuously to their manufacturers and by 2031 it is predicted they could make up 93% of the new car market in Australia. While connected cars have increased safety and convenience features, a new report argues these benefits come with the risk of serious privacy invasions, with these cars gathering more invasive data than mobile phones and smart speakers.

Australia's workforce is still highly gender-segregated in key industries. Men work in trade and construction while caring professions like nursing, teaching, and early childhood education are female-dominated. At the same time, Australia is suffering critical skilled worker shortages. So, how do we demolish stereotypes and remove the barriers splitting the labour market?

A nation-wide shortage of tour guides has compelled the Federal Government to include the role in its Occupation Shortage List for the first time.  Thousands of tour guide roles remain unfilled, with many operators turning to foreign workers to fill the gaps.  But what does a tour guide actually do? Our guests say the role is far more diverse than most people think, and it can be the ideal later-in-life career path. 

When older children go back to babytalk, it can puzzle and even irritate parents, but the reasons are often hiding in plain sight. if your child starts the babytalk and even baby behaviour, How concerned should you be? What should you avoid, and how do you manage the sudden infantile behaviour?

The Senate has handed down its report into the Federal Government's proposed changes to Australia's privacy laws. The changes will enable individuals to sue for damages for serious invasions of privacy and provide a framework for a children's privacy code. While some changes are welcomed, critics argue the proposed changes, and the Senate's response, fall short of the privacy and data protections that consumers need in the 21st Century, leaving consumers vulnerable to data breaches and scams.

Nila Rezaei is an industrial designer who was for a long time focused on creating things from post-consumer waste, like the textile waste from Australia's fast-fashion habit. Then in 2023, she saw the news from her home country Iran, of a female-led uprising that was ignited after the death of young Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody. Nila used her despair at what was happening to fuel a new project: designing a plastic product from donated headscarves, with a mission to heal.

As the Federal Government seeks to ban under 16s from social media, the legislation is likely to introduce barriers for adults' access to these platforms.  If you've been trying to spend less time in the endless scroll, that might be a good thing.  Many people express fatigue with social media, but struggle to quit and stay away long term. So how can you practically replace social media with less addictive tools and get your life back?

Tittle-tattle, scuttlebutt, dishing the dirt, spilling the tea: Whatever you call it... there's no doubt gossip can be seductive. Gossip has long had a bad reputation and gossipers have been seen as untrustworthy. But does gossip have another function? And can it play a more positive role in our lives?

A friendship you formed twenty years ago always had an element of competitiveness to it, particularly coming from her. Whether it be making comments about weight, or comparing how successful she was to you. You would let it slide.   Reconnecting later in life, and having also both been through cancer, she continues to make life a competition but this time with who has done the illness better. How best do you handle this friendship?

Mistakes are made all over the place, everyday. After all, to err is human. So why are we in such fear of making them?  And what are the best ways to recover from a mistake after the damage is done?  

When people move to regional towns for a change of lifestyle or to afford a house, what makes them stay long term?Three major Australian towns saw a boost in population, followed by a decline. A study showed the tree-changers were driven by place, but it wasn't matched by 'livability'. So how do planners and regional migrants alike, adapt?

Todd McKenney is a dancer, actor, TV host and sparkling star of Aussie stage and screen. He shares the sage advice he received from his beloved Nanna, and how he learned to let go of a childhood friendship.

A new study has revealed that frailty may be one of the key factors that contributes to dementia providing a potential way to prevent or slow these diseases. An international study, led by researchers at the University of Queensland, tracked 30,000 people over 20 years, and found increasing frailty can also increase person's risk of dementia.  And it turns out exercise, good diet, good social connections and better medicine management could help to turn frailty around and perhaps also reduce...

While the average retirement age for Australians is the highest it's been since the 1970s, many workers are still hoping to retire early.  And for some people, early retirement means in their 50s, 40s, and even their 30s! But there's a shift in the way many people are approaching retirement. They want to leave the daily grind of full time work behind, but not necessarily leave the labour force forever. So, is there an ideal time to retire?  And what should people keep in mind as they look...

The Australian Government's proposed social media ban for under-16s would be a world-first. Ambitious legislation, popular with both parents and the Opposition. But why are so many youth mental health experts not keen on it? Jacinta is joined by two of those experts, as well as many Life Matters listeners sharing their own experiences.

Do you say please and thank you to your smart home devices? Or make sure to word your ChatGPT prompts kindly? Every day, most of us are interacting with AI devices, so should we do so like we do with other humans? We look at the issues with humanising AI and what our approach says about how we treat the people around us.

Australia's birth rate has officially reached an all-time low, and experts have warned that our total fertility rate of 1.5 babies per woman represents a critical level.  So what would it take to boost our birth rate? What have other countries tried to encourage baby-making? And do the Australian figures really reflect a concerning demographic shift or is the situation actually more complicated than that?

Climate-related disasters are becoming more frequent, but in 2024, Australians were less prepared for fires than in the previous 12 months and fewer than one in 10 people had a written emergency plan, according to the Australian Red Cross. Meanwhile, research from Melbourne University suggests that climate-related disasters have significant long-term negative impacts, with those in insecure housing facing the greatest hardships of all. So, what can we do to prepare better and recover faster...

A Qantas flight from Sydney to Brisbane had an engine failure during take-off. It's the kind of incident that brings dread into the mind of many a flyer. But former airplane captain Michelle Huntington says rather than be cause for fear, incidents like this show how robust modern air travel is, and how high safety standards are maintained.