Latest news with #SwinburneUniversity
Sydney Morning Herald
12 hours ago
- Sport
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘It will result in death': But Run It Straight contestants say they're ‘blessed' to compete
Andrew Alauni has played rugby league in western Sydney for as long as he can remember. But he has never experienced anything quite like a Run it Straight tournament. 'What hypes me up is the crowd,' Alauni, 24, says. 'When I've got the crowd behind me, when they scream out my name ... honestly, I'm blessed being part of the event.' Run it Straight is a rapidly growing social media trend that has racked up millions of views across Instagram and TikTok. The object is simple: two players run at each other from opposite ends of a 10-metre strip and collide as hard as they can in a rugby league-style hit-up, aiming to knock the other over and win the collision. The risks are obvious, and the craze has already ended in tragedy. A week ago, 19-year-old Ryan Satterthwaite had his life support turned off after sustaining an ultimately fatal head injury playing the game in an Auckland backyard. His family said he had been influenced by social media. On Saturday, the Manly Sea Eagles vowed to step up game-day security after footage of fans skolling beer and running at each other behind the main hill at 4 Pines Park was watched more than 200,000 times online. Concussion expert Alan Pearce, a professor at Melbourne's Swinburne University, says the game is supercharging the most dangerous aspects of rugby league tackles and is gaining popularity among those who perceive safety rules in sport as 'woke'. 'What do you have is two large men running at each other at almost 25 to 30 kilometres an hour, but not stopping,' Pearce said. 'This is just pure collision with the idea of knocking out the opponent, which is the main concern that we have here from a brain injury perspective. 'You do not need a direct impact to the head in order for a brain injury to occur and only requires what we call an impulse force travelling to the brain.'
The Age
12 hours ago
- Sport
- The Age
‘It will result in death': But Run It Straight contestants say they're ‘blessed' to compete
Andrew Alauni has played rugby league in western Sydney for as long as he can remember. But he has never experienced anything quite like a Run it Straight tournament. 'What hypes me up is the crowd,' Alauni, 24, says. 'When I've got the crowd behind me, when they scream out my name ... honestly, I'm blessed being part of the event.' Run it Straight is a rapidly growing social media trend that has racked up millions of views across Instagram and TikTok. The object is simple: two players run at each other from opposite ends of a 10-metre strip and collide as hard as they can in a rugby league-style hit-up, aiming to knock the other over and win the collision. The risks are obvious, and the craze has already ended in tragedy. A week ago, 19-year-old Ryan Satterthwaite had his life support turned off after sustaining an ultimately fatal head injury playing the game in an Auckland backyard. His family said he had been influenced by social media. On Saturday, the Manly Sea Eagles vowed to step up game-day security after footage of fans skolling beer and running at each other behind the main hill at 4 Pines Park was watched more than 200,000 times online. Concussion expert Alan Pearce, a professor at Melbourne's Swinburne University, says the game is supercharging the most dangerous aspects of rugby league tackles and is gaining popularity among those who perceive safety rules in sport as 'woke'. 'What do you have is two large men running at each other at almost 25 to 30 kilometres an hour, but not stopping,' Pearce said. 'This is just pure collision with the idea of knocking out the opponent, which is the main concern that we have here from a brain injury perspective. 'You do not need a direct impact to the head in order for a brain injury to occur and only requires what we call an impulse force travelling to the brain.'
West Australian
5 days ago
- Business
- West Australian
Burnout, underinvestment to blame for productivity slump, not working from home: Aussie academic
Overwork, burnout and underinvestment are the cause of falling productivity, not working from home, a workplace expert and academic says. A major report released this week by the Productivity Commission has found working from home at least some of the time is more productive than being in the office full-time. Multinational companies are mostly pulling the rank and file workers back into offices, while government agencies and academics work to assess the effectiveness of the pandemic-era work from home shift. 'There's no evidence to suggest working from home is the root cause of these recent productivity challenges, which have been going since long before most people were working from home,' Swinburne University workplace expert John Hopkins said. 'Overwork, burnout, underinvestment, outdated processes, and cost of living pressures are likely factors behind poor productivity.' During the federal election campaign, the Coalition quickly-abandoned a proposal for public servants to be back in offices five days a week. The architect of that failed policy, Liberal Senator Jane Hume, said in the lead-up to the election: 'It will be an expectation of a Dutton Liberal government that all members of the (Australian Public Service) work from the office five days a week. But the proposal was so despised it was abandoned mid-campaign, and Senator Hume has since been dumped from Opposition Leader Sussan Ley's newly-minted shadow cabinet. Released on Thursday, the Productivity Commission report finds arrangements where staff work from both the office and at home tend to benefit both productivity and job satisfaction. 'Allowing workers to work from home some days can improve worker satisfaction and allows people to benefit by avoiding the commute to work, meaning they have additional time for other purposes,' the commission finds. Working from home reduces sick days, breaks and distractions 'all of which are typically found to be beneficial for productivity', it says in the report. About 36 per cent of working Australians regularly do a shift from home; a tripling since before the pandemic. Working from home is markedly better for women, the Productivity Commission finds, however younger workers miss out on face-to-face learning. The report points to falling business investment as the reason national productivity fell by 1.2 per cent in 2024.
Perth Now
5 days ago
- Business
- Perth Now
Major Aussie WFH lie exposed
Overwork, burnout and underinvestment are the cause of falling productivity, not working from home, a workplace expert and academic says. A major report released this week by the Productivity Commission has found working from home at least some of the time is more productive than being in the office full-time. Multinational companies are mostly pulling the rank and file workers back into offices, while government agencies and academics work to assess the effectiveness of the pandemic-era work from home shift. 'There's no evidence to suggest working from home is the root cause of these recent productivity challenges, which have been going since long before most people were working from home,' Swinburne University workplace expert John Hopkins said. More than one-in-three Australians with a job regularly work from home. Wikimedia commons Credit: Supplied 'Overwork, burnout, underinvestment, outdated processes, and cost of living pressures are likely factors behind poor productivity.' During the federal election campaign, the Coalition quickly-abandoned a proposal for public servants to be back in offices five days a week. The architect of that failed policy, Liberal Senator Jane Hume, said in the lead-up to the election: 'It will be an expectation of a Dutton Liberal government that all members of the (Australian Public Service) work from the office five days a week. But the proposal was so despised it was abandoned mid-campaign, and Senator Hume has since been dumped from Opposition Leader Sussan Ley's newly-minted shadow cabinet. After spearheading the push for an end to working from home, Senator Jane Hume has been demoted to the opposition back bench. NewsWire / Monique Harmer Credit: News Corp Australia Released on Thursday, the Productivity Commission report finds arrangements where staff work from both the office and at home tend to benefit both productivity and job satisfaction. 'Allowing workers to work from home some days can improve worker satisfaction and allows people to benefit by avoiding the commute to work, meaning they have additional time for other purposes,' the commission finds. Working from home reduces sick days, breaks and distractions 'all of which are typically found to be beneficial for productivity', it says in the report. About 36 per cent of working Australians regularly do a shift from home; a tripling since before the pandemic. Working from home is markedly better for women, the Productivity Commission finds, however younger workers miss out on face-to-face learning. The report points to falling business investment as the reason national productivity fell by 1.2 per cent in 2024.
News.com.au
5 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Burnout, underinvestment to blame for productivity slump, not working from home: Aussie academic
Overwork, burnout and underinvestment are the cause of falling productivity, not working from home, a workplace expert and academic says. A major report released this week by the Productivity Commission has found working from home at least some of the time is more productive than being in the office full-time. Multinational companies are mostly pulling the rank and file workers back into offices, while government agencies and academics work to assess the effectiveness of the pandemic-era work from home shift. 'There's no evidence to suggest working from home is the root cause of these recent productivity challenges, which have been going since long before most people were working from home,' Swinburne University workplace expert  John Hopkins said. 'Overwork, burnout, underinvestment, outdated processes, and cost of living pressures are likely factors behind poor productivity.' During the federal election campaign, the Coalition quickly-abandoned a proposal for public servants to be back in offices five days a week. The architect of that failed policy, Liberal Senator Jane Hume, said in the lead-up to the election: 'It will be an expectation of a Dutton Liberal government that all members of the (Australian Public Service) work from the office five days a week. But the proposal was so despised it was abandoned mid-campaign, and Senator Hume has since been dumped from Opposition Leader Sussan Ley's newly-minted shadow cabinet. Released on Thursday, the Productivity Commission report finds arrangements where staff work from both the office and at home tend to benefit both productivity and job satisfaction. 'Allowing workers to work from home some days can improve worker satisfaction and allows people to benefit by avoiding the commute to work, meaning they have additional time for other purposes,' the commission finds. Working from home reduces sick days, breaks and distractions 'all of which are typically found to be beneficial for productivity', it says in the report. About 36 per cent of working Australians regularly do a shift from home; a tripling since before the pandemic. Working from home is markedly better for women, the Productivity Commission finds, however younger workers miss out on face-to-face learning. The report points to falling business investment as the reason national productivity fell by 1.2 per cent in 2024.
