Pathways Melbourne, a silver lining for vulnerable Jewish youth and those leaving ultra-orthodoxy
Through this collaboration they are establishing Orly House, a safe haven for children and teenagers at crisis points.
Dassi Erlich (Author and justice campaigner)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News.com.au
an hour ago
- News.com.au
Why former Ramsay boss sees EMVision's portable stroke detection tech as game-changing
Former Ramsay boss and new EMVision director Carmel Monaghan believes its early stroke detection tech can transform lives Monaghan says EMVision is filling a gap in the market which could improve stroke outcomes Leading stroke centres in Australia and US taking part in pivotal trial for EMVision's first device, the emu bedside scanner EMVision's newest high-profile board director Carmel Monaghan believes the company's technology for early detection of stroke has the potential to "transform people's lives". Monaghan, who has joined the EMVision board as a non-executive director, stepped down this month from Ramsay Health Care (ASX:RHC) after five years as CEO of Ramsay Australia. Ramsay is Australia's largest private hospital operator and offers a range of multidisciplinary healthcare services along with extensive operations internationally. "EMVision is filling a gap in the market, and I've been impressed with the level of research undertaken over the last seven or eight years to bring rapid portable stroke sensing and imaging to point of care, which will really transform people's lives," Monaghan told Stockhead. "We know that time is brain in stroke diagnostics so getting quick, easy access to that neurodiagnostic solution can lead to a much-improved outcome." EMVision is currently undertaking a pivotal trial to support US Food and Drug (FDA) de novo (new device) clearance for its first commercial device – the emu bedside scanner – which is designed to rapidly diagnose stroke at the point-of-care. If granted clearance emu is anticipated to become the predicate device for its second device, First Responder, allowing an expedited 510(k) FDA pathway for the pre-hospital market. Leading stroke centres in Australia and the US are taking part in the trial including Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, Houston's Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center and the Mayo Clinic in Florida. EMV is also advancing a strategy to drive ongoing device innovation, refine its algorithms and generate data to support potential expansion of indications to include traumatic brain injury (TBI). This work forms part of EMVision's Continuous Innovation Study, which has received ethics approval to start scanning patients with suspected stroke or TBI at Brisbane's Princess Alexandra Hospital and Newcastle's John Hunter Hospital – both high-volume, comprehensive stroke and level-one trauma centres. Interest in advancing medical innovation Monaghan brings nearly 30 years of experience across hospital, corporate, and international roles at Ramsay. Before becoming CEO in 2020, she served as group chief of staff for Ramsay's global operations, gaining deep operational and strategic insight into the healthcare sector in both Australia and overseas. Monaghan also held the role of group head of marketing and public affairs, where she led the company's marketing, brand and communications strategy during a period of significant global expansion that saw Ramsay become one of the world's leading private healthcare operators. "I'm passionate about enhancing patient care through emphasising and embedding research and clinical trials into operations," Monaghan said. "I drove the expansion of clinical trials at Ramsay because I could see how this made a difference to clinical outcomes and people's lives. "At any one time, we had more than 250 clinical trials being undertaken at Ramsay facilities. "I am really interested in getting research to implementation and giving people hope and that has been a big passion of mine and what I love about medicine." Monaghan emphasised that whether it's drugs or devices, the goal is the same – to test and prove their impact, ultimately improving not just mortality rates but quality of life for people living with the burden of disease. "I've seen it with cancer drugs, robotic technology and that is what attracted me to EMVision. "It is health innovation with purpose and impact." World-renowned clinical team Monaghan noted EMVision's impressive technical, clinical and leadership team. She joins vastly experienced clinicians, medtech and business leaders on the board. The company's clinical advisory group also includes world-leading clinicians, working to address a strong clinical need. "EMVision have world-leading neurologists advising them along with huge luminary hospitals in the US like Mayo and Mt Sinnai, which are now scanning and enrolling patients,' she said, noting there are around 12.5 million strokes globally each year with 6.5 million dying annually. "It is a big burden of disease and one in four people globally over 25 will have a stroke in their lifetime, which has increased 50% over the past 17 years. "With stroke every minute counts and the outcome is heavily influenced by how quick the treatment is delivered. "Both the emu and First Responder will fill a gap where CT is just not practical and means the clinician who needs to make a quick treatment decision can do that effectively." She added that in the future there will also be interest in how the devices could be used to promptly diagnose TBI. "That is down the track, but it has great potential with studies underway at the John Hunter and the Princess Alexandra Hospital that will allow us to begin evaluating traumatic brain injury using our technology." Australia's global edge in health innovation Mongahan said Australia had long punched above its weight in health innovation, producing homegrown companies that have made a global impact. From hospitals to high-tech medical devices, the nation has cultivated a strong foundation in scientific research and clinical excellence – factors that continue to drive international success. She pointed to ASX-listed healthcare heavyweights such as Ramsay, blood products leader CSL (ASX:CSL), hearing implant pioneer Cochlear (ASX:COH), diagnostics and imaging specialist Sonic Healthcare (ASX:SHL), and sleep disorder device manufacturer ResMed (ASX:RMD) as world-class companies. "I have always admired how fantastic Australia is with healthcare and it's because we have such well-trained doctors and good scientific research," she said. "They've all been amazing, admirable companies which have been able to successfully transition overseas. "I think it's exciting how Australia has always performed so strongly in the health field, driven by world-class scientific research and highly trained medical professionals." At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While EMVision is a Stockhead advertiser, it did not sponsor this article.
ABC News
2 hours ago
- ABC News
Federal government investigates Magnetic South's alleged illegal land clearing
The federal government is investigating alleged illegal land clearing at the proposed site of a new coal mine at Dingo in central Queensland. Drone footage taken by the Queensland Conservation Council shows about 200 hectares of land have been cleared since May at the site, 120 kilometres west of Rockhampton. The proposed Gemini Coal Mine would be operated by mining company Magnetic South and have a 25-year life span. Queensland Conservation Council's gas and coal campaigner Charlie Cox said the area was inhabited by endangered species, including greater gliders and koalas. "The proposed mine is kind of between two national parks; it has high biodiversity value," she said. "We were able to put the drone up and see fresh green trees lying on the ground at the site that is proposed at this coal mine." Ms Cox said the mining company had not received approval for the land clearing under the federal government's Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC). A Magnetic South spokesperson said all the work had been done in accordance with the law. "The metallurgical coal project near Dingo in central Queensland takes its environmental obligations seriously and is committed to ensuring that all of its activities are carried out in compliance with applicable state and federal laws, including the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth) and Environmental Protection Act 1994 (Qld)," they said. The spokesperson said all activities were conducted in line with the conditions set by the "not a controlled action (NCA)" guidelines. The term NCA, outlined in the EPBC, reflects an action that is unlikely to have an impact on protected species. The spokesperon also said the company had negotiated a Cultural Heritage Investigation and Management Agreement with Gaangalu Nation People, undertaken Aboriginal cultural heritage surveys before the clearing and collected all the identified artefacts. "Magnetic South … has Gaangalu Nation People field officers onsite when clearing activities take place to confirm there are no additional artefacts that were previously not found being disturbed," they said. A Department of Environment spokesperson said it was investigating the allegations and could not comment further at this stage. "Federal government documents say that it needs to be approved and put through the process, and they said that hasn't happened yet," Ms Cox said. If the company is found to have breached environmental laws, it could result in a penalty of up to $13 million. Traditional owners say they were not informed about the work before it began. Ghungalu woman Zhanae Dodd said traditional owners had been holding ceremonies on country for the past two weeks, after learning about the clearing. "We only became aware a month or so ago, so very recently, and through yarns that my elders had with other people," she said. The Ghungalu community has been fighting for a native title claim for almost 30 years. "Even though we haven't gotten native title, it has still been recognised that we are the traditional custodians of that country," Ms Dodd said. Magnetic South said it valued the relationships with the local community and other stakeholders. The investigation is ongoing.
ABC News
2 hours ago
- ABC News
Inside Operation Babylift, which brought Vietnamese orphans to Australia at the Fall of Saigon
When Des Wraight joined the military in 1962, he did not imagine he would be required to change hundreds of nappies. But in April 1975, he found himself involved in the evacuation of thousands of children during the final weeks of the Vietnam War. Mr Wraight was on the first of four Qantas flights from Bangkok to Sydney which carried children who had been taken out of the country in what was known as Operation Babylift. "We picked up these children ranging from a few months old to about 10 years, and the babies were all in cardboard boxes," he said. The cardboard cribs were strapped in with seatbelts and toddlers lay on seats with a pillow. Mr Wraight, a corporal with the Australian Army Intelligence 3rd Battalion, served on the Thai-Malay border and the Malay Peninsula in Sarawak during the Indonesian Confrontation before his stint in Vietnam. Vietnamese was one of five languages the resident of Brunswick Heads on the New South Wales North Coast mastered. Mr Wraight used his language skills to calm bewildered and frightened children on the flight out of Vietnam. "A couple of the older ones — I think they were around about 10 — came up and asked me in Vietnamese, 'Where are we going?'" he said. Mr Wraight said the babies aboard the flight to Australia "kept the crew very busy". "They were fed formula, but it didn't agree with them," he said. "Most of the babies had diarrhoea — I spent most of the night changing nappies. "I said to my wife, 'I am never going to change a nappy again. I have done my deed!'" Operation Babylift was the largest evacuation of orphaned children ever undertaken, but not all had lost their parents. "As the war dragged on, more and more families were unable to feed their children, the situation was extremely desperate," the Australian War Memorial's Emily Hyles said. As the West began to withdraw from Vietnam, the US funded an operation to airlift 2,000 orphaned children to America, 700 to Europe and 300 to Australia. Those assigned to the shorter flight to Australia were often the weakest or sickest and some died en route. Ms Hyles said many orphans were adopted by loving families, but adapting to life in Australia was easier for those who were babies. "The older children had to learn [language and culture] and it must surely have been a much harder transition," she said. Van Minh Nguyen was nine years old when he arrived in Australia on April 17, 1975. "The memories of those flights and the people who cared for me in the aftermath are etched vividly in my mind," he said. "The sense of uncertainty and loss was overwhelming, but it was also a time of hope and resilience." Mr Nguyen's two foster family placements were short-lived. "I never quite felt like I belonged," he said. "I remember the day I was returned to an orphanage in Sydney like it was yesterday. Mr Nguyen was placed with a foster family in Orange who then moved to Cargo, but was never adopted by them. When he was 13, he was returned to an orphanage at Castle Hill. "It hit me that fostering can feel like leasing out a child for a short period," Mr Nguyen said. He was then placed with a family at Dundas in Sydney's north-west. "I lived with this family from age 14 until a couple of months before my 15th birthday, when I went back to the orphanage briefly," Mr Nguyen said. At that time, he received permission from his state ward to join the Royal Australian Navy as a junior recruit at HMAS Leeuwin in Western Australia. "I was drawn to the discipline and structure it offered," Mr Nguyen said. "It was a familiar environment, given my experience growing up in orphanages in Sydney." Mr Nguyen found a family in the Royal Australian Navy, where he served for eight years before being medically discharged after a serious accident. He then served as a public servant for 21 years, working in the NSW Attorney General's Department for Court Services. Now retired, Mr Nguyen volunteers as a mentor. "I'm proud to give back and support the development of our youths," he said. Like many of the other Vietnamese children who came to Australia, Mr Nguyen has tried to learn more about his heritage and the circumstances that led to him being given to an orphanage in Saigon when he was a toddler. "With a name like Nguyen, being so common, it's been tough to track down any leads," he said.
