The Top Fifty Australian movies of all time, compiled by The Age/Sydney Morning Herald

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The Top Fifty Australian movies of all time, compiled by The Age/Sydney Morning Herald

30 April 2026

Lindy Percival, Nathanael Scott, Daniel Carter, and others:

This list of our 50 best films will likely provoke debate, but with the aid of 24 experts, including directors, actors, critics, curators and authors, what follows is an inspiring reminder of what we’ve seen so far and a heartfelt encouragement to go on watching our stories on screen.

Spoilers: Crocodile Dundee doesn’t feature, though The Castle does, but overall the fifty selected titles are indicative — I think — of the best Australian film.

Bad Boy Bubby, The Devil’s Playground, Ten Canoes, and Walkabout, are among entries listed earlier on. The top twenty is definitely on the money, with the likes of Nitram, The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, Snowtown, Beneath Clouds, Somersault, Rabbit-Proof Fence, Animal Kingdom, Picnic at Hanging Rock, and Samson & Delilah.

Some of these titles are not easy to watch, but are exemplary instances of local film and storytelling.

Australian author David Malouf dies at age 92

29 April 2026

David Malouf, the Miles Franklin and Booker Prize winning author, died last week, Wednesday 22 April 2026, in the Australian state of Queensland.

If you’re unfamiliar with Malouf’s work, Sydney Morning Herald writer Nell Geraets has complied a list of seven “must-read” Malouf titles.

The 2026 Global Book Crawl is in progress

23 April 2026

Nearly missed this, staying focused can be tricky, to say the least, at times like these. The book crawl was established just last year by Federico Lang, who works at Librería Luces, an independent bookstore in the Spanish city of Málaga.

I’m told this year about one-hundred-and-fifty Australian booksellers are involved. The full list of shops taking part globally can be seen here. If book crawl participants collect five stamps in a crawl “passport” — obtainable from any bookshop involved — they become eligible for a reward.

The 2026 event concludes on Sunday 26 April 2026.

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Australia, books, events

Summers starting sooner, becoming longer and hotter, in many places

15 April 2026

Erik Rolfsen, writing for the University of British Columbia (UBC):

A new study by UBC researchers has found that between 1990 and 2023, the average summer between the tropics and the polar circles grew about six days longer per decade. That’s up from roughly four days per decade found in past research investigating up until the early 2010s.

On a day less than a week ago, the maximum temperature in Sydney, NSW, was forecast to reach thirty-three degrees Celsius. That’s nearly a month and a half into what is meant to be autumn in this part of the world. Sure, one swallow does not a summer make, so to speak, and the region can experience unseasonably warm days anytime of the year, I know.

But the UBC findings confirm what many of us have long suspected: summers today are longer and warmer than they once were. The consequences are far reaching though, impacting on health, water supplies, and food production, among other things.

No basic income for Australian artists, but some writers can live in reduced rent accommodation

14 April 2026

Ireland pays a select group of artists a basic income for a three year period, an initiative the Irish government claims is a world first.

At present, the weekly value of the payment equates to about five-hundred-and-forty Australian dollars. You’d be hard pressed to live on that sort of money in Australia, but it’s better than nothing, considering no such scheme exists locally.

But there is a glimmer of hope. For some local creatives at least. The NSW state government is offering writers the opportunity to rent terrace houses in The Rocks area of Sydney, for two-hundred dollars (Australian) per week.

Spots are limited, and creatives still need a source of income, but the initiative is a (small) step in the right direction. To be eligible, a writer must be considered to be a literature practitioner:

In this instance, ‘Literature Practitioners’ are defined as: writers working in any creative form, including fiction, short stories, screenplay/drama, poetry, children’s books, and narrative non-fiction, and illustrators working in children’s books and graphic novels. The Program is open to NSW Literature Practitioners at any stage of their career.

The Titanic Story of Evelyn, a biography by Lisa Wilkinson

13 April 2026

Evelyn Marsden, a steward and nurse on the Titanic’s doomed 1912 maiden voyage, became known as the only Australian woman to survive the tragic sinking of the ocean liner.

Marsden helped distressed passengers, before eventually being told to get into a lifeboat.

Growing up, Marsden used to row in the Murray River, during family holidays, and would set herself the challenge of rowing against the tide. The skill proved invaluable as she helped row the lifeboat she was aboard, with forty other people, against the pull the sinking Titanic exerted on them.

Marsden was born in Stockyard Creek, South Australia in 1883. After the sinking, she married William James, a doctor who also worked for the White Star Line, owner of the Titanic.

They lived in South Australia for some years before moving to Bondi. Marsden died at age fifty-four in 1938, and is buried in Waverley Cemetery, with her husband, who died a short time afterwards.

Marsden’s life is now the subject of a biography, The Titanic Story of Evelyn, written by Australian TV presenter and journalist, Lisa Wilkinson, which is being published tomorrow, Tuesday 14 April 2026.

AI powered traffic cameras enforce road laws with an iron fist

1 March 2026

Emma Wynne, writing for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC):

When Perth mother Lisa Taylor’s 11-year-old daughter slipped one arm out of her seatbelt, the family had been on the road for over two hours, returning from a holiday in Dunsborough over the Christmas period. The transgression was picked up by one of WA‘s new AI safety cameras, which detect people not wearing or incorrectly wearing seatbelts and using mobile phones.

Police in the Australian state of Western Australia (WA) issued thirty-one thousand infringement notices to drivers in the month commencing early October 2025.

AI technology installed in road cameras were intended to target drivers handling phones, and improper seatbelt usage, but appear to have a keen eye, having detected numerous traffic violations.

I’m not aware of the use of AI equipped road safely cameras in other Australian states, though they may be present, but the WA initiative is looking like the future of traffic law enforcement to me.

Meanjin magazine given reprieve by Queensland University of Technology

14 February 2026

The Australian literary journal closed late last year after then publisher, Melbourne University Press (MUP), said the long running publication was no longer financially viable.

Earlier this week, the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) said it had taken ownership of the magazine, and quarterly publication will resume.

There will no doubt be rejoicing in Australian literary circles at the news. MUP’s decision to close the magazine, which was launched in 1940, was roundly criticised at the time.

Creative Australia opens applications for a National Poet Laureate

10 February 2026

Applications are open until 17 March 2026, for the role of Australian National Poet Laureate:

The National Poet Laureate is a three‑year appointment that recognises an outstanding Australian poet whose work and cultural contribution have shaped contemporary poetry and its readership. The Laureate serves as a respected public spokesperson and champion for Australian poetry, highlighting its diversity, richness and cultural significance.

Australia has not had a Poet Laureate since, I believe, 1821. Michael Massey Robinson, a convict from England no less, was appointed to the role in 1810.

The history books tell us Robinson was paid with cows for his services. The next Poet Laureate, who will be announced in October this year, will receive financial remuneration.

I thought Evelyn Araluen, who won the 2022 Stella Prize, an Australian literary award, for her debut collection of poetry, Drop Bear, would suit the role.

To be in the running though, applicants must, among other things, have had at least three professionally published books of poetry. To date, Araluen has written two works.

Maybe another time then.

Heatwaves impact daytime spending habits of Australian consumers

6 February 2026

Luke Cooper writing for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC):

Researchers found on days when maximum temperatures were 35C or higher, which the Bureau of Meteorology classifies as a “hot day”, a $5.4 million collapse in daily daytime consumer spending was recorded.

However, on a recent excessively warm day, consumer spending increased by five percent from six o’clock in the evening until about five hours later. That makes sense as people stay in their hopefully cooler homes, until it is a little more comfortable to go out later in the day.

The impact of climate change is indeed far reaching.

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