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International students in Australia risk financial insecurity and as a result, may make suboptimal health decisions. Limited research has explored the experiences of international students' health-related financial decision making. In-depth interviews were conducted with 31 international students to explore how financial situation influences their decisions in Australia. Data were thematically analysed. Findings highlight that limited income can impact overall wellbeing and health-related decision making. When making financial health-related decisions, participants prioritised urgent health needs and education. Participants who perceived their financial situation limited were less willing to spend money on mental health services, social activities, and food. This study suggests that students may consider the long-term financial benefits of studying abroad when making decisions, but they do not consider the long-term health implications of stress and wellbeing. Enabling students to improve their financial situation and lower their expenses could enhance wellbeing and facilitate health-related decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To explore the nutritional content of meal kits from two main Australian companies over a 6‐week period against healthy eating guidelines for pregnancy. Method: Across the 6‐week period, weekly meal kits from both Provider 1 and Provider 2 were purchased, 36 individual meals were assessed. All data were analysed for the development of a macronutrient and micronutrient profile of meals. Extracted data were macronutrient, vitamin, and mineral composition, which were compared against the healthy eating guidelines for pregnant women in Australia and New Zealand. Results: Meal kits include higher levels of sodium, and lower levels of dietary fibre, calcium, magnesium, zinc, iron, thiamin, riboflavin, grains, and dairy when compared against the guidelines for healthy eating for pregnant women in Australia and New Zealand. Conclusions and implications: Meal kits may increase meals prepared and consumed in the home, and thanks to the clear instructions and pre‐portioned ingredients, may reduce stress related to food preparation. They have the potential to provide nutritionally adequate meals to pregnant women as a way to mitigate food insecurity or hunger during pregnancy and may provide some nutritional benefits and have the potential to remove some of the challenges with maintaining an adequate diet when pregnant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV refers to the daily use of antiretroviral medications by HIV uninfected persons to block a potential HIV infection. There is evidence to show that as the use of PrEP increases, the use of other safer sex practices such as condoms decreases, which may lead to an increase in sexually transmitted infections (STIs). This study aimed to explore whether PrEP had caused any challenges for organizations undertaking sexual health promotion activities in Australia. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 participants (15 males, 2 females) who were purposively sampled from a range of HIV advocacy and health promotion settings. These included publicly funded HIV/AIDS councils and organizations representing people living with HIV/AIDS. Guided by an exploratory, inductive approach, the interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis. Three themes were constructed from the data analysis. First, organizations in different jurisdictions came to support PrEP in different ways, and this influenced the way organizations engaged with PrEP and the messaging that they disseminated to their community. Second, organizations faced some barriers to promoting PrEP, with the most significant being overcoming decades of HIV prevention campaigns that focused on barrier methods only. Third, there were social benefits to PrEP, such as shifting the onus of preventing HIV transmission from HIV positive to HIV negative people. PrEP is a highly effective biomedical intervention to reduce HIV transmission, and future challenges include designing campaigns for those at risk for HIV transmission outside the MSM community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent decades have seen issues of asylum seeking and border security feature heavily in Australian federal elections, with significant campaign time and money dedicated to the promotion of border security policies that seek to limit the number of boats carrying asylum seekers. In this article, we investigate the language of threat and the construction of asylum seekers as a 'threat to national security,' we suggest that this language can be traced to the 2001 'Tampa crisis,' and that while there have been brief phases where a 'humane' approach to the arrival of asylum seekers was present, the asylum seeker 'issue' overall has been exploited by major political parties to generate positive election outcomes at the expense of Australia's humanitarian obligations. We argue that the current perception of Australia's border protection laws are a form of 'compassionate deterrence,' where inhumane treatment of asylum seekers is justified on the basis of 'saving lives.' Related Articles [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study used a mixed methods approach, incorporating a desktop review, online survey, and semistructured interview, to investigate how providers of food aid in metropolitan Melbourne are experiencing changes because of an increased demand for services. The findings of this study indicate that though many providers report an increased demand, the complex needs of clients, including issues of housing, intergenerational poverty, and limited education and employment opportunities, make addressing food insecurity a challenge for food aid providers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Issue Addressed Methods Results Conclusions So What? International students are at a heightened risk of experiencing negative health and wellbeing outcomes, which was further exacerbated during the COVID‐19 lockdowns. This research sought to explore the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on the health and wellbeing of international students in Australia.Thirty‐one international students participated in qualitative in‐depth interviews between March and April 2022 to explore their experiences of health and wellbeing during 2020–2021 while they lived and studied in Australia. Interviews were coded and analysed thematically using NVivo software.Findings highlight the impact of the pandemic on international students' mental, social and financial wellbeing, including worry about loved ones, social isolation, financial and employment insecurity and challenges related to online learning. The pandemic exacerbated and brought more attention to existing issues and placed students in unequal positions in relation to domestic students and each other.The COVID‐19 pandemic has increased students' vulnerability to poor mental health and to a range of social and financial issues.The findings of this study highlight the need for support strategies to improve international students' mental health and social wellbeing outcomes in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]