The human tide
INTERACTIVE: Track nearly 70,000 asylum seekers who have tried to reach Australia since 1990 and the more than 1500 who have died along the way.
HSC trends hark back to gender stereotypes of '50s
![Girls in the 1950s](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/19/5022766/1950s-90x60.jpg)
AMY MCNEILAGE Looking at trends in this year's HSC results, one could be forgiven for thinking the results were from the 1950s.
ATAR results: two years' hard work adds up to relative mystery
![hsc](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/18/5020179/th-791265801-90x60.jpg)
AMY MCNEILAGE Almost 55,000 of the state's school leavers will find out their ATAR on Thursday. But it is doubtful many, if any, will truly understand the intricacies of how it was calculated.
One year after Sandy Hook, Americans still up in arms
![As the U.S. Senate takes up gun legislation in Washington, DC , Mike Acevedo puts a weapon on display at the National Armory gun store on April 11](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/14/5010292/th-Extra1-90x60.jpg)
NICK O'MALLEY One year after the Sandy Hook massacre, America is still fiercely divided over its gun laws.
Automotive
Holden: Numbers tell the story for the small fry of General Motors' ecosystem
![A sign bearing the GM Holden Ltd. logo stands at the company's headquarters in Melbourne, Australia, on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2013. General Motors Co.'s Holden unit, Australia's largest carmaker, said it would shutter production lines in 2017 after 69 years, joining Ford Motor Co. in exiting an economy struggling with high costs and a strong currency. Photographer: Carla Gottgens/Bloomberg](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/14/5009430/th-holden-90x60.jpg)
MARK HAWTHORNE The story of Holden and its demise needs to be viewed through a global lens if it's to be fully understood.
Sandy Hook massacre: Gun lobby targets Australia
![Turmoil: Residents grieve following the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/12/5003022/1386193470880.jpg-90x60.jpg)
NICK O'MALLEY Australia has again become a focus of the increasingly bitter debate over gun control in the United States.
Maths tutoring adds up for students: OECD study
![Kumon tutoring centre.](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/06/4988823/mb_thumb_OECD-20131206194511268633-90x60.jpg)
AMY MCNEILAGE Many of the world's most mathematically gifted teenagers come from countries with the most lucrative tutoring industries.
University degrees worth billions to Australian wellbeing
![Degrees](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/06/4988893/mb_thumb_degrees-20131206234748188724-90x60.jpg)
MATT WADE Sitting through lectures and tutorials may be worth more than you think: the wellbeing value of a university degree is nearly $1 million.
Wasted decade as indigenous health fails to show improvement
![An Aboriginal man](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/11/27/4959260/mb_thumb_indigenous-20131127190503413663-90x60.jpg)
INGA TING Indigenous health has not improved at all in many areas of Australia over the past decade, data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday showed.
Court verdicts: More found innocent if no jury involved
![Simon Gittany](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/11/06/4900338/af-gittany-20131106152926763036-90x60.jpg)
Michaela Whitbourn The man accused of murdering his fiancee by throwing her off the balcony of their Hyde Park apartment may have improved his chances of being found innocent by being tried without a jury.
COAG report: girls ahead at school but women lag in pay stakes
![Boys and girls at school](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/11/19/4936832/cn19-thumb-girls-20131119191839232983-90x60.jpg)
JOSEPHINE TOVEY It is the "baffling contrast" in gender equality in Australia: girls generally outperform boys at school, and are more likely to hold a bachelor degree, but men continue to earn more than women in the workplace and overwhelmingly dominate leadership roles.
Our national journey to prosperity
![Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke with wife, Hazel, at the Labor Party campaign launch and policy speech at the Sydney Opera House, 23 June 1987.
SMH Picture by RICK STEVENS
portrait, mid-shot, couple, Hazel Hawke, PM, politics, politician, ALP, waving, black and white, black & white, 1980s, eighties pms](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/11/23/4948870/1aarb_20131123175921317269-90x60.jpg)
MATT WADE Statistics charting progress across Australian election years tell an interesting story, writes Matt Wade
Alarm over child drinking, multiple liquor outlets
![Drinking](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/11/12/4918162/mb_thumb_drinking-20131112223115990833-90x60.jpg)
AMY CORDEROY Children as young as 12 who live in areas saturated with liquor outlets are more likely to drink than their peers, researchers say.
Melbourne top for avoidable hospital visits
![Hospital.](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/07/11/4563693/th-hospital-90x60.jpg)
Dan Harrison Melburnians are being admitted to hospital at the highest rates in the nation for conditions that should not need hospital treatment.
How Australia eats: The ultimate pie chart
![Why are we fatter than ever and less capable of preparing food for ourselves?](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/11/04/4893553/HP-DLth-Epicure-pie-20131104101659796088-90x60.jpg)
INGA TING We've never been more preoccupied with what, where and how to eat, so why are we fatter than ever and less capable of preparing food for ourselves? Here are the facts and figures.
Home truths
![Auction](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/06/03/4460310/auction320-90x60.jpg)
MATT WADE As Sydney house prices break records, economists warn that $1 million suburbs are the new normal.
200 schools worse off in new scheme
![The principal Peter Ezzy of Plumpton High with students Christy Velasco who is in year 10 and her brother
Joma who is in year 8.](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/10/22/4851308/JT_thumb_plumpton-20131022195908948590-90x60.jpg)
JOSEPHINE TOVEY More than 200 public schools in NSW, many in low socio-economic areas, will receive less funding next year under the new Gonski-inspired model, despite an overall $100 million boost to the sector.
HIV increase at a 20-year high
![Medical Generic.](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/10/20/4846046/ab-th-HIV-20131020205341361570-90x60.jpg)
AMY CORDEROY Australia has had the biggest jump in new HIV cases in two decades, leading experts to call for urgent action to tackle the disease.
UK
If London's still calling, young Aussies have stopped listening
![walkabout pub](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/10/20/4844874/2010-walkabout-thumb-90x60.jpg)
NICK MILLER The British capital is losing some of its allure.
Food shortage means thousands go hungry as data shows shift in needy
![Supermarket](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/10/15/4832890/mb_thumb_salvos_20131015185401933782-90x60.jpg)
ESTHER HAN Charities are turning away more than 10,000 people seeking food parcels and free meals every month in NSW - nearly half the hungry mouths being children - because of depleted food stocks, a national report shows.
AFL
How your club fared in the free agency and trade period
![AFL trade period wrap (Thumbnail)](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/10/25/4861038/trade32-90x60.jpg)
Compiled by Emma Quayle and Michael Gleeson It has taken three weeks but the AFL free agency and trade period has finally ended. Emma Quayle and Michael Gleeson examine which clubs 'won' and which didn't.
Geography loses as HSC students map their futures
![HSC exam](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/10/04/4805864/th-hsc-90x60.jpg)
AMY MCNEILAGE HSC students are increasingly choosing subjects such as legal studies and construction with their eye on a future job, at the expense of languages and complex maths subjects.
Suicide link to ADHD drug
![Pharmaceuticals](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/10/04/4805992/th-drug-90x60.jpg)
Amy Corderoy A nine-year-old boy has killed himself and two other children have attempted suicide while taking a drug used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, federal drug authorities have said.
Broncos top of the league teams
![NRL trophy](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/10/06/4807949/trophy2-90x60.jpg)
MICHAEL CARAYANNIS Brisbane Broncos are officially the most successful team in rugby league history.
Pharmacies next target of big two, say analysts
![-](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/09/27/4784859/th-sa-pharmacies-20130927190657967407-90x60.jpg)
SARAH WHYTE The growing empires of Australia's two big supermarkets have been branded an international oddity amid a prediction pharmacies may be their next conquest.
Property
How to spot a housing bubble
![Housing bubble.](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/09/18/4758473/ZAH_bubble_TN-20130918191651387385-90x60.jpg)
GLENDA KWEK There's no doubt house prices are high - but are we already in bubble territory? Here's a checklist.
Generation EEO
![Cynthia Whelan, CEO of Barclays Bank in Sydney.
30th November 2012
Photo: Janie Barrett](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/09/20/4765899/th-generationeeo5-20-2--90x60.jpg)
RACHEL BROWNE Our federal cabinet might have only one woman but since the 1980s equal employment opportunity has been in place. We look at women who have moved to the top of their professions on this 'level' playing field.
Rudd saved Labor, leaked polling shows
![Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd.](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/06/23/4513977/th-art-Rudd-90x60.jpg)
Jonathan Swan, Bianca Hall, Rick Feneley Labor would have been reduced to a parliamentary rump had it not replaced Julia Gillard with Kevin Rudd as prime minister, according to leaked internal polling.
Few women, lots of private school Catholics
Matt Wade The lopsided gender balance of Tony Abbott's cabinet has caused a stir. But how does it compare with the Australian population on other major demographic characteristics such as age, religion, schooling and occupation?
Comment
Sorry kids, to be honest, we're not a charity
![dink.](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/09/19/4762141/Daniel%20Flitton%20dinkus-90x60.jpg)
DANIEL FLITTON Opinion Australia needs to make sure it spends wisely when it helps overseas.
Washington massacre: Don't expect gun reform
![Washington](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/09/17/4754215/washington320-90x60.jpg)
NICK O'MALLEY Early on Monday afternoon in the US most of the nation was gripped by the notion that while one gunman was "down" in the DC Navy Yard others might be on the lose. That suggested the mass shooting may have been a terrorist attack.
Gen Y makes a sharp turn away from driving
![New train](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/09/13/4746811/mb_thumb_pubtrans_20130913193251124296-90x60.jpg)
Jacob Saulwick, Conrad Walters Sydney's 20-somethings are fast ditching their cars for public transport, previously unpublished figures show, revealing the trend is widespread in the city.
Wine no longer enough, buyers want the backstory
![Tom harvey.](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/09/14/4748923/am-th-wine-20130914234855575821-90x60.jpg)
ESTHER HAN When it comes to exports, South Australia's Barossa reigns supreme over every other wine region in Australia. Last financial year alone, it splashed the world with 12 million litres worth $110 million.
State schools raise $329m to lift income
![School Principle Chris Short with Prsesident of the School Council Sharron Clober.](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/08/27/4697335/th-primary-school-90x60.jpg)
Craig Butt and Benjamin Preiss There is no such thing as a free lunch; or a free education.
Teen drinking falls but concern over risk takers
![Alcohol abuse costs a fortune (Thumbnail)](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/08/06/4633784/drunk_sm-90x60.jpg)
AMY CORDEROY The number of schoolchildren drinking alcohol has fallen dramatically over the past 30 years, a large study of NSW students has found.
Fine words but childcare still overcrowded
![Stephanie Morrell with kids from Only About Children childcare](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/08/24/4690295/mb_thumb_daycare_20130824193153807564-90x60.jpg)
Cosima Marriner, Craig Butt One-third of Sydney childcare centres have no vacancies, forcing some parents to wait nearly two years for a place, with neither Labor nor the Coalition outlining a solution to the childcare crisis experts say is hampering women's workforce participation.
Education
Australia the world's most expensive place for overseas students
![education](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/08/13/4657601/th-715457414-90x60.jpg)
GLENDA KWEK Australia is the most expensive country for international students, ahead of the US and UK, but the falling currency and improved visa processes could soon seen a resurgence in numbers.
George St takes city's dining crown off Surry Hills
![China Lane.](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/09/09/4731764/sm-th-china-lane-20130909110526811779-90x60.jpg)
Ardyn Bernoth Where is Sydney's hottest, most happening eat street? If you thought Crown Street, Surry Hills, think again. The city's George Street takes the crown as Sydney's star culinary strip. And the CBD is our dining epicentre.
'I've never seen anything like it': theft rates drop
![Police Comissioner Andrew Scipione](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/08/12/4656143/mb_thumb_scipione_20130812184205512881-90x60.jpg)
EMMA PARTRIDGE Less heroin use, a booming economy and tougher policing have led to a 59 per cent drop in robberies across NSW in the past decade, new figures show.
Crackdown for payment adds to effect of rising bills
![Bills.](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2012/08/17/3564587/th-carbon-th-90x60.jpg)
Julie Power Energy companies are cracking down on people who can't pay their power bills, as experts warn ''energy poverty'' is intensifying.
A change in diversity at James Ruse
![James Ruse Agricultural School.](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/08/03/4627544/AM-TH-JAMESRUSE-20130803194352213470-90x60.jpg)
JOSEPHINE TOVEY The number of students from non-English speaking backgrounds gaining admission to Sydney's top selective high school has fallen significantly in the past two years.
Urban sprawl eats into Sydney's farmland
![Warren Rowles](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/07/27/4608552/th-flowe-90x60.jpg)
ESTHER HAN Despite his family growing peaches and lemons on the fringes of Sydney for nearly 50 years, Warren Rowles says the farming tradition will end with him.
Canine aggression rises as funding bitten
![Dog Attack](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/07/16/4575753/1_mb_thumb_dogattack_20130716191541654120-90x60.jpg)
Tim Barlass The number of dog attacks on people in NSW has increased threefold since 2007 but funding for companion animal issues has been cut in the latest budget.
Rental affordability plunges in south-east
![Generic Canberra Photos pictured is Canberra home for lease today 13th of July 2009 photograph Glen McCurtayne AFR BRW REAL ESTATE](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/07/14/4570506/th-lease-90x60.jpg)
Craig Butt Big drop in affordable rental properties for traditionally low-cost areas of Melbourne's south-east.
A tale of two rail lines
![Altona station](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/07/08/4554825/th-ALTONA-90x60.jpg)
Adam Carey, Craig Butt Two rail lines diverge in Altona North; some take the one less travelled by, and that has made all the difference.
Ratepayers hit with 5% rise
![rates](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/07/05/4548909/rates-90x60.jpg)
Aisha Dow and Craig Butt Every Victorian ratepayer will have to find more this year - an average of $76 per household.
Tram squeeze eases but some still suffer
![Crowded tram](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/06/19/4504122/th-CROWDED_TRAM1-90x60.jpg)
Adam Carey and Craig Butt Overcrowding on peak-hour trams has eased in the past year but remains a stubborn problem on a number of Melbourne routes.
Book review
A pioneer retraces the data trail
![Facts Are Sacred book cover](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/06/19/4502724/th-Facts_Are_Sacred-90x60.jpg)
CONRAD WALTERS When The Guardian marked its centenary, its editor penned an essay that declared "comment is free, but facts are sacred".
At a glance: NSW budget 2013
![Mike Baird](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/06/18/4499171/mikebaird320-90x60.jpg)
The main points from this year's New South Wales state budget, delivered by Treasurer Mike Baird.
Gonski reforms: what your school will get?
![schools teacher gonski thumb](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/06/16/4494772/1706-school-thumb-90x60.jpg)
Jewel Topsfield, Craig Butt and Henrietta Cook Every one of Victoria's 1522 state schools would receive funding increases over the next six years 'if the state signs up to the Gonski reforms'.
Hospital over budget, close to capacity
![Hospital](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/06/07/4473959/th-hospitals-90x60.jpg)
AMY CORDEROY Doctors at one of Sydney's top hospitals say emergency and resuscitation beds that are desperately needed for patient care are lying dormant because of funding shortfalls.
Mental illness costing $190b a year
![Depression](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/06/07/4473955/th-depression-202-90x60.jpg)
MATT WADE The cost of mental illness to Australia's collective wellbeing has reached $190 billion a year - equivalent to about 12 per cent of the economy's annual output.
The landscape composed of bits and bytes
![Jonathan Harris' interactive installation](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/06/03/4460965/th-harris2-90x60.jpg)
CONRAD WALTERS In Code Land, California, where artist and computer scientist Jonathan Harris spends much of his time, 10,000 daisies can sway in unison and birds with identical plumage can soar across the sky in parallel lines. But it would be awfully boring.
GovHack
It's a date, for tinkering with official data
![Paul Taylor and Kim Tinson printing jewellery from data and plastic with the 3D printer they built themselves [from a kit]
The Age/News, Picture Michael Clayton-Jones, Story Craig Butt](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/06/02/4458330/th-govhack-90x60.jpg)
Craig Butt Welcome to GovHack, a nation-wide carnival of innovation that drew people to work with public government data.
Cycle data riding high on reader feedback
![Michael Walker is a 41yo man who was commuting on his bicycle every day for up to 2 hours a day - Shown here in hospital after he was recently involved in a collision with a car suffering soserious injuries as a result.](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/06/01/4457190/-th-bike-90x60.jpg)
Marc Moncrief and Craig Butt He was half-naked, his body was broken and Michael Walker could not remember a thing.
GovHack 2013 gets underway
![Computer tinkerers](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/06/01/4456408/IMGP0541-hack_320x214-90x60.jpg)
Craig Butt Hundreds of computer tinkerers, journalists, techno-boffins and curious others are gathering in cities across the country to point their skills at government data.
Would you like extra germs with that?
![Bad apple](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/05/31/4452929/Bad%20apple-90x60.jpg)
See if your favourite restaurant is on the state's name and shame list.
Family violence drives up crime rate
![Domestic violence is on the rise in Victoria.](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/02/28/4068512/domestic-violence-th-90x60.jpg)
Nino Bucci, Craig Butt and Jared Lynch Family violence has again been used to explain a leap in the state's crime rate.
Immunisation rates trail poorer countries
![-](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/05/29/4447921/th-sa-immunisation-20130529181607188357-90x60.jpg)
RACHEL BROWNE Australian immunisation rates are lower than those of many developing countries including Rwanda, Eritrea and Bangladesh, according to a global report.
Cyclists' years of living dangerously
![On yer bike.](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2012/02/06/2942119/cyclists-90x60.jpg)
Craig Butt and Aisha Dow Serious injuries among middle-aged cyclists have almost tripled in Victoria since 2000, analysis of Transport Accident Commission data shows.
Cyclists get warning on danger spots
![Brendon McCleary.](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/05/21/4291179/th-mccleary-90x60.jpg)
Marc Moncrief and Aisha Dow Researchers have identified the five areas in Melbourne where cyclists are most likely to be killed or seriously injured.
2013 Federal Budget interactive
![Sweet and sour budget (Thumbnail)](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/05/16/4278172/TH-finalbudget2013-90x60.jpg)
Explore this year's federal budget to see where the money comes from and goes to.
Abbott parental leave to be among world's best
![mother, pram, child, stroller, maternity leave, childcare, children, mother s group.](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/05/10/4263157/th-child-mother-90x60.jpg)
STEPHANIE PEATLING The Coalition's paid parental leave would be among the most generous in the world both in its length and the amount it paid to parents.
At home with numbers
![kitchen sink with numbers](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/05/09/4257972/th-sink2-90x60.jpg)
CONRAD WALTERS Surely, Excel must have a formula to calculate who does the most dinner dishes. Or takes out the trash the most frequently, while it's raining, in winter, when children are bellowing.
Road to riches paved with good incisions
![Money](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/05/03/4244494/th-rich-90x60.jpg)
MATT WADE How many surgeons does it take to earn a billion dollars? Surprisingly few, according to the latest tax figures.
Fake followers boost politicians' popularity
![x](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2012/11/30/3855057/twitter-90x60.jpg)
Craig Butt and Thomas Hounslow The Twitter accounts of Julia Gillard, Tony Abbott, Kevin Rudd and other prominent politicians are being targeted by ''spam bots'', dramatically inflating their follower numbers.
One day on the Western Front
![Captain (later Lieutenant Colonel and CMG, DSO and MC) Aubrey Roy Liddon Wiltshire, the Adjutant of the 22nd Battalion, AIF, at the Battalion office.](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/04/24/4219110/th-western-20font-90x60.jpg)
Tim Barlass An extract from the diary of Aubrey Wiltshire, a bank officer from Melbourne who served with the 22nd Battalion, D Company, AIF. Wiltshire was 24 years old when he boarded HMAT Ulysses on May 10, 1915.
City roads crowded with solo drivers
![Buses on a very congested Hoddle Street in Collingwood. The Age. Photo: Angela Wylie. July 2 2012.](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/04/14/4190881/th-traffic-melbourne-90x60.jpg)
Jason Dowling and Adam Carey More people are driving solo in Melbourne's choked peak-hour traffic, with thousands of motorists being fined every year for driving in bus or transit lanes.
Tornadoes in Australia
![Tornado in Batemans Bay.](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/03/27/4144840/tornado_web-90x60.jpg)
See every Australian tornado visualised in this marvelous interactive feature by our colleagues at the Border Mail.
Massive fires dwarf nations
![Rob090208.001.005.jpg
Fire Chum Creek seen from Healsville (saturday 7 Feb).
Picture: Rob Carew 0421 124 830](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/01/11/3947387/th-fire-90x60.jpg)
Bevan Shields The Coonabarabran fire in South Australia is bigger than about 75 different countries, including Luxembourg, Samoa and Singapore. Compare its size to your home town on our interactive map.
Oodnadatta heat beats the hot Plates
![Owner of the Pink Roadhouse Oodnadatta, Lynnie Plate (left) with her twin sister Annie Trevillian and Lynnie's dog Minnie Mack.](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/01/11/3947129/th-ladies-90x60.jpg)
RACHEL OLDING Halfway along a dirt road between Coober Pedy and the Simpson Desert, a little sea of shimmering corrugated iron roofs marks the hottest place in Australia.
City's poor get sick, the rich get drunk
![Sunbaker.](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/01/05/3932865/th-poor-th-90x60.jpg)
AMY CORDEROY Behind the healthy and wealthy facade of the northern beaches lies a secret problem: alcohol.
Sharks: facts and fiction
![Shark in aquarium.](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227222359im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/01/05/3932868/th-sharks-th-90x60.jpg)
Karen Thorne Bondi Beach cleared, shark sightings forcing swimmers out of Manly's surf, a lifeguard knocked off his board at Dee Why – Sydneysiders heading to the beach could be excused for feeling under threat.
Special features
Most dangerous suburbs
Ten Sydney suburbs account for almost 30 per cent of the city's gun violence.
You be the Treasurer
How would you balance the books? Have a go at being the Treasurer with our interactive.
Population interactive
How Australia got to 23 million.
Census 2012 interactive
Browse through data on Australia's population to see how we live.
How we get to work
Our interactive map compares modes of travel in the Victorian capital.
Ten years after Bali
Our interactive tour of the attack, the terrorist and the lives lost.
Political Interests
Revealed: Politicians' gifts, trips and tickets. A searchable database.
Facebook facts
Friends with money: the global social phenomenon.
Who holds the power
Map the links between Australia's top companies.
Digital Dreamers
Australian startup innovation goes to Silicon Valley.
Wounded in Afghanistan
The road home for Aussie soldiers injured in battle.
Federal Budget 2012
Visualise all the numbers in the 2012 Federal Budget.
My School rankings
Searchable database: How NSW schools rank.