• AUGUST 25

Readers discuss problems with Victoria's myki ticketing system.

• AUGUST 24

Readers discussed the federal government's plebiscite on same-sex marriage.

• AUGUST 23

Readers express support for our hard-working athletes and compare their integrity with that of some of the nation's leaders in politics, business and religious communities.

• AUGUST 22

Readers deplore the resources spent on high-level sport when so many other areas urgently need funding.

• AUGUST 21

The senator must provide the evidence regarding what he claims is corruption and manipulation of climate science data. If he can't, the media must simply ignore him.

• AUGUST 19

Readers plead with the government to end the stalemate on the refugees held indefinitely on Nauru and Manus Island.

• AUGUST 19

Readers are not surprised by the decision of Vietnam's government to restrict access to the memorial site, with some wondering how Australians would behave if roles were reversed.

• AUGUST 18

Readers point out that poor pay ensures the most able students look to other careers ahead of teaching. Similarly, accepting students with low ATARs devalues the profession.

• AUGUST 17

Readers continue to discuss education issues, including how we can attract the best and brightest to teaching.

• AUGUST 16

Readers discuss education, including the overly formulaic approach to teaching, single-sex schools and the teaching of languages.

• AUGUST 15

Readers discuss the Olympic Games.

• AUGUST 14

Readers continue to debate the plight of asylum seekers in offshore detention centres.

• AUGUST 13

Readers discuss the plight of asylum seekers, particularly those who are detained in offshore detention camps.

• AUGUST 12

The Australian Bureau of Statistics and the government have completely misread the mood of the people with their emphasis on punishing people rather than encouraging participation in the census.

• AUGUST 11

Readers are appalled at the potential privacy breach, the nature of the questions on the census and the lack of compatibility with users' computers.

• AUGUST 10

Readers explain why they are cynical about the census and changes to the data collection methodology.

• AUGUST 9

Readers criticise Channel 7 for not showing popular Olympic events in high definition and for switching coverage before races are completed.

• AUGUST 08

Readers continue to debate whether there should be a royal commission into banks.

• AUGUST 7

If the homeless were victims of a natural disaster, governments at all levels would immediately act. But the homeless are victims – of changing economic conditions beyond their control. As a nation we should feel ashamed at our treatment of this group.

• AUGUST 06

Readers discuss the commercial banks' failure to pass on the full interest rate cut to borrowers and whether there needs to be a royal commission into the banking industry.

• AUGUST 5

Readers criticise the testing regime for measuring only a narrow range of skills, while others argue that more money must be invested in the early years, when the foundations for literacy and academic achievement are built.

• AUGUST 4

Readers are concerned that the census won't truly reflect the demographic and cultural makeup of Australia, and that the system will not be able to cope with the demands of millions of people logging on at the same time.

Readers discuss whether allowing universities to enrol as many students as they want has led to a ''degree factory culture''.

• AUGUST 1

Readers express concern about the implementation of the National Disability Insurance Scheme, which could leave vulnerable people open to exploitation. Meanwhile, older, well-educated people feel they are being left on the scrapheap.

• AUGUST 01

Readers have diverse views as to whether the Prime Minister made the right decision not to support Kevin Rudd's bid for the top job at the United Nations.

• JUNE 30

Trump is tapping into a sense of defeat in the US. His success in the primaries is also evidence of a victory of demagoguery over ideology. Working-class Republicans have struggled with the party's neo-liberal ideology since the growth of the Tea Party movement. For conservative working-class Americans, the ideology caters to their social views but offers them nothing economically, with excessive deregulation and trickle-down economics having failed. Trump has found a cheap way of winning support by appealing to his supporters' visceral social instincts, claiming to protect US workers while espousing both American hegemony and isolationism, and somehow equating Hillary Clinton with the shortcomings of his own party. His angry and rambling acceptance speech is also proof that Trump intends to divide, conquer and rule,  something sure to hasten America's demise rather than "make it great again". 

• JULY 30

Readers discuss former prime minister Tony Abbott's article, ''Nation must learn from terrible victory of WWI''.

• JULY 29

Readers react to the appalling treatment of youth in detention in the Northern Territory.

• JULY 28

The NT juvenile detention expose is a test of a prime minister's leadership. So far, Mr Turnbull has fallen short. He announced a royal commission, saying he had acted "decisively". In other words, credit to his strong leadership. It's a bit cheap, really, because there was no other decent course of action to take. I haven't heard him use the boys' names, acknowledge that they are just kids or that they are part of the Indigenous other in our nation still emerging from the black deaths in custody scandal. That would be the pathway to empathic healing. Yes, he said it was "shocking" and "appalling", but that doesn't resonate with the collective shame we feel as a nation that we have come to this level of depravity. How did we get to be like this?