His tragic death should remind Aussie men that it's OK to get your skin, prostate and mental health checked.

• COMMENT

It should not be a surprise that most observers judged Hillary Clinton to have won the first United States presidential debate.

A great opportunity for a fair go for all children has been lost - and the chances of it being recovered are shrinking by the day.

The nation's security and intelligence agencies should be adequately resourced and regularly modernised. We therefore welcome the planned independent review into the six agencies that make up the Australian intelligence community.

Underpaid, overworked and sexually harassed: some au pairs have been badly mistreated.

• COMMENT

The 2016 census will be remembered for the embarrassing website failure that left millions of Australians unable to fill-in online forms on census night.

Central bank governor Phil Lowe blames lack of supply but seems reluctant to discuss tax breaks that skew the market towards investors.

It is a worthy, albeit politically convenient and very modest, gesture. But the overarching argument about Australia doing more to help refugees is shaky.

At least the Turnbull government is making sure Australians knows what it means when by welfare reform and its new ideas beyond mere "mutual obligation".

Without sensible deal-making on business tax cuts, same-sex marriage and climate change, nothing much will happen in this parliament.

Turning away from innovation because the Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and his government messed up the messaging would be a grave mistake.

We know businesses will soon see that female sport offers enormous potential for sponsorship.

Sydney residents know all too well the costs of the easy option, increasing urban sprawl: the loss of the Sydney basin's green lungs as farming land is resumed for dwellings, and a never-ending need for more motorways.

The Syrian crisis is so complex, the civilian suffering so great and the options beyond sending in ground troops so limited that this peace plan is worth pursuing, even if the chances of success are slight.

But risks remain, and any move to extend bottle shop opening hours could worsen domestic violence.

Some argue it has taken 12 months for the Prime Minister to do nothing much at all. While partly accurate, we note a few achievements.

The case for a national sports integrity commission to cover racing and all football codes is growing stronger by the day.

Barack Obama exiting Air Force One by the back stairs because the Chinese failed to provide the red carpet front stairs customary for a presidential visit was not the take-away image China had in mind for the recent G20 summit in Hangzhou. Indeed, Chinese officials did their best to stop the picture being taken.  

Governments should be looking at big changes to tax breaks as well as increased supply to help more Sydneysiders into affordable homes.

Three-year-old William Tyrrell vanished without trace from outside his grandmother's house at Kendall, on the NSW Mid North coast two years ago on Monday. Little boy lost is a fear that has resonated deeply within the Australian psyche since the earliest days of settlement when Europeans moved into the unfamiliar bush. But in more recent times, the spectre of paedophilia involvement in such disappearances haunts those who await loved ones and those who search for them.

The Greater Western Sydney team's achievement to finish fourth in only its fifth year is remarkable.

• COMMENT

Sydney needs a mayor who can counter excessive power in Macquarie Street.

• COMMENT

There is speculation these Paralympics will fall short of London four years ago, when ecstatic crowds marvelled at the extraordinary feats of differently abled athletes.

• COMMENT

Lifeline's "accidental counsellor" courses teach you the key skills you need to help prevent suicide, beyond asking R U OK?

• EDITORIAL

We simply cannot trust the political class to write the rules on donations, gifts and expenses or meet community expectations. That's why we need a national integrity commission.

Opal and a deep well of data that flows from it opens a vast array of new opportunities.

The exposure of the darker side of masculine culture slowly and thankfully forced changes in Australian fatherhood.

Bill Shorten has given the Prime Minister a bloody nose by taking advantage of his shaky and dishevelled government. But there are risks for Labor too.