News In Brief

Welcome to our ‘News In Brief’ column in which we digest all the news releases for you in no more than five paragraphs.
Below are snippets of all the media releases we received from Dec 8 till the end of the week.
This article updates throughout the week.

PETA Targets Monash Tests

Sydney, Dec 10: PETA U.S. and PETA Australia have renewed calls for Monash University research papers to be retracted and for taxpayer funding to be cut, following criticism of experiments involving strangling rats, inflicting traumatic brain injuries, and forced-swim tests.
The groups have written to the National Health and Medical Research Council urging it to discourage funding for these procedures, while also asking publisher Elsevier to withdraw related papers for allegedly breaching ethical standards.
A separate letter to Monash University outlines concerns about scientific validity and animal welfare, calling for a shift to non-animal, human-relevant research.
One of the published studies included images of rats being strangled as part of a model designed to mimic domestic abuse.
“Even a child could see that slamming weights onto animals’ heads to cause brain damage and choking the life out of them is cruelty, not science,” says PETA U.S. Vice President Shalin Gala.
The organisations argue the experiments cause significant suffering, including head trauma, eye injuries, and prolonged restraint, with all animals eventually killed.

Cooee Buys Creative Native

Adelaide, Dec 11: First Nations-owned Cooee Foods Australia has acquired Creative Native Foods, marking the first time the 25-year-old supplier has come under Indigenous ownership.
The deal was commemorated with a traditional smoking ceremony and brings together Cooee’s rapidly expanding consumer and food service business with Creative Native Foods’ long-established presence supplying native ingredients to leading chefs, tourism operators and major hospitality groups.
“I’m on a mission to build a native food movement,” said Terri-Ann “Tezzi” Daniel, founder of Cooee Foods Australia. She noted that less than two per cent of products using native ingredients are Indigenous-owned, a gap she aims to close.
Creative Native Foods founder Andrew Fielke, who has played a major role in introducing native ingredients to Australian fine dining since 2001, will remain with the company as a consultant. “It’s incredibly meaningful to see Creative Native Foods transition to Indigenous ownership,” he said.
The acquisition is expected to unlock significant scale and new employment opportunities, with Cooee planning to add full-time roles including a National Sales Manager. Cooee’s existing national footprint includes products sold through major retailers, convenience channels and Qantas domestic flights.
“We’re not just preserving what Andrew built,” Daniel said. “We’re taking it to the next level, while staying true to the mission of making native foods part of everyday Australian life.”

Bupa Fined $35m

Sydney, Dec 11: Bupa HI Pty Ltd has been ordered by the Federal Court to pay $35 million in penalties for unconscionable conduct and making false or misleading representations about members’ private health insurance entitlements.
The Court found that between May 2018 and August 2023, Bupa incorrectly told members, hospitals and medical providers that no benefits were payable for certain claims, despite members being entitled to benefits for covered treatments. It also declared that Bupa engaged in unconscionable conduct between June 2020 and February 2021 in its assessment of Mixed Coverage Claims, particularly when procedures involved both covered and non-covered treatments.
According to the ACCC, thousands of consumers were affected, with some delaying or cancelling necessary medical treatment after being wrongly advised they were not entitled to benefits. “Bupa’s conduct impacted thousands of consumers,” ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe said.
Medical providers and hospitals also missed payments they were entitled to receive. The Court has imposed a five-year injunction to prevent Bupa from repeating the conduct.
The penalties accompany Bupa’s court-enforceable undertaking to complete a remediation program, which has already paid more than $14.3 million across over 4,100 affected claims.

Stripe launches Agentic Suite

Sydney, Dec 12: Stripe has unveiled its new Agentic Commerce Suite, a low-code product designed to help businesses sell through multiple AI agents via a single integration. The company said brands including Coach, Kate Spade, URBN (Anthropologie, Free People and Urban Outfitters), Revolve, Ashley Furniture, Halara, ABT Electronics and Nectar — alongside ecommerce platforms such as Squarespace, Wix, Etsy, WooCommerce, commercetools and BigCommerce — plan to use the suite as “agentic commerce” expands.
Stripe said the suite builds on its Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP), an open standard intended to create shared technical language between AI agents and businesses, while also reducing fragmented onboarding and integration requirements across different agents. The product also supports Shared Payment Tokens, which Stripe says allow AI agents to securely pass a buyer’s payment credentials to businesses for payment processing.
“AI is redefining how people discover and shop online, and at Wix we’re focused on giving our users the most powerful tools to stay ahead,” said Amit Sagiv and Volodymyr Tsukur, co-heads of Wix Payments at Wix. “By integrating Stripe’s Agentic Commerce Suite, we’re providing merchants a simple, seamless way to tap into agentic commerce as it emerges, unlocking new opportunities to reach customers, drive conversion, and fuel sustainable growth.”
“At Etsy, our responsibility is to ensure that our sellers’ work can be discovered wherever buyers choose to shop. Stripe’s Agentic Commerce Suite offers an integration solution that makes this easier than ever, enabling us to surface sellers’ unique items to buyers across platforms,” said Rafe Colburn, chief product and technology officer of Etsy.
“Agentic shopping is transforming how people discover and buy products. With Stripe’s Agentic Commerce Suite, Squarespace merchants will be able to effortlessly bring their products into AI agents, unlocking a new way to grow their businesses,” said Dan Chandre, senior vice president of commercial of Squarespace.
Stripe said the launch is part of its broader push to build “the economic infrastructure for AI,” following a series of recent AI-focused announcements.

Christmas Side-Hustle Surge

Sydney, Dec 12: New research from job site Indeed shows two in five workers (41%) have taken on, or are considering, extra work between now and January — about five million Australians — as financial pressure builds ahead of Christmas.
Those seeking seasonal side-gigs want an average $453 extra per week, mainly to cover groceries and bills, plus gifts and food for celebrations, with travel costs and debt repayments also a factor.
Despite strong demand, many say festive roles are hard to secure, with Indeed reporting Christmas-job searches are higher than recent years and competition stronger. Sally McKibbin, Career Expert at Indeed, said:
“Indeed’s data shows this year’s holiday period is shaping up as a test of resilience for Australian households.”
“Millions of Australians are turning to extra work simply to keep up with the cost of Christmas. We’re seeing unusually high demand for seasonal roles, with competition for jobs on Indeed’s job site stronger than in previous years.”
“Aussies aren’t turning to seasonal work to chase holiday luxury. They’re looking for extra hours to cover groceries, bills, and the basics of Christmas. It’s a very grounded, realistic kind of festive work season.”
“The upside is that there are opportunities available. Employers are still hiring for the holiday rush, and workers who are flexible are more likely to find the extra income they’re after.”
“After a slow start, Christmas hiring has ended up strong. Christmas-related job postings peaked at 3.6% of Australian job postings in early October, a little lower than the 3.8% peak the year before, but still a very healthy number.”
“For job seekers still hoping to secure extra hours, the best approach is to cast a wide net and stay flexible. Seasonal roles fill quickly, but being open to different shifts or duties can make all the difference in landing the work you need this holiday season.”

Premiere Boosts Shorts

Sydney, Dec 12: Adobe has partnered with YouTube to streamline YouTube Shorts creation inside the Premiere mobile app, launching a dedicated “Create for YouTube Shorts” space designed to help creators produce and publish short-form videos faster.
Available from today, the new space offers exclusive templates, transitions, effects and presets tailored for Shorts, plus quicker publishing to YouTube Shorts in a few taps. It also lets creators customise ready-made templates, create reusable originals, and share their own templates when uploading to their YouTube channel.
Creators can still use broader Premiere mobile features including a multi-track timeline, Enhance Speech for cleaner voiceovers, Firefly-powered AI tools for generating assets, and Generative Sound Effects using the creator’s own voice.
Adobe says the update is aimed at both new and experienced creators seeking faster mobile workflows as Shorts continues to grow globally.