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The Race Discrimination Commissioner, Tom Calma, called for as many Australians as possible to become involved in a discussion about the current state of freedom of religion and belief in Australia when he launched the Australian Human Rights Commission’s Freedom of religion and belief in the 21st century Discussion Paper in Canberra today.

Far from turning teenagers into anti-social loners, video games help them engage with friends and community, says a report.

The Pew Internet study of US teenagers found that few play alone and most join up with friends when gaming.

It found that many used educational games to learn about world issues and to begin to engage with politics.

CensusAtSchool is a student-centred online data collection and analysis project run by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. More than 44,000 Australian students in years four to 12, completed the online questionnaire between 29 January and 4 July 2008, once again making it the most successful CensusAtSchool collection globally.

Parents across Australia should keep their receipts for education expenses from the first of July to make the most of the benefits available under the Rudd Government's $4.4 billion Education Tax Refund.

The Education Tax Refund will provide parents with much-needed help for education expenses, with refunds of up to:

* $375 per primary school student; and

RMIT University is using new technology to give academics and students more time for face-to-face, interactive learning.

Under stage one of RMIT’s E-learning Advancement Program (REAP), all Australia-based programs became available to students through the Blackboard online system.