Matildas coach Joe Montemurro has hailed Mary Fowler for her “courageous” willingness to open up about her mental health. Playmaker Fowler, 22, is set for a January return from her ACL tear suffered in April. Fowler recently released her book Bloom, where she detailed struggling with her mental health, self-harming and experiencing suicidal thoughts during her time at French club …

A new study has found the groups of people most likely to be diagnosed by a GP with Long COVID. But they aren’t necessarily those most likely to develop it. A new study has shown that women, those in middle age and those who are wealthier are among those most likely to be diagnosed by a GP with Long COVID. …

A mother has been awarded $1.1 million after staff at a Chicken Treat franchise accidentally put caustic soda instead of salt on the hot chips she bought to share with her nine-year-old son. Karis Louise Pringle was airlifted to a Perth hospital in May 2013 after eating the chips at a Western Australian store in Bunbury, which was operated by Tabloid. She suffered caustic burns …

US authorities say the virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic most likely leaked out of a Chinese research laboratory. In an about-face on previous stances, the US Energy Department said new intelligence prompted it to conclude an accidental leak from a Wuhan lab – not as part of a weapons program – probably led to the global pandemic. The Wall …

Health will be the main priority for federal, state and territory leaders as the prime minister plans to overhaul Australia’s ailing Medicare system. Anthony Albanese met with premiers and chief ministers for the first national cabinet meeting of the year which he described as collegial and collaborative. During the meeting, leaders discussed the findings of a review by the Medicare …

Disadvantaged and vulnerable people “bore the brunt” of Australia’s COVID-19 pandemic response, according to a report. The privately funded review has condemned Australia’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, arguing that government health measures and policies lacked transparency and further entrenched existing inequalities. “Governments and public servants were making decisions in a fog of uncertainty,” the review said. “But, looking back, we are …

Doctors are abusing the $28 billion Medicare system, at times putting patients at risk, billing dead people and falsifying patient records, all to boost profits. A joint investigation by ABC’s 7.30 program, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age has uncovered flaws in Medicare’s systems that make it easy to rort and almost impossible to detect fraud, incorrect payments and errors. …

Isolation for asymptomatic COVID-19 patients will be reduced from seven days to five days among a series of major decisions made by national cabinet on Wednesday. The rule change comes with a caveat that the workers must demonstrate no symptoms when leaving isolation. But workers in high-risk industries, such as those employed in hospitals and in aged and disability care, will …

Moderna’s experimental Omicron booster generates high levels of antibodies that neutralise subvariants BA.4 and BA.5, according to preliminary clinical trial data. These subvariants have gained a foothold in the US and Australia, and are already driving a new wave of infections in the UK. Moderna’s results, which have not been peer-reviewed, build on an announcement earlier this month that people given the new booster made more Omicron-fighting antibodies …

The Australian tennis favourite has offered new insight into her wellbeing, two weeks after revealing she almost took her own life. Australian tennis favourite Jelena Dokic has offered a positive update on her mental health recovery in the wake of her raw open letter earlier this month. The 39-year-old said she almost took her own life in April and had since received professional …