Placeholder Content Image

Woman’s hilarious food delivery mix-up

<p dir="ltr">Kristi ordered one taco with avocado and no meat, assuming she’d be given a taco including avocado and plenty of salad options, veggies and sauces.</p> <p dir="ltr">To her surprise, she received a tortilla smothered in avocado and a hot sauce container on the side.</p> <p dir="ltr">"This is a tortilla with avocado. There is nothing else in it. It is full avocado, like pounds of it just in a tortilla. There's no cheese, no lettuce," Kristi explained in a TikTok. </p> <p dir="ltr">"What is happening?! They think just because I choose avocado, I don't want anything else?" she questioned.</p> <p dir="ltr">Her video received more than 280,000 views with many TikTokers seeing the funny side. </p> <p dir="ltr">"Whoever did your order is probably wondering why someone only got avocado lol," one said.</p> <p dir="ltr">"I mean, I don't see the problem," another teased.</p> <p dir="ltr">"Okay but that's probably $345 worth of avocado," added another.</p> <p dir="ltr">Kristi revealed there were no options to choose sides when she placed her order.</p> <p dir="ltr">One viewer explained, "Cheese, lettuce, tomato is a very Americanized version of a taco. I'm used to getting just meat.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Others joined in to share their own stories of mixed-up food orders.</p> <p dir="ltr">One said, ”One time I ordered a salad and selected my toppings - well I apparently had to select lettuce cos I just got a pile of toppings only.”</p> <p dir="ltr">While another wrote, "Once my sis in law ordered a cheese steak but said just the cheese and steak. She got steak in bread. That's it.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Kristi said she didn’t call and complain, rather she added her own sides from what she had at home.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-82714d90-7fff-ac62-6224-7c3c55fbf8f4"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credit: TikTok</em></p>

Food & Wine

Placeholder Content Image

Post apocalypse: the end of daily letter deliveries is in sight

<p>Australia Post is seeing red. A lot of it. </p> <p>After posting a razor-thin profit of $23.6 million in the last six months of 2022, it anticipates a loss for the full 2022-23 financial year – only the second time since being corporatised in 1989.</p> <p>The last loss was in 2014-15, following a $190 million investment in “transformational reform” of Australia Post’s letters business. At the time, it expressed confidence those <a href="https://auspost.com.au/annualreport2015/docs/australia-post-annual-report-2015.pdf">efficiency improvements</a> would allow it “to maintain a five-day-a-week delivery”. Now it is pessimistic. With the ongoing collapse in demand for letter delivery, it sees only more losses ahead. </p> <p>That’s a huge problem, because Australia Post has two main obligations, enshrined in federal legislation. It is required to operate on commercial principles – that is, the federal government wants it to deliver a dividend – while also meeting strict <a href="https://auspost.com.au/about-us/corporate-information/our-organisation/customer-commitment-and-service-charter">community service obligations</a>.</p> <p>Those obligations – established in 1989 and <a href="https://www.transparency.gov.au/annual-reports/australian-postal-corporation/reporting-year/2019-20-78">last reviewed in 2019</a> – require delivering letters to 98% of all Australian addresses five days a week, and in more remote areas to 99.7% of addresses at least twice a week, generally within two days of posting. </p> <p>The Morrison government <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2020L00579">temporarily relaxed</a> those obligations between May 2020 and June 2021 so Australia Post could divert resources to its parcel delivery services as online shopping boomed during the pandemic. Now the organisation wants those community service obligations reduced permanently. </p> <h2>Cost of service obligations</h2> <p>Meeting the obligations cost $348.5 million in 2021-22, says a federal government discussion paper on “<a href="https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/postal-services-modernisation-discussion-paper.pdf">postal services modernisation</a>” published this month. It says they “are no longer financially sustainable and are not well targeted at the needs of Australians due to changes brought about by the digitisation of the economy”. </p> <p>It’s hard to disagree. The numbers are incontrovertible. The hundreds of millions of dollars a year being lost on letter delivery will only get bigger. People just don’t need a daily postal service like they used to.</p> <h2>In the red, and dying</h2> <p>In the 2021-22 financial year, Australia Post made a slim profit of $55 million on revenues of $8.97 billion. That’s a 0.6% profit margin, far below the 8.5% average within the <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/industry/industry-overview/australian-industry/latest-release">transport services sector</a>.</p> <p>The surplus was due only to its parcel-delivery business, which grew about 12% in 2021-22 after four years of growing at more than 20%. Letters now account for less than 20% of Australia Post’s revenue.</p> <p>The discussion paper notes letter volumes in Australia is now less than half what they were in 2008. This is not as severe as countries such as New Zealand or Denmark, but worse than Germany, Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom.</p> <p>Government agencies and businesses now account for 97% of mail sent. Overall volume will decline as they move to cheaper, more efficient online methods. Even major postal events like election campaigns are likely to disappear, with postal voting replaced by <a href="https://101blockchains.com/blockchain-in-voting/">digital technology</a>.</p> <h2>What can be done?</h2> <p>The discussion paper flags a range of possible responses.</p> <p>One is to charge higher prices. Britain’s Royal Mail, for example, has raised postage prices by <a href="https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/cymraeg/amdanom-ni/about-us1/media/press-releases/citizens-advice-responds-to-royal-mail-raising-stamp-prices/">64% over the past five years</a>.</p> <p>Australia Post increased the rate for standard letter delivery from A$1.10 to A$1.20 in January, which the discussion paper notes is significantly less than the average of $2.08 for OECD countries.</p> <p>Higher prices may boost profit for a year or two, but in the longer term will just accelerate the transition to non-postal methods.</p> <p>Another option is investing in more efficient sorting technology, particularly automation. The French and German postal services are doing this. But Australia Post has already made huge investments in efficiencies, and doing more will cost the federal government money – something it won’t want to do given the budget position. </p> <h2>What about local post offices?</h2> <p>Another option is to reduce Australia Post’s network of post offices, of which there are more than 4,300. This number is tied to another community service obligation: that no one live further than 2.5km from a post office in a metropolitan area, or 7.5km in a non-metropolitan area. </p> <p>The discussion paper notes Australia has more post offices than supermarkets. They cost $1.3 billion to operate in 2021-22. </p> <p>These provide posting, pickup, banking, transaction and retail services. But their need is diminishing as all things are progressively digitised. An argument could be made that some, at least in metropolitan areas, could be replaced with smart lockers for parcel pick-up.</p> <p>But that’s likely to be politically contentious, with less financial gain, than the most obvious choice – to scrap the community service obligation to deliver post five days a week. </p> <p>New Zealand’s postal service did this in 2013, moving to delivery every other day. Sweden did so in 2020 as a trial, with the intention of making it permanent. </p> <p>Some will miss the daily service. But most of us won’t. As the relaxation to deliveries every second day showed during the COVID period, it is likely most people won’t even notice.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/post-apocalypse-the-end-of-daily-letter-deliveries-is-in-sight-201094" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. </em></p>

Money & Banking

Placeholder Content Image

Elderly pizza lady receives $390k tip after falling during delivery

<p>Barbara Gillespie was completing a typical Friday night pizza delivery when things took an unexpected turn. </p> <p>The 72 year old had just made her way up a home’s front veranda stairs, arms laden with her pizza boxes, when she stumbled and fell on to a small white chair.</p> <p>The family, whose <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@momofthe5ks/video/7195696356508372266" target="_blank" rel="noopener">security camera captured the entire tumble</a>, came outside to see what had happened as the elderly driver was picking herself up from the ground.</p> <p>On shaky legs, Barbara apologised again and again for what had become of the family’s food, telling them that she’d “ruined” it. But the family - otherwise known as the Keighrons - were only concerned about her.</p> <p>“I opened the door and there she is, just laying on the ground trying to get up,” Kevin Keighron said on <em>Good Morning America</em>. “She was more worried about the food than anything else. And I was like, ‘I don't care about the food. I care about you’.”</p> <p>Kevin and his wife, Lacey, described Barbara as being “the sweetest”, and after the incident - which occurred in early February - the pair decided to set up a GoFundMe to give Barbara a “tip” for her hard work. </p> <p>“We would like to bless her by bringing by a ‘tip’ to help her with anything she may need,” Kevin said. “She is an older woman who fell and only cared about the food she dropped. </p> <p>“Let’s show her some kindness and take off some of this burden that our economy is causing the older generations especially!”</p> <p>More than 14,000 people donated, and the fundraiser achieved a whopping $390,000. </p> <p>“We thought we would get her a bigger tip and bring it to her. We never expected to get as much as we did,” Kevin said of their successful campaign. “We were just so excited and thrilled to be able to tell her the next day.”</p> <p>And when taking the surprise to Barbara, Kevin - Lacey, and two of their children - decided to make the grand reveal at her work. They later shared footage of the reunion to their TikTok account. </p> <div class="embed" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; outline: none !important;"><iframe class="embedly-embed" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; border-style: initial; vertical-align: baseline; width: 620.262px; max-width: 100%; outline: none !important;" title="tiktok embed" src="https://cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tiktok.com%2Fembed%2Fv2%2F7195971641262755114&amp;display_name=tiktok&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tiktok.com%2F%40momofthe5ks%2Fvideo%2F7195971641262755114&amp;image=https%3A%2F%2Fp16-sign.tiktokcdn-us.com%2Fobj%2Ftos-useast5-p-0068-tx%2F763d48ec7b5b4f728dcbe02bb60cc22f%3Fx-expires%3D1677142800%26x-signature%3DPCfbQDrxw5It6Ey%252FV9NWSJXsZ6A%253D&amp;key=59e3ae3acaa649a5a98672932445e203&amp;type=text%2Fhtml&amp;schema=tiktok" width="340" height="700" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></div> <p> </p> <p>They have since shared that with the extra funds, Barbara was able to put in her two-week notice and finally enjoy her well-deserved retirement. </p> <p>Barbara said that the generosity of everyone involved was overwhelming, and admitted she was close to giving up on people because some of them can be “so mean.” </p> <p>“And here we got loving, caring people. They care about someone else” she declared, seemingly delighted to have had her mind so thoroughly changed, “about an elderly woman.”</p> <p><em>Images: TikTok </em></p>

Money & Banking

Placeholder Content Image

“Very questionable”: Kmart mocked after customer's "ridiculous" delivery

<p>A woman has taken to Facebook to mock Kmart over her recent delivery.</p> <p>The shopper shared on Facebook she had ordered a 20mm combination padlock from Kmart and was caught by surprise when it was delivered to her home on February 13. </p> <p>The woman had received a large cardboard box, and when she opened it, it was filled to the brim with plastic wrap to protect the item. However, once she dug out the plastic, she saw a small padlock at the bottom of the unnecessarily large box.</p> <p>“My delivery arrived today,” the woman said on Facebook.</p> <p>Other Kmart fans were shocked by the large box for such a small item, with many users deeming it “ridiculous.”</p> <p>“Omg! Seriously,” a user commented.</p> <p>"Ridiculous honestly yet a pair of jeans get scrunched up into a bag for delivery," another added.</p> <p>"It's absolutely rubbish that they waste like that," a third chimed in.</p> <p>Another comment read, ”How ironic ... how easy is it to break this lock that it needs to be so protected when shipped? Would you need it if it is so fragile? Very questionable Kmart ... What a waste,”</p> <p>Many other users joined in on the teasing, claiming they also received small items delivered in unnecessarily large boxes. </p> <p>"This happened to us recently with a car air freshener," one shopper said.</p> <p>"Yeah they keep sending me one item in a stupidly big box. I’d be much more appreciative of multiple items jammed into a big box to stop wastage or happy to wait for all items to be ready together," another claimed.</p> <p>"I thought my three bowls packed like this was bad!" another commented.</p> <p>Back in May 2021, another Kmart shopper complained that she received a small book in a “huge box.”</p> <p>Although some said it was “terrible”, other users claimed the size of the box shouldn’t matter because it’s recyclable. </p> <p>A Kmart spokesperson told Yahoo Lifestyle that the complaints have been forwarded to Kmart’s online team, and they will reassess how they manage and replenish packaging materials. </p> <p>"Regrettably, in this instance, it appears the team member who has packed this order did not have available or use the most appropriately sized packaging components," the spokesperson said.</p> <p>"While our team are trained and aim to minimise packaging use and waste, it is likely that they did not have access to appropriately sized packaging options so used what was available in an effort to pack and dispatch this order as quickly as possible."</p> <p>Image credit: Facebook</p>

Food & Wine

Placeholder Content Image

Drone delivery is a thing now. But how feasible is having it everywhere, and would we even want it?

<p>In recent years, cafes, supermarkets and online shops have started to trial drone delivery in a handful of locations around the world. More than a <a href="https://builtin.com/drones/drone-delivery-companies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dozen drone delivery companies</a> are now running such trials.</p> <p>Wing (owned by Google’s parent company Alphabet) announced a partnership with Australian supermarket giant Coles to <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-26/qld-supermarket-drone-delivery-available-gold-coast-/101573808" target="_blank" rel="noopener">deliver small items via drone to customers close to a Gold Coast supermarket</a>. Wing is already operating in parts of Canberra and Logan, Queensland.</p> <p>Given the technical success of various trials so far, it is worth exploring whether drone delivery might become mainstream and can actually be scaled up geographically.</p> <p>As you would expect, the answer is “it depends”. There are many issues when considering drones around people, such as safety and infrastructure. For example, a recent <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-30/food-delivery-drone-lands-on-power-lines-qld-browns-plains/101489670" target="_blank" rel="noopener">crash of a delivery drone on electricity lines</a> in a suburb of Logan left thousands without power.</p> <p>There is also potential <a href="https://theconversation.com/drones-to-deliver-incessant-buzzing-noise-and-packages-116257" target="_blank" rel="noopener">unwanted noise</a> and visual pollution, and a perceived issue around privacy.</p> <h2>Safety first</h2> <p>Adding potentially dozens of small aircraft to the sky above our homes, workplaces and roads each day is a serious business. As you would hope, currently the operation of commercial drones is a highly regulated undertaking in most countries.</p> <p>In Australia, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority <a href="https://www.casa.gov.au/drones/industry-initiatives/drone-delivery-services" target="_blank" rel="noopener">has strict regulations</a> that aim to make the operation of drones as safe as possible. They also prohibit drone use if the craft can’t be used safely in a given situation.</p> <p>In fact, Australia was one of the first countries to have drone regulations. For example, you cannot fly a drone close to an airport, or directly over people.</p> <p>Commercial operators of drones are acutely aware of this and gain a licence to operate – it is not in anyone’s interest to operate unsafely, and it would be bad for business.</p> <h2>A limited geographic market – for now</h2> <p>To satisfy the requirement of operating drones safely, delivery operators focus on flying drones over unpopulated land, generally very low-density areas, and in particular the urban fringe. These are newer suburbs where drone flight paths can be planned to eliminate or minimise safety issues, such as an unexpected crash.</p> <p>It is no coincidence Wing has been running drone delivery trials in low-density areas of Southeast Queensland, and outer <a href="https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6009932/wings-delivery-drone-service-gets-the-green-light/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Canberra suburbs</a>. These places are ideal for drone delivery and a great place to continue to develop this business, even if the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-11/wing-resumes-drone-deliveries-after-raven-attacks/100689690" target="_blank" rel="noopener">odd bird attack can disrupt things</a>.</p> <p>But drone delivery in dense parts of major cities? This is very unlikely in the medium term, due to extreme difficulty in safely operating drones in dense suburbs.</p> <p>If you live in an apartment building, where would the delivery take place? On the roof? Maybe, if your building was set up for it. This is where scaling up faces the largest difficulties, and the logistics of running potentially hundreds of drones from a distribution centre become truly challenging.</p> <p>However, if there was a high demand for it, and the right investments were made, it is feasible that drone delivery to dense city areas could be achieved.</p> <p>But just because it might be technically possible, doesn’t mean it will happen. The long-term business case would need to make sense, of course. But there is a more critical issue in the near term – the <a href="https://ethics.org.au/ethics-explainer-social-license-to-operate/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">social licence to operate</a>.</p> <h2>A social licence</h2> <p>A social licence is not an official thing, a government body does not issue one. It is more about whether the general public accepts and supports the new thing.</p> <p>At the end of the day, this social acceptance is what often determines the success or failure of widespread uptake of new technology, such as delivery drones.</p> <p>Take nuclear power, for example. Many countries have nuclear power and the public there seem happy with that. Other countries had a social licence for nuclear power and lost it, such as Japan. In Australia we do not have a social licence for nuclear power, but that does not mean we won’t gain it in the future.</p> <p>A social licence is an ever-evolving construct based on the pros and cons of a technology, all of which is influenced by its perceived value. Most people are now seemingly comfortable to be tracked 24 hours a day by their smartphones, as they believe the benefits outweigh the potential negative impacts.</p> <p>It is likely we already have a solid social licence to use drones to <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41591-022-00053-9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">deliver emergency life-saving medicine</a> to people in need. In a potential life-or-death situation like that, it is easy to see that normally the benefits outweigh any risks or inconvenience to others.</p> <p>But delivering a coffee or a tube of toothpaste by drone? I think the social licence for that is up for grabs. At this point in time, it could go either way.</p> <p><strong>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/drone-delivery-is-a-thing-now-but-how-feasible-is-having-it-everywhere-and-would-we-even-want-it-193301" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.</strong></p> <p><em>Image: Shutterstock</em></p>

Travel Trouble

Placeholder Content Image

Australia Post announces hard dates for Christmas deliveries

<p dir="ltr">Australia Post has revealed when Aussies should send Christmas gifts to loved ones overseas, warning that it will be another busy holiday season.</p> <p dir="ltr">For cards and gifts travelling by economy air, the postal service said that many destinations require they be sent by November 14, while packages sent through International Standard and Express shipping have some more time.</p> <p dir="ltr">"If posting with International Express, some popular destinations like the USA, the UK, New Zealand and Canada should be sent by 9 December," Australia Post said in a statement.</p> <p dir="ltr">"Recommended last sending dates for posting within Australia will be released in the coming weeks."</p> <p dir="ltr">The deadlines for shipping cover more than 180 international destinations and can be found on the <a href="https://auspost.com.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Australia Post website</a>.</p> <p dir="ltr">Gary Starr, Australia Post’s Executive General Manager, Customer and Commercial, said the organisation had worked closely with international carriers to give Aussies as much notice as possible.</p> <p dir="ltr">"We know our last sending dates provide an important guide for people in the lead up to Christmas and we've been preparing all year for another busy peak season to ensure things run as smoothly as possible," Mr Starr said.</p> <p dir="ltr">"For anyone who wants to send internationally for Christmas this year, we're encouraging them to visit our website and post by the dates advised.</p> <p dir="ltr">"As always, we'll continue to deliver items sent after these dates as quickly as possible but they may not arrive until after Christmas."</p> <p dir="ltr">Australia Post also warned that factors beyond its control, including custom delays and overseas postal disruptions, could delay packages.</p> <p dir="ltr">Meanwhile in New Zealand, the national postal service has also announced <a href="https://www.nzpost.co.nz/personal/christmas-sending-dates-2022" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cut-off dates</a> for sending packages for Christmas.</p> <p dir="ltr">Packages and cards sent by economy delivery need to be ready to send by November 23 if they are heading to Australia, November 18 for the South Pacific, UK, North America, and Europe, and by November 14 for the rest of the world.</p> <p dir="ltr">Delivery through a courier and express comes with later deadlines, with cut-off dates of December 6 for everywhere except Australia, the South Pacific, Asia, the UK, Europe and North America.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-aa176340-7fff-83b1-f01a-0ba7e316adec"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

News

Placeholder Content Image

Supermarket delivery by robot better for the climate

<p>Along with their <a href="https://twitter.com/historymatt/status/1525776275939418113" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cult following on social media</a>, autonomous delivery robots travelling on footpaths could be the most climate-friendly way to do your grocery shopping.</p> <p>Around the world, <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/people/will-covid-19-change-our-cities/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">COVID-19 has seen a change</a> in the way people shop for groceries. Instead of driving to the supermarket more people are ordering online for pick-up or home delivery, and even in some places, delivery <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/robotics/drone-delivery-groceries-canberra/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">by drone</a> or robot.</p> <p>In the United States supermarket home delivery services grew 54% between 2019 and 2020. In Australia, Woolworths and Coles experienced <a href="https://theconversation.com/coles-and-woolworths-are-moving-to-robot-warehouses-and-on-demand-labour-as-home-deliveries-soar-166556" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">unprecedented demand.</a></p> <p>The rapid growth in e-commerce has seen an increased focus on the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/earth/sustainability/to-help-the-environment-should-you-shop-in-store-or-online/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">‘last-mile’ delivery</a>.</p> <p>A study by University of Michigan researchers and the Ford Motor Co modelled the emissions associated with the journey of a 36-item grocery basket from shop to home via a number of alternative transport options. Their study is <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/acs.est.2c02050" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">published</a> in the journal <em>Environmental Science &amp; Technology</em>.</p> <p>“This research lays the groundwork for understanding the impact of e-commerce on greenhouse gas emissions produced by the grocery supply chain,” says the study’s senior author Greg Keoleian<a href="https://seas.umich.edu/research/faculty/greg-keoleian" target="_blank" rel="noopener">,</a> director of the Centre for Sustainable Systems at University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability.</p> <p>The researchers modelled 72 different ways the groceries could travel from the warehouse to the customer. Across all options, the results showed ‘last-mile’ transport emissions to be the major source of <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/earth/food-transport-emissions-cost/">supply chain emissions</a>.</p> <div class="newsletter-box"> <div id="wpcf7-f6-p201307-o1" class="wpcf7" dir="ltr" lang="en-US" role="form"> <form class="wpcf7-form mailchimp-ext-0.5.62 spai-bg-prepared init" action="/earth/climate/robot-delivery-better-for-the-climate/#wpcf7-f6-p201307-o1" method="post" novalidate="novalidate" data-status="init"> <p style="display: none !important;"><span class="wpcf7-form-control-wrap referer-page"><input class="wpcf7-form-control wpcf7-text referer-page" name="referer-page" type="hidden" value="https://cosmosmagazine.com/" data-value="https://cosmosmagazine.com/" aria-invalid="false" /></span></p> <p><!-- Chimpmail extension by Renzo Johnson --></form> </div> </div> <p>They found the conventional option of driving to the supermarket in a petrol or diesel car to be the most polluting, creating six kilograms of carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>). All other choices had lower emissions, with footpath delivery robots the cleanest for the climate, at one kg CO<sub>2</sub>.</p> <p>A customer who switched to an electric vehicle could halve their emissions. But they could achieve a similar impact on emissions by reducing their shopping frequency. Without buying a new car, households who halved the frequency of supermarket trips reduced emissions by 44%.</p> <p>Keoleian says the study emphasises the “important role consumers can serve in reducing emissions through the use of trip chaining and by making carefully planned grocery orders.” Trip chaining refers to combining grocery shopping with other errands.</p> <p>All home delivery options had lower emissions than in-store shopping – in part due to the efficiencies gained in store operation and transport – with the potential to cut emissions by 22 – 65%.</p> <p>Footpath robots are being trialled in cities across the United States, Europe and China. These four or six wheeled robots carry items like supermarket shopping or retail items over short distances. Most have a delivery range around three kilometres.</p> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"> <div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> <div class="entry-content-asset"> <div class="embed-wrapper"> <div class="inner"> <div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered spai-bg-prepared" style="display: flex; max-width: 500px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" class="spai-bg-prepared" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 500px; height: 612px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;" title="Twitter Tweet" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=CosmosMagazine&amp;dnt=true&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1525776275939418113&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fcosmosmagazine.com%2Fearth%2Fclimate%2Frobot-delivery-better-for-the-climate%2F&amp;sessionId=84ec360f0f0db6f38136f997db6585736d09d60a&amp;siteScreenName=CosmosMagazine&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=b7df0f50e1ec1%3A1659558317797&amp;width=500px" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-tweet-id="1525776275939418113"></iframe></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </figure> <p><a>Starship robots</a> is one example. Since launching in 2014, their robots have completed three million autonomous home deliveries in cities across Estonia, the United Kingdom, Finland and the United States.</p> <p><!-- Start of tracking content syndication. Please do not remove this section as it allows us to keep track of republished articles --></p> <p><img id="cosmos-post-tracker" style="opacity: 0; height: 1px!important; width: 1px!important; border: 0!important; position: absolute!important; z-index: -1!important;" src="https://syndication.cosmosmagazine.com/?id=201307&amp;title=Supermarket+delivery+by+robot+better+for+the+climate" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><!-- End of tracking content syndication --></p> <div id="contributors"> <p><em><a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/earth/climate/robot-delivery-better-for-the-climate/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">This article</a> was originally published on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cosmos Magazine</a> and was written by <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/contributor/petra-stock" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Petra Stock</a>. Petra Stock has a degree in environmental engineering and a Masters in Journalism from University of Melbourne. She has previously worked as a climate and energy analyst.</em></p> <p><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p> </div>

Technology

Placeholder Content Image

First look inside bizarre new Woolworths megastore

<p dir="ltr">Woolworths has opened its first customer-free grocery store to help meet the increase demand for online shoppers. </p> <p dir="ltr">The first new multi-million dollar online Customer Fulfilment Centre (CFC) at Goodman’s Rochedale Motorway Estate, Brisbane is approximately 10,000sqm.</p> <p dir="ltr">The massive CFC will see a huge 800 jobs created as well as supporting a further 30,000 home deliveries and Direct to boot Pick up windows each week. </p> <p dir="ltr">Personal shoppers will become accustomed to wider aisles and  bigger shelves to help with hand picking orders from a vast range of more than 25,000 products quickly, accurately and efficiently.</p> <p dir="ltr">Woolworths Managing Director eComX, Sally Copland said the new store will help people who are short on time and can’t do their own shopping. </p> <p dir="ltr">“Online grocery shopping has been well and truly embraced by our Brisbane customers, many of whom are looking to reclaim time in their busy lives,” she said. </p> <p dir="ltr">“Over the past three years, we’ve seen the demand for online groceries in Metro Brisbane more than triple, a trend we are actually seeing across the entire state of Queensland. </p> <p dir="ltr">“To keep pace with this demand we’re investing in new online infrastructure to offer our customers more delivery windows and an even more reliable service.</p> <p dir="ltr">“As well as strengthening our network capability,  this new state-of-the-art facility is an important part of our ongoing commitment to investment and jobs in Queensland. </p> <p dir="ltr">“We’re delighted to be welcoming hundreds of new team members to our new facility.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The new facility also contains more than 850 solar panels, which will provide 20 per cent of the store’s required energy.</p> <p dir="ltr">This will also be monitored by smart metering to help monitor and reduce energy consumption. </p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: Woolworths</em></p>

Food & Wine

Placeholder Content Image

How Australia’s gig workers may remain contractors under Labor’s reforms

<p>Uber Australia’s historic <a href="https://www.twu.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Statement-of-Principles-28-June-2022.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">agreement</a> with the Transport Workers’ Union, on the need to regulate the gig economy, is the first step in fundamental reform of gig work. It suggests the direction the Albanese government will to take to deliver better conditions for gig workers.</p> <p>The “statement of principles” agreed to between Uber and the union supports “regulatory certainty for platforms” and “minimum benefits and standards for platform workers who aren’t engaged as employees”. It does not agree that gig workers should be classified as employees instead of independent contractors.</p> <p>The response of federal workplace relations minister Tony Burke to <a href="https://ministers.dese.gov.au/burke/important-step-rights-gig-workers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the agreement</a> suggests the government will take the same route – not changing the classification of gig workers but giving the federal industrial relations umpire, the Fair Work Commission, the power to set minimum standards for any workers in designated sectors.</p> <p>A precedent for this approach comes from <a href="https://www.ntc.gov.au/sites/default/files/assets/files/Safe-payments-report-October-2008.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New South Wales provisions</a> enabling regulation of payments to owner-drivers of trucks. Those provisions have been in place for more than 40 years, and have inspired the proposal <a href="https://statements.qld.gov.au/statements/95479" target="_blank" rel="noopener">before the Queensland parliament</a> to regulate the work of independent courier drivers.</p> <h2>Leaving gig workers as contractors</h2> <p>There are good reasons to aim to regulate gig economy workers as contractors, rather than attempting to bring them under the umbrella of being employees.</p> <p>Yes, their relationship with platforms can look an awful lot like an employment relationship – hence the reason for <a href="https://theconversation.com/an-employee-not-a-contractor-unfair-dismissal-ruling-against-deliveroo-is-a-big-deal-for-australias-gig-workers-161173" target="_blank" rel="noopener">court cases</a> supported by the Transport Workers’ Union seeking to have gig workers deemed employees.</p> <p>As the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_test" target="_blank" rel="noopener">saying goes</a>, if it looks, swims and quacks like a duck, it probably is a duck.</p> <p>But the outcome of trying to define gig workers as employees has been mixed. Around the world these attempts have sometimes <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/feb/10/pimlico-loses-appeal-against-plumbers-worker-status-in-gig-economy-case" target="_blank" rel="noopener">succeeded</a>, <a href="https://btlaw.com/insights/blogs/currents/2018/philadelphia-u-s-district-court-determines-uber-drivers-are-independent-contractors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sometimes not</a>.</p> <h2>Roadblocks to becoming employees</h2> <p>Platform companies have worked against these attempts, leveraging the fact quite a number of gig workers like to imagine themselves as <a href="https://www.cipd.co.uk/Images/to-gig-or-not-to-gig_2017-stories-from-the-modern-economy_tcm18-18955.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">independent</a>, self-employed people, as well as customers’ preference for cheap services.</p> <p>The best (but not only) example is their success against California’s <a href="https://www.acslaw.org/expertforum/ab5-regulating-the-gig-economy-is-good-for-workers-and-democracy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">AB5</a> law, passed in 2019, that tightened the rules for companies to hire workers as independent contractors.</p> <p>Uber and rival Lyft first <a href="https://calmatters.org/economy/2020/08/california-gig-work-ab5-prop-22/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">threatened to suspend operations</a> in California rather than comply with the law. They then teamed up with other platform companies such as DoorDash and spent a reported <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/nov/12/uber-prop-22-law-drivers-ab5-gig-workers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">US$200 million</a> in 2020 to secure and a win a “ballot proposal” (known as Proposition 22) <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/04/technology/california-uber-lyft-prop-22.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">exempting</a> app-based transportation and delivery companies from the new law.</p> <p>A Californian court has since found <a href="https://www.nelp.org/blog/prop-22-unconstitutional/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Proposition 22 unconstitutional</a>, but it remains in place pending an appeal.</p> <p>Even when a rule is devised to interpret the contracts that gig workers sign as employment contracts, gig companies could <a href="https://www.hcamag.com/au/specialisation/industrial-relations/uber-eats-announces-new-business-model-and-contracts-for-riders/245068" target="_blank" rel="noopener">amend their contracts</a> to get around that.</p> <p>But in the end, a company such as Uber will adhere, grudgingly, to most standards that are imposed on it — other than defining its workers as employees. Thus it has accepted <a href="https://www.uber.com/ca/en/drive/montreal/get-started/training-requirement/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">training requirements in Quebec</a> (after first <a href="https://www.thedrive.com/article/14652/uber-threatens-to-leave-quebec-over-new-driver-training-requirements" target="_blank" rel="noopener">threatening to quit</a> the Canadian province), <a href="https://www.masslive.com/politics/2016/08/gov_charlie_baker_signs_law_regulating_uber_and_lyft_in_massachusetts.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fare regulation in Massachusetts</a> and driver accreditation requirements in <a href="https://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/newsroom-and-events/media-releases/transport-for-nsw-statement-regarding-ride-sharing-apps" target="_blank" rel="noopener">several</a> <a href="https://www.intellinews.com/uber-reaches-agreement-with-the-czech-government-138071/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">jurisdictions</a>.</p> <h2>Regulating contractors as contractors</h2> <p>Regulating gig work without redefining gig workers as employees is not just politically easier, and hence more sustainable. It is also more effective policy.</p> <p>It enables regulation to be <a href="https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au/bitstream/handle/10072/405187/Peetz498000-Accepted.pdf?sequence=2&amp;isAllowed=y" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tailored to circumstances</a>. For example it may mean applying an hourly wage rate in one sector, and a piece rate of some sort in another.</p> <p>For example, a New York state inquiry into how to regulate passenger transport came up with an amount expressed like taxi charges – that is, dollars per kilometre travelled – drivers needed to be paid to earn the <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/judge-rules-lyft-must-york-rules-driver-minimum-010416081.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">equivalent of the state’s minimum wage</a> (taking into account waiting times, average speeds and so on).</p> <p>Different panels of the Fair Work Commission could determine different forms of gig economy regulation for different industries.</p> <p>Legislation does not need to specify how regulation should be expressed. It just needs to make sure that the Commission has all the power it needs, to regulate in whatever way it sees fit.</p> <h2>Levelling the playing field</h2> <p>The Transport Workers’ Union – which has a number of former officials in the Albanese government – has a long history of successfully promoting regulation of safety conditions for independent contractors (such as truck owner-drivers) without rebadging workers as employees.</p> <p>In the 1970s, for example, it persuaded the Wran government in NSW to introduce amendments to the NSW Industrial Relations Act that have made roads safer.</p> <p>The Albanese government does not need to legislate specific regulation. It just needs give the Fair Work Commission the power it needs to regulate in whatever way it sees fit, setting a minimum hourly rate or something else.</p> <p>The law must also direct the commission to set minimum standards in a way that ensures gig workers are paid as much as comparable award-covered employees, taking account of expenses. (Contractors often pay for costs that, if they were employees, would be covered by their employer.) This sort of direction is important to ensure neutrality between the costs of using employees or contractors.</p> <p><em><strong>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-australias-gig-workers-may-remain-contractors-under-labors-reforms-186197" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. </strong></em></p> <p><em>Image: Shutterstock</em></p>

Money & Banking

Placeholder Content Image

No link found between caesarean birth and food allergies

<p>While babies born through caesareans may lack some gut bacteria that would otherwise be gained through vaginal births, recent research has consistently shown that there is little evidence for caesarean births being responsible for asthma and allergies. A recent study by the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) in Melbourne, confirmed no link between caesarean births and food allergies during the first year of life.</p> <p>This research, published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice, looked at 2,045 infants who underwent skin prick testing and an oral food challenge to test for allergy status. In this group, of the 30% that were born by caesarean, 12.7 % had a food allergy, compared to 13.2% born vaginally, meaning there was no statistically significant difference between birthing methods.</p> <p>“We found no meaningful differences in food allergy for infants born by caesarean delivery compared to those born by vaginal delivery,” says Rachel Peters, who led the study. “Additionally, there was no difference in likelihood of food allergy if the caesarean was performed before or after the onset of labour, or whether it was an emergency or elective caesarean.”</p> <p>A potential link between caesarean births and allergies had long been suspected because of the difference in early microbial exposure compared to vaginal delivery.</p> <p>“The infant immune system undergoes rapid development during the neonatal period,” says Peters. “The mode of delivery may interfere with the normal development of the immune system. Babies born by caesarean have less exposure to the bacteria from the mother’s gut and vagina, which influences the composition of the baby’s microbiome and immune system development. However, this doesn’t appear to play a major role in the development of food allergy.”</p> <p>These findings will assist caregivers to better evaluate risks and benefits of caesarean birth, and provide reassurance to parents that such interventions do not lead to an increased risk of food allergy in their babies.</p> <p>One in 10 infants, and one in 20 children over the age of five years in Australia, have a food allergy, one of the highest rates in the world. This research provides further good news to parents and children: 30% of peanut allergies and 90% of egg allergies naturally resolved by six years of age. These infants should be targeted for early intervention trials, such as oral immunotherapy.</p> <p>“Prioritising research of these and future interventions for infants less likely to naturally outgrow their allergy would yield the most benefit for healthcare resources and research funding,” says Peters.</p> <p><em><strong>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/health/caesarean-no-food-allergy-link/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cosmosmagazine.com</a> and was written by Qamariya Nasrullah.</strong></em></p> <p><em>Image: Shutterstock</em></p>

Caring

Placeholder Content Image

Drones are now delivering groceries in Canberra – how does it work?

<p>Major Australian supermarket Coles yesterday announced <a href="https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7641084/supermarket-to-offer-drone-delivery-for-grocery-items-in-canberra/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" data-type="URL" data-id="https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7641084/supermarket-to-offer-drone-delivery-for-grocery-items-in-canberra/">the launch of its partnership</a> with drone delivery service <a href="https://wing.com/en_au/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" data-type="URL" data-id="https://wing.com/en_au/">Wing</a> to bring drone-delivered groceries to customers in Canberra.</p> <p>The battery-powered <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/robotics/drones-for-good/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" data-type="URL" data-id="https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/robotics/drones-for-good/">drones</a> have a one-metre wingspan, weigh about 4.8 kilograms, and are equipped with both fixed wings and hover propellers, allowing them to behave as miniature versions of both aeroplanes and helicopters. They can travel at speeds of more than 110 km/h and carry packages of up to 1.2 kilograms.</p> <p>According to Simon Rossi, General Manager at Wing Australia, the drones typically require less energy to make a delivery than a kettle does to boil. </p> <p><strong>So how does drone delivery work? </strong></p> <p>Products can be ordered using the Wing app. Coles is currently offering delivery of more than 250 of its most popular grocery items, including bread, fresh produce, healthcare items, and toilet paper. </p> <p>When the order is received, the products are packed and loaded onto a drone, which ascends to its flying altitude of about 45 metres above ground and sets off for the delivery location. The drone will follow a route planned by Wing’s unmanned traffic management (UTM) software. </p> <p>“The aircraft automatically monitors its systems to make sure it is safe to fly and will prevent take-off or automatically take contingency actions if a problem is detected,” Rossi explains.  </p> <p>“Our trained remote aircraft pilots oversee everything to make sure the system is operating smoothly.” </p> <p>Once arrived, the drone descends to its delivery height of about seven metres above ground and hovers as it lowers the package to the ground on a tether. The package is automatically released, and the drone returns to the delivery facility. </p> <p>Customers can track the progress of their delivery on the Wing app. According to Wing, the company’s fastest delivery time to date is two minutes and 47 seconds from order to delivery. </p> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"> <div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> <div class="entry-content-asset"> <div class="embed-wrapper"> <div class="inner"><iframe title="Wing's drone delivery service in action in Australia" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4xrCuPACmq8?feature=oembed" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></div> </div> </div> </div> </figure> <p><strong>Is drone delivery catching on?</strong></p> <p>Wing has existing drone delivery partnerships with several businesses in both Canberra and Logan, Queensland. The service also has a presence in the US and Finland. </p> <p>According to Rossi, the company completed more than 100,000 drone deliveries in Australia in 2021, and 30,000 in the first two months of 2022. </p> <p>Early feedback from customers on the partnership with Coles in Canberra has been positive, he says. </p> <p>“Customers are ordering a range of items including pantry staples like bread, eggs, and milk, fresh produce and convenience meals, as well as health care items like over-the-counter cough medicine and bandages.”</p> <p><strong>Are there any risks to drone delivery? </strong></p> <p>Adding large numbers of unmanned flying machines to the air would seem to have the potential to be disruptive. </p> <div class="newsletter-box"> <div id="wpcf7-f6-p183733-o1" class="wpcf7" dir="ltr" lang="en-US" role="form"> <form class="wpcf7-form mailchimp-ext-0.5.56 resetting spai-bg-prepared" action="/technology/robotics/drone-delivery-groceries-canberra/#wpcf7-f6-p183733-o1" method="post" novalidate="novalidate" data-status="resetting"> <p style="display: none !important;"><span class="wpcf7-form-control-wrap referer-page"><input class="wpcf7-form-control wpcf7-text referer-page spai-bg-prepared" name="referer-page" type="hidden" value="https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/robotics/drone-delivery-groceries-canberra/" data-value="https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/robotics/drone-delivery-groceries-canberra/" aria-invalid="false" /></span></p> <p><!-- Chimpmail extension by Renzo Johnson --></form> </div> </div> <p>“Perhaps Wing’s most interesting feature is its airspace integration and deconfliction,” says Pauline Pounds, an associate professor in information technology and electrical engineering at the University of Queensland. </p> <p>“Balancing the needs of CASA [the Civil Aviation Safety Authority], commercial aviation operators and other drone operators requires some care.”</p> <p>Because they fly in a zone between ‘ground clutter’ and manned aviation traffic, the drones are likely to remain comparatively safe. This also helps explain why flying drones are increasingly integrated into our everyday lives, while driverless cars languish on the sidelines. </p> <p>“It’s far easier to build a robot to fly in clear air where obstacles are rare, rather than on roads where pedestrians and human drivers may behave erratically,” says Pounds. </p> <p>However, the drones’ airspace won’t be completely risk-free. </p> <p>“A collision between a drone and a bird is unlikely to be a pleasant experience for either,” Pounds admits. </p> <p><strong>Is drone delivery the future of grocery shopping?</strong></p> <p>Unfortunately, a drone can’t yet do your entire weekly grocery shop for you, and Rossi emphasises that this isn’t the service’s intention. </p> <p>“Rather, it is to enable customers to quickly order small grocery and convenience items, coffees, and snacks which they may need in a hurry,” he says. </p> <p>But could it be done one day?</p> <p>“Scaling drones to carry heavier payloads is a fundamental challenge: the more the drone carries, the shorter its flight will be,” says Pounds. </p> <p>“Drones are optimised for specific payload-range characteristics. Improving performance requires more energy-dense batteries, more efficient propulsion systems; the same limitations that hold back flying cars. </p> <p>“However, a distributed network of mini-aerodromes allowing packages to make many short hops – like a drone ‘Pony Express’ – could allow these systems to scale without limit, much like mobile phone base station cells.” </p> <p>Coles frames the new partnership with Wing as part of its strategy to become Australia’s most sustainable supermarket, as drone delivery options could reduce the need for cars and trucks. </p> <p>Wing also emphasise their green credentials, describing drone delivery as “one of the fastest, safest and most environmentally friendly modes of delivering goods when compared to a truck or car”. </p> <p>But with the drones only able to carry a kilo or two, would environmentally-conscious supermarkets be better off investing in electric cars and trucks instead? </p> <p>“Flying is innately energy-intensive and will always be more demanding than a comparable electric vehicle rolling the same distance, but drones fly directly point to point and do not require detours or stop at traffic lights,” says Pounds. </p> <p>“However, both drones and wheeled electric vehicles also have differing manufacturing, maintenance and disposal costs; whether autonomous cars or drones turn out to be more energy efficient over their lifetimes has yet to be seen.”</p> <p><!-- Start of tracking content syndication. Please do not remove this section as it allows us to keep track of republished articles --></p> <p><img id="cosmos-post-tracker" style="opacity: 0; height: 1px!important; width: 1px!important; border: 0!important; position: absolute!important; z-index: -1!important;" src="https://syndication.cosmosmagazine.com/?id=183733&amp;title=Drones+are+now+delivering+groceries+in+Canberra+%E2%80%93+how+does+it+work%3F" width="1" height="1" data-spai-target="src" data-spai-orig="" data-spai-exclude="nocdn" /></p> <p><!-- End of tracking content syndication --></p> <div id="contributors"> <p><em><a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/robotics/drone-delivery-groceries-canberra/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">This article</a> was originally published on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cosmos Magazine</a> and was written by <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/contributor/matilda-handlsey-davis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Matilda Handsley-Davis</a>. Matilda is a science writer at Cosmos. She holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Science (Honours) from the University of Adelaide.</em></p> <p><em>Image: Wing (Facebook)</em></p> </div>

Technology

Placeholder Content Image

Couple receives $3000 from Aus Post for botched deliveries

<p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px;padding: 0px;border: 0px;font-size: 16px;vertical-align: baseline">Australia Post has been forced to pay out over $3000 to a Melbourne couple after drivers repeatedly failed to deliver parcels to their home for over a year during the pandemic.</p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px;padding: 0px;border: 0px;font-size: 16px;vertical-align: baseline">Wayne Short and Veronica Libson took the postal giant to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) in December to seek compensation, claiming that Australia Post failed to deliver parcels to their home and continued sending them to the local post office instead.</p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px;padding: 0px;border: 0px;font-size: 16px;vertical-align: baseline">Mr Short said some of the parcels contained important items such as medication for their daughter, who is waiting for a liver transplant, and other contained goods for their hire party business.</p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px;padding: 0px;border: 0px;font-size: 16px;vertical-align: baseline">He told the tribunal that the issues began in 2019, when the couple started experiencing difficulties getting parcels delivered to their home.</p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px;padding: 0px;border: 0px;font-size: 16px;vertical-align: baseline">Despite filing a complaint directly to Australia Post at the time, it was not responded to.</p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px;padding: 0px;border: 0px;font-size: 16px;vertical-align: baseline">Then in March 2020, the couple were undertaking renovations on their stairs and Mr Short said delivery drivers couldn’t safely deliver parcels for a week.</p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px;padding: 0px;border: 0px;font-size: 16px;vertical-align: baseline">However, after the renovations were completed the parcels were still not delivered, with the driver claiming they were still unsafe to climb.</p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px;padding: 0px;border: 0px;font-size: 16px;vertical-align: baseline">After this, Australia Post drivers stopped delivering parcels altogether, instead sending SMS messages to the couple to pick up their parcels at the post office.</p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px;padding: 0px;border: 0px;font-size: 16px;vertical-align: baseline">In June of the same year, the couple filed a second complaint, this time to the local post office. The manager reassured Mr Short that the issue would be sorted out.</p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px;padding: 0px;border: 0px;font-size: 16px;vertical-align: baseline">A few days later, a heated argument erupted between Mr Short and a delivery driver at the couple’s home.</p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px;padding: 0px;border: 0px;font-size: 16px;vertical-align: baseline">When the driver handed over the parcel, Mr Short then told the driver they were tired of tracking down all their other parcels. The driver responded by taking back the parcel and telling Mr Short they could “go pick up their own parcels”.</p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px;padding: 0px;border: 0px;font-size: 16px;vertical-align: baseline">According to the tribunal, Mr Short lost his temper, grabbing the parcel abc and telling the driver to “get the f**k off his property”.</p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px;padding: 0px;border: 0px;font-size: 16px;vertical-align: baseline">After the incident, all deliveries apart from their normal mail ceased.</p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px;padding: 0px;border: 0px;font-size: 16px;vertical-align: baseline">As for how the compensation was calculated based on how long it took the couple to collect their parcels.</p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px;padding: 0px;border: 0px;font-size: 16px;vertical-align: baseline">Having found that they spend around 30 minutes travelling to the post office every week between June 2020 and December 2021, VCAT member Neil Campbell calculated the compensation of $3100.</p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px;padding: 0px;border: 0px;font-size: 16px;vertical-align: baseline">He said the tribunal found the deliveries were “not undertaken with due care and skill” as they were “not delivered to the residential address” and there was “no basis for them not to be”.</p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px;padding: 0px;border: 0px;font-size: 16px;vertical-align: baseline">In a statement shared with <em style="margin: 0px;padding: 0px;border: 0px;vertical-align: baseline"><a style="background-image: initial;background-position: initial;background-size: initial;background-attachment: initial;margin: 0px;padding: 0px;border: 0px;vertical-align: baseline" href="https://7news.com.au/business/australia-post/australia-post-ordered-to-pay-3000-to-melbourne-couple-over-botched-deliveries-c-5556891" target="_blank" rel="noopener">7News.com.au</a></em>, a spokesperson for Australia Post said the company respected the tribunal’s decision.</p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px;padding: 0px;border: 0px;font-size: 16px;vertical-align: baseline">“Australia Post respects the decision of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal and can confirm that parcel delivery has recommenced to the address,” they said.</p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px;padding: 0px;border: 0px;font-size: 16px;vertical-align: baseline"><em style="margin: 0px;padding: 0px;border: 0px;vertical-align: baseline">Image: @auspost (Instagram)</em></p>

Legal

Placeholder Content Image

Vaginal birth after caesarean increases the risk of serious perineal tear by 20%, our large-scale review shows

<p>Pregnant women who previously birthed by caesarean section are presented with a choice: whether to try for a vaginal birth, or book in for a repeat caesar.</p> <p>Those mulling over a vaginal birth are counselled at length about the risk of a rare but nasty outcome – the uterus rupturing while labour is in full flight.</p> <p>But new research looking at 130,000 births over five years has uncovered an increased risk of another outcome women deserve information about: extensive tearing around the vaginal region during birth.</p> <p>Our new study, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34913246/">published</a> in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, hones in on the risk of vaginal trauma for those who birth vaginally after a prior caesarean. This kind of birth trauma relates to significant injury to a woman’s perineum, the important region between the vagina and anus. The perineum anchors many pelvic floor muscles that help control the bladder and bowels.</p> <p>We defined serious birth injury as a tear in the perineum that <a href="https://www.thewomens.org.au/images/uploads/fact-sheets/Perineal-tears-third-and-fourth-degree.pdf">extends</a> into the anal sphincter – the delicate ring of muscle that helps us control our bowels. Damage to this muscle is called a third-degree perineal tear.</p> <h2>What we studied</h2> <p>The study looked at 130,000 births in Victoria and compared the risk of a third-degree perinatal tear among first-time mums with those who birth vaginally after a prior caesarean (sometimes referred to as a <a href="https://www.acog.org/womens-health/faqs/vaginal-birth-after-cesarean-delivery">VBAC</a>). In our study, vaginal birth included women birthed without any medical assistance, and births by forceps or the ventouse (vacuum birth). Anything but birth by caesarean.</p> <p>The results were clear: a vaginal birth after a previous caesarean increases the chance of significant vaginal trauma (third-degree tear) by 21% (albeit from a low baseline rate).</p> <p>A potential reason for this increased risk might include a mismatch between a uterus that has birthed before and a perineum that has not. If this is the case, the labour progresses quickly, which does not allow enough time for the perineum to stretch naturally. However, the real reason for this risk is unknown and further research is needed.</p> <h2>Lifelong impacts</h2> <p>Once a vaginal birth injury occurs, the tears are immediately repaired by obstetricians. Many women heal fully – but some who sustain a third-degree tear during birth develop distressing issues that never disappear, despite expert care, including from specialist physiotherapists.</p> <p>Symptoms can include an ongoing dragging sensation in the pelvic floor, or true prolapse of the vaginal walls. Sometimes, coughing or sneezing can cause urine leakage. And for some, jogging becomes too hard due to leaking of urine and pelvic discomfort. Others might suffer from reduced faecal control and even the odd episode of faecal soiling. Sex can be painful.</p> <p><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442177/original/file-20220124-13-zzb927.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442177/original/file-20220124-13-zzb927.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="woman with caesar scar holds baby" /></a> <span class="caption">Women who had a caesarean birth the first time around are at greater risk of serious birth injury from a subsequent vaginal birth.</span> <span class="attribution"><a href="https://image.shutterstock.com/image-photo/closeup-woman-belly-scar-cesarean-600w-1883782888.jpg" class="source">Shutterstock</a></span></p> <h2>This doesn’t mean women shouldn’t consider VBAC</h2> <p>This increased risk of injury does not make it unsafe for women who have had a caesarean before to try for a vaginal birth. But our results should be incorporated into counselling of these women about their choices.</p> <p>Since the risk of vaginal birth injury including the anal sphincter sits at <a href="https://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/sites/default/files/2021-04/perineal_tears_ccs_v3.pdf">around 5-7%</a> in Victoria for first-time mothers, the increase of 21% raises the overall likelihood to around 6–8.5%. It’s a modest rise that will bother some, but not others.</p> <p>Still, women deserve to be given this information so they can judge for themselves whether it worries them enough to ask for a repeat caesarean, or try for a vaginal birth.</p> <p><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442432/original/file-20220125-23-f3cuam.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442432/original/file-20220125-23-f3cuam.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="pregnant woman in waiting room" /></a> <span class="caption">Birth counselling should fully explain the risks.</span> <span class="attribution"><a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/pregnant-woman-courses-expectant-mothers-1185645562" class="source">Shutterstock</a></span></p> <p>Counselling is not just about cautioning women of the risks. As midwives and obstetricians, we talk with these women about what will happen when they go into labour, when to come into hospital, and what their chance (and definition) of “successful” vaginal birth might be.</p> <p>We also mention the most enticing advantage for those whose destiny is an uncomplicated vaginal birth – they sidestep another caesar. Often, this means a <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17181678/">shorter recovery time</a> and <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23186385/">improved likelihood of breastfeeding</a>.</p> <p>After these discussions, some women will feel the very small risk of serious vaginal trauma (or <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1001184">uterine rupture</a>) is one well worth taking and opt to try for a vaginal birth. Others will opt for the certainty of a repeat caesarean.</p> <p>Women deserve full support in their birth choices. And they deserve to be fully informed about possible risks. It’s time we broaden our discussions with women planning a vaginal birth after caesarean section to include the increased risk of vaginal birth trauma.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/173249/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/anthea-lindquist-1296574">Anthea Lindquist</a>, Obstetrician and Perinatal Epidemiologist, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a></em> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/stephen-tong-1310350">Stephen Tong</a>, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a></em></span></p> <p>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/vaginal-birth-after-caesarean-increases-the-risk-of-serious-perineal-tear-by-20-our-large-scale-review-shows-173249">original article</a>.</p> <p><em>Image: Shutterstock</em></p>

Family & Pets

Placeholder Content Image

"Over the moon": UberEats makes first delivery into space

<p>UberEats has teamed up with a Japanese billionaire to send canned food onboard the International Space Station. </p> <p>The delivery was made by Japanese entrepreneur Yusaka <span>Maezawa</span> on December 11th, arriving at the ISS 8 hours and 34 minutes after Maeawa's departure from Earth. </p> <p><span>The dishes include boiled mackerel in miso, beef bowl cooked in sweet sauce, simmered chicken with bamboo shoots and braised pork.</span></p> <p><span>Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.uber.com/newsroom/uber-eats-in-space/" target="_blank">statement</a>, "</span>One small handoff for Yusaku Maezawa, one giant delivery for Uber Eats!"</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">"We're over the moon to have helped make our first successful delivery to space. Our goal is to help people go anywhere and get anything, so we're proud to serve the astronauts at the International Space Station."</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font"><span>"Yusaku Maezawa gets a thumbs up on this delivery, even though it took a bit longer than the usual 30 minutes to arrive."</span></p> <p class="mol-para-with-font"><span>Maezawa and his assistant will spend 12 days onboard the ISS before returning home. </span></p> <p class="mol-para-with-font"><span>After receiving a flood of criticism for the deciding to pay a fortune for the trip to space, Maezawa defended his decision saying it was an "amazing experience". </span></p> <p class="mol-para-with-font"><span>"Once you are in space, you realise how much it is worth it by having this amazing experience," he told the AP in the first TV interview since he arrived at the station. "And I believe that this amazing experience will lead to something else."</span></p> <p class="mol-para-with-font"><span>Maezawa and his assistant are the first self-paying tourists to </span>visit the space station since 2009.</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font">When asked about reports that claimed he had spent over $80 million for the 12-day mission, <span>Maezawa didn't disclose the contract sum but admitted he paid "pretty much" the rumoured amount. </span></p> <p class="mol-para-with-font"><span>When responding to </span>criticism from those who claims his money would be better spent helping people on Earth rather than a space mission, <span>Maezawa simply claimed </span>that "those who criticise are perhaps those who have never been to space."</p> <p class="mol-para-with-font"><em>Image credits: UberEats</em></p>

International Travel

Placeholder Content Image

Big news from Aus Post after huge jump in parcel demands

<p>Australia Post has announced they will be teaming up with 7-Eleven to make package delivery "wonderfully easier."</p> <p>With over 500 new locations for parcel pick-up, Australia Post hopes to improve convenience for their customers, while also being able to more accurately handle the surge in online shopping. </p> <p><span>The pandemic has seen a rapid rise in parcel volumes for AusPost; almost 32 per cent in the 2020-21 financial year. </span></p> <p>As lockdowns across NSW and QLD continue thanks to the Delta variant of COVID-19, more and more people are relying on online shopping to get their essentials, which has been encouraged by health authorities. </p> <p><span>"To help meet the needs of the more than 9 million households who shop online, Australia Post customers will have the choice of many more parcel locker locations and will be able to access the lockers at 7-Eleven stores 24 hours a day, seven days a week," AusPost said in a statement on Thursday.</span></p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 337.80833879065705px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7842854/7-eleven.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/0e9ddab03b66431a901e417537bd748a" /></p> <p><em>Image credit: Shutterstock</em></p> <p><span>Australia Post Executive General Manager Community &amp; Consumer Nicole Sheffield said the partnership is thanks to the millions of Aussies who have embraced online shopping in the past year.</span></p> <p><span>She said, “This partnership with 7-Eleven gives our customers greater choice on the most convenient way to collect what they’ve bought, at the times and places that suit them, which is why expanding our locker network into 7-Eleven stores just makes sense.”</span></p> <p>The service kicks off at more than 200 7-Eleven stores where ParcelMate lockers are already in use, <span>with another 300 7-Eleven stores to be added for Australia Post deliveries by the end of 2021.</span></p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images/Shutterstock</em></p>

News

Placeholder Content Image

Isolated couple praise Australia Post driver

<p>A woman stuck in isolation with her husband after visiting a COVID-19 hotspot has praised her postie for going “above and beyond”.</p> <p>Kirsten Walpole Sinnamon took to Facebook to explain she had just moved a few months back but went to Melbourne for two weeks.</p> <p>When she returned to Queensland, Victoria was declared a coronavirus hotspot and she along with her husband were forced straight into quarantine.</p> <p>Being plunged into a 14-day stint at home meant they were unable to perform basic tasks, including picking up their package after a note from Australia Post told them they had two weeks to collect their item from the post office.</p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7841844/aus-post-1.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/e1722a1b820642d5a04e687d95d4e9d3" /></p> <p>Despite several attempts, they were not able to connect to their local post office so Ms Sinnamon took drastic measures and stuck a note in her mailbox addressed to her postie.</p> <p>"We're stuck in iso after visiting first grand baby in Melbourne last week," the letter read.</p> <p>"Is it possible to re-deliver our parcel, please? We'll be here all week. Understand if it's not."</p> <p>Ms Sinnamon said they did not know their postie well but were thankful for Lisa who called the woman and asked her if the parcel needed to be redirected.</p> <p>"When I explained the home isolation situation she came back &amp; delivered it this afternoon!!" Ms Sinnamon explained on Facebook. </p> <p>"We would have been completely happy if they’d just been able to hold it for the week until we’re allowed out to collect, or even delivered the next day. We’re over the moon with appreciation to receive it today!</p> <p>"Posties are awesome."</p>

Retirement Life

Placeholder Content Image

Coles makes huge home delivery announcement

<p>Coles is bringing a whole new level of service to online shopping with Coles Plus, a new subscription-based service aimed at rewarding its members.</p> <p>The service, which costs $19 a month, allows shoppers access to special benefits on liquor, home delivery and unlimited access to the supermarket giant's latest venture Click&amp;Collect Rapid.</p> <p>Click&amp;Collect Rapid allows customers to order up to 40 products with a minimum spend of $30, and pay a flat fee for $5 for it to be collected, packed and ready for collection 90 minutes later.</p> <p>Coles says the service is "unlike anything currently available in Australia".</p> <p>However, Woolworths offers a similar service called Delivery Unlimited, which has been running since 2019.</p> <p>Coles Chief Executive eCommerce Ben Hassing said Coles Online was building from 20 years’ experience to deliver a seamless customer experience and elevate the shopping experience for Coles Plus members.</p> <p><strong>What is Coles Plus?</strong></p> <p>“We know customers love the convenience of Coles Online, but they want more. Coles Plus is the latest way we are rewarding the loyalty of our digitally-engaged customers, ensuring Coles leads anytime, anywhere, anyhow shopping,” he said.</p> <p>“We continue to see significant growth in demand for online grocery shopping and we are investing in customer experience and capacity, which is having a positive impact on customer satisfaction.</p> <p>“Feedback from Australian families already using Coles Plus has been overwhelmingly encouraging and we are planning on adding more exciting updates in the future.”</p>

Food & Wine

Placeholder Content Image

"How is this possible?": Woolworths delivery leaves family in shock

<p>A family from NSW has taken to Facebook after they unpacked their Woolworths home delivery to find "dodgy" carrots, rotting onions and missing items.</p> <p>“These were part of our home delivery tonight. The bag of carrots is use by tomorrow - even if it wasn’t already dodgy, I couldn’t eat a bag of carrots in one night... Also a whole bag worth of frozen groceries missing,” the frustrated customer wrote on the store's Facebook page on Tuesday.</p> <p>The customer posted photos of a bag of carrots with some that appear to have turned into mush and two rotting red onions.</p> <p>The customers said the "dodgy" delivery wasn't a one-off incident that they received deliveries with missing items quite often.</p> <p>“I think this is about our fourth delivery in a row where items that were supposed to be delivered were not,” the man said.</p> <p>“We never get an apology, just a refund,” the woman replied.</p> <p>Facebook users were appalled at the state of the delivery and took to the comments to condemn the supermarket giant.</p> <p>“How is this even possible? WTF,” one person commented.</p> <p>A few people were concerned that those who relied on home deliveries for groceries were not receiving products of the highest quality.</p> <p>“I guess it’s their way of getting rid of produce they can't sell. Taking advantage of those who can't get to shops. Covid has certainly not helped,” one user insisted.</p> <p>“The other thing that breaks my heart is what about the poor elderly that rely on delivery services like these? They can't use a whole loaf of bread for example in a day... (that's even if it's in date),” another person replied.</p> <p>“Care factor for customer health? Zero. Care factor for profit margins? 100 per cent,” the original poster wrote.</p> <p>A spokesperson for Woolworths said the supermarket was aware of the customer's complaint and apologised "for missing the mark on this occasion".</p> <p>“We know it's frustrating when the quality of some products in our online orders aren’t up to our usual standard,” the spokesperson said in a statement.</p> <p>“We’re keen to follow up with our in-store team and are awaiting more information from the customer to do so.</p> <p>“If our customers have any concerns about the quality of the product they receive, we always encourage them to return the product back to their local store for a refund or replacement.”</p>

Food & Wine

Our Partners