“The veneer of fun erodes over time. When you become sicker, you use more – to detach from reality.”

By the Alexandra Canal, people gather in groups of twos and threes, their reflections incandescent in the grey, putrescent water. It could be Kyiv or Tbilisi, but it’s Sydney.

Maybe there is the warm, uncomplicated glow that comes over us when, after so much time and so much hurt, things are finally just about okay.

Beatriz* migrated illegally to Australia so she could send money back to her family in the Philippines. There, you have to pay the hospital a deposit before they will treat you. In Australia, Beatriz doesn’t have Medicare – when she needed an operation, friends helped her find a discreet doctor, and she paid in cash.

“We were the weird kids. Everyone wanted to see what we were having for lunch, so they could tease us for the rest of lunchtime."

It's 9.30am, I’ve just left home, and I hit a 100-metre queue at the lights. My pulse quickens.

Like many young Australians, I have grown up with the pokies.

"Next morning I awake and check the app. The heat map glows red across the city."

She tells me about her best friends, they go to a different school now. Emotion creeps into my throat and I start to feel anxious.

Award-winning conflict photographer Stephen Dupont has devised an impressive new theatrical experience entitled Don’t Look Away.

Located in a small cluster of shops on Darlinghurst Road, between the Jewish Museum and the Darlo Bar, 'Alice' is the mother lode for indie kids.

At some point people started referring to Shigeru Ban as the “good” architect.