MAMAMIA - No sooner have the democracy sausages cooled from May's Federal election, as Victorians return to the polling booths today - this time, to decide upon the 60th state parliament and the fundamental question: Dan or Matt as premier?”

MAMAMIA - As a journalist, my days are book-ended in the same way. With news. I read it first thing in the morning. I watch it before I go to bed. And each day, I bear witness to The Latest Adventures of ScoMo and Albo: On the Campaign Trail…

MAMAMIA - In 2010, Julia Gillard became the first woman to be Prime Minister of Australia. On whatever side of the political divide you sit, it arguably heralded a time of renewed optimism for women with strong political (or professional) aspirations.

MAMAMIA - “When is it going to end?” It was the exasperated question that Victoria Stepanenko’s mother, Dr. Natalia Stepanenko, sobbed from a Chernihiv hospital, in northern Ukraine.

MAMAMIA - It was a blast so large that Aliza could hear the doors and windows of her father’s Kharkiv apartment clap through the phone to her home in Melbourne.

MAMAMIA - As a Jewish person, it is triggering to see this symbol, exploited by those who wish to pedal their own agenda. Have your opinions, sure. But do not appropriate the suffering experienced by marginalised groups who were targeted for nothing more than their existence.

They were the words that took 82 years to receive: “Officially, on behalf of the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel, we are sorry that the 1938 consul general in Melbourne would not accept the letter of the Aborigines League nor forward it on to the political leadership here in Berlin as would have been the right and morally correct thing for a consular official to do.”

“The embodiment of diversity, the appointment of Harris was relished by supporters as a beacon of hope as she shatters glass ceilings at a time when a stalled trajectory of women in positions of political leadership prevails.”

Rahmat was 14 years old when he arrived in Australia. But his first encounters of this new land were not experienced as he trudged through an airport terminal – rather, he arrived upon the shores in a leaky boat. His first 10 months were spent on Christmas Island, and the next three at Leonora detention facility in Western Australia.

Survivors of sexual abuse in the Jewish community were left feeling “shame” and “re-traumatised” following changes to Victoria’s Judicial Proceedings Reports Act that silences victims from speaking out. Alleged sexual abuse victim Dassi Erlich said, “The government does not have the right to choose how and when victims tell their story”.

The Jerusalem District Court's ruling that Leifer is mentally fit to stand trial marks a long-awaited and long-overdue milestone in the quest to bring her to justice in Australia.

EXCLUSIVE: The parents of young Jewish students who were the victims of antisemitic bullying say they feel sidelined in the Victorian Department of Education's review into the incidents.

Following exclusive reports by The AJN last week revealing two cases of antisemitic bullying in state schools, the families of the victims met on Monday with Victorian education minister James Merlino in addition to meeting federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and federal Minister for Education Dan Tehan.

EXCLUSIVE: Victoria’s Education Minister James Merlino has ordered an “immediate review” into how two Melbourne schools responded to alleged incidents of antisemitic bullying, following yesterday’s exclusive report in The AJN.

Jewish Israeli Noa Yammer and Palestinian citizen of Israel Shada Edress Mansour share their journeys to Hand in Hand, a network of schools for Jews and Arabs.

Treasurer, deputy Liberal leader and top Jew in the country Josh Frydenberg shares a more personal side of his life.

“Hope has been as fundamental to Israel’s survival as our most sophisticated defence systems. So deeply is it engrained in our religious and national consciousness.”

On Monday it was 23 years since Dana Pinhasov was the victim of a terrorist attack in Jerusalem. She shares her inspirational story of resilience and courage.

“We walked the streets of the Al-Amari Refugee Camp, under the watchful gaze of men who sat in small clusters by shop fronts. At the entrance of Al-Amari stands a shrine which celebrates Yasser Arafat and the Camp’s “freedom fighters against the occupation” – Terrorists who have stolen the lives of scores of innocent Israelis. This was not the uncomfortable moment that I had foreshadowed. It was sickening, and I felt it in the pit of my stomach.”

“I see all women as women.” Mushira Aboo Dia is an Israeli-Arab obstetrician and gynaecologist, practising at Hadassah Hospital and Bat Ami in Jerusalem. With deep divisions entrenched in a complex society, the maternity wards are no different. But there are also shared stories to be found, reflected Aboo Dia.