This latest report in the series on COVID-19 disinformation and social media manipulation investigates vaccine disinformation emerging – the day after Russia announced plans to mass-produce its own vaccine - from Eastern Ukraine’s pro-Russian media ecosystem.

This report presents key results from the 2019 National Drug Strategy household survey. It looks at people’s drug use throughout their lives and during the last 12 months, and examines how these patterns have changed over time.

Businessman and former federal MP Clive Palmer claimed that use of the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine contributed to Australia’s low death rate during the coronavirus pandemic. He said the Covid-19 death curve had flattened after the federal health minister announced the drug would be made available for hospital patients. Mr Palmer’s claim is baseless.

This rapid research brief responds to the question - what are the most promising COVID-19 therapeutics in development globally and nationally, and what are their mechanisms of action, their stage of development and their strengths and limitations?

In recent decades the range and patterns of opioids used for extra-medical purposes have changed. The use of pharmaceutical opioids exceeds the use of heroin. The objective of this report was to estimate the social costs arising from extra-medical opioid use in Australia for the financial year 2015/16.