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Komla Tsey

Komla Tsey

Pearls and Irritations

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Women are still missing from the medical evidence that shapes their care

Women are still missing from the medical evidence that shapes their care

Women can be failed by healthcare even when clinicians listen carefully, because bias in research design, participation and data analysis can distort...

tuesday 10

Pearls and Irritations

Komla Tsey

Climate finance must transfer power, not just money

Climate finance must transfer power, not just money

Climate finance will not deliver justice if communities receive project funding but remain excluded from decisions, governance and the long-term...

11.10.2026 20

Pearls and Irritations

Komla Tsey

Australia’s AI boom must leave regional communities with more than the bill

Australia’s AI boom must leave regional communities with more than the bill

Massive AI infrastructure projects may bring jobs and investment, but regional development should be judged by what communities control, retain and...

07.10.2026 20

Pearls and Irritations

Komla Tsey

Migrants live by two ledgers. Australia only counts one

Australia measures migrant success through jobs, income and settlement. It rarely counts the financial obligations migrants carry across borders, or...

04.10.2026 40

Pearls and Irritations

Komla Tsey

Child protection scrutinises families. Who scrutinises child protection?

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are increasingly overrepresented in out-of-home care. Protecting children means making the system...

01.10.2026 20

Pearls and Irritations

Komla Tsey

Child protection scrutinises families. Who scrutinises child protection?

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are increasingly overrepresented in out-of-home care. Protecting children means making the system...

30.09.2026 10

Pearls and Irritations

Komla Tsey

The machine answered. Then the power went out

AI can help people explore ideas, learn skills and plan businesses. But without reliable power, internet access, trusted teachers, equipment and local...

28.09.2026 30

Pearls and Irritations

Komla Tsey

Australia keeps consulting Indigenous people. When do they get to decide?

As the Productivity Commission begins its second Closing the Gap review, the question is not simply whether Indigenous voices are being heard, but...

23.09.2026 30

Pearls and Irritations

Komla Tsey

Making Indigenous incarceration strange again

When too many young Aboriginal men come to see prison as a normal stage of growing up, the question is not only what has gone wrong with them – but...

09.08.2026 40

Pearls and Irritations

Komla Tsey

Making Indigenous incarceration strange again

When too many young Aboriginal men come to see prison as a normal stage of growing up, the question is not only what has gone wrong with them – but...

09.08.2026 60

Pearls and Irritations

Komla Tsey

The program that quietly evaluated me

An Aboriginal-developed program revealed that lasting social change depends not only on structural reform, but on people discovering and using the...

06.08.2026 40

Pearls and Irritations

Komla Tsey

Two truths about empire

Debates about western civilisation and colonialism often fail because they demand a single verdict, when history can carry achievement and injustice...

03.08.2026 50

Pearls and Irritations

Komla Tsey

The two stories I tell taxi drivers

Treating everyone the same doesn’t necessarily add up to fairness or national unity. What makes a difference is finding the best way to overcome...

23.07.2026 50

Pearls and Irritations

Komla Tsey

When democracy needs restraint

The essence of a liberal democracy is to let people whose lifestyles we disapprove of remain equal before the law. Such restraint is needed in the...

15.07.2026 60

Pearls and Irritations

Komla Tsey

The responsibilities of giving

Helping others begins with respect, recognising what they have already achieved and how to assist them to realise their capabilities. Education...

13.07.2026 50

Pearls and Irritations

Komla Tsey

Beyond taking sides

What a letter from Accra can teach Australia about prejudice and why our convictions must be accompanied by curiosity. I wrote to Ama after many...

05.07.2026 70

Pearls and Irritations

Komla Tsey