🌞 Your year in good news

This is our final edition of the Good Newsletter of the year (cue a collective “NooOOooo!”)

To mark the occasion, I thought we’d take a walk down memory lane to highlight some of the most uplifting news stories from the year. From local community initiatives to globally defining science research, 2025 has had it all.

I’ve so loved being part of your Sunday morning routine, and can’t wait to continue the tradition next year. From all of us at TDA, have a wonderful holiday period and remember all the good things that happened this year!

It’s rare for the start date of a new employee to be newsworthy, but this is the exception. This year, the Queensland courts gained a new employee, and it quickly became everyone’s favourite.

Court Dog Leo was sworn in October in Brisbane, becoming the first Queensland court dog. Leo and his handler were trained by Guide Dogs Australia and were funded by Queensland Law Society and the Family Law Practitioners Association of Queensland.

Chief Justice of the Federal and Family Court of Australia, William Alstergren said: “Leo’s presence will greatly assist children and vulnerable litigants to feel safer and calmer when at court.”

Court dogs are used to minimise stress in courts, with research saying they help reduce stress and anxiety, while improving the sense of calm.

This might be recency bias, but I found this one SO cool, so it had to make the cut.

A study published recently found that patients who listen to music during surgery may recover faster and require less medication.

The goal of the study, which was led by the Maulana Azad Medical College in the Indian capital Delhi, was to understand more about the effects of general anaesthetic, so that patients can be discharged from hospital earlier.

Trial participants were played instrumental pieces via noise-cancelling headphones under anaesthetic.

Doctors noted the “music therapy” patients woke up from surgery more clear-headed and alert, and generally required less pain medication than those who were not played music.

Researchers said: “Since the ability to hear remains intact under anaesthesia, music can still shape the brain’s internal state,” lowering stress levels, stabilising blood pressure, and setting them up for a smoother recovery.

On our journey of good news, we travel from India to Tanzania, where we reported earlier this year that an innovator had created solar-powered backpacks that help children read after dark by using their bags to power a reading light. According to BBC, less than half of homes in Tanzania are connected to electricity, and under a third are in rural areas, which can be a big barrier to children getting an education.

The way it works is that these solar-panel-outfitted school bags charge throughout the day when students walk their way to and from school. During the night, the energy powers a built-in light that lets the children read and write, among other things, long after the sun has set.

This UN-backed innovation can replace kerosene lamps, which can be expensive and emit harmful fumes for many families. The low-cost yet sustainable solution is helping bridge the gap in educational inequality and reminds us of the power of accessible technology in transforming lives!

Moving closer to home for some good news now. I found this story courtesy of my partner Olly, who was asked to judge a community ‘shark tank’ event. He came home raving about one of the pitches he heard, which was from 11-year-old Eden.

Eden has created a company, Hibbitz, which recycles Jibbitz (in case you don’t have children in your life, Jibbitz are charms for your Crocs) into fun hearing aid accessories.

According to Eden, Hibbitz are designed to “help kids with hearing loss feel confident and proud to express their unique style”.

In his pitch, Eden said: “Over 11,000 children aged under 12 in Australia have hearing aids. And I bet you all my pocket money that they don't want to wear them. They don’t feel comfortable. However, wearing [Hibbitz] acts like a shield… They get to protect them from bullies.”

You can check out his amazing idea here!

Later in the year, we reported on All Things Equal. Now, if you haven’t heard of All Things Equal, it’s a social enterprise cafe in the heart of Melbourne that is transforming the hospitality industry through its innovative employment for people with disability.

I want to quickly provide some context to explain why All Things Equal is such a necessary and positive step. 

So firstly, there has been no improvement in employment rates for people with disability in Australia over the last two decades. Of 2.7 million working age individuals with disabilities, just 56.1% are employed, compared to 82.3% of people without disabilities.

Enter: All Things Equal. Since opening its doors in 2021, the cafe has created 28 job pathways for people with disability, has an 100-person waitlist to join the team and has helped eight team members transition into mainstream employment.

How good is that!

I remember getting so many responses about this story when we first ran it in our newsletter. The story went that a Portland-based non-profit had been running an initiative with a dual purpose: combat homelessness and trash collection issues.

Ground Score employs unhoused and formerly unhoused workers for trash collection on city streets. Workers make $US20-29 ($AU32-47) an hour through funding supplied by local government and advocacy groups.

There are 55 workers employed under the scheme, 95% of whom were recruited when unhoused. Incredibly, over 70% have become housed since working with the group.

In 2024, 31,747 people participated and collected 9.5 million bottles and cans processed for recycling - how good is that?!

This year, a team of researchers at Louisiana State University developed a sustainable alternative to plastic Mardi Gras beads.

The beads are a popular New Orleans Mardi Gras tradition, but it's estimated that several tonnes of the colourful strands end up in landfill every year.

Local scientists developed an eco-friendly recycling solution to this problem. The “PlantMe Beads” are made up of several biodegradable outer shells, with plant and flower seeds stored within each bead.

As the discarded chains break down in soil, flowers will grow in their place.

If you’ve ever been in New Orleans during Mardi Gras (I visited on Spring Break while studying in Washington DC), you’ll know what a welcome scientific discovery this is!

Thousands of same-sex couples got married in Thailand in January, after the country’s marriage equality laws took effect.

The Thai King approved the law in September last year, but it only came into effect at the beginning of the year. Thai LGBTQ+ groups were hoping to set a world record for the most same-sex marriages registered in a single day, with more than 1,800 couples officiating their marriages on the day.

While there isn’t an official confirmation, LGBTQ+ groups Bangkok Pride and the Rainbow Sky Association of Thailand told media they submitted a request to be recognised by Guinness World Records as a global record for the largest number of same-sex marriages on a single day.

Some context for you: Thailand is the third Asian jurisdiction to allow same-sex marriages, following Taiwan and Nepal. The country has long been considered a safe haven for LGBTQ+ communities and is home to a thriving drag scene. Thai PM Paetongtarn Shinawatra celebrated the “historic day for Thailand”.

Four women’s rugby icons received one of the world’s biggest honours: having a Barbie doll made in their image.

The dolls were revealed in honour of International Day of the Girl, and represent four of the sport’s biggest stars — Ilona Maher, Ellie Kildunne, Portia Woodman-Wickliffe, and Nassira Konde.

In a post to Instagram, the Barbie brand said Ilona’s doll “reflects the build of many strong athletes,” and “celebrates movement and strength.”

When looking at her doll, Ilona said: “Something I’m really proud of, and that has also been kind of a source of, maybe, insecurity for me, was my broad shoulders and my big arms and I wanted that to be in the doll. I didn’t want to minimise myself in any way.”

The dolls will go on sale next year… which is not very far away! 

To round out this good newsletter, I thought I’d end with a story from back in August, when young Afghan musicians played as a group for the first time since the Taliban took back control of Afghanistan in 2021.

The Afghanistan Youth Orchestra (AYO) in Exile performed in Berlin at the Young Euro Classic, a festival of youth orchestras from around the world.

The AYO is part of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM), which aimed to offer children training in music regardless of gender, background or social class. It was based in Kabul until the Taliban took over, and has since found asylum in Portugal.

The AYO’s program, which includes traditional Afghan instruments, is about “loss, indestructibility, hope,” and is “deeply rooted in the cultures of Afghanistan, standing for humanity and resilience”. ANIM founder Dr. Ahmad Sarmast said the AYO’s performance at Young Euro Classic was “a powerful act of cultural resistance – sharing Afghan music with the world at a time when it is being silenced at home.”