This week, the brand on everyone’s lips – and in many IMPACTer’s inboxes – was Optus. The data breach has seen the records of 11 million Australians stolen, with Medicare cards, drivers’ licenses, addresses and banking information compromised. 

The crisis communications coming from Optus will likely be studied for years to come. The question now, for all organisations, is one of readiness – not only regarding cyber attacks, but for media strategy when faced with disaster.

While on The Project promoting her memoir, The Ninth Life of a Diamond Miner, Grace Tame addressed the ‘side eye’ at the Australian of the Year ceremony. Tame said, “if people are more upset by rudeness, which is subjective, than raping a child, that says an awful lot about what is wrong in society.” We couldn’t agree more.

Internationally, we add our voice to the many outraged by the killing of Mahsa Amini by Iran’s morality police for allegedly violating Iran’s strict hijab laws. 22-year-old Mahsa’s death has sparked the biggest show of public unrest in Iran in years, and 76 people have died in the protests so far. Spreading the word, sharing content and keeping this story in the news cycle is the best way we can support the brave women putting their lives on the line in the name of personal sovereignty. 

The DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) by NASA was deemed a success, with the spacecraft making contact with an asteroid the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza. The test was designed to determine if intentionally crashing a spacecraft into an asteroid was an effective way to change its course. That one was for the dinosaurs…