Brooke Rolfe

2 weeks ago | news.com.au | Brooke Rolfe

While housing prices skyrocket and desperate Australians are pushed to the financial brink, thousands of homes across the country are sitting empty. The brutal paradox is especially obvious in the world’s most isolated city Perth, where there is desperate demand on one side, and wasted supply on the other. Large swathes of Perth properties are gathering dust – uninhabited and unaffordable for the average local.

1 month ago | nypost.com | Brooke Rolfe

At 18 months old, baby Luca has endured more than most people will in their lifetime. Australian parents Ashleigh and Cody welcomed their little boy at just 33 weeks – six weeks earlier than expected – and nothing could have prepared them for what would ensue in the following 11 months. Luca, who was born on Nov. 9, the day after his mum’s baby shower, entered the world with CHARGE syndrome, a genetic condition that affects the heart, nerves, genitalia, eyes and ears.

1 month ago | news.com.au | Brooke Rolfe

At 18 months old, baby Luca has endured more than most people will in their lifetime. Perth parents Ashleigh and Cody welcomed their little boy at just 33 weeks – six weeks earlier than expected – and nothing could have prepared them for what would ensue in the following 11 months. Luca, who was born on November 9, the day after his mum’s baby shower, entered the world with CHARGE syndrome, a genetic condition that affects the heart, nerves, genitalia, eyes and ears.

1 month ago | news.com.au | Brooke Rolfe

Seven years ago when Cara and Mitchell bought their first home, the Aussie dream looked pretty different compared to today. Property prices have exploded, interest rates are peaking and the cost of living is astronomical. In 2025, it’s a luxury to not enter Woolies or Coles with a strict, itemised budget. When the couple, now in their early 30s, bought their home in 2018 in Victoria’s Dandenong Ranges, it was “a foot in the door” but in hindsight they said, it “wasn’t the best financial move”.

2 months ago | news.com.au | Brooke Rolfe

The great Australian dream of owning a home is officially dead, communities are in despair and no one seems to be making meaningful headway towards a solution. Home ownership has become a luxury that many Aussies have been forced to accept is not on the table for them as they face the uphill battle against excruciating rising costs of living.