Essential Ethics

About Essential Ethics

Essential Ethics, from the Children’s Bioethics Centre at The Royal Children’s Hospital (Melbourne, Australia) presents discussion of challenging cases that come up when treating children. Hear the most up-to-date thinking and draw knowledge from the ethics toolkit. After a decade or more of experience our team of world-recognised ethicists takes on the hardest cases. Essential Ethics is informative, interesting and always relevant. Hosted by Professor John Massie, a clinician and bioethicist at The Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne.

Publisher

The Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne

Category

health & fitness · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

30 Aug 2019

Latest episode

26 Jul 2026

Latest episodes

76 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   26 Jul 2026

   2025 National Paediatric Bioethics Conference: Ethics of children with rare diseases and the resulting disability participating in commercially sponsored advanced therapy clinical trials

   In this episode of Essential Ethics, recorded at the 2025 National Paediatric Bioethics Conference, research nurse coordinator Cat Wood from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute explores the ethical challenges of advanced therapy clinical trials for children with rare genetic conditions. Focusing on gene therapy trials for inherited epilepsy, she examines issues of consent, disability, risk, and equity in research involving children with severe neurodisability. Cat highlights the importance of meaningful engagement with patients and families, offering thoughtful insights into the ethical complexities of developing potentially life-changing therapies.

2. 

   23 Jul 2026

   2025 National Paediatric Bioethics Conference⁠: “The Squeaky Wheel,” an ethical approach to finding the balance between addressing parental concerns and managing excessive demands

   In this episode of Essential Ethics, recorded at the 2025 National Paediatric Bioethics Conference, Dr Ciara Earley explores the ethical challenges that arise when parental advocacy becomes increasingly demanding. Drawing on a real-world case, she examines how clinicians can balance responding to parental concerns with maintaining focus on the child’s best interests. Dr Earley presents a practical ethical framework to help healthcare teams navigate complex family dynamics while supporting both parents and clinicians in delivering high-quality paediatric care.

3. 

   23 Jul 2026

   2025 National Paediatric Bioethics Conference: SickTok - Adolescent illness identity, privacy, and the role of the clinician

   In this episode of Essential Ethics, recorded at the 2025 National Paediatric Bioethics Conference, nurse Elise Burn explores the impact of social media on young people living with illness. In SickTok: Adolescent Illness, Identity, Privacy and the Role of the Clinician, she examines how online platforms can shape illness identity, influence health behaviours, and create new ethical challenges for clinicians. This thought-provoking presentation highlights the complexities of supporting adolescents in an increasingly digital world.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

12 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 6 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

12

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

0

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Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.