It’s been a bruising year for the news cycle. From the devastating Bondi attack this week, to the ongoing wars in Gaza and Ukraine and the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Sudan, much of 2025 has felt heavy, relentless and hard to hold.
As the year draws to a close, the collective bad news fatigue is real — and so is the need for reprieve. Which is why, amid the grief and global anxiety, moments of kindness, resilience and joy have mattered more than ever.
Here are the feel-good stories that cut through and made headlines in 2025.
Fair Play
Record-shattering numbers defined women’s sport this year. Round one of Australia’s WNBL season saw a 51 per cent surge in attendance, America’s WNBA reported a 130 per cent increase over four years in boys under 18 tuning in, and the Rugby World Cup was the most-watched women’s rugby union tournament in history.
Meanwhile, after former AFL player Mitch Brown came out as bisexual, he credited players of the AFLW for paving the way and “providing a safe space for me to do what I did”
Treaty Yeah!
In November, the state of Victoria signed a landmark treaty with its Indigenous people, the first in Australia’s history despite many precedents in other colonised countries. The written agreement delivers a formal apology to First Nations people and establishes an accountability panel and “truth-telling” body to provide advice to the government (separate to the proposed national Voice, but perhaps a harbinger for the future).
“It is not about dwelling in the past, nor laying blame,” reads the treaty. “It is about acknowledging that the past still shapes the present and choosing to do better from here.”
First Ladies
At the Emmys, The Bear star Ayo Edebiri made history as the youngest Black woman to receive three acting nominations – and was also the first woman nominated for both acting and directing in the comedy category in the same year.
Beyoncé became the first Black woman to win a Grammy for Best Country Album. And Sarah Snook, former marie claire Woman of the Year, scooped her first Tony Award for her Broadway performance in The Picture of Dorian Gray. And don’t forget Barkaa’s ARIA gong for Best Hip Hop/Rap Release, the first Indigenous woman to win the category. Yes, these women deserve their flowers.
Fashion’s New Era
The spring/summer 2026 shows marked fashion’s most significant month in a lifetime. A round of musical chairs saw new creative directors at the houses of Chanel, Dior, Bottega Veneta, Celine, Versace, Loewe and Balenciaga – and their big debuts delivered.
Matthieu Blazy reinvented shirts and tweed jackets at Chanel, jazzed up with feathers and flourishes, while Jonathan Anderson melded classicism and campiness at Dior. Fashion should be bold and boundary-breaking, fantastical and thought-provoking, and now all roads and runways point north.
Big Reunion
Nothing says good news like nostalgia-core. In 2025, a pop-culture time machine whisked us back to the halcyon days of yore. From a Britpop renaissance at the Oasis tour, Victoria Beckham’s Netflix docuseries recalling the glory of girl power to a surprise Camp Rock reunion performance, Freakier Friday reboot and Joey, Pacey and Jen getting sentimental during a live read of the Dawson’s Creek pilot.
Justice Rewritten
French woman Gisèle Pelicot became an international figure in 2024 after publicly testifying at her mass-rape trial. This year, her courageous stand sparked systemic change.
France’s parliament voted to enshrine the need for consent to the legal definition of rape and sexual assault, a landmark reform that galvanised conversations across the world. Meanwhile, Pelicot, 73, was awarded France’s most prestigious civic accolade and named a knight of the Legion of Honour. Long live her legacy.
Homegrown Hits
In July, Triple J marked its 50th anniversary with a Hottest 100 poll comprised exclusively of Australian songs. The top gong went to the 1989 INXS classic “Never Tear Us Apart”, followed by The Hilltop Hoods’ “The Nosebleed Section”, “Untouched” by The Veronicas and another 97 bangers, ballads and political pub rockers. Queue up the playlist for your next roadie.
The Summer We Turned Obsessed
Team Conrad or Team Jeremiah? Either way, Team Monoculture. On Wednesday evenings in August and September, pubs turned TV into a spectator sport as masses gathered to view The Summer I Turned Pretty. In an age of choose-your-own-binge streaming, the joy of watching the same thing at the same time, of laughing and crying as one, of the inevitable water cooler conversation, was palpable. The series topped the charts on Prime Video in 140 countries, highlighting a collective craving for good old-fashioned romance.
The World’s Most Wholesome Man
First he broke the internet with his Bonds campaign, smouldering as a python coiled around his bare torso. Then he spoke passionately about his sister Bindi’s endometriosis journey, advocating, “It is time for men to discuss and prioritise women’s health.”
And finally, conservationist Robert Irwin cha-cha-ed onto America’s Dancing with the Stars ballroom with infectious energy, flair and raw emotion (check out his tear-jerking performances dedicated to his parents). Endearingly earnest, he’s been dubbed a walking green flag and Australia’s brightest export since his late, great dad, Steve Irwin. And did we mention he loves animals?
Coldplay-Gate
Kiss cams have always been ethically dubious, as is public shaming. But footage of a CEO and his HR director embracing at a Coldplay concert set the internet alight and provided some low-stakes levity when the world needed it. As did the subsequent promo video for the company involved, starring a wry Gwyneth Paltrow as spokesperson.
Not A Fun Run
British former footballer Fran Hurndall ran from Perth to Sydney to highlight Australia’s most urgent epidemic. Her inspiration was her sister, and all victim-survivors of domestic violence. “What I’ve had to go through is absolutely nothing compared to the struggle of those women who live with the threat of domestic violence every single day,” she said.
A Final Bow
Misty Copeland, the American Ballet Theatre’s first Black female principal dancer, has hung up her pointe shoes, but not before one final dance at a New York gala in October.
The people’s ballerina portrayed the role of Juliet alongside Calvin Royal III – the company’s first Black male principal dancer in two decades – in a performance rich in emotion and symbolism. Said Oprah Winfrey at the event, “Misty didn’t just perform ballet, she changed it.
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