Police release unseen Falconio photos 25 years on
NT Police marked 25 years since Peter Falconio's murder with unseen images and a renewed $500,000 reward to locate his remains.
29 articles by Claire Ashford
Albanese moves AI oversight into his own department
A new Office of AI will sit inside the PM's own department, co-ordinating a single national framework Albanese calls a world first.
SA to ban convicted sex offenders from dating apps
South Australia plans nation-first laws banning sex offenders from dating apps, with 10-year minimum bans and up to five years jail for breaches.
Digital arrival card to replace the orange form
A $56.1 million digital declaration is replacing the orange arrival card, starting at Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane airports.
Antisemitism royal commission turns to universities
The Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion opens a week of hearings into Australian universities on the same day new racism rules take effect. Education Minister Jason Clare says he will legislate to let the regulator fine universities without going to court.
H5 bird flu reaches a native Australian seabird
A greater crested tern found dead at Robe in South Australia is the first native Australian seabird confirmed with H5 bird flu. Every previous case was a migratory bird from the sub-Antarctic. There are now 13 confirmed detections nationally and none in poultry.
Telstra faces ACMA probe over Triple Zero failures
Telstra ran 639 welfare checks on people who could not reach Triple Zero during this week's outage. The regulator is now investigating the company that both broke the network and operates the emergency line.
Derryn Hinch, broadcaster and senator, dies at 82
Derryn Hinch, who went to prison rather than pay a fine for naming a killer's criminal history, and who turned that record into a Senate seat, has died aged 82.
Australia signs uranium export deal with India
Australia and India signed an arrangement opening long-term uranium exports, plus a defence declaration and university campuses, at the Melbourne summit.
Dementia now Australia's biggest killer, AIHW says
Dementia has overtaken heart disease as Australia's leading cause of death, the AIHW reports, as national health spending reaches $270.5 billion.
Modi in Melbourne for leaders' summit, stadium rally
Narendra Modi meets Anthony Albanese in Melbourne for the Australia-India Annual Leaders' Summit, with uranium on the agenda and more than 20,000 registered for a Marvel Stadium reception.
Telstra outage hits triple-zero calls, halts trains
A software defect took down Telstra's mobile network for most of Wednesday, blocking 333 triple-zero calls and suspending Victoria's regional trains. The regulator is investigating.
One Nation slips back as Labor holds big poll lead
One Nation's poll surge has receded for a second week, with Roy Morgan's latest federal survey putting the party's primary vote at 22.5 per cent while Labor held a two-party lead of 55 to 45.
Australia adds Fiji alliance, opens Solomons talks
Australia has signed its fourth-ever defence alliance, with Fiji, and opened treaty talks with Solomon Islands, as China's missile test jolts the Pacific.
Space agency traces beach spheres to foreign rocket
The Australian Space Agency says six spheres found on a north Queensland beach appear to be pressure vessels from a foreign rocket that re-entered from orbit.
PM apologises for Kylie Minogue podcast comments
Anthony Albanese has apologised "unequivocally" for comments about Kylie Minogue made during a game of 'shag, marry, date' on a Nova comedy podcast, after a weekend of criticism from the Coalition and crossbench.
Ram raid and fire damage 10 shops in inner Melbourne
A vehicle was driven into a Victoria Street shop about 4.15am Monday before the building was set alight. Around 80 firefighters brought the blaze under control by 6am, with about 10 shops damaged and no injuries.
Suspected H5 bird flu in NSW seabird, first for the state
A sick seabird found near Hawks Nest has returned a preliminary positive for H5 avian influenza, the first suspected case in NSW. Confirmatory testing is under way and no poultry is infected.
Senate delays bill to double social media age fines
The Senate sent the government's bill to double penalties under the under-16 social media law to an eight-week inquiry, delaying it until late August after the Coalition and Greens combined to refer it.
Minimum wage tops $1,000 a week as July 1 tax cuts take effect
The national minimum wage passed $1,000 a week for the first time on July 1, one of a set of federal changes that also cut the lowest tax rate for more than 14 million people, extended paid parental leave to six months, and raised the tax on superannuation balances above $3 million.
Coles and Woolworths face new price-gouging ban from July 1
A law making it illegal for Australia's two largest supermarkets to charge significantly excessive grocery prices took effect on July 1. Only Coles and Woolworths meet the $30 billion revenue threshold, and the ACCC can pursue penalties of up to the greater of $10 million, three times the benefit gained, or 10 per cent of turnover.
Albanese to double Big Tech fines as study finds 85% of under-16s still on social media
The federal government will raise maximum penalties for non-compliant platforms from $49.5 million to $99 million and grant the eSafety Commissioner expanded enforcement powers. A British Medical Journal study found 85 per cent of Australians aged 12 to 15 were still using social media three months after the world-first ban took effect.
Australia to double fines on Big Tech after children bypass under-16 social media ban
The federal government will raise maximum penalties from $49.5 million to $99 million after the eSafety Commissioner found seven in ten under-16s with existing accounts still had some access to banned platforms, six months after the world-first ban took effect.
Australia records first H5 bird flu cases as migratory seabirds test positive across two states
A brown skua found sick near Esperance tested positive to highly pathogenic H5 avian influenza on June 20, ending Australia's status as the only continental landmass free of the strain. By June 27, confirmed cases had spread to South Australia with a fifth case suspected.
Steggall and Spender launch Community Strong Australia, formalising teal movement into registered party
The two independent MPs announced the new political party at Parliament House in Canberra on June 25, with plans to register by October and contest Senate seats, though several other teal-aligned independents declined to join.
Greens back Labor budget after winning NDIS inquiry extension, critics warn of 300,000 losing support
The Greens agreed in late June to support the 2026-27 federal budget after securing an eight-week Senate inquiry extension into NDIS cuts, clearing a path through the upper house for $63.8 billion in savings that include $37.8 billion from changes to the disability scheme.
SA late-term abortion restriction bill clears upper house by one vote, then falls 36-9 in lower house
The South Australian Legislative Council passed the Family First bill 10 votes to 9 in what was the first time such legislation had cleared the upper chamber, before the House of Assembly defeated it decisively 36 votes to 9 in the same evening, with a disputed voice vote adding to the drama.
High Court strikes down Victoria's political donations regime, putting federal laws in its shadow
A unanimous High Court ruling has invalidated Part 12 of Victoria's Electoral Act 2002, leaving the state temporarily without any valid donation disclosure framework after the court found the law unlawfully favoured major parties over independents.
Fair Work Commission raises minimum wage 4.75 per cent to $26.44 an hour from July
The Fair Work Commission handed down its 2026 Annual Wage Review on June 2, awarding a 4.75 per cent increase to the National Minimum Wage, lifting it to $1,004.90 per week. About 2.7 million workers on award rates benefit directly.
