NAPLAN reading slips while numeracy lifts
More than 1.2 million students sat NAPLAN. Numeracy in Years 5, 7 and 9 is the strongest since the 2023 reset, Year 3 the weakest, and reading fell.
National
Page 2 of 4High Court upholds secret recording as evidence
The High Court found a woman's secret recording of her husband admitting to rape was lawful, because protecting her own body is a lawful interest.
Bird flu kills 49 terns in Australian first
H5N1 has caused its first confirmed mass mortality event in Australian wildlife, at Baudin Rocks off Robe. Ministers say wider losses should be expected.
ABS warns on Census scams a week out
Census night is Tuesday 11 August. Scamwatch has taken reports of parties impersonating the ABS, which never asks for bank details or passwords.
Indigenous child removals rise against 2031 target
The national children's commissioner told Garma the system risks another Stolen Generation. Care rates have gone from 47.3 to 52.2 per 1,000 since 2019.
Garma opens at Gulkula on the theme of Bukmak
Australia's largest Indigenous gathering opened in northeast Arnhem Land on Friday and runs to 3 August, with Pacific guests and a Key Forum program.
Marriages fall, divorces climb 4.1 per cent in 2025
Australians registered 118,804 marriages and 49,158 divorces in 2025, new ABS figures show. Marriages fell 1.7 per cent, divorces rose 4.1 per cent.
AusAlert test reaches 94 per cent of mobile towers
Australia's new cell broadcast emergency warning system was tested nationwide on Monday. NEMA says 94 per cent of targeted mobile towers carried the alert.
Queensland records first suspected H5 bird flu case
A dead petrel on Moreton Island has returned a suspect positive for H5 bird flu, the first detection in Queensland and the fourth state hit.
Bird flu detections in seabirds climb to 17
Confirmed H5 bird flu detections in Australian wild seabirds rose to 17 by Tuesday, spread across WA, SA and NSW, with the national animal-disease committee extending heightened poultry biosecurity.
Bird flu holds at 17 cases as poultry stays on alert
Australia's H5 bird flu outbreak has held at 17 wild-bird cases across three states, with no poultry infected, as authorities keep the industry on heightened biosecurity.
Blood test flags dementia risk a decade before signs
A JAMA study of 2,684 healthy adults found very high blood p-tau217 carried a 78 per cent risk of cognitive impairment within a decade.
