Month: June 2025

Source: New South Wales Ministerial News

Exciting news! Bendigo and Heathcote have been shortlisted as category finalists in the 2025 Victorian Top Tourism Town Awards for the fifth year in a row.

Bendigo has been shortlisted in the ‘top tourism town’ category, with Heathcote being shortlisted in the ‘small tourism town’ category, and now it’s time for the public to add their vote.

In 2024, Bendigo scooped gold and Heathcote won bronze at the Victorian Awards. Bendigo went on to compete at national level and won silver in the Top Tourism Town category of the Australia Top Tourism Awards.

City of Greater Bendigo Manager Economy and Experience James Myatt said it was fantastic news for the Greater Bendigo region to be recognised again as finalists in these prestigious awards.

“We are very excited that Bendigo and Heathcote are finalists for the fifth year in a row, recognising them as must-see visitor destinations that deliver amazing and memorable experiences,” Mr Myatt said.

“We are hoping to bring home the gold again with the public vote now open until Friday June 27.

“The final result is a combination of public voting, user reviews, a video promotion and suggested itineraries, so it means so much for Bendigo and Heathcote to be recognised in this way.

“We have an incredibly passionate tourism industry, including attractions, accommodation, retail and hospitality providers who offer unique experiences for people of all ages and interests.

“To be named the top tourism town or small tourism town, we need our community to vote.

“It’s easy to do, visit the Victoria Tourism Industry Council website, click ‘vote now’ and select Bendigo and Heathcote. You can also enter your details to go into the draw to win a prize.

“So, vote for Bendigo and Heathcote today!”

To make your vote count, and be entered into the prize draw, you need to vote by 5pm Friday June 27.

To submit your vote, visit:

Source: New South Wales Ministerial News

Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services

Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services

The Northern Territory Police Force responded to multiple burglaries in Alice Springs yesterday and have arrested two male youths allegedly involved.

About 10:15am, the Joint Emergency Services Communication Centre (JESCC) received reports of a burglary at a residence in Braitling. It is alleged an unknown number of offenders caused damage before entering the residence and stealing personal items from within.

Later, about 3:10pm, the JESCC received reports of a burglary at a different address in Braitling. It is alleged four unknown offenders were dropped off by a vehicle before they unlawfully entered the residence by causing damage. It is unknown if anything was stolen before they fled the scene in the same vehicle that dropped them off nearby.

A short time later, about 4:30pm, the JESCC received reports of a burglary at a residence in East Side. It is alleged four to six unknown offenders unlawfully entered the residence and demanded car keys from a female inside. The victim retreated to the laundry, locking herself inside and called Triple Zero. The alleged offenders continued to rummage through the house, locating the keys to a white Toyota RAV4 before stealing it from the premises. As they were leaving the location they allegedly swerved towards responding police vehicles, narrowly missing.

The vehicle allegedly drove erratically through the Alice Springs CBD and further members from Strike Force Viper, Dog Operations Unit and general duties deployed.

A Tyre Deflation Device was unsuccessfully deployed as the vehicle travelled south along the Stuart Highway. Soon after, the vehicle allegedly targeted a police vehicle by throwing large rocks, causing minor damage.

The vehicle was later located abandoned just north of Braitling.

This morning, police arrested two male youths, aged 14 and 16-years-old, for their alleged involvement in the morning burglary in Braitling and the 4:30pm burglary in East Side. Charges are expected to follow.

Strike Force Viper has carriage of the investigation and are working to identify and apprehend anyone involved. It is not known at this stage if all three incidents are linked.

Anyone with information in relation to the incident is urged to contact police on 131 444. You can make an anonymous report via Crime Stoppers by calling 1800 333 000.

Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services

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Mental Health Australia has developed a Statement on National Child and Youth Mental Health Priorities to inform the June 2025 Health and Mental Health Ministers meeting.

The advice in this Statement was developed in consultation with members, along with review of recommendations of previous inquiries, strategies and research. 

The Statement outlines specific specific recommendations for Health and Mental Health Ministers, as the next immediate steps to commit to at their meeting to improve child and youth mental health:

1. Integrate mental health in education 
2. Expand and integrate Kids Hubs 
3. Boost national digital mental health supports for children and parents 
4. Increase workforce capacity to support infant and child mental health 
5. Harmonise age ranges for youth mental health services  
6. Reduce wait times for child and youth mental health supports  

Children and young people in Australia are experiencing mental ill-health at never-before seen levels, yet many are unable to access support. Australian governments need to work together to develop an holistic system of mental health supports for infants, children and families across the spectrum of promotion, prevention, early and specialist support, informed by both the needs and experiences of children and their families and population data. While this meeting is focused on actions through health portfolios, it is also important to recognise the need for whole of government action to address declining rates of mental health amongst children and young people.

Source: New South Wales Community and Justice

Bellerive body investigation: Police seek help of bus patrons

Thursday, 5 June 2025 – 3:48 pm.

Tasmania Police would like to speak with two women who were travelling on a Metro bus at Rokeby last Friday afternoon, as investigations continue into the discovery of a man’s body at Bellerive.
The body of Luke Jon Telega, 45, was found in an industrial-sized garbage bin at Percy Street on Monday morning.
Police are trying to piece together Mr Telega’s movements leading up to a garbage contractor finding his body.
CCTV footage obtained from Metro shows that Mr Telega caught a bus at Tollard Drive, Rokeby, on Friday, May 30, at 4.34pm.
A woman in a grey or white hoodie joins the bus at the same time and is then seen to exit the bus at the same stop as Mr Telega, in the car park of the Shoreline Hotel about 4.38pm.
While on the bus, a second woman in a red top appears to acknowledge Mr Telega with a wave.
There is no suggestion the women are involved with Mr Telega’s death, but police believe they may be able to help with inquiries. (See photos attached)
Further, police still wish to speak with a woman shown on CCTV footage standing at a shopfront on Percy Street about 7:50pm on Sunday, June 1.
Police believe the member of the public may have spoken with someone in Percy Street at the time and may be able to assist with inquiries. The woman was driving what is believed to be a light-coloured Toyota Prado.
A second woman shown on CCTV footage standing near a red SUV in Percy Street on Sunday night has contacted police and no further action is required.
If anyone has information that could assist with the investigation, please call police on 131 444 or report anonymously to Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or online crimestopperstas.com.au

Source: New South Wales – News

Mr Stevens said the funding package over the next four years, announced today, followed numerous forthright discussions with Premier Peter Malinauskas and Police Minister Stephen Mullighan on the requirements of SAPOL to maintain community safety into the future.

“I have made it clear the increasing demands on police and what is required to keep the community safe,’’ he said.

“The demand for police assistance is increasing, taskings and investigations are now more complex and are taking longer.’’

The Government has committed $240 million over the next four years, which includes provision for almost 300 additional sworn officers including an additional 33 motorcycle patrol officers, funding for an additional 98 Police Security Officers, 20 more civilian positions and the considerable expansion of the mental health-co-responder initiative that has already started relieving pressure on frontline police.  This budget is also funding the provision of new pistols and includes a commitment for a range of road safety initiatives.

As a part of this commitment, SAPOL have also been provided $7.5 million a year for our capital program, which enables us to invest in critical works on our facilities, equipment and IT needs to ensure they are fit for purpose.

Funding has also been provided to continue our accelerated recruitment efforts and the increased number of recruit and PSO courses at the police academy.

At present, 97.5 per cent of the sworn positions in SAPOL are occupied and today’s funding boost will ensure the hard work that has achieved this will continue.

Mr Stevens said he had firmly advocated for what is required to maintain police services not just now, but well into the future and this budget is clear evidence the government had responded positively.

“The additional resources moving forward will help ease the pressure on frontline officers who have been doing a magnificent job of maintaining service delivery under significant pressure,’’ he said.

“My discussions with the government have been productive and this budget today will assist in alleviating the pressures SAPOL is facing in the coming years.’’

Source: New South Wales Community and Justice

Police Taskforce Accountable to target recidivist offenders in Clarence

Thursday, 5 June 2025 – 3:04 pm.

Police launched Taskforce Accountable yesterday to target recidivist offenders in the Clarence Division.
Inspector Andrew Keane said Taskforce Accountable consists of plain clothes officers from Bellerive Police Station who will be patrolling major shopping and transit precincts in Clarence Division.
“Taskforce Accountable will target the recidivist offenders who are responsible for the majority of our violent shop stealing and assaults on retail workers,” said inspector Keane.
“The Taskforce will be supplemented by high visibility foot patrols over the coming months, and aims to detect and deter illegal and antisocial behaviours in the Clarence Division.”
Between 9am and 9pm yesterday, Taskforce Accountable and Uniform Police detected, arrested and charged nine offenders (four adults and five youths) in relation to offences at Glebe Hill, Eastlands and Lindisfarne shopping centres as well as McDonalds Rosny.
Offenders were charged with a range of offences including:

Stealing
Stealing with force
Unlawful possession
Possession of dangerous articles
Common assault
Computer related fraud
Trespass
Possession of housebreaking implements
Drug offences, and
Fail to comply with police directions and/or court bail.

Property recovered and being returned to the owners included clothing, jewellery, cosmetics, and power tools.
“Everyone has the right to be safe in our community, and illegal activities and anti-social behaviours will not be tolerated by police.”
Anyone who witnesses antisocial or illegal behaviours is encouraged to report to police on 131 444 or Triple Zero (000) in an emergency.
Information can also be reported anonymously through Crime Stoppers Tasmania at crimestopperstas.com.au or on 1800 333 000.

Source: Airservices Australia

At its meeting today, the Payments System Board discussed a number of issues, including:

• ASX’s response following the CHESS batch failure incident in December 2024. The Board discussed ASX’s response to the RBA’s out-of-cycle assessment of ASX Clear and ASX Settlement, which required ASX to set out how it would strengthen resourcing and implement contingency arrangements for CHESS. The response did not address key parts of the issues raised in the assessment and provided insufficient detail on ASX’s plans to remediate these issues. The RBA has taken further steps to obtain this information and has now received additional details. The Board requested the staff to continue exploring regulatory options on resourcing for current CHESS and to ensure CHESS Replacement is designed with an appropriate level of resilience for critical financial market infrastructure.
• Financial market infrastructure regulatory reforms and resolution planning. The Board welcomed progress in operationalising powers to prevent or resolve a crisis at an Australian clearing and settlement facility. The Board endorsed a public consultation on guidance that will provide stakeholders with information about when and how the RBA would generally expect to exercise its crisis resolution powers. The public consultation is expected to commence shortly.
• The safety and resilience of Australia’s real-time gross settlement system. The Board received an update on progress against the recommendations from the March 2024 Assessment of the Reserve Bank Information and Transfer System (RITS). The update covered key areas of oversight focus, such as change management and cyber resilience, as well as updates regarding the RBA’s uplift in risk management and culture, IT controls framework, and the operating model for RITS. The Board acknowledged that while meaningful progress has been made, it is unlikely that these improvements will take full effect by the next assessment of RITS, which is scheduled for March 2026.
• Review of merchant card payment costs and surcharging. The Board discussed various policy options stemming from its review into card payment costs and surcharging aimed to promote the public interest by supporting competition, efficiency and safety in the payments system. The RBA expects to release a consultation paper in July, which will seek feedback on the Board’s preliminary conclusions and draft revisions to the RBA’s standards.
• Improving security, efficiency and competition for online card payments. The Board welcomed the Standard for Payment Service Provider Porting of Merchant Payment-Related Data (the Standard), developed by AusPayNet in consultation with industry. The Standard details a common set of requirements for the transfer of customer payment data between providers, to support merchants switching providers, including to access better payment plans. The Board expects industry participants to comply with the Standard by 1 July 2026. This is consistent with the RBA’s previously issued Expectations for Tokenisation of Payment Cards and Storage of PANs, which is aimed at improving security, efficiency and competition for online card payments.
• ATM Access Regime. The Board approved minor amendments to the ATM Access Regime to accommodate a change in the way the associated ATM Access Code is administered by industry.
• Amendment to the RBA policy on conflicts of interest to support constructive engagement with the payments industry. The Board approved an amendment to the RBA’s policy on Managing Potential Conflicts of Interest Arising from the RBA’s Commercial Activities to allow staff from Payments Policy Department and Banking Department to simultaneously observe and/or participate in industry committees or working groups with broad representation. This will enable staff to identify payments policy issues early and encourage industry to voluntarily put in place solutions that achieve the RBA’s public interest objectives.