Month: July 2025

Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services

Northern Territory Police Force has arrested four youths following multiple aggravated robberies and a ram raid in the northern suburbs overnight.

Around 10:35pm, the Joint Emergency Services Communication Centre (JESCC) received a report that a woman had allegedly been threatened with an edged weapon and had her silver Mitsubishi ASX stolen outside her residence on Aralia Street.

It is alleged that victim was sitting in her parked vehicle when she was approached by two youths, one of which threatened her with an edged weapon and demanded the keys to the vehicle. They subsequently fled the scene in the Mitsubishi ASX.

The victim was not physically harmed during the incident.

Around 12:05am, the JESCC received a report that three youths entered a residence on Carnoustie Circuit before being confronted by the occupants. The offenders then threated the occupants with a machete and demanded money and vehicle keys before fleeing the scene in a Mitsubishi ASX.

The offenders subsequently drove to a shopping complex on Yanula Drive where they allegedly used the stolen vehicle to ram through the rear gate of the premises and cause significant property damage before fleeing the scene.

A short time later, the stolen Mitsubishi, occupied by three youths, was allegedly used to ram the roller door of a bottle shop on Baroalba Street, Leanyer. Once inside the group stole a quantity of alcohol and fled the scene.

Police later observed the stolen vehicle travelling towards Darwin City on Tiger Brennan Drive. A pursuit was initiated, however, was terminated shortly after the stolen Mitsubishi attempted to ram the police vehicle. At this time, it was identified that two female youths were also occupied the offending vehicle.

CCTV operators later observed the offenders abandon the vehicle on Voyager Street, Stuart Park. A large quantity of alcohol was located inside the vehicle.

General duties officers, Strike Force Trident and the Dog Operations Unit deployed to the area and arrested two females aged 13 and 14, and two males aged 14 and 17. The fifth offender remains outstanding.

At the time of arrest, one of the offenders was armed with a large machete and another was in possession of a bottle of alcohol believed to have been stolen during the ram raid.

Three of the youths have been charged in relation to the offending:

• A 17-year-old male has been charged with multiple property related offences, weapons offences, aggravated robbery, ram raid and traffic offences.
• A 14-year-old male was charged with multiple aggravated robbery offences, property offences, ram raid, going armed in public and traffic offences.
• A 14-year-old female was charged with Drive/use motor vehicle without consent, Possess stolen property and armed with offensive weapon.

The 13-year-old female will be dealt with under the provisions of the Youth Justice Act 2005.

Police urge anyone with information to make contact on 131 444. Please quote reference number P25196901. Anonymous reports can be made via Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or through https://crimestoppersnt.com.au/. 

Source: New South Wales Community and Justice

Highway safety blitz catches speeding drivers

Thursday, 24 July 2025 – 11:11 am.

Tasmania Police issued 24 drivers with speeding infringements during a four-hour road safety blitz on the Bass Highway on Wednesday.
Officers from Western and Northern Road Policing Services conducted the joint operation on the highway, between Westbury and Latrobe, between 8am and noon.
Police detected 24 speeding offences, including five drivers travelling 20km/h to 30km/h over the posted speed limit. There was also one unregistered and uninsured vehicle.
Western District Acting Inspector Martin Parker said the higher range speeding offences were committed near the Paramatta Creek weigh bridge, where the speed limit had been reduced to 80km/h due to officers from the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator conducting operations at the weigh bridge.
“It is concerning that motorists are disregarding highly visual speed reduction signs when the weigh bridge station was operating,” Acting Inspector Parker said.
“The speed limit had been reduced to allow NVHR officers to safely conduct their work and the safe flow of traffic in the area, when trucks are exiting and re-entering the highway.”
Tasmania Police is committed to continuing road safety activities with the aim to reduce crashes on our roads, particularly serious and fatal crashes.
One death or serious injury is one too many and has the potential to severely impact the community.
Incidents of dangerous driving can be reported to police on 131 444 or call triple zero (000) if the behaviour is life threatening. Reports can also be made via Crime Stoppers Tasmania on 1800 333 000 or at crimestopperstas.com.au. Information can be provided anonymously.

Source: Murray Darling Basin Authority

JUSTIN SMITH, HOST: Yesterday the Albanese Government announced legislation around child care, introduced the legislation into Parliament. The main part of this is the threat to withdraw funding from centres that do not come up to standard. The Federal Minister for Early Childhood Education, Victorian Senator Jess Walsh, is in our Canberra studio. Minister, good morning.

SENATOR DR JESS WALSH, MINISTER FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND MINISTER FOR YOUTH: Good morning, Justin. Thanks for having me.

SMITH: With this new plan, how would that have prevented what we’re now talking about?

WALSH: Well, this has been a really distressing time, Justin, for families in Victoria, families of the children who are affected. Really, all parents of children who have their kids in early childhood education are watching on and they want strong action. So we have introduced legislation into the first sitting of our new Parliament to cut Commonwealth funding from those providers who do put profit ahead of child safety. This is a big lever that we have in the Commonwealth. We fund early learning centres through the Commonwealth Child Care Subsidy. This legislation will allow us for the first time to withdraw that subsidy from those providers who consistently and persistently fail to put child safety first.

SMITH: OK. This has come up, though, because of what, particularly in Victoria, as you’re a Victorian Senator, what we’ve seen in the last three weeks. So, for that reason, you’re introducing this legislation. So how is that going to prevent what we’ve been talking about and what we’ve been seeing? How will it change that? How will it stop that?

WALSH: Yeah, Justin, we announced this legislation some months ago and it certainly is in response to concerns about quality and safety in early childhood education. We know that the vast majority of providers do the right thing. We know that the vast majority of our dedicated, passionate early childhood educators do the right thing. But there is a small number of repeat offenders who this legislation is targeted at. It allows us to withdraw funding from those providers, it allows us to stop them expanding, and it allows us to take a range of actions against them, right from issuing them with show-cause notices, imposing conditions on their services, and again right through to withdrawing funding.

SMITH: No, no, I understand. I understand. And respectfully, forgive me for interrupting, but I will have to ask the same question again. How is that going to prevent what we’re talking about? If somebody is working in the industry, they have got red flags against them but there are no charges and then they pop up at another child care centre, with the proposals that you’re now putting in place, how is that going to prevent that?

WALSH: Yeah, thanks Justin. So, there’s two big pieces of work going on here and I hope you’ll let me go through them because –

SMITH: Sure.

WALSH: It’s really important, Justin. So, there’s our Commonwealth legislation, we have a big lever, being the funding and I’ve taken you through that. At the same time the Commonwealth States and Territories are working together shoulder-to-shoulder on a big package of reform – a strong and significant package of child safety reform. And that goes to some of the other things that are being discussed right now, including the first ever nationwide register of early childhood educators. You’re right that there have been flags raised about this alleged offender in Victoria. What we need is a nationwide register of early childhood educators that allows us to see those flags. And that register needs to be integrated with working with children checks. And yes, this individual, this alleged offender, had a working with children check. And it needs to be integrated with other information that we have about substantiated complaints and conduct against individuals. And that’s what we’re working towards. That register will raise those flags.

SMITH: Yep.

WALSH: It will allow us to track that behaviour, Justin, and provide information to regulators around the country about action that needs to be taken.

SMITH: Just on that register, before you move on to anything else, the Productivity Commission recommended that last year. How long is that going to take to get up and running?

WALSH: So, we’re working on it right now. As you’ve said, the Victorian Government is also working on these matters as well. They’ve announced their own register. We’re having discussions with them about making sure that it will be harmonised into the nationwide register. I think people want us to work together and we are. We do know that early childhood educators and providers cross borders and we need one strong national harmonised approach where we can see where our early childhood educators are working and where every regulator across the country can see those red flags.

SMITH: How long will it take for the register to get up and running?

WALSH: So, Justin, I don’t have an answer to that this morning. We’re meeting again in a couple of weeks, and we’ll announce the plans for the register then. We had an urgent ministers meeting – an urgent stand-alone meeting of Education Ministers focused on this issue at the end of June. At that meeting we put this nationwide register right on our agenda. We’re working on it. We’re coming back together in August, and we’ll have more to say then.

SMITH: OK. You can understand, and I don’t mean to be disrespectful when I say this, but you understand that people listening to this, parents who are listening to this now, have a fear that what is being announced and what’s being introduced into Parliament is a bit of window dressing and that it’s not actually going to make any changes. You would understand that fear?

WALSH: Justin, I met with three mums yesterday who had the courage to come up to here in Canberra and talk about their experiences. They were parents of children who had been abused in early learning settings historically, and I listened to their stories and their stories will stay with me and drive the action that we are taking. If there was one simple thing, Justin, that we could do, everyone would do it – the Commonwealth, States and Territories. There are many actions that need to be taken. I think everyone’s been really honest in this that not enough has been done up until now, but there is a real determination to do more. At the Commonwealth level, we have this lever of our funding, and we are sending a clear message to providers to lift their game or leave the sector. And we are working shoulder to shoulder with the States and Territories around a strong and significant package of reform.

SMITH: I guess there –

WALSH: Not enough has been –

SMITH: I’m sorry. Finish, please.

WALSH: Not enough has been done, Justin. I think everyone can see that. Everyone is clear about that. But we are all working together at a Commonwealth, State and Territory level and we are all driven by our understanding of the experiences that families are having right now and the fears that they have.

SMITH: With the withdrawal of funding, who is going to police that? Who will make the spot checks? Who will do the reports and make a call on whether a centre is up to scratch or not?

WALSH: So the Secretary of my Department is already looking at the data that we have. We know that there’s a small group of providers that consistently and persistently breach our national quality standards. We’re also looking at serious incidents, we’re looking at complaints, and we know which providers are of concern. It’s important to say, Justin, that if there are serious and imminent concerns, child care centres can be shut down immediately, and that does happen from time to time. This legislation is about the Commonwealth having the power for the first time to remove funding from those providers who are doing the wrong thing. And we also want it to send a message to the sector to lift their investment in quality and safety now.

SMITH: It’s 14 to 9. We’re with Jess Walsh, who is the Early Childhood Education Minister in the Albanese Government. Minister, I’m sorry, I’ll have to ask that – I will have to ask you that question again. Who makes the decision? Who polices it? Who does the spot checks?

WALSH: The Commonwealth is responsible for setting the standards, and the States and Territories for enforcing those standards with boots on the ground. It’s the States and Territories who have the regulators.

SMITH: OK.

WALSH: And we are of course all working together. We are hearing from the State regulators that this stick, if you like, that we have will help them do their job as well.

SMITH: Does that not place us back into a problem that we’ve had, which is that the State and the Commonwealth are working, not working separately but they are separate entities and as you’re going to be relying on the States to gather this data to make the call on these child care centres, but each State seems to have a very different way of approaching child care? How is that all going to be pulled together nationally?

WALSH: Well, the Commonwealth and the States do have different responsibilities, Justin, but we have one responsibility and that is to keep children safe in early learning and to give parents the confidence that their children are safe too. The regulators do provide information. We want to make sure that that information is shared nationally. And what we are doing this week with the legislation that we introduced yesterday is making sure that we can use the Commonwealth lever that we have, to withdraw funding from those providers who do put profit ahead of child safety. And there is one thing I want to add, Justin, to reassure parents. The vast majority of providers are meeting and exceeding our standards. Over 90 per cent of providers are meeting and exceeding standards. And the vast majority of educators out there are doing the very best job that they can do every day. There’s over a million families out there in Australia who are getting quality early education. This is a real problem that we’re seeing in terms of the distressing events that are occurring in Victoria, and more needs to be done about that. That’s why we’re focused on this legislation and bringing together a strong and significant package of child safety reforms.

SMITH: Okay. Is the, you talk about standard, is the Allan Government up to standard?

WALSH: Well, I think the Victorian Government, as with all governments around the country, have acknowledged that not enough has been done to date, and that more needs to be done. And we’ve acknowledged that at a Commonwealth level as well. Again, it’s why we’ve introduced this legislation in the first sitting of this Parliament because it’s such a big priority for us to keep children safe. It’s why we’re working shoulder to shoulder with the States on this package of reform. Of course, there is a review underway in Victoria, and we await the results of that review.

SMITH: Thank you for your time, Minister.

WALSH: Thank you.
 

Source: Jobs and Skills Australia

Workers on the move: job mobility is easing back to pandemic levels but employers still affected

Linda

Thu, 2025-07-24 10:54

Source:

Australian farmers could benefit from burn trials conducted in paddocks of canola stubble, which indicate current fire behaviour models are overestimating the spread and behaviour of fire in the crop under mild weather conditions.

The Canola and Alternative Crop Experimental Burn project is a critical component of a national collaborative research initiative involving the Victorian Country Fire Authority (CFA), the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), and the South Australian Country Fire Service (SACFS).

The aim of the collaborative project is to enhance Australia’s current understanding of fire behaviour in non-cereal crop stubbles, particularly canola and legume stubble, to address significant gaps in current fire behaviour models.

SACFS Australian Fire Danger Rating System (AFDRS) Manager, Simeon Telfer said this collaborative project demonstrates our proactive approach to refining AFDRS, enhancing the accuracy of our fire simulators, and improving the quality and reliability of public warnings.

‘This project is a critical national partnership to address significant gaps in knowledge, as existing models are currently overestimating the fire spread risks in these fuel types under mild weather conditions,’ Mr Telfer said.

‘We are listening to communities and firefighters who have told us that canola burns differently; sometimes it will just stop spreading and other times it travels quickly, so we need to test the model.’

He said a large portion of data still needs to be collected before changes are made but initial indications show changes could be made to refine Fire Danger Rating thresholds for canola.

‘One of the main advantages of the AFDRS is its ability to adopt new research as it comes along, once it is peer reviewed, we will be able to adopt this research straight into AFDRS, which will help across the nation,’ he said.

‘We know farmers are doing it tough in South Australia as they continue to grapple with drought conditions, so we want to do our part to support them by ensuring our data provides the best available information to protect their crops and properties.’

A small delegation of fire scientists from SACFS, CFA and CSIRO have conducted stubble burns near Ungarra on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula, in conjunction with local landowners and SACFS volunteers.

CFA Senior Research Officer, Rachel Bessell, said the project helps to foster collaboration and gets more agencies involved in fire research, all while helping the community.

‘It’s not very often that volunteers get to stop and watch fire, so it’s a great learning experience for them to be involved in these burns.’

‘There’s a lot of complexities with getting these burns up and running, so we’re really appreciative of all the support from the suppression crews and the local community.’

CSIRO Researcher Richard Hurley said the groundbreaking research will significantly enhance fire behavior predictions in cropping regions.

‘Currently throughout Australia, croplands are largely misunderstood and often misclassified as grasslands, which have different fuel characteristics. This highlights the need to better quantify fire propagation in these fuel types,’ Mr Hurley said.

‘From a scientific perspective, this type of research has never been done before at this scale. The next step is to conduct burns under much hotter and drier conditions to test fire behavior at the upper end of the fire behavior index.

The second stage of the project is planned for summer 2025/26, as soon as practicable after harvest is complete. In this stage, fires will be lit under increased temperatures and wind speeds to measure crop stubble fires in more typical wildfire conditions. Safety measures will be increased for the next stage of the project to ensure containment of these hotter and drier stubble fires, including additional SACFS suppression resources, burn buffers surrounding the experimental area and mineral earth breaks.

Media information
For media enquiries call the CFS Media Line on 08 8115 3531.

Source: New places to play in Gungahlin

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is advising it is time to lodge, as most taxpayers with simple affairs will now have their information pre-filled into their accounts.

Assistant Commissioner Rob Thomson said that the ATO had completed pre-fill of over 91 million pieces of information available for individual tax returns from employers, banks, government agencies and private health insurers.

‘You’ve been patiently waiting, but now you’re good to go! Whether you lodge using a registered tax agent or lodge yourself through myTax, pre-fill information will now be available,’ Mr Thomson said.

Taxpayers should check the pre-filled data to ensure accuracy, add anything that may be missing and then include any deductions they are entitled to claim.

‘Don’t forget that you need to include all sources of income in your tax return. This includes side-hustles, linked income from providing ride sourcing services or selling services via an app.’

‘Remember, the ATO has 40 industry and occupation specific guides to assist you in what you can claim and what records are required to prove it,‘ Mr Thomson said.

To help keep your personal information safe and protected, the ATO’s app now has powerful new safety features designed to give users real-time control over their tax affairs through alerts and instant account locking to help stop fraudsters in their tracks.

‘Fraudsters are getting smarter, but so are the protective features in the app. The ATO app will send you real-time messages when changes are made to your ATO record, and you can quickly lock your account to prevent unauthorised access or fraudulent refunds.‘

‘These features provide peace of mind knowing your account is protected and you remain in control of your tax affairs anytime, anywhere‘ Mr Thomson said.

The ATO app and ATO online services through myGov also allow taxpayers to see the progress of their return once they or their registered tax agent have submitted it.

‘Most refunds are finalised within two weeks and this process cannot be sped up, even if you call us,’ Mr Thomson said.

Taxpayers have until 31 October to lodge their tax return or to get on the books of a registered tax agent, which may allow them more time to lodge.

Notes to journalists

A high-resolution headshot of ATO Assistant Commissioner Rob ThomsonThis link will download a file is available for download from our media centre.

ATO stock footage and images are available for use in news bulletins from our media centre.

Source: New South Wales Community and Justice

Man charged with serious family violence offences

Thursday, 24 July 2025 – 10:06 am.

A 43-year-old Risdon man has been charged with serious family violence offences following an operation led by Tasmania Police’s South East Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB).
The offences include emotional abuse (coercive control), systems abuse, and numerous family violence order breaches.
As part of the investigative operation, several coordinated searches were conducted at a range of locations on Wednesday, with exhibits seized and the man charged on Wednesday evening.
Supporting and protecting victims of crime is a priority for Tasmania Police, and this matter remains under active investigation.
The man is due to appear in the Hobart Magistrates Court on 5 December 2025.
If you or someone you know is experiencing family violence and is in need of urgent assistance, call police on Triple Zero (000).
To report a non-urgent incident of family violence – call the Tasmania Police Assistance Line on 131 444 or attend your local police station to make a report. If you have a hearing impairment, call TTY 106.
For advice, support and counselling relating to family violence (if you do not wish to report the matter to police in the first instance) – call the Family Violence Counselling Support Service on 1800 608 122.

Source:

24 July 2025

As Australia and the world grapple with global warming and increased bushfire risks, University of South Australia ecologists are turning their attention to the impact of prescribed burning on native animals.

In a new study published in The International Journal of Wildland Fire, researchers investigated the maximum temperatures that lizards could experience during prescribed (controlled) fires in the Mount Lofty Ranges and compared them to their maximum survivable temperatures.

Widespread prescribed burning is undertaken in spring and autumn each year in the Mount Lofty Ranges, a biodiversity hotspot and fire-prone region. Researchers measured surface and shelter temperatures during four prescribed fires and analysed their results alongside the lab-collected ‘critical thermal limits’ of three different species of skinks.

The findings demonstrated that the average temperatures under common shelters like logs and rocks during these fires were 108°C and 53°C respectively, which exceeded the survivable temperature range (37.5°C – 43.0°C) of each type of skink.

While only reptiles were studied, lead researcher and UniSA PhD candidate Shawn Scott says that these temperatures would also threaten the survival of other native animals and that the results can therefore be applied more broadly.

“These conditions dramatically exceed the 60°C threshold for most terrestrial vertebrates,” Scott says.

“Logs and rocks were the most effective shelters for buffering extreme temperatures during prescribed fire in our study.

“However, the maximum temperatures and duration of these conditions may still prove lethal for small vertebrates if prescribed burning is undertaken during conditions that exacerbate fire severity.”

Researchers also discovered that when ambient temperatures on days of prescribed burnings were higher, maximum temperatures beneath the shelters – and the duration at which they stayed lethally hot – also increased.

“Our analysis showed that the temperatures of the fires increased by up to 700°C as ambient temperatures increased from 17°C to 22°C,” Scott says.

“The hotter the fire, the hotter it’s going to be inside or beneath the shelters sought out by small animals during prescribed burnings, making it more difficult for them to survive, especially over an extended period.”

“In terms of shelter quality, rocks and logs maintained the coolest temperatures, showing that they are critical to small animals,” says co-researcher and UniSA wildlife ecologist Associate Professor Sophie (Topa) Petit.

“However, many of those sites still reached temperatures far above what reptiles can withstand. Not all rocks and logs are good enough.”

As climate change increases the risk of bushfires, prescribed burnings are also expected to increase, especially in fire-prone, Mediterranean climates like the Mount Lofty Ranges, other parts of Australia, and also Greece, Italy, Spain and California.

Scott says that animal survival and biodiversity conservation should be prioritised in burning processes, and that his team’s research can help inform relevant strategies not only on the home front but also abroad.   

”If lower intensity fires are to be achieved during prescribed burns, they should be undertaken on mild days when ambient temperatures are below 17°C,” he says.

“In Australia, burning does occur on days that are considered mild – between 17°C to 22°C – but our research demonstrates that even in these conditions the maximum temperatures and their duration are high enough to threaten small animals relying on shelters like rocks and logs for protection.

“Second, pre-fire surveys should be conducted to establish the availability and density of shelter sites that may increase the likelihood of animal survival during fire.”

The researchers suggest that larger shelters and below-surface shelters like soil, hollows, and burrows should be examined next, as well as animal movement and mortality during and after fires.

The study, titled ‘Between a rock and a hot place: do surface shelters facilitate survivable conditions for small vertebrates during prescribed fire?’ is available online. DOI:10.1071/WF24184

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Contact for interview: Shawn Scott E: Shawn.Scott@unisa.edu.au
Media contacts: Candy Gibson M: +61 434 605 142 E: Candy.Gibson@unisa.edu.au; Josh Owen-Thomas E: Josh.Owen-Thomas@unisa.edu.au

Source: Ministers for the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has committed $44.9 million to Calix to build a novel demonstration plant using its Zero Emissions Steel Technology (ZESTY).

Powered by renewable electricity and hydrogen, the plant will aim to produce up to 30,000 tonnes of low-carbon hydrogen direct reduced iron (HDRI) and hot briquetted iron (HBI) each year in a strong step toward cleaner steelmaking.

ZESTY leverages Calix’s proprietary Flash Calciner technology which aims to reduce the cost of green iron production. The new funding builds on the successful outcomes of ARENA funded engineering studies for the demonstration plant. The funding also supports early-stage engineering studies for a much larger commercial scale ZESTY plant, helping build local capability in low emissions metals—a strategic priority for ARENA and a critical future industry for Australia.

The project will also showcase a flexible green iron process that can ramp production up or down to match renewable energy supply—supporting a smarter, cleaner industrial future.

ARENA CEO Darren Miller stressed that finding a low or zero emissions pathway for steelmaking is crucial, given its significant contribution to global emissions.

“As the world’s largest producer and exporter of iron ore, Australia has a critical role in reducing emissions across the steel value chain,” he said.

“ZESTY is a strong step toward building a low-emissions steel industry at home.”

“What makes ZESTY so compelling is its potential to dramatically lower the amount of hydrogen required to convert iron ore into pure iron. ZESTY, in combination with use of renewable electricity from Australia’s world-class solar and wind resources, has the potential to create a new green iron industry targeting both domestic and export markets as the world transitions away from fossil fuels.”

Calix CEO Phil Hodgson welcomed the funding, saying, “green iron can tackle one of the world’s hardest to abate emissions sources while adding value to Australia’s biggest export. ZESTY is designed to do this cost effectively – minimising hydrogen use, avoiding pelletisation, and operating flexibly on low-cost electricity.”

Founded in 2005, Calix is an Australian innovator in sustainable high-temperature mineral processing, with applications across steel, cement, alumina, lithium and critical minerals.

ARENA media contact:

media@arena.gov.au

Download this media release (PDF 151KB)

Source: New South Wales Community and Justice

Woman charged with arson in relation to fire which destroyed unit at Ravenswood

Thursday, 24 July 2025 – 8:48 am.

Police have charged a 61-year-old woman from Ravenswood with arson in relation to a fire at Ravenswood yesterday.  
Around 10.30am, emergency services responded to reports of a unit on fire on Warring Street.  
Tasmania Fire Service extinguished the fire; however the unit was destroyed.  
Fire Investigators determined the fire was deliberately lit.  
The woman was bailed to appear before the Launceston Magistrates Court on 3 September 2025.