Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: Australian Capital Territory Policing

Victorian renters will soon have access to more support services under the new Victorian Renter Rights Program.

The new program introduces 4 dedicated services to strengthen advice, advocacy and frontline support:

1. The Renter Rights Service will provide local access to advice, support, and advocacy for renters across the state.
2. The Older Persons Housing Rights Service will provide a new, integrated service for Victorians aged 55 and above living in private rentals, residential parks and retirement living. Support will be available statewide, including through a new website and dedicated phone service.
3. The Victorian Renters Helpline will be a new, easy to find central phone line and website offering tailored advice and support based on renters’ personal circumstances and referrals to a person’s local Renter Rights Service provider.
4. The Renter Central Service will deliver specialist advice, professional development, advocacy, and training for frontline workers. It will offer specialist legal support for renters with complex issues, as well as deliver community education and support on Victoria’s renting rules for multicultural communities.

Under the new program, the government will nearly double its annual funding for renter assistance, providing $98.74 million over 5 years to boost renting support services.

Once fully operational, the program is expected to assist around 25,500 clients each year, up from the 12,663 renters who received support in 2024 –25.

The new program responds to population growth, workforce pressures, and rising demand for specialist support for renters, and was developed in response to a recent review of Consumer Affairs Victoria’s funded renting services and financial counselling programs, with the final report published today.

The program will build on the success of and replace the existing Tenancy Assistance and Advocacy Program, Tenancy Central Service, and Retirement Housing Assistance and Advocacy Program.

A tender for new service providers will open in February 2026. More information about the tender process and documents will be available from the Consumer Affairs Victoria website when it opens.

Existing renter support services including the Tenancy Assistance and Advocacy Program, Retirement Housing Assistance and Advocacy Program and Tenancy Central Service programs will be extended to allow time to transition to the new model.

The Government also recognises the need for dedicated renting services for First Peoples and people impacted by family violence. New services will be established under the new program, with consultation and service design to commence in 2026.

Financial counselling services will also be extended for 12 months while the government considers the findings from the review.

Services under the Victorian Renter Rights Program are expected to start later this year.

Source: Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission

In between bouts of wild weather at Heard Island, work continued on land and at sea this week.

Seal biologists walked from Skua Beach to Fairchild Beach, counting fur seal pups at Fairchild – finding more than a thousand pups in total.
The HPAI team have continued wildlife monitoring using drone surveillance and on-island sampling. Targeted surveys of threatened and endemic species have been a high priority for V2, following the confirmed detection of HPAI in southern elephant seals on Heard Island from V1 work.
Conclusive outcomes from the V2 work will not be known until aerial footage and samples collected during V2 have been analysed.
Marine debris was examined and documented, with a pallet of plastic collected and returned to the ship.
Sampling of invertebrates continued, with scientists rapidly acquiring several different species, and a remotely operated underwater vehicle was deployed at multiple sites.
The science tender continued work, retrieving a tide gauge deployed on V1 last year. As a bonus, marine scientists were able to retrieve samples of creatures who’d made a home in the gauge!
Marine science work included the towed camera, midwater and beam trawls, with one particularly big day of operations during the week.
A species of nudibranch was found that was not thought to live in the Heard Island area. Approximately eight species of sea snail were also collected.
Conditions on the island were particularly difficult last weekend, with incredibly high winds. After enduring this, and continuing work where possible, everyone returned to the ship on Sunday.
A weather window on Wednesday allowed all the gear deployed during the voyage, plus debris collected from the island, to be returned to the ship.
On our last night at Heard Island, we had the very rare spectacle of clear skies and a magnificent sunset. Those who stayed up late had the privilege of witnessing a stunning aurora over Big Ben.
Our last day was allocated to the rigorous cleaning of gear, vital to maintaining biosecurity.
Drone and science tender operations continued during the day and at 8pm we started the long journey home.
This content was last updated 10 hours ago on 25 January 2026.

Source: South Australia County Fire Service

Issued on
24 Jan 2026 19:40

Issued for
Murraylands Road, 15km south of Morgan in the Riverland.

Warning level
Advice – Stay Informed

Action
CFS is responding to a fire 15km south of Morgan in the Riverland.

If you are in this area, stay informed and monitor local conditions. More information will be provided by the CFS when it is available.

Source: South Australia County Fire Service

Issued on
24 Jan 2026 17:06

Warning area
John Street, War Memorial Drive, Railway Terrace, Charles Street and Fisher Street near Balaklava, approximately 25 kilometres east of Port Wakefield on the Wakefield Plains South Australia.

Warning level
Advice – Avoid Smoke

Action
Smoke from BALAKLAVA Structure Fire is in the John Street, War Memorial Drive, Railway Terrace, Charles Street and Fisher Street area area.

Smoke can affect your health. You should stay informed and be aware of the health impacts of smoke on yourself and others.

Symptoms of exposure includes shortness of breath, wheezing and coughing, burning eyes, running nose, chest tightness, chest pain and dizziness or light-headedness.

If you or anyone in your care are having difficulty breathing, seek medical attention from your local GP. If your symptoms become severe, call 000.

More information will be provided by the CFS when it is available.

Source: Victoria Country Fire Authority

A Total Fire Ban (TFB) has been declared for the Northern Country, North Central, North East and East Gippsland fire weather districts tomorrow, Sunday 25 January 2026.

Tomorrow’s conditions in those regions will be hot and dry with temperatures reaching 44 in the northern parts of the state and west south-westerly winds around 20-30 km/h gusting to 45km/h.

A Total Fire Ban means no fire can be lit in the open air or allowed to remain alight from 12.01am to 11.59pm on the day of the Total Fire Ban. 

CFA Chief Officer Jason Heffernan said the TFB has been declared due to the expected conditions across the state tomorrow along with current fires in the landscape.

“Tomorrow’s conditions will make it difficult for firefighters to suppress a fire should one start,” he said.

“While firefighters across the state have been doing incredible work building containment lines around the current fires, in these elevated conditions there is the potential for those fires to escape.

“People need to avoid fire affected areas, abide by the current traffic management points in place, they are there for your safety.

“We’re asking people to follow the strict conditions associated with the Total Fire Ban declaration.

“We want people to enjoy their long weekend festivities but encourage the community to remain alert and fire ready.

“Understand the how the increased fire risk will impact you and ensure your fire plan covers all possible contingencies.”

Victorians can find out if it is a Total Fire Ban on the CFA website www.cfa.vic.gov.au, where it is usually published by 5pm the day before a Total Fire Ban.

For more information on what you can and can’t do visit the Can I or Can’t I page on the CFA website. 

Victorians should also make sure they have access to more than one source of information.

They include:

• ABC local radio, commercial and designated radio stations of Sky News
• The VicEmergency App
• The VicEmergency website www.emergency.vic.gov.au
• The VicEmergency Hotline on 1800 226 226
• CFA or VicEmergency Twitter or Facebook

Submitted by	CFA Media

Source: South Australia County Fire Service

Issued on
24 Jan 2026 12:44

Issued for
Horrocks Highway near Auburn, approximately 25 kilometres south of Clare in the Clare Valley, South Australia.

Warning level
Advice – Stay Informed

Action
CFS is responding to a fire on the Horrocks Highway, Auburn. .

If you are in this area, stay informed and monitor local conditions. More information will be provided by the CFS when it is available.

Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services

The Northern Territory Police Force has arrested a 15-year-old male following a disturbance in Malak on Friday afternoon.

Around 4:15pm, the Joint Emergency Services Communication Centre received reports that a male youth had attended a Malak service station armed with an improvised weapon and was allegedly damaging fuel bowsers and vehicles, while threatening members of the public.

It is alleged the offender threatened two adult males aged 47 and 56 with the weapon during the incident. No injuries were reported as a result.

Police attended the scene and arrested the offender with charges are expected to follow.

Police urge anyone with information to make contact on 131 444. Please quote reference number NTP2600008052. Anonymous reports can be made through Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or via https://crimestoppersnt.com.au/.

Source: South Australia County Fire Service

Issued on
24 Jan 2026 08:38

Issued for
Baroota  near Port Germein 28km North of Port Pirie in the Flinders Ranges within the Mid North.

Warning level
Advice – Stay Informed

Action
CFS is responding to a fire in Baroota near the Augusta Highway .

If you are in this area, stay informed and monitor local conditions. More information will be provided by the CFS when it is available.

Source: ACT Police

Last update: Friday, 23 January 2026 11:12am

Original publication: Friday, 23 January 2026 11:12am

Source: ACT Police

Last update: Friday, 23 January 2026 9:09am

Original publication: Friday, 23 January 2026 9:09am