Source: New South Wales Government 2
20 October 2025
All shipping agents or operators of maritime conveyances who will be required to report pre-arrival information during this planned maintenance period.
Due to scheduled infrastructure maintenance, there will be a scheduled outage to the Maritime and Aircraft Reporting System (MARS) from 23:00 Monday 20 October 2025 (AEDT) to 06:00 Tuesday 21 October 2025 (AEDT).
MARS users are advised to…
Source: Australian Ministers 1
An installation by one of the world’s most influential contemporary artists, Yayoi Kusama, will be on display in Dubbo as part of the Albanese Labor Government’s Sharing the National Collection program.
Kusama is among the world’s most popular artists, and her ‘infinity rooms’ have become recognisable across the globe. On loan from the National Gallery of Australia, THE SPIRITS OF THE PUMPKINS DESCENDED INTO THE HEAVENS, 2017 will be installed at the Western Plains Cultural Centre.
Following its hugely popular run at the National Gallery of Victoria and recent loan to the Qantas Founders Museum in Longreach, the work will now be available to Dubbo audiences for two years.
The work is an immersive installation which invites audiences in to experience a bright yellow room overrun with black dots and a ‘peepshow’ mirror box camouflaged by the reflections of its surrounding environment.
Kusama is among the world’s most distinctive and popular artists. She has played a major role in the development of art in the late 20th century and her influence maintains critical importance in contemporary art.
The Sharing the National Collection program is a continuing success with visitors and locals. Two years on from the program’s beginning, over a million people have experienced the wonder of the national collection closer to home.
Minister for the Arts, Tony Burke, said the Western New South Wales region would benefit from the blockbuster loan.
“Kusama’s signature infinity rooms may be familiar to many and this loan is an exciting opportunity for Dubbo locals and visitors to experience a world-class art installation.
“Our Sharing the National Collection program has given regional audiences a chance to see things that normally don’t make it out beyond our major cities.
Senator for New South Wales, Deborah O’Neill said this is a huge drawcard for Dubbo and the surrounding areas.
“Given the many kilometres that the people of Dubbo and the Central West travel for so many things, it is fantastic that we now have a world class installation travelling to them!”
“This incredible contemporary installation will add to the many outstanding artworks that can be enjoyed at the Western Plains Cultural Centre.”
Director of the National Gallery, Dr Nick Mitzevich, said the loan was a unique opportunity to bring one of the most celebrated works from the national collection to regional Australia.
“We welcome local audiences and visitors to Western Plains Cultural Centre to immerse themselves in the infinite world of influential artist, Yayoi Kusama – by far one of the National Gallery’s most requested and popular works.
“The Sharing the National Collection initiative supports the costs of facilitating significant contemporary art by international artists to regional communities across Australia.”
Cultural Development Coordinator from the Western Plains Cultural Centre, Jessica Moore, said the loan was good news for the city.
“The Western Plains Cultural Centre is thrilled to present this ground-breaking work to regional NSW. Our mission has always been to bring world-class creative experiences to regional and remote communities, and this exhibition offers an unparalleled opportunity to share something truly extraordinary.
“This work is one of the most bold, captivating, and distinctive art installations of the past decade. Hosting such an internationally acclaimed piece in Central NSW is a transformative moment for our region. We believe this exhibition will spark creativity, inspire dialogue, and ignite a lifelong passion for art in a new generation, leaving a lasting impact on our community.”
The sharing the National Collection program has provided support for the National Gallery to fund the costs of transporting, installing and insuring works in the national art collection so that they can be seen right across the country.
Regional and suburban galleries can register their interest in the loan program here.
Images of the works can be found here.
Source: New South Wales Government 2
18 October 2025
All clients submitting the below declarations:
Approved arrangements operators, customs brokers, importers, manned depots, and freight forwarders and biosecurity industry participants who…
Source: Australian Ministers 1
The Barrier Highway is set for an overhaul that will see two key junctions upgraded at Whyte Yarcowie and Yunta, as well as new rest areas and culvert upgrades to improve safety and freight operations in Mid North South Australia.
At Whyte Yarcowie, the junction of Barrier Highway and Whyte Road will receive new lighting, safety barriers, and the road will be reconstructed, widened and spray sealed to allow larger heavy vehicles to turn onto Whyte Road from the highway.
In Yunta, the Main Street (Tea Tree Road) and Barrier Highway junction will also be reconstructed, widened and spray sealed to improve heavy vehicles travelling to and from pastoral stations and mining production and exploration areas near Yunta.
The project involves building a new rest area at Winnininnie, and upgrading an existing rest area at Bindarrah, enabling drivers the opportunity to pull over and take a break with new shelter and picnic tables.
The project has received $1,696,800 in funding through the Australian Government’s Heavy Vehicle Rest Area initiative under the Safer Local Roads and Infrastructure Program.
Two culverts at Winnininnie and one at Bindarrah will also be upgraded to prevent flooding and road damage while also accommodating the movement of larger heavy vehicles.
These upgrades are jointly funded by the Australian and South Australian governments through the $62.5 million Barrier Highway Corridor Upgrade and the Safer Local Roads and Infrastructure Program, with the Albanese Government committing $50 million and the Malinauskas Government $12.5 million.
Early works including service relocations are complete and major construction is expected to be completed by mid-2026.
Quotes attributable to Federal Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Catherine King:
“Improving road safety, particularly on regional and remote roads, is a priority for our government and we are making significant investment in making our roads safer.
“Upgrading the Barrier Highway and Whyte Road junction will provide stock carriers an alternative route when transporting sheep from livestock saleyards at Jamestown.
“The Australian Government is committed to investing in the projects and programs that deliver real benefits to Australians across the country and help people get home safely.”
Quotes attributable to South Australian Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Emily Bourke:
“The State Government is investing in road safety, and freight efficiency is essential for sustaining regional economies.
“These improvements will not only protect motorists but also help key sectors like agriculture and mining by providing reliable access to important transport corridors.
“By upgrading these junctions, we’re making the jobs of many transport operators easier, allowing them more room to manoeuvre their vehicles and providing an additional route option when transporting goods.
“Rest areas are crucial when it comes to preventing fatigue related fatalities and injuries. We encourage drivers to take regular 15-minute breaks every two hours.”
Quotes attributable to Federal Senator for South Australia Karen Grogan:
“On average, more than 730 vehicles travel through these junctions on the Barrier Highway each day with 220 of them being heavy vehicles.
“These vital works build on shoulder widening and sealing, pavement rehabilitation and safety barrier installation on the Barrier Highway between Burra and Riverton.
“Those upgrades were funded under the Road Safety Program, and were completed in December 2024, improving safety for all drivers.
“These further investments will provide a welcome economic boost too, supporting an expected 60 full-time-equivalent jobs during the construction period.”
Quotes attributable to State Member for Stuart Geoff Brock:
“I sincerely thank the Australian and South Australian Governments for the contributions for these works.
“These upgrades will greatly improve road safety on the Barrier Highway and will be particularly appreciated by the transport industry and the large number of tourists who frequently use this key highway.”
Source: New South Wales Government 2
17 October 2025
All importers and customs brokers who will be required to lodge imported cargo documentation to the department for biosecurity assessment during this planned maintenance period.
All users of the Cargo Online Lodgement System Business to Government (COLSB2G) system during this planned maintenance period. All importers of plants, cats and/or dogs who will be required to use the Post Entry Biosecurity System (PEBS) during this…
Source: Australian Ministers 1
Ministers for regional development and Northern Australia have held a meeting of the Northern Australia Ministerial Forum (NAMF) to discuss ways of growing a stronger north.
The NAMF brings together state and federal counterparts and relevant agencies to discuss issues unique to northern Australia and pursue solutions to shared challenges.
Federal Minister for Northern Australia, the Hon Madeleine King MP, chaired the Forum and was joined by:
It was the first meeting of NAMF since the Federal Election, and the fifth since the Labor came into Government.
The group presented findings on the unique issues faced by communities in Northern Australia regarding issues such as housing and insurance.
The forum discussed ideas such as the potential for unlocking new, modern construction methods for northern communities.
The forum also heard from the President of Australian Local Government Association, Gladstone Mayor Matt Burnett, who discussed the challenges facing the local government sector across the north and possible opportunities for all levels of Government to work more closely together to improve services.
The Albanese Government is driving a major pipeline of housing investment across northern Australia to boost supply and support stronger communities.
This includes funding through the Housing Australia Future Fund and the National Housing Accord to deliver thousands of new social and affordable homes and enabling infrastructure, as well as targeted investments through the Social Housing Accelerator and the National Housing Infrastructure Facility to get projects moving faster.
Labor is also investing $2 billion in remote housing for the Northern Territory to deliver more culturally appropriate, climate-resilient homes for First Nations communities.
The ministers’ joint communique is available at: www.infrastructure.gov.au/territories-regions-cities/regional-australia/office-northern-australia/northern-australia-ministerial-forum
Quotes attributable to Federal Minister for Northern Australia, Madeleine King:
“Northern Australia has enormous potential, and the Albanese Government is working to provide the investment and infrastructure needed that will help the north become an economic powerhouse.
“We also need a continued focus to ensure that First Nations communities have the support they need to thrive.
“A strong north means a strong Australia.”
Source: Australian Ministers 1
MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND SPORT, ANIKA WELLS: Good morning, everybody. The eSafety Commissioner and I have just finished briefing the state and territory Education Ministers on the social media minimum age laws and our broader work in online safety. That work includes the minimum age law, digital literacy, digital duty of care, and work to restrict nudify apps in Australia. With less than two months now until 10 December, we will continue to engage with teachers, students, children and parents because we want this law to be discussed openly and regularly in classrooms, on the drive to school and around kitchen tables when people eat together at night.
On Sunday, you will start seeing our national education campaign on televisions, on billboards, on radio and digital channels. We have hard copy information packs aimed at raising awareness about the upcoming changes. There are tailored versions that have been developed for remote and regional First Nations secondary schools, and language and religious secondary schools. We have digital information kits which provide in-depth information about how the social media minimum age laws will work. And today there is a suite of resources available on esafety.gov.au.
This law is happening. It is happening on 10 December and it will change lives. We want children to have childhoods. We want parents to have peace of mind and we want young people, young Australians to have three more years to learn who they are before platforms assume who they are.
So I’ll hand over to our eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant to further detail the resources that have become available.
ESAFETY COMMISSIONER JULIE INMAN GRANT: Thank you. For those of you who have been on esafety.gov.au, you know it’s a rich repository of not just resources, but the ability for any Australian who’s experiencing online abuse, whether it’s cyberbullying or image-based abuse, whether they’re seeing horrific content or child sexual abuse material, that they can come to us and we have a very high success rate in terms of getting that content down and remediating harm in real time. The social media minimum age has been a topic of discussion for the past year and we’re so pleased after an extensive consultation with parents, with educators and children themselves, we have developed a whole new repository or suite of education materials to really help them navigate what these changes will look like.
We know this will be a very monumental event for a lot of young people. So some of the resources, to give you an example, for parents might include checklists but also conversation starters. What are the things that we need to do to talk to kids about where they’re seeing people now? If they’re following an influencer that we approve of, can they find them on a website? How do we start weaning them from social media now so it isn’t a shock on 10 December? How do we help them download their archives and their memories? And how do we make sure that they’re in touch with friends and are aware of mental health support if they’re feeling down when they’re not tethered to their phones over the holiday period?
I’d also like to thank Beyond Blue, headspace, ReachOut, Kids Helpline, and Raising Children because they’ve all provided us with tremendous support in terms of developing this content and making sure that we do have young Australians’ mental health and wellbeing front of mind.
So again, all of these resources are at esafety.gov.au. We encourage parents and educators to look at these, but also to sign up for our 43 webinars. We will be offering 43 free webinars that are tailored for lunchtimes or after dinner, and they will cover everything from adolescence and algorithms to being a young man online to issues like sextortion, cyberbullying, and other forms of harm that kids are experiencing today. But the huge focus will be on the social media minimum age and how to prepare for the social media delay.
I’d also add that this is not a static thing. We will continue to have a range of other deeper curricular materials available so that schools know at what ages and stages we need to prepare kids for building their digital resilience and critical reasoning skills at 13, at 14, and 15, so that when they do go back on social media they’re prepared with the skills they need to navigate that online world safely.
ANIKA WELLS: Thank you, we’re both happy to answer your questions.
JOURNALIST: Just to start with, this is obviously relevant today in relation to the deepfake images that police are investigating in Sydney. How far away is the government from implementing restrictions on nudify apps?
JULIE INMAN GRANT: Okay. So I would say we do have some tools available today, and the Minister will talk about additional tools that the government is considering. So deepfake image-based abuse is covered through our image-based abuse scheme and we have a 98 per cent success rate in terms of getting this down. I can say with that particular event in New South Wales our investigators are in touch with New South Wales Police as well as the Department of Education.
One of the things that we have done, because we are seeing deepfake image-based abuse incidents happening at least once a week in Australian schools, we’ve put out a deepfake image-based abuse incident management tool for schools. So they know when to go to police and then they know when to come to us to have the content taking down. I’d also say that we are taking some action today against some nudifying services, in this case against a company that probably makes some of the most popular undressing apps that are used by at least 100,000 people in Australia and we are just ramping up our investigation. They’re based in the UK and we’re working with our sister regulator Ofcom to take further action.
JOURNALIST: You mentioned that this is- reports are being made weekly, similar. Can you tell us roughly how many similar cases you’ve had reported?
JULIE INMAN GRANT: I mean, we’ve seen a doubling of deepfake image-based abuse reports to us over the past 18 months. So it’s still a small proportion of our overall image-based abuse reports. But I think it’s just the tip of the iceberg. If you look at what we’ve just seen over the past two weeks with the release of OpenAI’s Sora, which is an AI generated social media app where you’re converging the two and you’ll be able to harvest images of someone else and create a hyper realistic deepfake video in a matter of seconds, this is real cause for concern. This is really putting potential online harms on steroids.
JOURNALIST: Do you think social media and tech companies are doing enough to protect Australian children from exposure to this?
JULIE INMAN GRANT: I think they could do much more. Obviously, with the social media minimum age, there will be some really important structures in place to prevent children’s access to social media, and we’re using our transparency powers, our codes and standards, to make sure that we’re covering the broader technology sector up and down the stack. So questions have been asked about sites like 4chan. Why aren’t these being covered by the social media minimum age? It’s because we are targeting social media sites and where young people are. What our codes will be able to do is to tackle the worst of the worst sites.
JOURNALIST: Are there other countries who are tackling this in a way that Australia can look towards?
JULIE INMAN GRANT: I think Australia is leading, and frankly, they’re asking us about what we’re doing and how we’re doing it, and we’re continuing to have those conversations with our international counterparts.
JOURNALIST: Question for the Minister. So just your response to this story and also in relation to how far away is the government, do you think, from implementing restrictions?
ANIKA WELLS: Yeah, we just heard a lot of helpful things from the eSafety Commissioner about where eSafety is up to in this space. Additionally, the Albanese Government announced at the start of September that we’re looking at ways that we can restrict nudify apps across the country. You would be aware that different states and territories have already banned either the creation or distribution of these. We want to stop it before it starts. We want to move from an ambulance at the bottom of the cliff setting where as much as we do important and vigorous work, it’s always a case of whack-a-mole to a place where these things never reach the app store in the first place. So that is the work we’ve announced that we are doing from September, and we’ll continue to do it as quickly as we can.
JOURNALIST: On the social media ban, given we are less than two months away, don’t platforms need to know if they are or aren’t on the list in order to ensure they are ready for 10 December?
ANIKA WELLS: The most conspicuous and prolific apps are already aware whether they are or are not part of the ban. The eSafety Commissioner and I met with various platforms earlier this week and will continue to meet with platforms over the coming weeks on this particular question and to make sure that there are no excuses. Every question they have of us is answered so that come 10 December, this lands in the most meaningful way as possible. I have said a number of times, happy to say it again, we are not expecting perfection here, but we are expecting significant change. We are expecting a meaningful difference that will create cultural change across this country that will not just change a law, it will change a generation.
JOURNALIST: Just before we go back to the Commissioner, a question on Optus. Have you finalised a date with the telcos to host drills on Triple Zero calls?
ANIKA WELLS: Yes, we have.
JOURNALIST: For either of you, the Anti-Bullying Rapid Review is set to be unveiled today. How important will this be to tackling bullying in schools, particularly those in Far North Queensland, who has one of the highest rates of bullying in the country?
ANIKA WELLS: Yes. The eSafety Commissioner and I actually left the Education Ministers Meeting to come and speak with you when they were on the topic of the response to the bullying review. So I imagine that you will hear more in some form from the ministers once they have settled that response across the course of their day. Obviously, the eSafety Commissioner and I play an important role in response to the proliferation of bullying and the way that has changed from something that we might recognise, I’m dating myself here, as schoolyard bullying to something that happens on a supercomputer that comes with you in a pocket when you leave school and stays with you wherever you go. That means that bullying looks very different. But the work that we’re doing in both the social media minimum age laws to change how kids interact with each other online and where they can do that, in tandem with some of the work that the education ministers have already been doing, phone-free schools, the response to the national bullying that you’ll hear more from once they’ve said all that today – I think it’s all important work and we’ll keep on doing it.
JOURNALIST: So you mentioned the ministers will finish wrapping up, kind of, today. Do you know when the review will be made public?
ANIKA WELLS: That’s a question for the education ministers.
JOURNALIST: With the resources that are being rolled out, is any of it compulsory for students to do in school or something before 10 December?
ANIKA WELLS: I think what is compulsory is that everyone must comply with the law. But I think what we’re trying to do here is instill a sense of confidence and faith in parents and teachers that the onus here is not on parents, teachers, and schools to make the kids comply with the law. The onus is on the tech platforms to comply with Australian law. It is on the platforms, and we’ve made that very clear even this week in meetings with them. We expect them to provide notification to their users ahead of 10 December. We expect them to be able to assess for age and provide a notification to their users, we have assessed this account as likely belonging to someone under 16, so that people will know ahead of time. And also, an appeal right. So if there has been a case of mistaken identity or the age assurance tools have not proven 100 per cent effective – nothing is 100 per cent effective – there’s an appeal mechanism so that adults who may have been using Facebook peacefully for 15 years to sell their caravan continue to do that on 10 December and are not at all impacted by a social media minimum law affecting under-16s.
JOURNALIST: A couple of questions for the Commissioner again on the social media ban. Are you finalising a list of which platforms will be covered by the social media ban?
JULIE INMAN GRANT: We’re continuing to engage with a number of companies that have online social interaction as a sole or significant part of their platform. As you would understand, we have to give them fair due process when we’re considering these things. And so, and I’ve always said that this list will be a dynamic list. We’ll let you know when we’re ready to announce additional ones that are either on the list or have been exempted either through the messaging or online gaming exemption.
But again, this is a really hard exercise. We see services morphing. There is no bright line. All of these gaming companies are using messaging and social interaction and chat. Even messaging looks different than what we might traditionally think of a text. We’re seeing streaks and we’re broadcasting. We’re using video and imagery and filters. So, they’re morphing into very different experiences than the traditional definition of messaging.
JOURNALIST: Sure. So there’s not like a set date that you’re going to release?
JULIE INMAN GRANT: There’s not a set date, but it will be coming in the next couple of weeks. We need to give the public clarity, but we also need to ensure fairness in our assessments.
JOURNALIST: So it was mentioned that the larger platforms know whether they’re on it or not. What about smaller platforms? How can they plan if they don’t know whether they’re a part of the social media ban or not?
JULIE INMAN GRANT: Well, we’ve broadly sent out self-assessment tools. I do not have a specific declaratory power in the platform, and we’ve been very clear to industry broadly that it’s up to them to hire lawyers and to do the assessment to assess whether or not they’re in there. Obviously, we’re going to be focused on our compliance and enforcement efforts on where the preponderance of young people are. And with the six platforms that we provisionally announced last week, we will be capturing a number of those.
And I guess I’d also say that this is just one tool in a toolkit. As I mentioned, we’ve got transparency powers. We’ve got the complaint schemes. We’ve got codes and standards. All of these will work in tandem together. We also have our Safety by Design initiative of which the digital duty of care will pivot upon if you want to talk about that.
ANIKA WELLS: Just that it’s coming as part of the Albanese Government’s broader response to the Online Safety Act Review, and that it’s an important part of capturing what we consider to be a platform’s responsibility to their Australian users, their Australian customers, as they conduct their business online.
Source: Australian Ministers 1
The Albanese Government’s world-leading social media reforms are another step closer with State and Territory Education Ministers to be briefed today by the Minister for Communications and the eSafety Commissioner.
Following meetings with key platforms this week, the Minister and eSafety Commissioner will join the Education Minister’s Meeting on the Gold Coast to share resources schools can use.
As students return for the final term ahead of the Government’s social media reforms coming into effect on December 10, schools will play an important role in information sharing.
As part of the Government’s education campaign, eSafety will today release a comprehensive package of resources available for free at eSafety.gov.au.
eSafety will also begin an extended series of webinars across Australian time zones to answer questions from the public and provide additional details.
The resources package includes:
Quotes attributable to Minister for Communications, Anika Wells:
“With less than two months until December 10, we will continue to engage with teachers, students, children and parents because we want this law to be discussed openly and regularly in classrooms, on the drive to school, and at the dinner table.
“Our Government is on the side of families and restricting under-16s from holding accounts on social media platforms is just one element of our ongoing work to keep young people safer online.
“We encourage all Australians to engage with the range of resources now available to help them understand the laws and, importantly, why they’re necessary – for the good of our young people.”
Quotes attributable to eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant:
“Delaying children’s access to social media accounts gives them valuable time to learn and grow, free of the powerful, unseen forces of opaque algorithms and endless scroll.
“eSafety will continue to support parents and educators build children’s digital literacy and resilience.”
Source: Mental Health Australia
Locals and visitors will soon enjoy a safer and more efficient drive on Kosciusko Road, with work starting this month to deliver a combined more than $4.4 million on resurfacing work and three intersection upgrades along the stretch.
Locals and visitors will soon enjoy a safer and more efficient drive on Kosciusko Road (PDF, 269.79 KB), with work starting this month to deliver a combined more than $4.4 million on resurfacing work and three intersection upgrades along the stretch.
Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services
The Northern Territory Police Force is calling for information in relation to an aggravated assault that occurred in Alice Springs early this morning.
Around 1:15am, the Joint Emergency Services Communication Centre received reports that a male had allegedly assaulted his female partner and was threatening her outside a store on Gap Road.
It is alleged that the male threatened the victim with an edged weapon and demanded she transfer him money, with the victim complying for her safety. The offender subsequently assaulted the victim and fled the scene.
Police and St John Ambulance attended, and the victim was conveyed to Alice Springs Hospital for assessment.
The offender remains outstanding, and investigations are ongoing.
Police urge anyone with information about the incident to make contact on 131 444. Please quote reference number P25282148. Anonymous reports can be made through Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or via https://crimestoppersnt.com.au/.
If you or someone you know are experiencing difficulties due to domestic violence, support services are available, including, but not limited to, 1800RESPECT (1800737732) or Lifeline 131 114.