Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services
Northern Territory Police have charged a 19-year-old male after an aggravated assault in Katherine over the weekend.
He was arrested by investigators from Strike Force Cerberus and has since been charged with:
He was remanded to appear in Katherine Local Court today.
Source: New South Wales Community and Justice
Hobart man charged with trafficking significant amount of ice and cocaine
Monday, 21 July 2025 – 1:59 pm.
Police have charged a 29-year-old Hobart man with trafficking and importing illicit drugs into Tasmania after intercepting a vehicle exiting the Spirit of Tasmania in Devonport on Sunday.
In a subsequent search of the vehicle, police located and seized three kilograms of ice, two kilograms of cocaine, two vials of testosterone, 30 capsules of steroids and 40 oxycodone tablets.
As a result, the man has been charged with trafficking a controlled substance, unlawful importation of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled drug, and dealing with property which subsequently becomes an instrument of crime.
He has been detained to appear in the Devonport Magistrates Court later today.
Detective Inspector Michelle Elmer said the drugs seized were highly addictive and have the potential to do significant harm in our community.
“The methylamphetamine seized has the potential to be broken into 30,000 individual street deals, while the cocaine could result in 10,000 individual deals,” she said.
Tasmania Police will continue to target offenders who attempt to import illicit substances into Tasmania by conducting both targeted and random screenings of people entering our state by sea and airports.
Anyone with information about illicit substances in our community is urged to contact police on 131 444 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or at crimestopperstas.com.au. Information can be provided anonymously.
Source: Australian Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry
At times of global uncertainty, resilience doesn’t come from retreating inward – it comes from reaching outward.
That’s the lesson of past economic shocks, and it’s one we must heed again as we confront the fourth major economic disruption in just 2 decades.
It’s also the principle guiding Australia and Indonesia’s engagement at this week’s G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ Meeting in South Africa.
We’re neighbours by geography, but partners by choice – and by the shared actions we take on the world stage.
Last year, we marked 75 years of diplomatic ties, 50 years since Australia became ASEAN’s first dialogue partner, and 25 years of cooperation in the G20.
Since then, we’ve modernised the ASEAN‑Australia‑New Zealand Free Trade Agreement and celebrated 5 years since IA‑CEPA was signed – a partnership that’s already seen our 2‑way trade double to $35 billion.
To build on this momentum, Indonesia and Australia have agreed to review the IA‑CEPA, so we can generate broader and deeper economic integration.
This review will also help ensure that the agreement remains relevant and continues to deliver value for our 2 economies.
This is just one example of how we’re deepening our economic relationship even further.
Subject to market conditions, Indonesia will also issue its first‑ever AUD‑denominated ‘Kangaroo bond’ in August – a vote of confidence and meaningful step forward, reflecting our deep bilateral ties.
This will open new pathways for Australian investors to find quality investment products, support Indonesia’s growth and strengthen financial integration.
It’s a practical example of the ambition that underpins our economic partnership – and the shared belief that resilience is built through cooperation, reform, and openness.
Together, Australia and Indonesia are helping lead this effort within the G20 – just as we have for a quarter of a century, since the Asian Financial Crisis first brought finance ministers and central bankers around the same table.
This year, our cooperation is more critical than ever.
Around the world, growth is softening, inflation has been sticky, and global trade is under pressure from fragmentation and rising geopolitical risk.
These challenges make our partnership – and our collective work in international forums – even more important.
Both Australia and Indonesia have shown remarkable resilience.
In Australia, inflation has moderated in a substantial and sustained way. Unemployment remains close to historic lows, real wages are growing again and we’ve delivered the first back‑to‑back budget surpluses in nearly 2 decades – alongside the biggest nominal budget turnaround in our history.
Indonesia, too, has performed strongly – recording one of the highest growth rates in the G20, with inflation and unemployment consistently at the lowest rates since 1998, supported by a rapid fiscal consolidation after the pandemic and the creation of more than 3.5 million new jobs in the past year alone.
This strength gives us momentum – but it doesn’t make us immune.
We need to stay focused on the long‑term foundations of growth: productivity, fiscal sustainability, and resilience.
Productivity, in particular, sits at the heart of both our national economic agendas – because it’s what drives better wages, better jobs, and stronger, more inclusive growth.
For Indonesia, lifting productivity will be vital to reaching high‑income status by 2045. In Australia, it’s central to building a more modern, more adaptable, more inclusive economy.
That means upskilling our workforces, attracting productive capital, and unlocking innovation – individually and together.
And we both recognise the importance of fiscal sustainability, having pushed down our debt to GDP ratios to pre pandemic levels.
Strong, responsible public finances are not just a fiscal shield – they’re a platform for long‑term investment, resilience and reform.
At this week’s G20, Australia and Indonesia are standing together to supports sustainable, inclusive growth and open, fair and transparent trade in the spirit of multilateralism.
Because in a world of churn and change, the right response is not retreat – it’s resolve.
You see that in our collaboration on IA‑CEPA. You see it through Australia’s Southeast Asia economic strategy. You see it in Indonesia’s new Kangaroo bond. And you see it in our shared ambition to build a more integrated and more prosperous Indo‑Pacific.
We’ve been close partners for decades. But in this moment of global challenge, we’re choosing to go further – and faster – together.
Source: Jobs and Skills Australia
Insights into the Jobs and Skills Roadmap for Regional Australia
Michelle Looi
Source:
21 July 2025
New University of South Australia research is providing evidence of biological triggers of oil production in oats, a discovery that will help processing and potentially drive further demand for Australian-grown oats.
While Australia is the world’s second-largest exporter of oats, high oil content in oat grains creates challenges during milling, reducing processing efficiency and limiting product innovation – particularly in high-demand sectors like oat flour and plant-based proteins.
Researchers from the University of South Australia, the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI), and the University of Adelaide are collaborating on research designed to better understand the biological processes responsible for oil synthesis in oat grains.
In this study, two contemporary varieties of oats were examined using spatial imaging techniques to track oil build-up during grain development. Researchers then applied ‘omics’ technologies – lipidomics and proteomics – to analyse lipid and protein expression, which provided key insights into the biological mechanisms involved in the actual formation of the grain, including those relating to oil synthesis.
The UniSA findings have provided further evidence of the mechanisms that underlie the amount of oil in an oat grain. These findings will help to guide future breeding efforts for naturally lower-oil oat varieties, improving milling yields and creating new value-added opportunities across the oat supply chain.
UniSA PhD candidate, Darren Lau, says that current oil removal methods are inefficient and that low-oil breeding programs will aid industry growth.
“While oil can be removed from partially milled oat flakes – using supercritical carbon dioxide prior to further milling – this approach is laborious and expensive,” he says.
“Breeding low-oil oat varieties is a cost-effective approach but requires further understanding of oil production in oats. This is where our research is critical.
“Our analysis has identified several key enzymes that are involved in oil synthesis which could be genetically manipulated to lower oil content of oat grains.
“Reducing oil content could also unlock new opportunities in sectors like oat flour and alternative proteins, which could significantly strengthen Australia’s position in the market.”
The economic potential of these opportunities is reflected in the quantity of oats exported globally. For example, in 2022 twenty-six million metric tonnes of oats were produced worldwide, ranking them seventh among cereals in production quantity.
Lowering oil content in oat grains will enhance processing and product versatility, positioning them alongside traditional cereal staples like barley, maize, wheat, and rice, and further driving industry growth.
The UniSA findings are being used by the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) oat grain quality consortium to improve suitability for milling and food/beverage ingredient development. Additional research is continuing within the consortium that will build on the study’s findings to further inform breeding efforts aimed at reducing oil content in oats.
“The consortia are currently working on a larger and more diverse oat cohort to further investigate molecular markers and nutrient partitioning of oil in oats,” Lau says.
“The consortia are also investigating one of the key enzymes validated in this study to determine whether manipulating or removing it can lower oil content, and how that affects the growth of the plant.”
SARDI Project Lead Dr Janine Croser, says the study’s findings provide further evidence of key pathways involved in oat oil biosynthesis.
“This research provides important insights into the biological mechanisms underlying varietal differences of oil production in developing oat grains,” Dr Croser says.
“We expect that the development of low-oil lines will improve efficiencies in the flour milling process and potentially lead to novel uses for oats.
“With demand for plant-based foods on the rise, we anticipate the oat grain quality consortium research will help put Australia at the forefront of oat innovation – supporting growers, processors, and exporters alike.”
The full paper, Proteomic and lipidomic analyses reveal novel molecular insights into oat (Avena sativa L.) lipid regulation and crosstalk with starch synthesis during grain development, is available online.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Contact for interview: Darren Lau E: Darren.Lau@unisa.edu.au
Media contact: Annabel Mansfield M: +61 479 182 489 E: Annabel.Mansfield@unisa.edu.au
Josh Owen-Thomas E: Josh.Owen-Thomas@unisa.edu.au
Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services
The Northern Territory Police Force can confirm that the age of the child who was struck and killed by a palm on Saturday was 4-years-old, while an 11-year-old male was also struck by the palm tree and suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
The initial age of 7 was incorrect.
Investigations into the tragic incident remain ongoing.
Source: New South Wales Community and Justice
Man charged with drug and fraud offences in Burnie
Monday, 21 July 2025 – 10:35 am.
Police have charged a 37-year-old man with significant drug and fraud offences, following a recent operation in Western Tasmania.
Detective Inspector Michelle Elmer said the operation, which has been running since May 2025, was led by the Western Criminal Investigation Branch and involved a range of specialist police resources.
“The man was arrested on Friday during a planned search of a Burnie residence, where police located a quantity of methylamphetamine, anabolic steroids and two illegal firearms,” she said.
“He was charged with a number of offences including trafficking in a controlled substance, selling a controlled drug, fraud, personation, dealing with the proceeds of crime, and several firearm offences.”
“Police will allege the man committed multiple fraud offences relating to prescription medications and impersonating a general practitioner, through an online business.”
He was remanded in custody to reappear in the Burnie Magistrates Court this morning.
Source: AMP Limited
21 07 2025 – Media release
Retopia
New games capture distinctive stories, landscapes and communities from across the country
Screen Australia has today announced the latest games and gaming events to be supported through the agency’s industry-leading funding programs – providing $1.4 million for gamemakers to upskill and develop stand-out projects.
The funding supports 26 games including a hand-drawn puzzle game about a flooded village rebuilding after climate catastrophe, a point-and-click visual novel with small town mysteries to solve, and an action-adventure RPG (Role-Playing Game) about a brave native mouse. It also supports the Freeplay 2025 Events Series, solidifying the agency’s commitment to foster a sector that has both a robust sense of independence and a strong community focus.
In 2024-25, the agency invested $3 million into the tenacious local industry which included support for 49 games and 200 Australian gamemakers. Initiatives like the Future Leaders Delegation and support for ten Festivals and Events provided Australian independent gamemakers the opportunity to showcase over 270 games for national and international audiences.
Minister for the Arts Tony Burke said, “Digital Games are a billion dollar global industry and Australia’s sector is growing every year. This funding ensures that we’re backing home-grown talent in order to be at the top of the leader board.”
Screen Australia Head of Games Joey Egger said, “What struck me about these projects is the depth of talent and the distinctiveness of the content; the diversity of our culture, communities, landscapes and stories really shines through. We’re seeing games being developed all across the country including regional towns such as Wallabadah in New South Wales and Toongabbie in Victoria.”
“It’s also incredibly exciting to see another round of projects transitioning from the Emerging Gamemakers Fund through to the Games Production Fund. It reinforces our unique position as an end-to-end avenue for Australian gamemakers to take their projects from concept to prototype, to production and then launch.”
The past 12 months have seen five games from the Emerging Gamemakers Fund progressing to the Games Production Fund: Monster Snap (WA), Rocketcard Defence (ACT), Wyrmspace Tactics (VIC) and L8R SK8R (QLD), as well as Management in Space (NSW).
Funded games include:
Ashes (VIC): For fans of graphic novels and interactive fiction, seasoned players and those new to games, comes adventure game Ashes. The creative team includes producer/developer Clea Frost, lead developer Nick Loki, 2D artists Phoenix Waddell and Jennifer Reuter and composer Trent Francis. It follows 16-year-old skater Azar Warren who, after witnessing a murder, takes refuge in a rural compound with her estranged grandfather.
Buru and The Old People (NSW): A narrative-driven adventure game set in a vibrant anthropomorphic world rich in Indigenous storytelling. Buru and The Old People is from creative director and recipient of the ‘Rising Star’ award at the 2024 Australian Game Developer Awards Benjamin Armstrong, producer Brooke Collard (Yokai), 2D artist Letoya Muraru, and composer Alexander Tulett.
Nothing To Do Summer Vacation – Part 1 (NT): A unique point and click visual novel game from lead programmer Adam Prenger and creative director Mel Stringer, an accomplished illustrator and comic artist making her exciting debut in games. In this game, Summer is bored out of her mind in the small town of Driftwood, until fresh mysteries come calling to be uncovered.
Penguin Colony (VIC): A stylish action-adventure game from producer Megan Faulkner, audio engineer David Mason and creative director Naphtali Faulkner, the developer behind the Independent Games Festival Grand Prize-winning Umurangi Generation. In Penguin Colony, players explore the depths of Antarctica at their own pace as different penguins – unravelling difficult truths along the way.
Retopia (NSW): From creative lead Jennyfer Ong, lead designer Nicholas King and lead producer James Lockrey, this cosy management game is the latest project from the Australian Game Developer Awards’ 2024 Studio of the Year, Chaos Theory Games. Retopia follows a cast of quirky robot companions as they restore life to a collapsed world by salvaging lost technology, rebuilding community, and nurturing a floating sanctuary in the sky. The game continues Chaos Theory’s tradition of values-driven development after the success of the award-winning Crab God.
Fern: Seed Guardian (WA): An action-adventure RPG from creative director Sophie Till and technical director Jamie Dougall. In a fantastical Australian bushland, a brave native mouse battles an encroaching, mysterious goo. She must overcome not only this encroaching danger but also her deep fears, as the Goo uses them to manipulate her perception of reality.
Slumbering Woods (QLD): An evocative, hand-drawn puzzle adventure game with a unique crafting and building twist from creative director Svitlana Amelina, lead developer Oleg Chernyshenko and sound designer Jane Wei. In a world recovering from a long-past climate catastrophe, players help a flooded village thrive, rebuild and find their way home along the way. Slumbering Woods is financed with support from Screen Queensland’s Games Grants.
Additional projects supported through the Games Production Fund include Bravest Coconut (QLD), Mission Delta (VIC), Dungeon Breakers (NSW) and Rocketcard Defence (ACT).
Additional projects supported through the Emerging Gamemakers Fund include SCAV (VIC), Pixellated (VIC), Dead Zone Mycologist (VIC), Dicot (VIC), Ash and Earth: Wilderness Reclaimed (NSW), Spin Spirits (WA), Eclipsia (NSW), Untitled Cube Game (Working Title) (QLD), Stewards of Nu Juno (QLD), Displaced: Oath of Tomes (VIC),Kaiju Critters (QLD)and Trinket (NSW).
For the full list of funded gamemakers and projects supported throughout the 2024-25FY, please see the Games blocklines here.
Applications for the Emerging Gamemakers Fund and Games Production Fund are now open. For more information about Games funding at Screen Australia and to apply, click here.
For accompanying image assets, click here.
Ashes
Media enquiries
Jessica Parry | Senior Publicist (Mon, Tue, Thu)
+ 61 428 767 836 | [email protected]
All other general/non-media enquiries
Sydney + 61 2 8113 5800 | Melbourne + 61 3 8682 1900 | [email protected]
Source: New places to play in Gungahlin
Taxpayers may be eligible for tax offsets depending on their individual circumstances. Tax offsets reduce the amount of tax people need to pay.
We’ve recently updated the remote zone tax offset web content to make it easier for you and your clients to understand the eligibility requirements.
Taxpayers are generally eligible for the remote zone tax offset when they have resided in a relevant area of Australia for more than 183 days during the financial year in which they are claiming the offset. That is, when their usual place of residence is within a remote zone.
The 183 days does not have to be a continuous period of residency but must be within one financial year unless certain circumstances apply.
Where your client hasn’t resided within a remote zone for 183 days during the income year, they may still be able to claim the offset if their usual place of residence was in a remote zone for a continuous period of less than 5 years, and:
Fly-in-fly-out (FIFO) and offshore oil or gas rig workers are generally not eligible to claim the zone tax offset, unless their usual place of residence is within a remote zone for the required number of days.
Temporarily working in a zone, staying at an employer’s camp or provided accommodation does not mean the worker resided in the zone where the worker’s usual place of residence is outside a zone.
We have a non-exhaustive list of locations that are within a remote zone. There may be other eligible locations that are not included on the list but are geographically within a remote zone.
If your client resides at a location that is geographically within a remote zone, it does not need to be on the list in order to claim the offset.
Before lodging your client’s income tax return, confirm if there have been any changes to their residential and postal addresses. It’s important to ensure your clients keep their ATO record up to date with their current phone number, postal, residential and email address details.
Source: New South Wales – News
Six teenagers have been arrested after a pursuit through metropolitan Adelaide and the arson of an Aldinga Beach house this morning.
About 12.50 am Monday 21 July Police and emergency services were called to a house at Pebble Court after reports of fire in the garage and house. Fortunately the occupants were not home at the time. MFS were quickly on scene and extinguished the blaze.
When police arrived, they saw a Subaru station wagon leaving the street. Police recognised the car as a stolen vehicle which had been stolen from a Mitchell Park home last week. Police attempted to stop the car, with the driver refusing to pull over.
The car was pursued by patrols along with the assistance from PolAir and Dog Operations Unit on South Road, along the Southern Expressway, through to the eastern suburbs before making its way to Two Wells where the tyres were successfully spiked by patrols at Port Wakefield Road and Mallala Road.
Six youths ran from the car and were arrested on Artisan Road with the assistance of PD Duke without incident.
The driver, a 17-year-old boy from Ottoway has been arrested for arson, illegal use, dangerous driving to escape pursuit
Four 15-year-old boys have been arrested for arson and illegal use.
One 16-year-old boy has been arrested for arson and illegal use.
All six will appear in the Youth Court later today.