Families of two Australians and American who went missing in Baja California have identified the bodies, officials say
Mexican authorities have identified the three dead bodies found in a well in Mexico as Australian brothers Callum and Jake Robinson and their travelling companion, Jack Carter Rhoad.
The trio, who went missing in the Pacific coast state of Baja California, were killed with gunshots to the head, Mexican authorities said on Sunday.
Continue reading...Carly Kind’s comments come after major leak of customer data collected by IT provider for NSW and ACT clubs
The Australian privacy commissioner has warned third party suppliers are “a real weak spot” for protecting customer privacy after Australian user details were compromised in a leak of supplier data held by NSW and ACT clubs.
Last week more than 1 million people had their personal information including names, addresses, and driver’s licence information exposed after data collected by IT provider Outabox was published online. Outabox’s customers included dozens of clubs in New South Wales, including hospitality giant Merivale.
Continue reading...Midwives and social workers will also be given $320 weekly payment for undertaking mandatory work placements at university
Student teachers, nurses, midwives and social workers will receive a $320 weekly payment during their mandatory placements under a new cost-of-living measure in the May budget.
The Albanese government will establish a commonwealth practical payment for 68,000 university students and 5,000 vocational education and training students undertaking mandatory workplace placements as part of their courses.
Continue reading...Analysis of Facebook data finds engagement with news is at an all-time low – due at least in part to changes to Meta’s algorithms
Meta has refused to enter into new deals with Australian media publishers for the use of their content on Facebook, leading to fears it may again implement a ban on news content appearing on the platform. But an analysis of Facebook data suggests engagement with posts from news organisations is already at an all-time low, as memes fill the space.
Meta has argued that news makes up just 3% of what people engage with on its services.
Continue reading...Woman and man, aged 21 and 23, facing charges including murder and deprivation of liberty after alleged victim died in hospital
A Queensland man who was allegedly held captive, tortured and beaten at a remote property north of Brisbane has died in hospital, police say.
A woman and man, aged 21 and 23, had initially been charged with attempted murder and a series of other offences after police were called to the property at Mount Mee on Wednesday evening.
Continue reading...By Sunday morning the city had recorded 92.8mm of rain this month – fast approaching May average of 117.4mm, BoM says
The wet start to May for much of New South Wales is likely to continue for another week, with a severe weather warning for the state’s south coast and flash flooding on the Central Coast.
Sydney’s Observatory Hill had, by Sunday morning, recorded 92.8mm of rain this month – and was fast approaching the May average of 117.4mm.
Continue reading...Katy Gallagher says more aid for women escaping violence could come in form of increased rent assistance as sector struggles to recruit workers
Just 30 of the 500 frontline domestic violence workers promised by the Albanese government have been delivered so far, the minister for women, Katy Gallagher, says.
Gallagher, who is also the finance minister, revealed the difficulty recruiting workers in a pre-budget interview with ABC’s Insiders, suggesting that further help for women escaping violence could come in the form of increased rent assistance.
Continue reading...WA premier Roger Cook suggests teenager who allegedly stabbed man in Bunnings car park in Willetton may have been radicalised online
Western Australian police say they have shot and killed a teenager who allegedly attacked a man in a Perth car park on Saturday night.
Detectives on Sunday said there was no ongoing threat to the public and the 16-year-old was believed to have been acting alone in Willetton.
Continue reading...Program aims to help create better disability support plans to guide carers and support workers’ response to challenging behaviour
Australian researchers hope a new AI-supported educational program will help reduce the use of restraints and seclusion on people with disability.
The Promoting Positive Behaviour Support Practice program is designed to help practitioners create safer, respectful, constructive plans to guide carers and support workers’ responses to challenging behaviour.
Continue reading...‘Some negative projects will get up, but we have to keep our eyes on the broader goals’, says WWF Australia
A map of operating windfarms in Queensland does not take too long to survey – of the 100 or so across Australia, only six of them are in the sunshine state.
But this is about to change in a very big way. According to state government data, there are 46 separate proposals for windfarms in Queensland with four more already under construction.
Continue reading...The set of folios published by John Gould will be presented at Firsts book fair in London in mid-May
John Gould was one of the most sought-after taxidermists in 19th-century London, commissioned by King George IV to stuff the first giraffe to arrive in England.
But Gould’s lasting legacy is birds. He travelled the world documenting and cataloguing as many avian species as he could find, many of them never seen before, earning him the nickname the Bird Man and the appointment as official “bird stuffer” to the Zoological Society.
Continue reading...Sydney airport is auctioning off more than 2,500 unclaimed items, including a wedding dress, an electric scooter and a collection of lightsabers
A jaffle maker, a leaf blower and a Darth Vader helmet are just some of the items left behind by passengers at Sydney airport that are up for auction in the airport’s annual charity event.
Millions of passengers pass through Sydney airport each month, and sometimes items go missing. Those left unclaimed are donated to local charities or sold at auction, with the proceeds going to charity.
Continue reading...Police investigating after Brittany Lauga allegedly assaulted in central Queensland town of Yeppoon
Queensland Labor MP Brittany Lauga has alleged she was drugged and sexually assaulted in the central Queensland town of Yeppoon last weekend, and claims other women may also have been similarly attacked.
Lauga posted a statement on social media, saying she had contacted police early on the morning of Sunday 28 April.
Continue reading...A huge infrastructure agenda helped win Andrews three elections but the priority now for the state – and new premier – is the housing crisis
In the seven months since Jacinta Allan took over as Victoria’s premier, she’s worked to shirk off the impression she’s Daniel Andrews’ apprentice and differentiated herself from the former leader.
By all accounts, Allan has moved away from the centralised model that characterised the Andrews leadership and drew criticism from integrity agencies. Her cabinet meetings are said to be more consultative and her ministers have been given autonomy over their portfolios and, as a result, more visibility in the media.
Continue reading...Heaviest falls forecast for Illawarra, Hunter, Central Coast and greater Sydney from Saturday evening
An already saturated New South Wales is bracing for significant and widespread rain that could lead to flash flooding on the state’s east coast.
The Bureau of Meteorology says the heaviest falls will hit the Illawarra, Hunter, Central Coast and Greater Sydney from Saturday evening into Sunday.
Continue reading...Siblings Callum and Jake Robinson and US citizen Jack Carter Rhoad were travelling on a surfing holiday when they were reported missing
Three people have been arrested on charges of kidnapping after three bodies were found in an area of northern Mexico where two Australian brothers and an American friend went missing.
Perth siblings Callum and Jake Robinson, both in their 30s, were travelling in the region on a surfing holiday, with their friend Jack Carter Rhoad, a US citizen. The trio was reported missing when they failed to check into pre-arranged accommodation near the city of Ensenada last weekend.
Continue reading...‘Disappointment’ comes after documents reveal only two-thirds of $96m will go to Indigenous victims of predatory funeral fund
A coalition of financial rights advocates say they have “serious concerns” about an Albanese government’s $96m support scheme for the thousands of Aboriginal people harmed by the collapse of the predatory funeral fund ACBF-Youpla, after revelations that almost a third of the funds will be spent on its own departments.
According to documents published on the government’s AusTender site on Thursday, the maximum amount it is expecting to pay out to the 13,700 affected policyholders is $66.6m. Over the years of ACBF-Youpla’s operations, policyholders paid millions of dollars into the business in the belief that their funerals would be taken care of.
Continue reading...Communications minister Michelle Rowland won’t rule out strengthening the news media bargaining code to compel platforms to make news available
The federal government is not ruling out requiring tech giant Meta to carry news on its social media platforms as well as pay for it, as Labor considers whether to activate and toughen the still-dormant news media bargaining code.
The communications minister, Michelle Rowland, told Guardian Australia the government would consider possible changes to its code upon completion of a review into the role the tech platforms play in the news market in Australia.
Continue reading...Glencore understood to be considering takeover offer while BHP could move again after initial rejection
The global mining industry is braced for a multi-billion pound bidding war for Anglo American amid growing speculation that mining companies are preparing rival bids.
The Australian miner BHP is understood to have sent senior executives to Anglo’s base in South Africa to meet key company stakeholders after an initial offer of £31bn was rebuffed by Anglo’s board last week.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Penny Wong says a two-state solution is ‘the only path out’ of a cycle of violence as she meets Germany’s Annalena Baerbock
The Australian government faces a decision next week on whether to support admitting Palestine as a full member of the UN and is swapping notes with allies including South Korea and Germany.
A copy of the draft resolution, seen by Guardian Australia, expresses “deep regret and concern” that the US used its veto power to block the proposal at the UN security council last month.
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