Category Archives: Melbourne

Teacher takes legal action against Melbourne Catholic school group over refusal of pronouns

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State and federal anti-discrimination laws on collision course as Sacred Heart Girls College in Oakleigh refuses to recognise Myka Sanders’ gender identity

The Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (Macs) has refused to let a non-binary teacher use their preferred pronouns and title, in a case that has put state and federal anti-discrimination laws on a legal collision course.

Two years ago, non-binary teacher Myka Sanders – who uses they/them pronouns and Mx for their title – asked Sacred Heart Girls College in Oakleigh, Melbourne if their gender identity could be recognised at school.

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Doctor who called Erin Patterson ‘crazy bitch’ after treating her penalised for speaking about case

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Health regulator places conditions on Dr Christopher Webster’s registration over comments made after mushroom lunch murder trial

An Australian doctor who treated triple murderer Erin Patterson and her victims after the deadly mushroom lunch has been slapped with conditions by the health regulator after speaking out about the case.

Dr Christopher Webster, a GP in the Victorian town of Leongatha, south-east of Melbourne, was a witness in Patterson’s trial earlier this year.

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Two police officers involved in Melbourne man’s fatal 2024 arrest named as they face court

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Luke Briggs, 35, died in a hospital’s intensive care unit eight days after his arrest in Hoppers Crossing in July 2024

Two police officers have faced court accused of unlawfully killing a man who died in hospital after his arrest inside a car park.

Cons Alexander Papanastassis, 29, and Sgt James Fitzgerald, 49, appeared in the Melbourne magistrates court on Friday morning for a brief hearing.

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Victorian Labor targets affluent Melbourne suburbs for rezoning to allow 16-storey apartment towers

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Under the plan, the state government will seize planning controls for the designated areas – near train and tram stops – from local councils

Affluent Melbourne suburbs such as Hampton, Hawthorn and Kew could be rezoned to allow apartment towers of up to 16 storeys, according to new draft maps released by the Victorian government.

The premier, Jacinta Allan, and the planning minister, Sonya Kilkenny, will on Wednesday release the maps showing proposed heights and boundaries for 25 of the government’s 50 activity centres, which were first announced in October 2024.

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Two women killed while trying to help injured kangaroo on Melbourne freeway

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Police say one 30-year-old died at the scene on the Hume Highway and the other, also 30, was airlifted to hospital but died soon afterwards

Two women have died after being hit by a car while trying to help an injured kangaroo on a busy freeway in Melbourne’s north.

The deaths have prompted warnings about the dangers of stopping to help wildlife.

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Neo-Nazis attack Indigenous protest site after anti-immigration rally in Melbourne as officer allegedly assaulted in Sydney

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At least 50 men, mostly clad in black, approached Camp Sovereignty as sun was setting on Sunday. Four people were injured

A group of women in Melbourne have been injured, and a police officer in Sydney was allegedly assaulted, after anti-immigration marches across Australia on the weekend.

A group of men, including some members of neo-Nazi group the National Socialist Network, attacked the standing First Nations protest site, Camp Sovereignty, in Melbourne’s Kings Domain on Sunday evening, according to video footage seen by Guardian Australia.

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Judge criticises lawyers acting for boy accused of murder for filing misleading AI-created documents

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Documents filed included references to nonexistent case citations and inaccurate quotes from a parliamentary speech, judge says

A judge has criticised lawyers acting for a boy accused of murder for filing misleading information with the courts after failing to check documents created using artificial intelligence.

“It is not acceptable for AI to be used unless the product of that use is independently and thoroughly verified,” Justice James Elliott told the supreme court in Melbourne.

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Sea of people march across Sydney Harbour Bridge calling for an end to killing in Gaza

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NSW police estimate 90,000 walked despite force and premier opposing rally, while Palestine Action Group claims up to 300,000 peacefully protested

At least 100,000 pro-Palestine marchers, including Julian Assange, the former foreign minister Bob Carr and the government MP Ed Husic, have marched across Sydney Harbour Bridge in the rain to protest against Israel’s conduct in Gaza and to speak out about the children starving there.

The world-famous landmark was closed to traffic at 11.30am on Sunday, with protesters gathering in Lang Park in the city centre before enduring heavy rain as they walked across the bridge.

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Law professor who claimed ‘Blak’ activists were leading University of Melbourne to ‘destruction’ sues for discrimination

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Exclusive: Dr Eric Descheemaeker files court application against university after 2023 email to Melbourne law school dean leaked last month

A University of Melbourne law professor who wrote an email saying the institution was dictated to by “‘Blak’ activists” who were leading it to “destruction” is suing Australia’s top-ranked university for discrimination.

Last month, a 2023 email written by Dr Eric Descheemaeker to the then head of the Melbourne Law School (MLS) was leaked and posted around the university’s Parkville campus. In the email, in response to the announcement of a cultural safety review at the university, Descheemaeker said MLS was “celebrating the ‘noble savage’” and likened it to an “ideological re-education camp”.

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Alleged childcare paedophile Joshua Dale Brown likely to face more charges, court told

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Magistrate Donna Bakos granted an application by police for extra time to compile additional evidence against Brown

Alleged childcare paedophile Joshua Dale Brown is likely to face extra charges, with a court granting police more time to investigate him.

Magistrate Donna Bakos on Tuesday approved a request by police for an extension in the matter of Brown and Michael Simon Wilson.

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First tickets to Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey sell out – a year before its 2026 release

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The blockbuster adaptation of Homer’s epic has not finished filming and has no official runtime. But super fans – and scalpers – already have seats

The first tickets to Christopher Nolan’s take on Homer’s Odyssey have gone on sale – before he’s even finished filming it and a year before the film is even out, in what is likely the longest pre-sale in cinematic history.

The Odyssey, which stars Matt Damon as the cunning Odysseus as he fights his way home after the end of the Trojan war, will be released on 17 July 2026. But on Thursday, Imax released tickets to the first screenings at the 26 Imax cinemas around the world that have the staff and equipment required to project in 1570 format.

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‘Breakthrough’ hailed in Melbourne synagogue arson investigation as man charged over ‘crime car’

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Victoria police charge 20-year-old with stealing ‘a communal crime car’ used in Adass Israel attack and blocking access to apps on his phone

The investigation into an arson attack on the Adass Israel synagogue has reached a “critical point”, Victoria’s acting premier says, after a man was charged with stealing “a communal crime car” used in the attack and blocking police from accessing apps on his phone.

The attack on the ultra-Orthodox Adass Israel synagogue in December is still being investigated as a politically motivated attack by the Victorian joint counter-terrorism team, which includes representatives from the federal police and the domestic spy agency, Asio.

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Wantirna South crash: Driving rules for elderly under scrutiny after car crash kills woman, leaves man fighting for life

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Police say car driven by 91-year-old ‘came from behind’ and struck a woman, man and toddler near a playground in Melbourne’s east on Thursday

The Victorian government is considering increasing testing for elderly drivers after a 91-year-old woman lost control of her car near a playground and struck three pedestrians, killing one.

The acting premier, Ben Carroll, said his thoughts were with the family of the female pedestrian who died on Thursday afternoon on Coleman Road in Wantirna South in Melbourne’s east.

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Police investigating video claiming responsibility for torching cars at Israel-linked weapons business in Melbourne

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Video raises prospect of further vandalism or targeted action as anonymous group says ‘Stop arming Israel or else’

Victoria police are investigating a video of a person claiming credit for the vandalism of three cars outside a defence industry business linked to Israel, while clad in a black balaclava and standing in front of a Palestinian flag.

The person, whose voice is digitally altered in a video seen by Guardian Australia, claims to represent an “anonymous cell” that torched three cars at Lovitt Technologies. The company supplies parts to the global F-35 joint strike fighter program.

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Labor to move quickly on special envoy’s plan to combat antisemitism

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Jillian Segal to present recommendations urging government to take stronger action against abuse toward Jewish Australians

The federal government will move quickly to adopt new recommendations from the special envoy to combat antisemitism, with a suite of measures expected to include education and online safety in response to the arson attack at a Melbourne synagogue.

Jillian Segal is expected to appear alongside Anthony Albanese at an event on Thursday to present recommendations urging the government to take stronger action against abuse toward Jewish Australians.

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PM condemns ‘shocking acts’ after suspicious fire at Melbourne synagogue with 20 people inside

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Police allege a man entered the grounds at about 8pm on Friday and poured a flammable liquid on the front door

Anthony Albanese has pledged federal support for Victorian authorities after police reported a suspicious fire was lit at a synagogue in East Melbourne on Friday night.

Victoria police alleged an unknown man entered the grounds of the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation on Albert Street at about 8pm on Friday and poured a flammable liquid on the front door of the building and set it on fire.

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Melbourne’s Savage Club to allow ‘lady guest’ diners as cost of living strikes men-only haven

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Falling attendance at club’s dining rooms is ‘uneconomic and dispiriting for staff members’, president says, as six-month trial starts

“Lady guests” will be welcomed into one of Australia’s oldest private clubs as the cost-of-living crisis pushes the men-only Melbourne Savage Club into a six-month trial of mixed dining.

In a survey of the club’s members last year, just 2% (four men) of respondents voted in favour of admitting women as card-carrying members, but they were keen to allow an increase in guests.

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Monash IVF admits second bungled embryo implant, this time at Victorian clinic

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Patient’s own embryo instead of partner’s was ‘incorrectly transferred’, fertility company tells ASX, months after revealing separate Queensland clinic error

A second bungled embryo implant at Monash IVF has sparked a new investigation and the expansion of a review into the first incident, which led to a woman unknowingly giving birth to a stranger’s baby.

Monash IVF said in a statement on Tuesday that in June “a patient’s own embryo was incorrectly transferred to that patient, contrary to the treatment plan which designated the transfer of an embryo of the patient’s partner”.

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Gambling company offered Melbourne man $25,000 on condition he withdraw complaint to regulator and be liable for ‘adverse media’

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Exclusive: Conditions on settlement negotiations common in many industries but consumer advocates concerned they could be used to ‘silence victims and avoid scrutiny’

A Melbourne man says he was offered $25,000 by a gambling company on the condition that he withdraw a complaint to an industry regulator, agree to confidentiality provisions and indemnify them, including against adverse media coverage.

Gordon Burns, 23, argues his 2022 betting frenzy with two bookmakers showed “consistent patterns of addictive behaviour” and alleges that no one from either company checked on him to minimise gambling harm.

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Bradfield and Goldstein face nervous weekend wait for election result but Tim Wilson ‘very relaxed’

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AEC considers sending staff to airport ‘at late hours’ to collect final postal and overseas votes before midnight deadline

Liberal Tim Wilson has said he is “very relaxed” despite his lead over Zoe Daniel in the Melbourne seat of Goldstein slipping to 206 votes with late postal and overseas ballots from as far away as Nairobi still to be counted.

Candidates in the Sydney seat of Bradfield also face an anxious weekend, with no more counting to take place until Monday. On Friday afternoon, Liberal candidate Gisele Kapterian led the independent candidate, Nicolette Boele, by just 43 votes.

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