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News
The controversial $500 million Australian War Memorial redevelopment has been given the tick of approval by Environment Minister Sussan Ley despite significant opposition during a parliamentary inquiry into the project. Ms Ley said the decision was based on departmental advice following a rigorous assessment of the proposal, coming with 29 strict conditions to minimise and mitigate the residual impacts on...

News
The crew of the Australian Defence Force helicopter which accidentally started the Orroral Valley fire with a faulty landing light did not pass on the fire's location to authorities for 45-minutes, sparking confusion as frantic firefighters scrambled to locate the fire and respond. Internal Defence logs obtained by the ABC revealed that the damaged helicopter flew 40 kilometres to Canberra...

News
The National Archives of Australia (NAA) will make an extra 650,000 World War II service records available online after it inked a $4.4 million deal to digitise the documents. The records will be progressively made available online from December 2020. More than 220,000 World War II service records are already digitised. The process is expected to be finished by mid-2023...

News
Physicist and passionate advocate for women in STEM, Dr Cathy Foley, has been named Australia's new Chief Scientist. She will take over the role from Dr Alan Finkel. Dr Foley, the current Chief Scientist at the CSIRO and Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE) board member, said science is absolutely critical for the country's future. "This is an extraordinary honour for...

News
The ACT will follow NSW's lead and open up to Victorians from 23 November, ACT Health has confirmed. Permits will no longer be required to cross the border or fly from Melbourne to Canberra and the 14-day mandatory quarantine for returning Canberrans will be scrapped. Restrictions in Victoria are set to ease further on 8 November, giving ACT Health and...

Arts & Culture
From bushfires to floods to a pandemic that forced the country into lockdown, Australians have had their fair share of tragedy and tribulation in 2020. But as the country gathered together as one, no two experiences were alike. The Hero's Journey Art Prize 2020 from the aMBUSH Gallery became a way to help artists across Australia by encouraging them to...

News
Employment protection for emergency volunteers, an Australian-based aerial firefighting force and nationally consistent emergency information, such as air quality data and bushfire warning systems, have all been recommended by the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements. The effects of climate change were explicitly recognized by the report, which also warns that traditional firefighting methods may no longer be effective...

News
A business case to build a sovereign Australian fleet of firefighting aircraft capable of extinguishing remote fires before they become disasters has been recommended by a Senate inquiry into the summer's bushfires. Fast attack strategies against particularly remote lightning fires that later became disasters could have been put out shortly after ignition with a strong force of specialised helicopters, bombers...

Community
A new Donation Dollar has been released by the Royal Australian Mint to celebrate International Day of Charity that was on 5 September. It is the world's first coin that is designed to be donated. Three million units of the branded $1 coin have already been released into circulation, with several million more coins to be released in coming years...

News
Better national coordination for bushfire response and recovery as well as improved communication between jurisdictions have been put forward as draft recommendations by the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements, also referred to as the Bushfires Royal Commission. The draft recommendations were released on Friday (4 September) and also advocate for a National Cabinet for natural disasters and the...

News
A new residents' permit will be introduced to create a 'border bubble' 50 km on either side of the NSW-Victoria border, allowing residents to travel between states for goods and services, healthcare and compassionate reasons, and for school and work. The current border region only covers 2.5 km on either side of the border. However, the resident must remain in...

News
Consistent bushfire information across state borders, more clarity about the roles and responsibilities of different levels of government and the need to reassess Australia's current firefighting capacity have all been flagged in the interim report of the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements (also known as the Bushfire Royal Commission). Although the interim report has not provided any recommendations, it has addressed...

News
One week after being sworn in as Eden-Monaro's first female MP and in her first speech to parliament, Kristy McBain has vowed to "supercharge" bushfire recovery efforts in the region. Ms McBain also took the opportunity today (31 August) to laud the resilience and character of the people of Eden-Monaro who are now enduring COVID-19 after facing the Black Summer...

Sport
The Capital Region Football Collective (CRFC) has officially submitted a multi-million dollar offer for an A-League team for the 2021-22 season. While no exact figure has been linked to the bid, it is expected to be worth between $5 million and $10 million. The bid put forward to the FFA (Football Federation Australia) has the backing of an "experienced Europe-based...

News
Aged care operator Uniting NSW and ACT has admitted to underpaying more than 9500 employees a total of $3.36 million between 2013 and 2019, with payments ranging from under $1 to more than $11,000. Uniting self-reported the underpayment after conducting a review when it received complaints from a number of employees, many of who were frontline carers and community and disability...

News
Tributes are flowing in for 48-year-old Toby Carr who was identified yesterday as the kayaker who died in the flooded waters of the Murrumbidgee River near Point Hut Crossing on Sunday (9 August). Mr Carr left behind his wife of 11 years, Tania, and two children. Family and friends have taken to Facebook to offer their condolences. "I have no...