Government Policy

It's this history Florence Onus will share at Queensland's truth-telling inquiry when community sessions begin next month. WARNING: This story contains images of Indigenous people who have died, which have been provided by family for the purpose of truth-telling and healing.

The Head of the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies, Warren Pearce says it's crucial The Future Made in Australia legislation is passed. The 23-billion-dollar centrepiece of the May budget has taken its first step to being enacted, being introduced into the lower house today.

Starting this month, many Australians travelling to China will no longer need to apply for a visa, but some challenges and inconveniences remain for foreign travellers when it comes to paying in the largely cashless society.

Laws to phase out Australia's live sheep export trade by 2028 pass parliament, despite last-ditch attempts by opponents to put the brakes on the legislation.

Legal and social groups say housing shortages and diminished services mean the child protection system is failing the people it is meant to protect.

Fatima Payman's calculated defiance is also in many ways the worst outcome for Labor. This painful episode has shown the power of this one senator to unleash a seismic political disruptor inside the party. But the events of the past days have also revealed Payman's unexpected political ally within Labor.

The council claims more than 1 million passengers could be left behind at bus stops during the trial if there is 10 per cent increase in patronage but the figures have been disputed by Translink.

In what one expert has likened to a plot from the political satire programs Utopia or Yes Minister, a report detailing ways to improve the processes by which the Tasmanian government can be more transparent to the public is released — with the suggested improvements blacked out in page after page of redactions.

Louise Beaston, the wife of ATO whistleblower Richard Boyle, is pleading with the government to look into the criminal prosecution of her husband and fix whistleblowing laws so nobody else is forced to endure what her family has. This case is the latest reminder that Australia's whistleblower laws need urgent reform.  

Legal experts want the federal government to foot the bill for child support if an ex-partner doesn't pay, with new data revealing last financial year 168,000 parents had overdue tax returns. 

The union representing child protection staff says workers in the Kimberley are disillusioned and employed by a system that is struggling to achieve positive outcomes for families.

David Crisafulli insists he won't budge on his opposition to nuclear power — a position that's not sitting well with some of his federal colleagues.

Sarah says most tenants understand the responsibilities of keeping a pet in a rental property — but a new push to give tenants greater rights in Tasmania will meet pushback by landlords, one real estate industry insider says. Here is what is being proposed.

Independent MP Andrew Gee is the federal member for Calare, one of the proposed sites for the Coalition's nuclear power plan and says the community wants answers.

The finance minister has accused the opposition of ignoring Australia's unique advantages of wind and solar to pursue nuclear power.

The final report from a senate inquiry into consultancy firms was released, making recommendations to regulate the industry.

WA police write a second letter to the state's director of liquor licensing, Lanie Chopping, urging her to consider widespread liquor restrictions, according to documents obtained by the ABC under freedom of information laws. 

The NT government has outlined its road map for Territorians to "learn to live with alcohol", meaning long-standing bans could soon be overturned.

Sunlight is literally permeating the home of Australia's democracy like never before. Figuratively, though, the government is as opaque as ever — especially the department tasked with running Parliament House.

Translink has confirmed it still plans to "combat" fare evasion on the state's network of buses, trains, and ferries in the midst of an upcoming trial of 50 cent fares. 

As Australia marks National Reconciliation Week, young First Nations leaders have shared their vision for improving the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. 

One bad apple spoils the barrel — that seems to be the current predicament for Australia's compounding pharmacists.

The government will ban compounding pharmacists from making replica versions of diabetes drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro, widely used off-label for weight loss, amid public safety concerns.

New laws that allow the NT police commissioner to declare snap curfews in response to social unrest have passed through parliament, despite concerns from some that they amount to government overreach.

With 36,945 suspected fire ant reports made since May 2023 and 13,786 of them confirmed as positive, testing is a mammoth task for the governments and departments involved.