Latest National news
Watchdog moves on Henry Kaye-linked scheme
Royce Millar, Ben Schneiders, Simon Johanson 9:26 PM A massive land banking scam linked to notorious property spruiker Henry Kaye is in tatters after the corporate regulator moved to wind up housing projects in Melbourne's outer west and Bendigo.
Apology over gay sex convictions in Tasmania
![Tasmania plans a formal apology to people convicted for consensual gay sex.](/web/20151218122432im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/l/q/x/h/w/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.glqv10.png/1450416118987.jpg)
Andrew Darby 4:21 PM In a move expected to aid scores of people, Tasmania will be the first state in Australia to formally apologise over past convictions for consenting gay sex, as it expunges criminal records.
Ella beats insurance giant over mental illness claim
![QBE has been ordered to reimburse Ella Ingram the full cost of a New York trip she was forced to cancel after developing depression.](/web/20151218122432im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/l/r/1/k/u/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.glqnks.png/1450424084000.jpg)
Melissa Singer 3:56 PM A Melbourne university student has had a landmark win against insurance giant QBE after it initially refused a reimbursement due to mental illness.
Slow decline of maths in schools worse for public school students
![Education researchers are warning of a nationwide decline in school maths and science.](/web/20151218122432im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/z/y/0/3/2/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.glqqtn.png/1450411008712.jpg)
Inga Ting 2:53 PM Public schools have been hit hardest by the decline of school science and maths, researchers say.
A captured audience
![MTR's first international development project, in Shenzhen, China. Called Tiara, the project is built around a train depot and will include about 1700 resident apartments.](/web/20151218122432im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/l/q/3/c/r/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.glo0wq.png/1450409653018.jpg)
Melanie Kembrey 3:45 PM Hong Kong's 'value capture' model is attracting plenty of attention as governments grapple with how to fund expensive rail projects.
Tirade against public service perks
![Criticism has arrived for public sector agreements.](/web/20151218122432im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/i/n/k/8/g/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.glqmgg.png/1450407827403.jpg)
Phillip Thomson 2:03 PM Extra paid leave, allowances and flex time under attack.
Audiences could pay under new ABC boss
![Google executive Michelle Guthrie, who is tipped to become the next managing director of the ABC.](/web/20151218122432im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/l/n/m/b/8/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.glqkqs.png/1450433473516.jpg)
Tom Allard 2:30 PM With the ABC soon to be under new management, the question of paying to watch some content is back on the agenda.
Hundreds of ATO bosses get 3% pay rise
![A new wage deal for ATO employees has been crushed in a staff ballot.](/web/20151218122432im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/k/0/9/d/i/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.glpslo.png/1450328792314.jpg)
Noel Towell 10:50 AM ATO's Leeper says the whole workforce could have 3 per cent - if it had just voted yes.
Police question GP over "lethal dose" to help patient die
![Dr Alan Kosky, in Nagambie this week, faces questions over his provision of end-of-life care.](/web/20151218122432im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/l/p/q/0/o/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.glplxo.png/1450421268289.jpg)
Richard Baker, Nick McKenzie 10:45 AM Nagambie doctor Alan Kosky did not want to his elderly patients to suffer. But police, the coroner and now federal health officials are probing his provision of end of life care amid concern some patients were not terminal.
Centrelink clients' nightmare before Christmas
![A screenshot of the Centrelink website.](/web/20151218122432im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/l/o/4/4/b/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.glpikn.png/1450225926998.png)
Noel Towell 9:10 AM Department says online welfare glitches are over, but clients still nervous.
Doubled up: sisters get identical ATAR
![Karen Zhang, left, got 99.95 in her ATAR this year - the same mark as her sister, Kim.](/web/20151218122432im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/l/q/4/u/e/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.glq14a.png/1450391549418.jpg)
Eryk Bagshaw "First I stole your rank, then I stole your ATAR, finally I stole your university."
Demetriou company Acquire Learning accused of unconscionable conduct
![Acquire Learning executive chairman Andrew Demetriou.](/web/20151218122432im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/l/g/s/a/e/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.glpu11.png/1450340435752.jpg)
Michael Bachelard Former AFL chief Andrew Demetriou's vocational education company Acquire Learning has been accused of unconscionable conduct, making false or misleading representations and breaching consumer law after selling government-funded courses to tens of thousands of job-seekers.
The school where being a nerd is cool
![<br>](/web/20151218122432im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/l/p/2/r/7/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.glowet.png/1450330682938.jpg)
Alexandra Smith At Menai High School this year's HSC students were encouraged to embrace their inner nerd. In fact, the more nerdy they were, the better.
Acquire Learning accused of misleading students
![Andrew Demetriou is on the advisory board of Acquire Learning.](/web/20151218122432im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/h/g/f/c/g/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.glptip.png/1450327546813.jpg)
Sarah Danckert Education company Acquire Learning & Careers has been accused of taking advantage of vulnerable students by the competition regulator.
HSC Results 2015: NSW students get their ATARs
![HEADSHOT FOR ONLINE L-R Sophia Henning, Caitlin Semsarian and Pola Cohen, in Australian Technology Park, came first in History in their HSC, in Sydney. 15th December 2015 Photo: Janie Barrett](/web/20151218122432im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/l/o/3/r/o/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.glpi5b.png/1450325828665.jpg)
Eryk Bagshaw Live: The wait is over for HSC students across the state as their final rank, the ATAR, is released
Adoption rates slump, Australians wait years to adopt overseas children
![Adoption.](/web/20151218122432im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/k/u/7/o/k/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.glprfc.png/1450321169299.jpg)
Benjamin Preiss Adoption rates in Australia have hit a record low and prospective parents are waiting more than five years to adopt overseas children.
APS wage deal for 4400 falls short by 62 votes
![The public service has been warned against too much outsourcing.](/web/20151218122432im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/j/p/d/o/x/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.glpjuc.png/1450313547062.jpg)
Noel Towell New wage offer falls short by just 62 votes
One school's stunning HSC result
![The top 20 tends to be dominated by selective schools and high-fee independent schools.](/web/20151218122432im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/l/o/n/u/7/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.glp8os.png/1450308203747.jpg)
Inga Ting In the contest for overall rankings, one school rocketed up the chart - but it wasn't the only big improver.
Check your ATAR
![Exam.](/web/20151218122432im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/h/l/i/7/g/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.glpk7v.png/1450307530262.jpg)
While students will receive their university rank on Wednesday, most will not receive their first round offers, which do not come out until January.
Selective and private girls' schools dominate HSC
![Private girls' schools have shone in the 2015 HSC results.](/web/20151218122432im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/l/5/j/m/g/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.glp1sc.png/1450303428305.jpg)
Inga Ting and Eryk Bagshaw Selective and all-girls schools dominated the 2015 HSC, but one learning centre stood above the rest.
Top schools: all the VCE data on Victorian schools
![VCE students from Nossal High school celebrate the completion of year 12 and the school's VCE ranking.](/web/20151218122432im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/l/p/8/j/x/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.glp416.png/1450313869840.jpg)
Henrietta Cook, Timna Jacks and Craig Butt Increasingly, parents select schools for their children based on VCE and NAPLAN data. Here, you can find Victorian schools, the programs they offer and data on their students' VCE achievements for 2015.
Rudd's my candidate for UN chief: Nobel Prize winner
![Dr Jose Ramos-Horta, then president of East Timor, and then prime minister Kevin Rudd in Canberra in 2010.](/web/20151218122432im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/l/o/n/c/9/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.glom7q.png/1450268171454.jpg)
Daniel Flitton Jose Ramos Horta - Nobel prize winner and global face of East Timor's long struggle for independence - is backing former prime minister Kevin Rudd to become the next chief of the United Nations.
HSC Results 2015: Top 20 HSC schools revealed
![Students who came first in their HSC subjects at Australian Technology Park on Tuesday.](/web/20151218122432im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/l/o/5/6/n/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.glory7.png/1450331973685.jpg)
Inga Ting and Eryk Bagshaw Selective schools and high-fee-paying, all-girls schools have dominated the 2015 HSC results.
Culture shock as Canberra's institutions take Hollywood hit
![The National Library of Australia, having recorded a $10 million deficit in the last financial year, will have to trim $1.5 million from each year's funding.](/web/20151218122432im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/z/r/k/r/m/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.glouz9.png/1450250633552.jpg)
Noel Towell, Clare Colley and Alexandra Back Cash stripped from Canberra's cultural attractions will go to pay for Hollywood blockbusters.
Priest accused of lying to Royal Commission to 'save' Cardinal George Pell
![Cardinal George Pell's lawyers say the bribery claim arose out of a 'misunderstanding'.](/web/20151218122432im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/l/l/m/i/7/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.glopjo.png/1450249527865.jpg)
Jane Lee Former housemate has been accused of fabricating evidence about accusations that cardinal tried to bribe a survivor to keep quiet.
Whooping cough outbreak prompts rush on vaccines
![A baby cries as it receives a vaccine.](/web/20151218122432im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/l/k/1/5/1/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.glouj0.png/1450246577405.jpg)
Harriet Alexander A shortage of stock means only two types of patients will be given access to vaccines.
HSC Results 2015: The wait is over for 70,000 NSW High School students
![Samantha MacKay, came first in one of her HSC subjects](/web/20151218122432im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/l/o/5/5/z/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.glohoj.png/1450264696528.jpg)
Eryk Bagshaw HSC Results 2015: The wait is over for 70,000 NSW High School students
'We have to stop - it is just too dangerous'
![The rescue helicopter service does not have enough staff at crucial regional bases, paramedics say.](/web/20151218122432im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/m/4/t/g/x/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.glou9g.png/1450244580170.jpg)
Harriet Alexander Exhausted helicopter paramedics are working long shifts or refusing to fly, fully aware of what that means for patients.