Latest National news

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, campaigning in Darwin, pledged a review of pensions and superannuation if Labor is ...

Shorten holds out hope for public service pensioners

Noel Towell 9:30 PM   Government, opposition both claiming to stand for fairness on pensions and super.

Public servants, diggers warned on electioneering

Bosses at the Australian Public Service and the Australian Defence Force have laid down the law on political activity.

Noel Towell 9:30 PM   Mind your Facebook likes and shares, public servants warned.

Check your tickets! $40 million Lotto unclaimed

The winning ticket was sold in the dairy-farming town of Leongatha.

Aisha Dow 7:07 PM   The hunt is on for a mystery $40 million Tattslotto winner in a tiny Victorian dairy town.

Is this why NSW childcare is the most expensive in the country?

Just 77 per cent of NSW children are enrolled in 600 hours of quality early childhood education in the year before school.

Kelsey Munro, Education reporter 6:40 PM   The Auditor-General says the government has hoarded hundreds of millions in funding budgeted for the early childhood sector, while high fees keep many families from sending their kids to childcare or preschool.

Child abuse leaves physical scars in adulthood: psychiatrist

Child abuse manifests as serious physical symptoms in adulthood, a doctor's congress has been told.

Kate Aubusson 5:46 PM   The effects of child abuse linger in the bodies of victims long after they've grown up, an Australian psychiatrist says.

Thirty-eight years of public service, then booted off the pension

Phil and Helen Pellatt, of Scullin, have lost their age pension because of the government's new ''10 per cent cap''.

Noel Towell 2:27 PM   But it's all about fairness, government insists.

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Sydney Uni medical school cheating controversy

Students practice on a latex dummy at the University of Sydney's medical school.

Eryk Bagshaw 2:26 PM   Doctors at some of Sydney's top hospitals have cheated in their medical exams, Fairfax Media can reveal.

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A 'second chance' for kids failing maths

Students student in class, secondary college Friday 20 August 2004. Picture by Craig Abraham The Age education schools ...

Kelsey Munro 9:55 AM   There is a way to minimise the impact of a student's background, an expert says.

Australian man dies in Laos after suspected drink spiking

The young Australian died in Laos at the weekend.

A Melbourne man has died after his drink was reportedly spiked in Laos.

Dangerous operation to recover Melbourne woman's body from Everest under way

Maria Strydom, who died on a climb to the summit of Mount Everest, with her husband, Robert Gropal.

Aisha Dow   The body of Melbourne woman who died on Mount Everest has been moved 300 metres down the mountain, in the first stage of an arduous operation to repatriate the Monash University lecturer to Australia.

Alarm sounds on pill-popping professionals

Professor Ian Hickie heads the Brain and Mind Centre at the University of Sydney.

Anna Patty   The 24/7 economy is pushing so-called 'smart drugs' into the office

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Jury behaviour study raises possibility of reform

John Dennis Maguire (left) was sentenced last year after previously being acquitted on child sex charges.

Rachel Browne   Assumptions about sex abuse cases have been challenged by an international study.

It's OK to be a cry baby at bedtime, doctors say

New research suggests controlled crying can improve babies' sleeping patterns.

Bridie Smith   Parents, cut yourselves some slack. Doctors say letting your child cry itself to sleep is no reason for you to lose any yourself.

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Australian veterans welcome British report on controversial drug mefloquine

In the ADF, mefloquine is used only if doxycycline or malarone fail.

Henry Belot   Australian veterans welcome British report on controversial drug mefloquine.

Rain is always the snow 'killer'

Jacinta Jansen, aged seven, with her first snowman for the year at Falls Creek.

Peter Hannam   Expect more precipitation on the mountaintops - but will it be the right stuff?

'Caring doctors should tell them'

The international experts recommended the surgery for obese T2 diabetes.

Kate Aubusson   The type 2 diabetes pandemic demands a radical change in treatment, experts say.

Consulate driver wins unfair dismissal case

Former Indian consulate chauffeur Hitender Kumar

Anna Patty   Indian Consulate driver Hitender Kumar would not clear out some office files or even hang a picture of Mahatma Gandhi without written instructions from his boss. When his employer sacked him, he retaliated.

El Nino officially comes to end

The El Nino near its height at the end of 2015, with unusually warm surface temperatures in the central and eastern ...

Peter Hannam   After a year of driving global temperatures to unprecedented warmth, the giant El Nino weather event in the Pacific is officially over, raising hopes that drought-hit regions may be in for some relief in Australia and elsewhere.

'It was almost as if she overheard'

"It was almost as if Steph overheard": Steph Ewing and Kerry Moss.

Kate Aubusson   Anxiety was constant for 22-year-old Steph Ewing's family during her final days.

Melbourne climber's remains 'recovered from Mount Everest'

Dr Maria Strydom, who died on Everest.

The body of a Melbourne woman who died climbing Mount Everest has reportedly been brought down from the mountain to be transferred to Kathmandu within days.

Does talcum powder cause cancer?

Numerous studies have linked genital talcum powder use to ovarian cancer.

Roni Caryn Rabin   Thousands of women claim talcum powder caused their ovarian cancer, but research into a potential link has produced mixed results.

Human Rights Commission asked Cash to relent on domestic violence leave

Minister for women Michaelia Cash said public servants have enough access to leave if they are victims of abuse in the home.

Noel Towell   HRC wanted domestic violence leave for its staff. Minister for Women says no.

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Battling public service pensioners smashed by $277m

Andrew Baxter spoke to Money News

Noel Towell   Poorest pensioners hit with most of the cuts.

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'I'm lucky in that I'm supported'

"You can be a really valuable part of their team": Teaching student Ashley Solo.

Eryk Bagshaw   Ashley and Sarah will each have done 30 weeks of unpaid work when they finish their degrees.

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All the king's horses and all the king's men ...

Catherine Vautier with her husband Blyth and 2-year-old son Griffin, who was born 12 weeks early and whose life was ...

Francesca Wallace   It's the charity that literally puts children back together again. 

Living on $14 a day

Diane Dover budgets carefully with her disability pension, living off cheaper food and looking out for specials.

Rachel Browne   An "utterly shameful" number of people are living in poverty, an annual Economic and Social Impact report has found.

Belle Gibson will be pursued by consumer watchdog

Belle Gibson will be pursued by Consumer Affairs Victoria.

Disgraced blogger Belle Gibson will be pursued by the Consumer Watchdog over her claims that she beat terminal cancer through healthy food and natural therapies.

'They are just the most wonderful gift'

Dr Shane Woods and his partner Scott Koopman with their twins, born via surrogate.

Rachel Browne   Shane Woods and Scott Koopman have good reason to consider themselves one of the luckiest couples in Sydney.

Warning of new errors in Qld health payroll

The infamous Queensland Health payroll bungle of 2010 left thousands of public servants underpaid, overpaid or not paid ...

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has vowed to look into suggestions there has been another payroll debacle in the state's health system.

Halton to lead public service parking revolution

Department Secretary Jane Halton may join her workforce and shell out cash for parking.

Noel Towell   Finance boss could join her workforce and shell out cash for parking.

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