Newly released Australian Bureau of Statistics documents show the chaos surrounding the 2016 census.

• EXCLUSIVE

The scandal-plagued Health Services Union is poised to rejoin the Labor Party in Victoria, as part of Bill Shorten's expansion of his right-wing power base in his home state.

The government's top legal adviser says he will ignore a "radical" directive from Attorney-General George Brandis.

The Turnbull government's plans to introduce laws to keep unrepentant terrorists in jail beyond their sentences could be delayed after police raised concerns that the proposed laws aren't co-ordinated with existing bail-like regimes for terrorists.

Careers are on the line as a dispute between Australia's two most senior legal officers comes to a head in Canberra.

Melbourne lawyer Kimberley Kitching's appointment to the Senate is a "union stitch-up" inside the Labor Party, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has said, after the Victorian Right faction figure was preselected to enter the Senate .

"I'm sure Mr Abbott has carefully read all of Donald Trump's policies before he made that comment."

Mr Abbott's intervention in the United States election comes as Hillary Clinton's lead over Mr Trump widened to double-digits following the release of numerous historical tapes in which Mr Trump brags that he can get away with grabbing women by the pussy because he is a star.

Attorney-General George Brandis has attempted to hose down claims he is seeking to "shackle" the government's chief legal adviser and accused his Labor counterpart of hypocrisy.

Bill Shorten has sparked a new Labor factional brawl in his home state of Victoria after backing controversial lawyer and close friend Kimberley Kitching to replace Stephen Conroy in his party's plum top Senate spot.

Labor, Green Tasmanian independent and Xenophon team pile more pressure on Coalition over public service bargaining.

The Australian Bankers Association has gone on the offensive against Labor's proposed royal commission, releasing new polling it claims shows a sharp drop in support for an inquiry.

Donald Trump had shown himself to be a "fascist threat" who posed the gravest risk to the United States since that country's Civil War, a top-ranking US Democrat warned in Sydney on Thursday.

Labor leader Bill Shorten has weighed into the internal ALP battle over the replacement for Senator Stephen Conroy in backing one of his closest friends, controversial lawyer Kimberley Kitching, to fill the breach

The federal government has risked national security, put cabinet-sensitive material at risk and ignored the advice of Australia's cyber defence agency by using WhatsApp, according to Labor legal affairs spokesman Mark Dreyfus.

Kelly O'Dwyer has acknowledged the parliamentary error but avoided taking responsibility or apologising.

Politicians who fall asleep or play games on their phones during parliamentary business will no longer be shielded from scrutiny.

Former treasurer Wayne Swan is doubling down down on his allegations that BHP Billiton has been evading taxes for more than a decade and misleading the government about it, repeating his comments in the public sphere after first using parliamentary privilege to go after the mining giant.

The Anglican Church has likened ​​support for legalising same-sex marriage to communism, and claimed its negative social​ "costs" will match those seen after the introduction of the 1975 no-fault divorce laws that it says created "widespread adultery and divorce."

The Turnbull government has effectively voted to call on itself to explain its own failures.

• EXCLUSIVE

Australia is facing renewed international pressure to explain what it is doing to tackle climate change, with a United Nations review finding its emissions continue to soar and several countries calling for clarity about what it will do after 2020.

"This is a message coming to the community, to the families, to the clans."

• EXCLUSIVE

WhatsApp groups used by cabinet ministers and senior staff are not on the list of platforms approved by Australia's cyber security agency.

• EXCLUSIVE

A move by Attorney-General George Brandis to restrict access to the government's chief legal adviser is unlawful and akin to keeping a "dog on a lead", a top adviser to the Howard government has said.

The Liberal government of Western Australia has questioned whether the nascent boom in liquefied natural gas is delivering "sufficient return" to the public.

A High Court ruling on post-Parliament perks has paved the way for government action on the controversial Life Gold Pass.

The men claimed the changes constituted an unlawful acquisition of their property, the same argument the Kerrigan family used in The Castle.

Gay marriage opponents thank Labor leader for knocking back same-sex marriage plebiscite: "We now have more time to continue building our campaign."

The advice is contained in a new report by the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) to be released on Wednesday.