Politics
Victoria
Exclusive
Mental health
Extra layer of mental health support to be trialled in Victoria
The trial of the Distress Brief Support program will provide up to three weeks of support to Victorians experiencing psychological distress but who don’t need emergency care.
- by Broede Carmody
Latest
This midwife is double COVID-vaxxed – but she’s still banned from returning to work
Strict vaccination rules require hospital workers to have at least one booster shot, but easing the lingering mandate would bring Victoria in line with other states, and has been backed by vaccine experts.
- by Broede Carmody and Aisha Dow
Exclusive
Victorian Parliament
Top Labor job unresolved amid factional tension in Victoria
A factional battle over who should lead the Victorian Labor Party state branch looms amid a radical reshaping of union power in the state.
- by Annika Smethurst and Kieran Rooney
Exclusive
Housing crisis
New data reveals just how many Airbnb rentals Victoria has
The never-before-seen data shows the impact short-stay rentals have on the state’s housing market.
- by Kieran Rooney and Benjamin Preiss
Opinion
Jacinta Allan
Labor’s long-term gain is set to be Allan’s short-term headache
Victorian ministers airing their dissent for their leader’s decisions publicly signals a new era of debate and disobedience within the government.
- by Annika Smethurst
Exclusive
Industrial relations
‘Under the gun all the time’: Setka to step down as construction union head
One of the most consequential modern day union leaders in Australia, John Setka has called time after more than a decade at the helm of the state’s influential CFMEU.
- by Rachel Eddie and Kieran Rooney
Victoria’s new fire agency was meant to solve a problem. Instead it is bleeding cash
Victoria’s metropolitan firefighting agency has posted a $170 million loss, the second major deficit recorded since it was established in 2020.
- by Kieran Rooney
Premier apologises to Victorians put in orphanages for ‘beatings and brutalities’
Jacinta Allan confirmed that early redress payments will start flowing to victim-survivors who are critically ill from this year.
- by Broede Carmody
Treaty addresses failures revealed by scathing review: Victorian Indigenous leaders
An independent assessment of Australia’s failure to improve outcomes for Indigenous people confirms that governments need to share power with Indigenous organisations, they say.
- by Jack Latimore
Green MPs face sanctions as premier says protests made her feel unsafe
Victorian Greens MPs have been forced to apologise for disrupting parliament with signs about the war in Gaza.
- by Annika Smethurst and Rachel Eddie
Exclusive
Tobacco
Victoria’s black market vape industry worth up to $500m
Illegal tobacco sales have been linked to dozens of firebombings, and new analysis has sparked fears the e-cigarette industry could also become a cash cow for criminals.
- by Kieran Rooney