Canberra

The Australian Capital Territory will continue to push for pill-testing nationally after an independent review confirmed a trial in Canberra encouraged buyers of a synthetic ecstasy substitute to ditch unsafe drugs. The Australian…

The prime minister Scott Morrison has announced a major shake-up of the public service that will see four departments abolished, five secretaries sacked and responsibility for emissions reductions removed from the department of…

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced a dramatic cut to the public service, dumping a number of government departments in favour of new super departments.Mr Morrison will slash the number of departments from 18 to 14 in an effort…

Prime Minister Scott Morrison is pleased with the pick-up in annual economic growth, but business groups are far from happy, saying it should be seen as "a call for action".The latest national accounts released on Wednesday showed the…

Gold Coast Titans forward Jai Arrow is set to be lured to NRL rivals South Sydney by a whopping $4 million deal, according to reports.The Courier Mail says the off-contract Maroons representative has already met with Rabbitohs chief…

Australian taxpayers are spending up to $537,000 per year on each asylum seeker and refugee held offshore.Advocacy groups have released new figures showing offshore processing will cost $1.2 billion over the next three years.The report -…

Australians made redundant mid-career will be pushed into poverty through a revived proposal to change the welfare system, the federal opposition says.Labor's social services spokeswoman Linda Burney has condemned a government bill which…

Scott Morrison has accused Pauline Hanson of reneging on a promise to back legislation making it easier to deregister unions and ban officials.One Nation's two senators voted against the coalition's "ensuring integrity" bill last week,…

A parliamentary inquiry into competition and "smaller banks" has ended up focusing on one big bank - Westpac.Financial crime regulator AUSTRAC is taking Westpac to court over 23 million charges of money laundering, some linked to child…

Peter Dutton says concerns about a telephone call between the prime minister and NSW police chief are a "storm in a teacup".The home affairs minister has dismissed Labor's concerns about the conversation, which centred on a police…

Australia will receive no compensation after it was forced to shelve an $85 million fighter jet destroyed by a mechanical fault, an estimates committee has been told.Defence bosses have said the dud aeroplane was purchased through the…

The federal government’s failure to provide any meaningful explanation of the secret imprisonment of a mystery prisoner in the ACT has prompted accusations it has engaged in an “abuse of state power”. On Thursday the Greens senator Nick…

Medicare-backed mental health check-ups would be available to expectant fathers under a new plan aimed at involving men more during pregnancy.Victorian crossbencher Helen Haines says there should also be a review conducted into the way…

New figures suggest the Australian economy is still crawling along at a growth rate below two per cent, but Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe has made it clear that negative interest rates are "extraordinarily unlikely" in response.Nor…

The Australian Federal Police has been rocked after a former member of the organisation was found dead this morning.Julie Woodward’s body was discovered in a Melbourne hotel when police went to conduct a welfare check after receiving…

"Greedy" doctors and hidden private hospital fees are being blamed for the rising cost of private health insurance.Researchers at the Grattan Institute have pinned private health premiums on a handful of high charging doctors,…

Tracey Spicer has lifted the lid on the disgusting, predatory behaviour of Australian men, including one man who did everything he could to avoid his creepy texts being seen by his wife only for them to end up on national…

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young appeared on The Project Monday night after winning her defamation case against David Leyonhjelm.But it was a question thrown to her by Hamish Macdonald that seemed to catch her by surprise.The host asked…

Prime Minister Scott Morrison is standing firm against calls to debate rising emissions, climate change and their links to bushfires.Farmers and firefighters on Monday backed a Greens push for Mr Morrison to declare a climate emergency,…

Just one of a handful of contemporary homes in Forrest’s historical precinct, the front hedge is the only aspect of this property that remains heritage listed. Built nine years ago shortly after heritage registration on the 2136sqm…