Australia needs to "immediately" increase funding for the defence force to quickly improve the military's capabilities, according to a new report.

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) today released its Cost of Defence report, which says that while the nation's future military funding plans are impressive, there are risks over the next decade.

"If war were to break out at any time in the next 10 years, our military would essentially fight with the force it has today," ASPI executive director Justin Bassi wrote.

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"Based on current resourcing, nothing significant will change over the decade.

"Most of the major new capabilities in the government's defence investment blueprint are two decades away from being fully fielded.

"That blueprint does contain some shorter-term enhancements, but these will not be fielded until the 2030s."

The government committed an extra $50 billion for defence funding over the next ten years, as well as a commitment to push funding up towards 2.4 per cent of GDP, in last month's federal budget.

However, only 5.7 per cent of that will be spent in the next four years, with the majority of the funds allocated for the 2030s, and that could lead to shortfalls in the Australian Defence Force in the coming years.

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"Other countries are furiously pursuing new capabilities that can be put into action quickly – such as creating masses of small drones and prototyping and developing new technologies," Bassi wrote.

"We talk about technology and asymmetric advantage – playing to your strengths and finding effective means to exploit an opponent's weaknesses – yet we lack a credible pathway to bring them into operation to bolster the force we have today.

"Over the longer term, the picture starts gradually to improve. The $50 billion in additional spending over the next decade is an important commitment, even if far away."

Rather than pointing the finger at the government, though, the paper called for a societal shift in how defence spending is viewed.

"It's easy to criticise; harder to do," the report reads.

"All governments are grappling with tight budgets amid competing demands and the unremitting expectations of voters and taxpayers.

"As a nation, we need to accept the need for higher defence spending. Hoping that conflict won't come is not a viable strategy.

"If we are prepared for war, we have a better chance of deterring and hence averting it."

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Roads in both main islands have also been closed today after crashes, police say.

The eastern quoll has been reintroduced into mainland Australia more than 50 years after the population was forced into extinction.

Wildlife authorities have released 19 marsupials into Booderee National Park in Jervis Bay, south of Sydney, to boost the local ecosystem by eating insects and pests.

WWF Australia's rewilding program manager Rob Brewster said the species are hoped to eventually call the mainland home again decades after they were driven extinct.

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"Around the turn of last century, there was a population crash," he said in a video.

"That crash happened at about the same time as foxes were establishing themselves in Victoria and sweeping across Australia and we think that is probably the key factor for their eventual extinction from mainland Australia.

"Now, they are only found in Tasmania."

Today's reintroduction in New South Wales is a significant move.

A fence will be put around their new home at the park to protect them from foxes.

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"What the strategy involves here is breeding enough up behind the fence, getting them aware and savvy when it comes to predators," Brewster said.

"Once we have enough to test beyond the fence reintroductions, then we can start thinking about trying to test getting them back out into the wild."

The eastern quoll is a carnivorous marsupial that largely eats insects, small rodents, reptiles and birds.

It is an endangered species threatened by dogs, cats, foxes and cars on the roads. 

A teenage boy has been taken to hospital after he reportedly suffered a snake bite south west of Brisbane.

Emergency services were called to Riverview in Ipswich about 2.50pm.

The teen believed he had been bitten by a snake on his leg.

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He was taken to Ipswich Hospital in stable condition.

Doctors will assess whether he was bitten by a snake.

An elderly man is set to be charged with murder in a bedside hearing after the death of his wife in the Australian Capital Territory.

Police had been called to a home in the Canberra suburb of Gordon about 7.25am yesterday, where they found the woman, aged 78.

She was declared dead at the scene by paramedics.

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A short time later, her 86-year-old husband was arrested at a home in nearby Fadden.

He was taken to the Canberra Hospital for assessment. 

Yesterday, Detective Acting Superintendent Stephen Ladd confirmed the woman's death was being treated "as a family violence incident".

Today, ACT Police confirmed the man will be charged in a bedside hearing in hospital, where he is still under observation.

National Domestic Violence Service: 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732). If you are in immediate danger call triple zero (000).

Elderly people stuck on upper levels relied on neighbours for food and water.

The prisoner caused damage to the building before climbing down an hour later.

Around 2.6 million Australians will get a pay rise at the start of next month after the Fair Work Commission (FWC) decided to increase the minimum wage, but not everyone is happy with the decision.

The minimum wage will increase by 3.75 per cent on July 1, up from $23.23 an hour to $24.10.

For someone working a full-time week of 38 hours, that equates to an extra $33 per week, although as the FWC noted, the majority of minimum wage workers will receive less than that.

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"Employees who rely on modern award minimum wage rates and are therefore directly affected by our decision are significantly different to the workforce as a whole," it wrote.

"They mostly work part-time hours, are predominantly women, and almost half are casual employees. They are also much more likely to be low-paid."

While the boost will be welcomed by many workers, small businesses have hit out at the decision.

"The levy has broken for many small businesses with rising energy, rent, insurance and borrowing costs," Council of Small Business Organisations Australia chief executive Luke Achterstraat said.

"This increase of 3.75 per cent to wage costs when annual productivity is at 1.2 per cent does not add up or bode well for jobs…

"A $50 increase in wages means a $59 increase in total costs for small businesses. Owners will be forced to pass on these costs which means higher prices and inflation.

"And where they are unable to do so, they face the insidious decision of reassessing staff levels and possible job losses."

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The federal government, though, has welcomed the boost for workers.

"This is the real wage increase that low-paid workers need and deserve," Treasurer Jim Chalmers said in question time.

"This is a win for 2.6 million workers and their loved ones.

"This means workers on the minimum wage get an extra $33.10 a week and $713 more a year. This means more money in the pockets of low-income workers and more help with the cost of living."

The FWC said the cost-of-living wages facing households was its primary consideration in making that decision, and that the increase was consistent with forecasts of inflation returning to target next year.

"Modern award minimum wages remain, in real terms, lower than they were five years ago, notwithstanding last year's increase of 5.75 per cent, and employee households reliant on award wages are undergoing financial stress as a result," the commission wrote.

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"This has militated against this review resulting in any further reduction in real award wage rates. At the same time, we consider that it is not appropriate at this time to increase award wages by any amount significantly above the inflation rate…

"The increase of 3.75 per cent which we have determined is broadly in line with forecast wages growth across the economy in 2024 and will make only a modest contribution to the total amount of wages growth in 2024.

"We consider therefore that this increase is consistent with the forecast return of the inflation rate to below 3 per cent in 2025."

It said the upcoming stage 3 tax cuts, which also begin on July 1, and other cost-of-living measures announced in the federal budget had been considered in its decision.

The peak body for community services, the Australian Council of Social Service, welcomed the wage increase but called for more to be done to address surging living costs.

"The Fair Work Commission's decision today is a positive step towards improving the lives of low-paid workers as living costs continue to rise," CEO Cassandra Goldie said.

"But the government needs to do more to tackle the causes of inflation and to lift income supports to help people with the least.

"We know that 38 per cent of people in households in poverty rely on wages as their main source of income. In addition to lifting their incomes, our government needs to address the drivers of inflation, including skyrocketing rents and persistently high energy costs.

"It must also support people on the lowest incomes by lifting the shamefully low rate of Jobseeker, Youth Allowance and related payments from $55 per day to at least $80 a day."

The minimum wage increase affects just under 21 per cent of Australia's total workforce – about 2.6 million people – although the FWC said only about 11 per cent of the national wage bill is impacted by award rates.

The commission last year increased the minimum wage by 5.75 per cent, following a 5.2 per cent boost in 2022.