A patchwork of colourful and white coral lies not far below the surface off Hook Island in the Whitsundays.

Marine scientist Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg emerged from the sea with a blunt assessment of what's occurring.

"They've been slowly bleaching, I think, over the last couple of weeks," he told 9News.

READ MORE: Why police claim more than 1100 kids breaching bail is a good sign

"Some of those will survive but a lot of them will die. At this sort of scale, it's quite a hit as you can imagine."

He's one of the researchers assessing the damage after the latest marine heatwave swept over the Great Barrier Reef, causing the fifth mass bleaching event in the past eight years.

The Australian Institute of Marine Science estimates 73 per cent of the reef has suffered "prevalent bleaching", and for the first time ever, "extreme bleaching" has been recorded in all three regions of the marine park.

"It's really important that we see this as not business as usual because it's not. The steps we take now will determine whether or not we have coral reefs in the future," Hoegh-Guldberg said.

9News was given a tour of some of the impacted regions by the Australian Conservation Foundation.

The ACF's Freya Cole said it was devastating to see the reef struggling, calling on the Albanese government to do more to lower emissions, to take pressure off the vulnerable ecosystem.

READ MORE: NSW residents brace for more wet weather over next week

"There's a crisis under the water and it's exacerbated by climate change," she said.

Bleaching occurs when heat-stressed coral turns white, after expelling the algae that provides its colour.

As sea temperatures rise as a result of global warming, these events are happening more frequently.

It's worrying tour operators like Lindsay Simpson, who has run chartered reef trips with her husband for more than 10 years.

"I just had a sinking feeling it was going to happen in our summer and we had an absolute scorcher," she told 9News.

"I think to pretend to people when they come out with us that everything's fine. People have woken up to the fact everything's far from fine, so what are we doing about it?"

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said $1.2 billion had been poured into reef adaptation and resilience and outlined the government's plans to lower emissions.

But to save the reef for future generations, marine scientists like Professor Hoegh-Guldberg argue more drastic action is needed.

"We can't dither and say, 'Is it worth it, is it not?' It's worth it, and it's changing fast, and it will be gone very, very soon. We need to act now."

New data has shown a skyrocketing number of youth offenders breaching bail conditions in Queensland, proof, police claim, that tough laws are working.

Acting assistant police commissioner Andrew Massingham today revealed 1144 young people were charged with 8464 breach of bail offences in the 12 months to May.

On average, that is about seven breaches per offender.

READ MORE: Alleged driver charged as teen fights for life after falling from moving car

Almost 6000 juveniles have been arrested in that same time and are serving longer periods of detention than the state has ever seen.

Massingham said the statistics showed a tough stance on breach of bail and repeat offending had worked to curb high youth offending rates, which were down by almost 11 per cent for the first quarter this year.

In some parts of the state, youth offending dropped up to 30 per cent.

"We are cautiously optimistic that we have turned a corner well and truly in this state in terms of juvenile offending," he said at a press conference today.

"Undoubtedly taking a strong stand on breaches of bail is part of the reasoning of that result."

READ MORE: Almost $3 billion of student debt to be wiped in federal budget

Massingham said police made 69 appeals to have a juvenile remanded in custody in instances where courts have granted bail and were successful 85 per cent of the time.

He said police would continue to revoke bail where community safety is at risk or bail has already been breached.

"The power has always existed to remand those kids that pose serious harm to our community in custody," he said.

"Where people do breach their bail continually, gives us stronger grounds now to have them remanded in custody."

Perth's Muslim community has condemned an alleged knife attack by a teenager police described as "radicalised", which left one man hospitalised with serious injuries.

A 16-year-old boy allegedly stabbed a man at the Bunnings carpark on High Road in Willetton about 10pm yesterday before he was shot dead by police.

Nasir Mosque Imam Syed Wadood Janud condemned the alleged attack "in the harshest terms possible", saying it went against the teachings of the religion.

READ MORE: Can consent education help combat men's violence?

"We would also like to mention that Islam has nothing to do with any acts of violence that are committed in its name. Islam is a religion that literally means peace," he said at a press conference today.

Janud said the Muslim community was particularly hurting since one of its own, Faraz Tahir, was killed in Sydney's Bondi Junction massacre just weeks ago.

"There was shock, confusion but then concern as well because of what has happened recently in the east coast, what has happened in Sydney and now something that happened so close at heart," he said.

"It's not only concerning, it's shocking and I think members of the community are still coming to terms of it."

Police Commissioner Col Blanch earlier today said the boy was shot after he failed to put down the knife and Tasers did not have the "the full desired effect".

"The male continued to advance on the third officer with the firearm, who fired a single shot and fatally wounded the male," he said.

READ MORE: Alleged driver charged as teen fights for life after falling from moving car

Blanch said the teenager was known to authorities and had both "mental health issues and radicalisation issues".

He said the teenager had been attending a program to combat extreme online violence extremism, which was supported by psychologists and faith leaders.

Janud said Muslims were extremely concerned about Islamophobia in the wake of the incident and the rising radicalisation across the country.

"Radicalisation of all forms, whether that is anti-Semitic, whether that is Islamophobic, whether that is right-wing Neo Nazis, we see this on the rise," he said.

"As Australians, we all need to come together and tackle these issues that may be prevalent in the community."

Following news of the alleged attack, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stressed that there was no place for violent extremism in Australia.

"My thoughts are with those who have been affected by the incident," he said in a statement today.

READ MORE: Man dead, another injured in stabbing in Melbourne's south-east

"I have spoken with WA Premier Roger Cook this morning, and I thank the WA Police for acting swiftly to contain the incident.

"I have also received a briefing on the situation by the ASIO Director-General and the AFP Commissioner, and I'm advised there is no ongoing threat to the community on the information available."

Authorities said the teenager acted alone and there was no ongoing threat to the community. 

A man and woman have been charged with murder after a 23-year-old man died in hospital after he was allegedly assaulted "over a reasonably prolonged period" at a property north of Brisbane.

The 23-year-old Eagle Farm man was allegedly found partially buried alive and unconscious with critical head injuries when police were called to a rural property in Mclean Road at Mount Mee at about 8.30pm on Wednesday to reports of an assault.

Detective Acting Inspector Joe Zitny today said the man had suffered multiple significant injuries to his body, and that the "injuries occurred over a reasonably prolonged period of time".

READ MORE: 'Radicalised' teen, 16, shot dead by police after knife attack in Perth

The man was rushed to the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, where he died from his injuries on Friday night.

The man was allegedly found out the front of a house on the property.

A 21-year-old woman and a 23-year-old man, who were found in the house near where the victim was found injured, have been charged with offences including murder, torture, common assault, deprivation of liberty, grievous bodily harm and other offences.

Zitny said it appeared the woman had called Triple Zero, with the pair having lived at the property for between four to eight weeks.

He said a post-mortem on Tuesday would determine the man's cause of death, while the property was still an active crime scene days later, with divers searching a dam for evidence.

Zitny said the pair accused of the man's murder were known to the man, but the alleged crimes were not related to family violence or a domestic relationship.

He confirmed drugs were a line of inquiry in police establishing connections between the victim and the pair.

He called for anyone with information about the incident to come forward.

The 21-year-old woman remains remanded in custody and is due to reappear in Caboolture Magistrates Court on May 7.

The 23-year-old man remains remanded in custody and is due to reappear in Caboolture Magistrates Court on July 4.

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Police said they would make follow-up inquiries regarding the incident ‘if able’.

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The body of one victim was located on Friday, while the search continues for his friend.

More than three million Australians are expected to have their student debt cut in the federal budget as a part of measures to ease cost of living pressures.

Education minister Jason Clare said the decision would wipe about $3 billion in higher education loans, after loans increased by 7.1 per cent last year as a result of surging inflation.

The government said a person with an average HELP debt of $26,500 would see about $1200 wiped from their outstanding loans pending the passage of legislation.

READ MORE: Man, woman charged with murder after alleged torture victim dies in hospital

Clare said the Australian Universities Accord had recommended the government cap the HELP indexation rate for student debt to be the lower of either the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or the Wage Price Index (WPI) with effect from June 1, 2023.

"In other words, so indexation doesn't go up faster than the average wage," Clare said.

The relief will be backdated to all HELP, VET student loan, Australian Apprenticeship Support Loan and other student support loan accounts that existed on June 1 last year.

READ MORE: 'Radicalised' teen, 16, shot dead by police after knife attack in Perth

"This will wipe out what happened last year and make sure it never happens again," Clare said.

Minister for Skills and Training Brendan O'Connor said the move would reduce and remove financial barriers to education and training.

"VET Student Loans and Apprenticeship Support Loans support many Australians to get the skills they need for secure and rewarding careers, and these changes make sure that help is provided on a fairer basis," O'Connor said in a statement.

The government said based on WPI the indexation rate would have been 3.2 per cent.

The significant indexation rise last year caused concern for many people with student loans, as Australians face increasing living costs and barriers to the housing market.

The Albanese government has been under increasing pressure from the Greens and the crossbench to act on the issue.

A petition started by independent MP Dr Monique Ryan to make HECS debts easier to pay off gained 288,000 signatures.

‘If someone does a terrible shot we let them know.’