Erin Morton might be an associate professor who works for a university setting up clinical trials but when she first experienced brain fog and other symptoms a few years ago aged 42, she said she was "horrified" at the lack of help or information.

Her symptoms – which she realised, thanks to her medical knowledge, were related to perimenopause, which hits the years before menopause – were so debilitating she feared she would have to quit her job.

READ MORE: Family's year-long wait for answers after death with toothache

"Like many others, I thought it would be hot flushes in my 50s when my periods stopped," she said.

"If I didn't have the type of job I had which as long as I get my work done, it doesn't matter where or when, there is no way I could have kept my job."

But the "stigma" of what she was going through means she never mentioned it at work, admitting she turned to friends and Facebook chats to share information.

She eventually opted to take menopausal hormonal therapy (MHT).

With data backing up what Morton felt, she now wants to help other Aussie women.

A total of 85 per cent of Australian women who experience significant symptoms mostly go undiagnosed, misdiagnosed, untreated or mistreated according to a Medical Journal of Australia article published this year.

Morton, who works at Flinders University in Adelaide, has set up a registry to gather information on Australians' experience of perimenopause and menopause called VITAL

She wants other women to share their experiences with the aim of measuring the impact.

"It's not to say everybody has horrible symptoms, but at the same time, they're preventable, and everyone should have an option to go, 'Do I want medical treatment, do I just want to get information?'" she said.

"This is an area of health that is so neglected and is still really stigmatised."

'Lost and frustrated'

Meanwhile, a group of Aussie women have sent a petition with 10,000 signatures to federal parliament over the issue.

The "peripausers", as they have named themselves, want GPs to be given more education on perimenopause and menopause and are demanding Health Minister Mark Butler take action.

The six women say they all felt dismissed by medics over symptoms.

It took Melbourne fashion business owner Kerry Pietrobon, 55, five years to get a diagnosis.

She said she felt "lost" as she started having trouble concentrating and later developed fatigue, dizziness and high blood pressure.

"I was getting frustrated that nothing I was doing was making me feel better," she said.

Her health later worsened and she suffered from irritability, anxiety, panic attacks, and heavy periods.

She did get help from a naturopath but, despite multiple GP visits, feels she was brushed off.

It wasn't until this year she was finally diagnosed as having menopause symptoms.

She believes because she didn't have the most common signs, she wasn't taken seriously.

"Because I did not present with the three most common symptoms of hot flushes, night sweats or irregular periods, I was sent away with little more than try to stress less, get more sleep and lose some weight," she said.

"It shouldn't be shameful, it's what we all go through."

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners told 9news.com.au that while it undertakes activities which work to support GPs' awareness and understanding of menopause, it could be "better supported".

"While members can access RACGP continuing professional development for free, additional government funding to support and encourage participation in education and training would be valuable," a spokesman said.

The federal government said the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) is providing funding of $1.1 million for the development of MenoPROMPT – a practitioner tool to improve the care of women at and/or after menopause.

It has also set up the National Women's Health Advisory Council.

"Menopause can wreak havoc on people's lives, careers, relationships, and mental health," Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care Ged Kearney said.

"The Albanese government is committed to making a difference for women of every age and at every stage.

"Menopause is an issue that needs a fresh approach.

"We need to shine a light on menopause and identify gaps that exist in the treatment of women's health.

"No one should suffer in silence."

Do you have a story? Contact journalist Sarah Swain on ss****@******om.au

What are menopause and perimenopause?

Menopause happens when a woman's ovaries no longer have any eggs to release – and it's preceded by perimenopause.

Symptoms are caused by a drop in hormone levels, with hot flushes, night sweats, brain fog, depression, anxiety and weight gain common.

More than three million Aussie women are currently in the 40–59 age bracket – the years most associated with menopause.

More than two million women over 60 years are affected by biological changes post-menopause that increase risks of cardiovascular disease, dementia, diabetes, osteoporosis and some cancers.

Medication such as menopausal hormonal therapy (MHT), formerly called hormone replacement therapy (HRT) can help.

National will open Labour’s closet, revealing the skeletons inside.

Be prepared for more of a shake-up in Parliament, new MPs say.

“They have got to realise how much risk their kids are getting into.”

Community support for the listing was strong, with only a few opposing submissions.

The number of Aussies heading to the country's regional holiday hotspots has surged compared to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels, according to new data

Australia's Antarctic explorers often say your first expedition is for the excitement, your second trip is for the money.

The third time you go? You must be crazy.

Dr Andrew Klekociuk has kept going back for over 30 years – so what does that make him?

READ MORE: How hot is too hot? Calls for workplace overhaul ahead of El Niño summer

Klekociuk took his first expedition to the frozen frontiers of Antarctica in 1987.

Thirty-five years later, he's the leader of Australia's Antarctic Climate Program with the government-run Australian Antarctic Division.

That means he's better qualified than almost anyone to talk about climate change in the South Pole.

And with alarming news coming out of Antarctica on a weekly basis, he has a warning backed up by his decades of experience.

Change is in the air

Reports indicate that huge chunks of Antarctica's ice failed to form over the last winter.

The astounding figure for the loss is somewhere around 1.5 million kilometres of ice – or an eight per cent loss this year.

From Australia's home base for Antarctic expeditions in Hobart, Klekociuk said that "record underperformance" paints a grim picture for the 21st century.

"Sea level change is going be a big awakening for Australia," he told 9news.com.au.

The consensus prediction among climate scientists is at least one metre of sea level change by the end of the century.

"But it could easily be as many as five", he said.

"Imagine Bondi Beach or Darling Harbour – now put five metres of water on top of that."

READ MORE: Piece of ice the size of the Northern Territory missing from Antarctica

He said the Southern Ocean can only buffer us from so much climate change. 

Currently, Greenland glaciers melting are the highest contributor to sea level rise.

But he predicts Antarctica will take over as the driver of sea level change in the next decades, as more Antarctic ice melts with every passing year.

"In March of last year, there was a heat wave in the region where temperatures were recorded in excess of 30 degrees above the average what you'd expect below zero," Klekociuk said.

According to the Australian Antarctic Program's top climate scientist, these destructive and expensive changes were a question of when, not if.

"For me, sea level change is the biggest concern," he said.

"We just can't shrug it off. It's going to happen.

"It's just a matter of where we get to within a reasonable time frame to take action."

Klekociuk admitted that estimates in the upper range can be uncertain.

He said that even if sea levels only change by a metre, the price tag for the world to repair its infrastructure could run into the trillions of dollars.

Another of Australia's Antarctic climate experts, Dr Nathan Bindoff from the University of Tasmania, told 9news.com.au extreme changes in sea level couldn't be ignored.

In the most extreme predictions for the year 2300, the changes would be unfathomable.

In those circumstances, "sea level rise greater than 15 meters cannot be ruled out," he told 9news.com.au.

"This is a new abnormal, completely outside our understanding of the instrumental record."

Life on the frozen continent

Australia looks after its own slice of Antarctica, and on it, operates several year-round research stations.

These are the year-round homes of the Australian Antarctic Division, which Klekociuk has made the icy trek to and from over the years.

Asked which of the stations was considered the favourite of Antarctic explorers, he mused, "Davis has its charm, low hills and lakes".

"Casey is different too," he said, citing its wilder weather but more connected feel with its Airlink and runway.

But Mawson station, Klekociuk says, is the "real Antarctica – the epitome of Antarctica" – separated from the rest of the world by thousands of kilometres and surrounded by "gnarly mountains".

It's a minimum of 10 days to the station from Hobart by boat, which makes emergencies a matter of life and death.

At Mawson, the team lives in the main accommodation building known as "the Red Shed", sleeping in modern air-conditioned single-room "dongas" or bedrooms.

The Red Shed on the base also houses a surgery, lounge, kitchen and dining room.

The base is stocked with a "local supermarket" – a walk-in cupboard affectionately referred to as "Woolies".

Based on conversations Klekociuk has had with other long-serving explorers, they're seeing a subtle but notable difference in the amount of ice around the stations each year.

And that daily experience is starting to confirm the astounding data that they collect through their grim but groundbreaking research.

Six young people, including a 12-year-old were rushed to hospital after an out-of-control house party in Brisbane's south on Friday.

Almost 400 people attended the party, which was for a 17-year-old's birthday, in Chambers Flat about 11pm on Friday.

Paramedics and police were quickly called to the property, when a number of party-goers began passing out.

READ MORE: Victoria's south-west rattled by 5.0 magnitude earthquake

One attendee, who wished to remain anonymous, told 9News they quickly left the party when things began to turn.

"It was meant to be a birthday party. It was only meant to be 90 people and then like 400 people came," they said.

Queensland Ambulance Service's Jane James said paramedics had to retreat and wait for police.

"It was a hectic scene," she said.

"A fight actual broke out in front and (paramedics) had to retreat and wait for police to arrive."

READ MORE: Officers escape major injury after police car rolls in Sydney

Police were quickly on scene, bringing the crowd under control to ensure ambulances could gain access.

Six patients were taken to hospital, including a person who was allegedly assaulted.

"It's very concerning for a 12-year-old to be at such a large house party and potentially consumed alcohol and maybe drugs as well," James said.

Police issued a 19-year-old man with an infringement notice for trespassing and public nuisance.

A motorcycle competitor in Western Australia's Kalgoorlie Desert Race has died after a crash on Saturday morning.

Emergency services were called at 9:30am local time (12.30pm AEDT), after a motorcycle crash during the event outside Kalgoorlie, approximately 600km east of Perth.

A man in his 50s was taken to Kalgoorlie Hospital but was unable to be revived, police confirmed.

READ MORE: 'There'd be no Medicare': PM pays tribute after Bill Hayden dies

"The Kalgoorlie Desert Race can confirm a fatality has occurred on Saturday 21 October as part of the Motorcycle component during the first day of competition," event organisers said in a statement.

Adding: "The Kalgoorlie Desert Race extends its condolences to the family, friends and wider off road community."

READ MORE: Aid starts moving into the Gaza Strip after two weeks of war

Event organisers are now working with Motorcycling Australia and Motorcycling Western Australia as they investigate the incident, as well as assisting the WA Police and Worksafe.

The Kalgoorlie Desert Race is an off-road event which bills itself as "a dynamic and challenging discipline" which is attracting "a surge of racers eager to embrace the excitement and test their mettle".

Saturday morning's event involved motorcyclists undertaking a gruelling 121 km circuit of rough desert terrain.

All racing was called off on Saturday and it remains unclear whether the event will continue on Sunday as originally planned.

Statement in full from organisers

"The Kalgoorlie Desert Race can confirm a fatality has occurred on Saturday 21 October as part of the Motorcycle component during the first day of competition.

"Event organisers are currently working with Motorcycling Australia and Motorcycling Western Australia, and providing support to those at the track, as well as assisting the WA Police and Worksafe. The next of kin has been advised.

"The Kalgoorlie Desert Race extends its condolences to the family, friends and wider off road community."

A Melbourne-owned car could sell for an eye-watering seven-figure sum.

A rare black R34-generation Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec II Tommykaira R-Z is up for auction with 46,000 kilometres on the clock.

It is considered to be a unicorn as it is the only one of its kind.

READ MORE: Aid starts moving into the Gaza Strip after two weeks of war

Japanese tuning company Tommykaira was allowed to rebrand the car under its own name.

"Tommykaira built race cars then homologated them for road use so that doesn't happen anymore," Cameron Male from the Japanese Domestic Market Club said.

"After they built this one, they went out of business."

READ MORE: 'There'd be no Medicare': PM pays tribute after Bill Hayden dies

The GTR is a cult car thanks to appearing in movies and in video games.

Earlier this year, a 1998 GTR Nismo sold in England for around $1.3 million which indicates seven figures is not beyond the realms of reality for the Tommykaira.

"The car could potentially go anywhere," Lee Hallett from collectingcars.com said.

"We have seen cars go all corners of the globe.

"Particularly the American market for these cars is very, very strong."

The auction goes live on October 24 and runs for seven days.