Only 53% of services met or exceeded the quality threshold, ERO data has found.

Child killer Arthur Freeman has been rushed to hospital after he was assaulted in jail

Detectives are investigating after Freeman was assaulted at Western Plains Correctional Centre in Lara, near Geelong, yesterday.

He was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

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Freeman was sentenced to life in prison over the murder of his four-year-old daughter Darcey, who was thrown off Melbourne's West Gate Bridge before her first day on school in January 2009.

He has been held in maximum security prison since April 2011, when he was sentenced to a non-parole period of 32 years.

Freeman was involved in a prison fight in 2011, with media reporting he lashed out at inmates after being subjected to constant abuse.

More to come.

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Cybersecurity expert Joshua Alcock says basic habits still offer the strongest defence.

A tourist is fighting for life following a bicycle accident on Rottnest Island, offshore of Western Australia.

Emergency crews responded to calls about 5pm on Tuesday that an overseas tourist had fallen from a bicycle on Digby Drive in the Thompson Bay area of Rottnest Island.

They found a 38-year-old woman suffered life-threatening head injuries following the fall.

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She was flown from the island to Royal Perth Hospital in a critical condition.

The circumstances surrounding the crash remain under investigation.

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The rerun saw Vi Hausia top the provisional poll with 2788 votes.

Iranian authorities have published a map of alternate shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz which appears to suggest that sea mines have been planted in the critical waterway.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) shared a chart which urges commercial vessels to avoid sea mines – a type of underwater explosive – which were deployed following the US and Israel's war against Iran, Iranian state media reports.

"All ships intending to transit the Strait of Hormuz are hereby notified that in order to comply with the principles of maritime safety and to be protected from possible collisions with sea mines…they should take alternative routes for traffic in the Strait of Hormuz," the statement reads.

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https://x.com/sentdefender/status/2042077140275933595

The statement was accompanied by instructions for safe entry and exit routes for ships travelling the Strait of Hormuz.

There are fears this latest development will deter ships from entering the strait.

Hundreds of vessels are believed to still be stranded as both sides of the conflict carry out strikes, despite reports of a ceasefire.

According to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, sea mines are fairly easy to deploy and don't require much specialist support.

An unsubstantiated threat of sea mines may also be enough to bring trade through the strait to another screeching halt.

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"Sea mines offer distinct advantages as a maritime weapon. They require little training or specialist support. They are easy to deploy: they can be placed in the water from civilian boats, small craft or submarines," retired Royal Australian Navy mine warfare specialis Andy Perry wrote.

"And unlike many other naval weapons, they can be laid without direct combat interaction with an adversary, remaining dormant until activated by a passing vessels."

The US Naval Institute estimates Iran may have between 5000 to 6000 mines.

"The discovery of just one in the Strait of Hormuz would compel interested parties to assume there are many more," retired US Navy Captain Kevin Eyer said last week.

Perry said mine warfare doesn't need to leave a trail of sunken ships to be considered a successful military strategy.

"Maritime access through the strait can be shaped less by firepower and more by caution, uncertainty, and slow responses of mine countermeasures forces," he added.

The US military has previously claimed it "eliminated" Iranian mine-laying vessels near the Strait of Hormuz earlier this month.

US President Donald Trump threatened severe consequences for Iran if it deployed mines along the oil chokepoint.

"If ​Iran has put out any mines in the Hormuz Strait, and we have no reports ⁠of them doing so, we want them removed, IMMEDIATELY!" he wrote on Truth Social.

He said the US was deploying the same technology used against drug traffickers to "permanently eliminate ​any boat or ship attempting to mine the Hormuz Strait."

Trump later claimed the US had hit "and completely destroyed" a number of "inactive mine laying boats and/or ships".

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Former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann has run out of options to appeal a ruinous defamation loss, including a civil court judge's finding that he likely raped Brittany Higgins in Parliament House.

The 30-year-old took his case against Network Ten to the High Court, where he challenged findings by dual courts that the broadcaster did not defame him by airing Higgins' allegation during an interview on The Project in February 2021.

Today, the High Court rejected Lehrmann's application for special leave to appeal.

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Typically, the court refuses to hold a substantive hearing if it thinks an appeal does not grapple with a major question of Australian law.

In April 2024, Federal Court Justice Michael Lee first dismissed the 30-year-old's case against Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson, describing it as an "omnishambles".

The judge's findings, including that Lehrmann raped Higgins on the balance of probabilities, were upheld on appeal by the Full Federal Court in December.

Higgins had been out drinking with colleagues, including Lehrmann, in 2019 before the pair wound up at Parliament House in the office of their then-boss Senator Linda Reynolds.

It was there that the alleged rape happened.

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The 30-year-old Lehrmann has consistently repeatedly denied any sexual conduct occurred, saying he returned during the early hours to write notes about French submarine contracts.

This claim was roundly rejected by Justice Lee, saying the young man had been seen kissing Higgins, whom he found attractive.

"Now does a man in a situation like that have French submarine contracts on his mind or does he have something else on his mind?" the judge quipped.

A criminal case against Lehrmann in the ACT was derailed due to juror misconduct.

A further trial was ruled out and no findings have been made against him in a court of criminal law.

The failed High Court bid could lead to Lehrmann being forced into bankruptcy due to court orders he pay a $2 million legal bill to Ten.

National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).

The Mic-Key will replace the nasogastric tube her son relies on.

Four-week-old puppies in one Porirua litter all had to be euthanised.

Jobs at Bendigo Bank are at risk after the lender confirmed a new round of operational changes tied to outsourcing deals with global firms.

The bank said the changes "will lead to workforce changes" affecting employees across its technology and business operations teams, with consultation yet to begin and the full scope of job impacts still unclear.

Chief executive Richard Fennell said decisions that impact staff are "never easy".

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"Decisions that impact our people are never easy. We acknowledge this will be a challenging time for our people and we are committed to leading these changes with compassion, care and respect," Fennell said.

"We will consult with our people impacted by these changes, and we are committed to ensuring the support they need is available.

"The health and wellbeing of the Bank's people continue to be key considerations in the planning and implementation of these essential workplace changes."

The workforce changes come as the bank announced the next phase of its "Productivity Program", including two major partnerships with Infosys and Genpact aimed at overhauling its technology and business operations.

Under the plan, Infosys will take on a seven-year technology services agreement. At the same time, Genpact will manage aspects of business operations over six years – moves the bank said would streamline processes and lift efficiency.

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Fennell explained that tapping into global expertise would allow the bank to simplify its systems and reinvest in new capabilities.

"By leveraging global expertise and becoming simpler and more efficient, we can reinvest in new technologies and capabilities," he said.

Bendigo Bank serves around 2.9 million customers across Australia, with the restructure forming part of its broader strategy through to 2030.

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