A ban on rap music will be enforced at the Sydney Royal Easter Show under a new safety push after a deadly stabbing last year.

Uati "Pele" Faletolu died on his way to hospital after being stabbed in a brawl while the 17-year-old sideshow worker took a break.

NSW Police said concerns about bikies using "rapper music" to recruit young people led to the decision to prohibit ride operators from playing it, or any other tunes with offensive language.

READ MORE: Jarryd Hayne Found Guilty of sexual assault after third trial

"Through rapper music investment, [the Comanchero outlaw motorcycle gang] procured a significant youth gang problem to carry out violent crimes," NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Stuart Smith said.

"We've got all the evidence we need to demonstrate that rapper music is being used to lure youth into a life of crime."

Police allege Faletolu's alleged murder was linked to youth gang rivalry.

Two 18-year-old men and a 14-year-old boy are facing court over the father-to-be's alleged murder. 

The boy is accused of inflicting the stab wound. 

READ MORE: RBA pauses on relentless rate hikes

Other measures include increasing lighting, widening lanes for foot traffic, using metal detectors, random bag searches and increasing patrols.

The doors will also open to the public on Thursday and an earlier close time for the main carnival area will be enforced at 9.30pm.

Police have also issued 30 public safety orders to prominent youth gang members, banning them from attending the show.

READ MORE: Aussies still facing financial anguish despite rates pause

"We still have six more to issue," Smith said.

The show's general manager defended the move to ban rap music.

"I don't think it's racist," general manager of the Royal Agriculture Society Murray Wilton said.

"We are determining the type of music and the type of genre that we do and do not want acceptable have used to show and that's what we've been working with the carnival operators."

"Music will be turned right down, there are scientific facts that the type of music played actually predicts somebody's behaviour," he said.

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A family with three young children have been left devastated after their new Porter Davis home was destroyed by a suspicious fire in Melbourne's south-east.

Police and fire crews were alerted to the blaze, which detectives suspect was deliberately lit, at 4.30pm on Monday in Clyde North.

Georgia, who lives nearby, has told 9News that she witnessed what appeared to be a male tradesman walking through the property minutes before the fire started.

READ MORE: Tradies accused of vandalising home sites

The man later left the scene in a red Ford Mustang.

"My husband heard a big bang, he ran outside and then he saw a big fire and then came and got me and that was within 10 minutes," she said.

Victoria Police said in a statement that the building on Adante Court was not occupied and no one was injured.

"Investigations are ongoing into the cause of the fire, which is being treated as suspicious at this stage," the statement said.

The blaze comes amid a rise in vandalism at construction sites by suspected out-of-pocket tradies after the collapse of Porter Davis, which went bust late last month.

Devastated customers are now padlocking fences and installing security cameras to ensure their new homes aren't targeted.

In one incident, cabinetry was smashed, doors scratched and taps opened to flood an entire house in Berwick, in Melbourne's south-east, that was just days away from completion.

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Liquidators Grant Thornton held a webinar today to answer questions and outline the next steps forward.

Some Porter Davis customers were told they may lose their deposits because the company didn't take out insurance on its new builds until building permits were obtained.

Said Jahani from Grant Thornton, who led the webinar, warned there was the potential for criminal charges to be pressed against people who were trespassing on building sites.

"There are consequences. We remind everyone that unauthorised site management is not permitted," he said.

Today reporter Christine Ahern said a young family with three children was due to move into the home next month. 

"I've been speaking to a neighbour who witnessed the whole thing," she said on 3AW.

"She said that she saw a man leave the property, she didn't think too much of it because this a massive construction site.

"But moments after, she heard a bang and then the house was alight.

"She has told all of this to police – though she doesn't know for sure, she believes it was a tradie."

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Ahern said the house was sandwiched between two other Porter Davis homes.

"The outside two are steel-framed, the middle one that has gone up in flames is wooden-framed," she said.

"It's only next month that the young family with three daughters were scheduled to move in here." 

Homeowners with under-construction properties being handled by Porter Davis "are taking matters into their own hands" to ensure they don't become the next victims of the alleged vandalism.

"They're padlocking properties, changing the locks and doing their own surveillance", Ahern said.

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While the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) decision to hit pause on increasing interest rates has been widely welcomed, both homeowners and renters have been warned their financial pain isn't over.

The RBA today ended its run of ten consecutive rate rises after inflation slowed to 6.8 per cent last month – still well above the bank's target of two to three per cent.

National housing campaign Everybody's Home said that while that offers good news for mortgage holders, it's unlikely to have any effect on rising rents.

READ MORE: RBA pauses on relentless rate hikes

"Renters have been feeling the pain of rising costs for years, with rents surging even when landlords were benefiting from record-low interest rates," campaign spokesperson Maiy Azize said.

"We have been seeing huge rent increases every year for far longer than we've been seeing interest rate rises.

"But while interest rates have become a political crisis, politicians have not been made to answer for the fact that rents have gone up by $6000 in the last three years alone.

"Renters should not be forced to accept these kinds of increases as the norm."

Azize called for more to be done to help out tenants as rents increase and the number of available properties drops across the nation.

"Landlords will be able to breathe a sigh of relief as interest rates are put on hold," she said.

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"They can also write off their losses on tax, or pass them onto renters. But renters aren't set to get a reprieve any time soon.

Azize said the federal government should build more social homes and scrap tax breaks for investors, like negative gearing.

"Our housing system is rigged against renters," she said.

However, not everyone is convinced that mortgage holders will be basking after today's news.

"Despite the rate rise pause in April, the damage to borrowers has already been done," Canstar finance expert Steve Mickenbecker said.

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"A $500,000 loan taken out at the average rate of 2.98 per cent in April 2022 is now paying a 6.48 per cent rate and repayments have gone up by a frightening $1051.

"The pressure on borrowers has become intense, with first home buyers of the last two years particularly feeling the pain, having entered the market at record prices and with big loan sizes."

In explaining the pause, RBA governor Philip Lowe acknowledged the full impact of 10-straight rate hikes is yet to be fully felt. 

"The board recognises that monetary policy operates with a lag and that the full effect of this substantial increase in interest rates is yet to be felt," he said.

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One way that lag plays out is the fixed-rate cliff – mortgage holders rolling off onto the variable rate once their fixed-rate term expires, therefore getting hit with a huge rate increase in one go.

The RBA estimated earlier this year that almost 900,000 Australian loans, worth about $350 billion in borrowed money, will roll off from fixed to variable rate this year, with the cliff expected to be hit hardest between June and September.

"For many, the pain isn't over," Peter Marshall, banking expert at Mozo, said.

"Even though the RBA paused today, the rate changes are still filtering through to existing borrowers."

READ MORE: What is the fixed rate mortgage cliff, and how is it going to impact the Australian economy?

And there could still be more rate rises to come.

"The board expects that some further tightening of monetary policy may well be needed to ensure that inflation returns to target," Lowe said.

"The decision to hold interest rates steady this month provides the board with more time to assess the state of the economy and the outlook, in an environment of considerable uncertainty."

Lowe will face questioning over today's decision and what the future holds for Australian renters and mortgage holders when he fronts the National Press Club tomorrow.

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High costs of living are driving the need for gardening programmes in schools.

Former NRL star Jarryd Hayne has been found guilty of rape after a third trial jury deliberated for more than a week.

Hayne, 35, pleaded not guilty to two counts of sexual intercourse without consent and faced a two-week trial over the allegation in the NSW District Court.

It was alleged he performed non-consensual sex acts on a woman for about 30 seconds, ending when she began to bleed.

READ MORE: Judge in Jarryd Hayne trial urges jury to continue trying to reach verdict

The jury of six men and six women returned a guilty verdict on both counts on Tuesday afternoon.

Hayne could be heard saying "it's a disgrace" when the verdict was handed down and his wife broke down in tears.

Outside court this afternoon, Hayne said he would be appealing the decision. 

When asked how he was feeling, he said "devastated, devastated" and appeared to be holding back tears.

His wife Amelia Bonnici was by his side, wearing dark sunglasses, as the pair left the Downing Centre.

Hayne will not be taken into custody tonight ahead of another hearing on Thursday.

He will be sentenced at a later date.

https://twitter.com/tiffgenders/status/1643126888121126913

On the night of the assault, Hayne attended the Newcastle home she shared with her mother on NRL grand final night, when he was in town for a bucks' weekend, paying for a taxi to wait outside before driving him to Sydney.

He was charged in November that year, after the allegation reached the NRL integrity unit.

Hayne was a star rugby league player, playing most of his 214 NRL games for the Parramatta Eels as well as representing Australia and Fiji.

He played 23 State of Origin matches, including in NSW's 2014 drought-breaking series win, the same year he won his second Dally M medal.

An attempt at gridiron with the US NFL's San Francisco 49ers was followed by a Rugby Sevens stint with Fiji before a return to league.

He was off-contract when charged in November 2018.

– Reported with AAP

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Australian shift workers are turning to sleep-promoting substances, such as sleeping pills and alcohol at higher rates than the general public, according to new research.

Midwife Celeste said it was difficult to adjust to the hours of her job when she first started, often turning to sedatives to win back some day sleep – without success.

"It's really tough. It can feel impossible at times," she told 9News.

READ MORE: RBA pauses on rate hike cycle in temporary relief for borrowers

"I did try phenergan and sleeping pills and I did found they made me feel absolutely terrible for the next day and it was difficult to maintain focus, concentration."

Research by Turning Point addiction centre has found around 30 per cent of shift workers report using sleep-promoting substances, such as sedatives or alcohol.

That compares to around 5 per cent of the general population.

The problem however is the risk of becoming reliant on the substances, according to Dr Rohan Ogeil said.

"If you're using these drugs more and frequently, that's a time to seek help," he said.

"There can be hangover effect which affects your performance at work, your mood or your ability to sleep on subsequent nights."

READ MORE: Family home burnt down after collapse of Porter Davis

Experts said shift workers need to work extra hard at prioritising sleep.

Tips for shift workers to improve their sleep include darkening your room if they're sleeping during the day, limiting stimulants like caffeine and turning off light-emitting devices.

Celeste said following her experience she never again touched sleeping medications and even has green tea now instead of coffee.

"You definitely can use free and natural strategies to improve sleep," she said.

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The personal details of more than 2000 TAFE students have been stolen in a data breach.

TAFE SA is conducting a "robust" investigation and issued an email today to the 2,224 impacted students who had enrolled between 2016 and 2021.

Sensitive personal information has been compromised, with copies of driver's licences, passports, tax file numbers and proof of age cards used to enrol stolen.

READ MORE: What to do if your data is compromised in a company hack?

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"We are continuing investigations into how this data left our organisation and we are ensuring we minimise the likelihood of future breaches," TAFE SA CEO David Coltman said.

"This is a very serious matter for us and it is a very serious matter for our students."

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The vocational education and training institution became aware in March last year when SA Police found copies of documents in an unrelated investigation.

Two USBs containing student details were found in March and November.

The cost of replacing passports will be covered by TAFE SA, while students won't be charged for licence replacements.

The data breach is believed to have happened before December 2021, with 90 per cent of the documents "expired".

Coltman said student identification data was now encrypted and has been moved to a more secure server.

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The number of people waiting more than a year for surgery more than doubled last year.

At least four life-saving defibrillators were stolen in Napier in three weeks.

Tumbling carbon prices have forced the Government to look at the ETS.