Group fled when police turned up.

A new financial lifeline is being offered to thousands of Australian students around the country, as free TAFE courses begin rolling out.

Fees will be abolished for anyone studying in areas experiencing major skills shortages, giving a major leg up to the next generation.

Minister for Skills and Training Brendan O'Connor says the move will help many fulfil their life-long dreams.

READ MORE: Queenslanders swelter through heatwave

"There's just such a massive demand for people in your profession," he said.

"One of the best ways to secure employment is to have skills that employers need, that the economy needs.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for many people who may have been locked out of the labour market."

The national skills priority list shows the need is greatest in health and aged care, while demand is also high in the IT sector, traditional trades and agriculture.

READ MORE: Paracetamol pack sizes reduced due to high overdose rates, TGA says

Students enrolling in any of these courses can apply to have their tuition costs reduced to zero, with priority given to First Nations Australians, young people, those out of work and people with a disability

"Those who might have had fees as an obstacle to study, to get the skills they need for the career they want, this gives them that opportunity," TAFE Directors Australia's Jenny Dodd said.

"This isn't just about getting people in, it's about helping people succeed.

Some 180,000 free TAFE positions have been divided up between the states, with more places rolling out in the years ahead.

The $1 billion, 12-month program was announced as part of last October's federal budget.

Sign up here to receive our daily newsletters and breaking news alerts, sent straight to your inbox.

Blue-on-blue exchange came hours before off-duty NZDF soldier shot dead.

Five former employees were affected by the breaches.

OPINION: Why attempt to fix something that was not broken at Waitangi?

A popular children's toy wand is being urgently recalled over fears a missing screw could lead to deadly batteries being accidentally consumed.

The Australian Consumer and Competitor Commission (ACCC) is urging any Aussies who own Yipose Trading Company's 'Light Up Wand' – in snowflake, butterfly and star – to immediately stop using the product and return it to the place of purchase.

"The products do not comply with the mandatory safety standard for products containing button/coin batteries," the ACCC said.

READ MORE: Queenslanders swelter through heatwave

READ MORE: Paracetamol pack sizes reduced due to high overdose rates, TGA says

"The battery compartment does not contain a captive screw designed to ensure the compartment is resistant to being opened by children.

"A battery compartment that does not contain a captive screw can result in the screw being lost. When a battery compartment is not adequately secured, one or more button batteries may be easily accessible."

If young children gain access to button batteries and ingest them, they are likely to "suffer severe internal burn injuries", which can result in serious injury or even death, the ACCC said.

Button batteries are also a dangerous choking hazard to young children.

Sign up here to receive our daily newsletters and breaking news alerts, sent straight to your inbox.

A woman and three teenagers have been charged over a violent brawl involving mothers and sons at a western Sydney shopping centre.

Police confirmed the charges last night in the wake of a video emerging appearing to show three teenagers bashing another on Wednesday afternoon in retaliation for the Monday fight at the Bankstown Central shopping centre.

9News understands the series of events kicked off with a fight between teenage boys in the shopping centre food court, before some of their mothers got involved. 

READ MORE: Queenslanders swelter through heatwave

Video appears to show up to 15 people throwing punches inside St George Bank.

Police said a 52-year-old woman was treated in hospital for a lip injury after the fight.

On Thursday, video emerged of a teenager being put in a headlock while two others punched, kicked and stomped on him about 3.30pm near Condell Park High School.

9News understands a 16-year-old was allegedly ambushed leaving school. 

The boy and his mother made a statement at Bankstown Police Station before he was taken for treatment to what police described as minor injuries.

READ MORE: Paracetamol pack sizes reduced due to high overdose rates, TGA says

The first charges came hours after the Wednesday incident, when a ​​17-year-old boy was arrested in Condell Park and charged with common assault and affray.

Another 17-year-old boy arrested in Kingsgrove yesterday was charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm, assault occasioning actual bodily harm in company and affray.

A 46-year-old woman was charged yesterday morning with assault occasioning actual bodily harm in company, before a 16-year-old was hit with the same accusation later in the day.

A police spokesperson said the charges were all linked to the food court fight but couldn't confirm whether the woman was the mother of any of the boys who'd been involved in the fight.

Three other teens were also handed cautions under the Young Offenders Act.

The two 17-year-olds have already faced the children's court while the 16-year-old is due to appear today.

The woman was scheduled before Bankstown Local Court on Thursday.

Sign up here to receive our daily newsletters and breaking news alerts, sent straight to your inbox.

Sydneysiders have a higher satisfaction with the quality of their life compared to others in global cities but are concerned about the cost of living, according to a new poll.

The Committee for Sydney surveyed more than 1000 people across the city to assess how residents are feeling about their quality of life in 2023.

The results found 83 per cent of Greater Sydney residents were satisfied with their quality of life, compared to New York City (75 per cent), London (76 per cent) and Toronto (64 per cent).

READ MORE: Review into obesity drug prescription by doctors launched

But 85 per cent of all residents are concerned about the rising cost of living.

The data shows 33 per cent of people are commuting to work up to five days a week and 47 per cent are working from home.

There has been a considerable drop in people working from home full time, with only 12 per cent not leaving their house for work compared to 30 per cent in 2022.

READ MORE: Queenslanders swelter through heatwave as wild week of weather ahead

The livability satisfaction data comes as Melbourne has been projected to overtake Sydney in population growth by 2031 or 2032.

The Victorian capital also came 10th in the world's most livable cities index last August, while Sydney did not make the list.

Sign up here to receive our daily newsletters and breaking news alerts, sent straight to your inbox.

As the US and its Canadian partners continue to monitor a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon floating above the northern United States, one question stands out among the rest: Why hasn't it been shot down?

Officials have said that the balloon's path carries it over a "number of sensitive sites" in the US. The balloon – which is the size of three buses – has been seen over Montana, which is home to underground US military intercontinental ballistic missile silos.

But ultimately, officials determined that the potential damage of falling debris outweighed the risk of the balloon itself, which they said does not have the ability to bring in more intelligence than spy satellites in low Earth orbit, which China already uses.

READ MORE: US Secretary of State postpones trip to China after 'spy balloon' spotted over US

"Why not shoot it down? We have to do the risk-reward here," a senior defence official said on Thursday.

"So the first question is, does it pose a threat, a physical kinetic threat, to individuals in the United States in the US homeland? Our assessment is it does not.

"Does it pose a threat to civilian aviation? Our assessment is it does not. Does it pose a significantly enhanced threat on the intelligence side? Our best assessment right now is that it does not.

"So given that profile, we assess the risk of downing it, even if the probability is low in a sparsely populated area of the debris falling and hurting someone or damaging property, that it wasn't worth it."

A US official added on Friday to CNN: "This isn't like Top Gun where it just explodes and doesn't go anywhere. It's large and it's metal, it would put hundreds of Americans at risk."

President Joe Biden was briefed on the balloon's movements and requested options from his military advisers. And while there was consideration to down the balloon while it was over Montana, the advice was to ultimately not to.

Sign up here to receive our daily newsletters and breaking news alerts, sent straight to your inbox.

The Biden administration acted "immediately" to protect against the collection of sensitive intelligence, an official said on Thursday.

But that's not to say that it couldn't be shot down eventually; the senior defence official said on Thursday that the US has "options to deal with this balloon" if the risk it poses changes.

"We have communicated to (Chinese officials) the seriousness with which we take this issue. … But we have made clear we will do whatever is necessary to protect our people and our homeland," the official said.

Chinese officials called the balloon a "civilian airship used for research, mainly meteorological, purposes," which "deviated far from its planned course".

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken postponed his upcoming trip to China in response to the balloon sighting, according to two US officials. The postponement marks a significant new phase in the tensions between Washington and Beijing.

A US official said there were similar incidents with suspected Chinese surveillance balloons over Hawaii and Guam in recent years.

On Thursday, a senior defence official said, "Instances of this activity have been observed over the past several years, including prior to this administration."

The maximum pack sizes of Panadol and other paracetamol medication will be reduced in an attempt to limit the overdose rate among Australians.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has made an interim decision to reduce the pack sizes after a report examined how often serious injury or death occurred from intentional paracetamol overdose.

It found around 225 Australians are hospitalised and 50 people die from overdoses each year.

READ MORE: Queenslanders swelter through heatwave as wild week of weather ahead

Rates of intentional overdose were highest among adolescents and young adults, the TGA said.

The maximum number of capsules or tablets in packs available for general sale in supermarkets and convenience stores will be reduced from 20 to 16.

The maximum size of packs available in pharmacies will be reduced from 100 to 32, however packets of 100 tablets or more will still be allowed under the supervision of a pharmacist.

In a statement on Friday, the TGA said the decision was trying to walk the line between reducing health risks and facilitating access to the medicine for those who need it.

"It intends to strike a balance between minimising the incidence and harm from intentional self-poisoning and access to paracetamol for the treatment of acute and chronic pain," it said.

While the body has not imposed purchase limits in the interim decision, it said retailers should consider doing so.

Sign up here to receive our daily newsletters and breaking news alerts, sent straight to your inbox.

"To further minimise the harm from paracetamol overdose, the TGA is encouraging retailers such as supermarkets to restrict sales to a single pack at a time," it said.

"The TGA is also encouraging consumers to not stockpile paracetamol in the home and to appropriately store paracetamol and other medicines."

The decision was made following public consultation in September and October of 2022, and took into account advice from the Advisory Committee on Medicines Scheduling.

As the decision is just an interim one, it is still subject to further public consultation until March 3, 2023, after which a final ruling will be made.