A person is dead after their car went into a waterway in Southland this morning, police say.The person was the sole occupant in the car when it “rolled into a waterway off a road” in Dipton West, 70 kilometres north of Invercargill….

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The Albanese government is planning to overhaul the country's Fair Work Act to make "pay equality" a specific objective by the end of the year.

The legislative reform would make it easier to order wage increases in low-paid female-dominated industries like aged care and early childhood education.

Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke told Today the changes would ensure the Fair Work Commission takes into account the difference between men's and women's pay when considering rules on the rate of pay.

READ MORE: Justice Department releases redacted Mar-a-Lago search affidavit

Not only would it change how the nation's independent wage umpire would decide on pay, but it would also force employers to be more transparent.

The reform would force companies with more than 250 employees to publicly report their gender pay gap.

"There are also decisions that we can make like at the moment in a lot of jobs, there could be contracts where you're not allowed to tell your other worker what's you're earning," he said.

"It's a really common ploy in workplaces where women are being paid less than men.

"We want to get rid of those clauses."

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Burke said, currently, the pay gap between men and women is 14 per cent which is about $250 a week.

"If you want to get wages moving and we do want to get wages moving and we do want to get wages moving, closing that gap between men and women is really important," he said.

Burke acknowledged there will be some pushback from businesses if the reform is pushed through.

"You need to remember though for every business, if you get wages moving across the country, yes, they're paying more on wages but their customers also have more to spend," he said.

"It's not some sort of zero sum game here."

A man and woman have had a "lucky escape" after a car ploughed into their Melbourne home overnight.

Emergency services were called to Turramurra Drive, Rowville, after a car lost control, flipped and crashed into a home about 10.45pm last night.

A man was asleep in the second-story bedroom when he was startled awake as brick debris smashed through the walls onto his bed, police said.

READ MORE: Justice Department releases redacted Mar-a-Lago search affidavit

A woman, who was downstairs, wasn't injured.

The 55-year-old driver was taken to hospital and returned a breath test result of 0.173, more than three times the legal limit.

Police believe speed was a "factor" in the crash.

The driver, a Rowville man, will be interviewed by police "in relation to reckless conduct endangering life and serious injury".

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Relentless rain has snakes hiding in places closer to home, with experts warning of a spike in surprise encounters ahead of peak breeding season.

Australia's snake season generally hits between September and April as they start to venture out looking for food or a mate, but this can be brought forward if the end of winter and start of spring are unseasonably warm.

Heavy rain caused by a La Nina weather system has also added another layer as snakes attempt to find cover after hibernation in schools, houses or home gutters and pipes.

READ MORE: Tracking device attached to invasive python found inside larger, hungrier snake

"When it's raining they'll try hide from it and unfortunately, this is how they can actually end up inside houses, schools, or businesses, trying to hide from the rain," Snake Hunter Mark Pelly told 9News.com.au.

Pelly has been receiving call outs to relocate snakes from Melbourne homes and properties "much earlier than anticipated".

"They're actually popping up in people's backyards," he said.

"They've been resting all winter, and all of a sudden they're starting to emerge."

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Australia is home to the world's most venomous snakes, with approximately 3000 snake bites occurring each year.

Around 300 of these bites receive antivenom, according to The Australian Reptile Park and on average, one or two bites prove fatal.

Pelly has recently been encountering highly-venomous varieties in the city.

"Mostly Eastern Tiger snakes, which is the fifth most venomous snake in the world and Eastern brown snakes which is the second most deadly snake in the world."

The Australian Reptile Park said a venomous snake bite could destroy blood cells, cause blood clots or excessive bleeding and destroy tissue.

Depending on the species of venomous snake, the bite could kill you within 30 minutes.

Snake safety

The Australian Reptile Park said an increase in sightings is expected from now on and that it is important for people to understand how to keep safe.

"Since we're close to the start of Spring, we'd highly suggest brushing up on snake bite first aid," a spokesperson said.

"Other things you can do around the home is reduce rubbish, timber and other scrap piles in the backyard that would create a great hiding place for a snake."

Pelly also said rubbish was a factor in attracting snakes to cities and the surrounds.

"Snakes are one of the endemic animals in Australia that actually can thrive where humans populate."

"Where you have rubbish you have mice and where you have mice, you have snakes," he said.

READ MORE: Australia's own snake island, where 'giant' tiger snakes slither

Snakes don't go out of their way to harm humans and most bites occur when people are trying to catch or kill a snake.

Experts recommend that if you come across a snake, do not approach it or try and catch it yourself – call your local snake catcher instead to keep you, your family and the snake safe.

Clearing yards of long grass where snakes can hide is also recommended.

For more information on how to treat a venomous snake bite click here.

Plunge into the ocean twilight zone and you'll encounter an array of weird and wonderful species like nothing else found on earth.

Fourteen of the 15 boxes recovered from former President Donald Trump's Florida estate earlier this year contained documents with classification markings, according to an FBI affidavit released on Friday explaining the justification for the search of the property this month.

The 32-page affidavit, even in its redacted form, contains additional details about an ongoing criminal investigation that has brought fresh legal peril for Trump just as he lays the groundwork for another presidential run.

It underscores the volume of sensitive government documents located at Mar-a-Lago and reveals FBI concerns that the records were being retained illegally.

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Though the document offers the most substantial description of the investigation, federal officials also redacted significant portions of it to protect the identity of witnesses and to avoid revealing sensitive investigative tactics.

The FBI submitted the affidavit, or sworn statement, to a judge so it could obtain a warrant to search Trump's property. Affidavits typically contain vital information about an investigation, with agents spelling out the justification for why they want to search a particular property and why they believe they're likely to find evidence of a potential crime there. But affidavits routinely remain sealed during pending investigations, making the judge's decision to reveal portions of it all the more striking.

In an acknowledgment of the extraordinary public interest in the investigation, US Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart on Thursday ordered the department by Friday to make public a redacted version of the affidavit. The directive came hours after federal law enforcement officials submitted under seal the portions of the affidavit that they want to keep secret as their investigation moves forward.

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The redactions proposed by the Justice Department are extensive given the sensitivity of the investigation, lessening the likelihood that the document will offer a comprehensive look at the basis for the unprecedented search or significant insights about the direction of the probe. Yet even a redacted affidavit can contain at least some fresh revelations about the investigation, and is likely to help explain why federal agents who had tried for months to recover sensitive government records from Mar-a-Lago ultimately felt compelled to obtain a search warrant.

Documents previously made public show the FBI retrieved from the property 11 sets of classified documents, including information marked at the top secret level. They also show that federal agents are investigating potential violations of three federal laws, including one that governs gathering, transmitting or losing defense information under the Espionage Act. The other statutes address the concealment, mutilation or removal of records and the destruction, alteration or falsification of records in federal investigations.

It's possible that the affidavit, particularly in its unredacted form, could shed light on key unanswered questions, including why sensitive presidential documents — classified documents, among them — were transported to Mar-a-Lago after Trump left the White House and why Trump and his representatives did not supply the entire tranche of material to the National Archives and Records Administration despite repeated entreaties.

READ MORE: 'Deep concern' Trump may have put US intelligence at global risk

It could also offer additional details on the back-and-forth between Trump and the FBI, including a subpoena for documents that was issued last spring, as well as a June visit by FBI and Justice Department officials to assess how the materials were being stored.

The Justice Department had earlier contested arguments by media organisations to make the affidavit public, saying any disclosure could contain private information about witnesses and about investigative tactics. But Reinhart, acknowledging the extraordinary public interest in the investigation, said last week that he was disinclined to keep the entire document sealed and told federal officials to submit to him in private the redactions it wanted to make.

In his order Thursday, Reinhart said the department had made compelling arguments to leave sealed broad swaths of the document that, if disclosed, would reveal grand jury information; the identities of witnesses and "uncharged parties"; and details about the investigation's "strategy, direction, scope, sources and methods."

But he also said he was satisfied "that the Government has met its burden of showing that its proposed redactions are narrowly tailored to serve the Government's legitimate interest in the integrity of the ongoing investigation and are the least onerous alternative to sealing the entire Affidavit."

READ MORE: Trump's kiss of death to impeachment lawyer doesn't fly with voters

New Zealand Police believe a missing Marokopa dad and his three children could be anywhere in the country and might be using fake names.

Phillips, 34, was due to appear in the Te Kūiti District Court at 11am on January 12 on a single charge of causing wasteful deployment of police personnel and resources in relation to a large-scale search for him and his three children, Jayda Jin, Maverick and Ember, in September.

Failing to appear, a warrant was issued for his arrest and the search for Phillips and his children has been going on ever since.

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"Despite a number of land and air searches, and regular discussions with community members who spend time in Marokopa's extensive bush area, we have not located any signs of the family," Waikato West area commander inspector Will Loughrin said.

He said officers were now considering the possibility the family may be outside the wider Marokopa area and urged anyone across the country to come forward.

People should look out for a father and three school-aged children that are new in their community or travelling inter-city on trains, buses or ferries.

The children, now aged six, seven, and nine, would not be attending local schools, he said. People should also report petrol, diesel, food or camping supplies that might have disappeared.

Family has heard nothing

Phillips' family on Thursday said they had heard nothing from him or the children since he disappeared with them. They said it was hard that it had been so long without contact but declined to speak further.

The family had earlier told police he returned to a family home briefly on February 10 to pick up supplies.

However, he failed to reappear in the Te Kūiti District Court on January 12.

He and the children were officially reported as missing by family members on January 18.

In late January, police were made aware of his ute, which had been left parked on Mangatoa Rd near the Mangatoa Track in Waikato.

On February 9, Phillips returned to a family member's home in the middle of the night to take supplies and did not appear to have the children with him.

Since then there have been multiple reports of sightings – most in the Waikato region and all had been followed up without success.

READ MORE: Heavy spring rain forecast for eastern Australia

Appearances may have changed

"We are mindful the photos we have made public to date may now not accurately depict what Tom and the children look like," Loughrin said.

"When Tom Phillips was last seen by family in February, he had a beard and that alone will make him look considerably different than in the photos we have circulated."

The children's appearance would have also changed since they were last seen in January.

"They will be taller; they will have either lost baby teeth or started to get their adult teeth and will likely be wearing their hair in different styles. They could also be using different names.

"If you think you may have seen them, or know where they are, we want the opportunity to follow up that information."

Police continued to have regular contact with their extended family, Loughrin said.

"I want to acknowledge both the children's mother, and Tom's wider family who continue to be living with extreme stress and anxiety."

Last possible sighting was weeks ago

Private investigator Chris Budge, who was donating his services to help the family, said he was informed that the children were spotted on a quad bike near Kiritehere Beach a few weeks ago.

He had been out there and spoken with locals since but had no luck.

Anyone who can assist should contact New Zealand Police and quote file number 211218/5611.

READ MORE: Hidden Trump documents to be made public

The family first made headlines nearly a year ago when Phillips took his children into the bush near Marokopa.

They had last been seen on September 11. Phillips' ute had been found below the tideline at Kiritehere Beach, sparking concerns for their safety.

The family unexpectedly reappeared healthy and alive after 18 days.