Deloitte will partially refund the federal government after admitting to using artificial intelligence in a $440,000 report that contained several errors.

The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) commissioned Deloitte to review its targeted compliance framework and IT system in December 2024, but the report came back littered with mistakes in the references and footnotes.

The report has since been corrected with deleted references and footnotes, corrections to errors and a new reference list.

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A DEWR spokesperson confirmed that the firm will repay the final instalment under its contract over the issue, which will be made public after the transaction is finalised.

University of Sydney welfare academic Chris Rudge was the first to notice more than a dozen mistakes when the report was handed down and published on the department's website in July. 

The report, which is across his area of expertise, contained made-up references that were attributed to his colleagues.

"I was in no doubt, when I read the names of the works, that they were fake because I work in the area and I know my colleagues' work," he said.

"Once I discovered one, I just discovered more and more."

One of the incorrectly referenced works was titled "The Rule of Law and Administrative Justice in the Australian Social Security System".

The original work is called "The Rule of Law and the Australian Constitution".

Rudge said the mistakes contained "all the hallmarks" of AI.

"I cannot understand how a human could create titles of works that don't exist, that don't appear on Google. How would they do that?" he said.

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"I think it's good if it's AI, because to think of a person doing that is almost worse.

"It's very disrespectful to those who have done the research to just not get it right." 

The report was corrected in September, after the mistakes were first reported by the Australian Financial Review in August.

An updated report was reuploaded to the website on Friday, noting a "small number of corrections to references and footnotes" that it said "in no way impact or affect the substantive content, findings and recommendations in the report".

In it, Deloitte also acknowledged that it had used "a generative artificial intelligence (AI) large language model (Azure OpenAI GPT-4o) based tool chain licensed by DEWR and hosted on DEWR's Azure tenancy" in its methodology.

But the firm, which runs its own AI Institute to advise clients and the industry on AI adoption and fluency, declined to confirm whether AI had caused the mistakes.

Instead, a Deloitte spokesperson simply said: "The matter has been resolved directly with the client."

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‘Some of the calls, even now with the passage of time… are distressing to hear.’

Eatery part-owned by Israel Adesanya had claimed Mexican chef stole their taco branding.

Western Australia has experienced record-breaking rain after a downpour broke a record first set in 1939.

A north-west cloudband extending at least 8000km has brought rain to the state as well as parts of South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania.

About 60mm was recorded in Kalgoorlie in WA's Goldfields region in the 24 hours to 9am yesterday, according to Weatherzone

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This made it the heaviest day of October rain since records were first kept in 1939.

The previous record was 45.6mm.

This week's record was almost four times the October monthly average of 15.5mm in a single day.

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According to Weatherzone, October is Kalgoorlie's second-driest month of the year.

Rain started to ease in the area as the cloudband moved eastwards across the country.

The weather system is expected to bring light rain to parts of inland South Australia and New South Wales later this afternoon.

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Family hopes Jayleb-Che Dean, 36, is just ‘off somewhere’ without his phone.

The activist said the demonstrators were ‘not being threatening’.

A decision on introducing local council rates caps is due before December.

A man accused of spraying a busy street with up to 100 bullets, injuring 16 people, has had to settle an advocate argument in his first court appearance.

Artemios Mintzas, 60, allegedly peppered a busy Sydney shopping strip with bullets on Sunday night, leaving one person seriously injured and sparking a shootout with officers.

The incident in Croydon Park, in the city's inner west, plunged residents into an hours-long lockdown after up to 100 bullets were sprayed and bullet holes were left in nearby cars.

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In Burwood Local Court today, a battle broke out between competing lawyers to represent Mintzas.

Solicitor Diana Sabouni indicated she had been communicating with Mintzas and his family since the shooting and was ready to represent him in court.

Barrister Dymphna Hawkins rebuffed her colleague to indicate she, too, had instructions from the alleged shooter.

"Lower the aggro," magistrate Jennifer Price told Sabouni when she protested for a speedy resolution.

Mintzas was eventually brought into the dock handcuffed and with puffy red eyes to confirm his wish for Hawkins to be his legal representative.

"I've asked for Hawkins … to represent me," Mintzas told the court.

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He's accused of engaging in a shootout with NSW Police after officers were allegedly targeted.

While no officers were hurt, more than a dozen people were treated for minor injuries, many of which were caused by broken glass, NSW Police acting Superintendent Stephen Parry confirmed yesterday.

One man underwent surgery and is expected to survive after being shot in the neck while riding in the back seat of a car.

The shots were allegedly fired from the window of a unit above a shop during a nearly two-hour stand-off.

Mintzas was arrested after tactical officers stormed the unit, where they allegedly seized a rifle and ammunition.

Mintzas was taken to hospital for minor injuries and was later taken to a police station to be charged.

He was late yesterday charged with 25 offences, including 18 counts of shooting with intent to murder, as well as possessing an unregistered firearm and unlicensed possession of ammunition.

Mintzas did not apply for bail today.

His case will return to court on December 3.

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The very first supermoon of 2025 is expected to cast its celestial glow across Australian nightskies tonight.

The October full moon – also known as harvest moon –offers a resplendent astronomical view of the moon as it sits at its closest position to our planet.

It will be hard to miss if it is not a cloudy evening.

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This spectacular harvest moon will rise high in the eastern skies just after sunset on the east coast.

The sun will set today at 7.02pm AEDT.

Astrophysicist Dr Laura Driessen from the School of Physics at Sydney University told 9news.com.au the moon will be so bright, it may be hard to see anything else in the sky.

"The moon is going to be really nice and bright, so everyone should be able to see it so long as the sky is clear. It doesn't matter if you're out in the bush or in the city, we'll all get a great view," she said.

"The full moon is so bright that it makes it hard to do any other stargazing. So it's the perfect time to see the moon, but not much else in the night sky.

"It's the ultimate, night-time, natural light pollution."

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But if you're busy tonight and will miss the harvest moon in all its glory, don't fret.

The harvest moon will also be visible tomorrow night (October 8), but it won't be as full.

According to Sky At Night magazine, the harvest moon is also unique this month because it rises each evening at the exact same time.

It's also the closest full moon to the September equinox.

This harvest moon will also be a supermoon, which is when the moon is closest to the earth in its orbit.

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"It is technically a 'supermoon', though that's not an astronomical term," Driessen added.

"The Moon's orbit around Earth is slightly oval/elliptical instead of being perfectly round.

"That means that on one side of it's orbit, the moon is closer to the Earth than the other."

It will be the first of three supermoons we will see for the rest of this year.

On November 4, the 'Beaver' supermoon will make an appearance.

And on December 4, the 'Cold' moon will arrive in the nightsky.

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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he isn't feeling at all nervous about this month's visit to the White House to meet US President Donald Trump.

While some world leaders have been subjected to an Oval Office ambush this year – most infamously Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky – Albanese said he wasn't concerned about his October 20 meeting, pointing to a "quite lovely" letter he received from the Trump administration.

"Not at all," he said when asked if he was nervous about the meeting on Today this morning. 

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"I've had really warm discussions with President Trump and I received a quite lovely letter, I've got to say, of invitation to attend the White House."

While the US under Trump has pressured Australia to increase its level of defence spending, Albanese is expected to receive good defence news ahead of his visit, with a Pentagon review expected to lock in the future of the AUKUS deal, despite earlier concerns the pact might have been on the chopping block.

"Our defence and security relationship is so important through the AUKUS agreements," Albanese said. 

"I've just been in the UK talking with Prime Minister (Sir Keir) Starmer and the Defence Minister (John) Healey and others there as well, about how important that is."

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The prime minister will also be armed with a good-news story of his own making for his trip to Washington, following the signing of a defence agreement with Papua New Guinea that will limit China's ability to gain a military foothold in the largest Pacific Islands nation.

"It's a fantastic deal, as Prime Minister (James) Marape put it in this very corridor here just yesterday, the idea of one fence, two neighbours," Albanese said.

"And it really strengthens the national sovereignty of both of our countries.

"It is our first alliance in more than seven decades, so it's a very big deal.

"It says that should there be a common threat, we will combine our efforts to defend our respective nations and help each other out."

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But ahead of the diplomatic visit, Albanese was also keen to push an economic message as well.

He pointed to the US's trade surplus with Australia – a clear and obvious reminder directed to the White House, where Trump has railed against nations with which Washington has a trade deficit.

"We have an important economic relationship as well," Albanese said. 

"They're major investors here in Australia, America enjoys a trade surplus with Australia."

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