Exclusive: Australian employees may be more lax about work from home (WFH) expectations in summer, according to a nine.com.au reader poll.

More than half of the 515* respondents think it's OK to clock off early to hit the beach during the warmer months.

One in four also said it's fine to take longer breaks to enjoy good weather while WFH in summer.

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Nearly 40 per cent want companies to introduce more relaxed WFH rules in summer, like allowing staff to work half days on Fridays.

One third said employees should be allowed to work more days from home during summer.

The same amount said it's fine for Aussie employees to work from the beach or another outdoor location when WFH.

"As long as the work is being done why does it matter where it is done?" one respondent said.

Some respondents noted that these privileges should only be extended to workers who have proven they're reliable and get all their work done on time and to a high standard.

But Associate Professor of workplace and business law at the University of Technology, Sydney Giuseppe Carabetta said these habits raise practical and legal concerns.

"For employees working under traditional arrangements, it's risky to assume such freedom without prior approval," he told 9news.com.au.

"If the location compromises productivity or confidentiality, it could breach a company policy or even your employment contract."

He added that though flexible work arrangements are increasingly common, "employees generally can't unilaterally change their schedule".

So clocking off early or taking a longer break in summer isn't wise.

"For employees with set hours, clocking off early without approval could be considered time theft or a behavioural breach," Carabetta said.

"For your typical salaried or award-regulated employees, longer breaks without approval could be seen as a breach of workplace expectations."

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But he wouldn't be surprised to see more Australian workplaces experimenting with or embracing "seasonal flexibility" in the future.

That could look like summer hours of increased WFH allowances in the warmer months to boost morale and retention.

Such approaches would likely only be introduced in sectors where productivity isn't tied to physical presence.

But not everyone is on board.

A significant number of Aussies said that taking liberties with WFH policies in summer is tantamount to "stealing company time".

Of the 515 users surveyed, 35 per cent were against workers clocking off early in summer and almost 60 per cent said taking longer breaks was never OK.

More than 45 per cent also said WFH rules shouldn't change with the weather.

And 54 per cent said it's never OK for Aussie employees to work from the beach or another outdoor location while WFH.

An additional 57 per cent said it would be inappropriate for workers to take work video calls or attend virtual meetings while working outdoors.

"Work means at work, not at the beach or some other location simply because of the day of the week or the season of the year," one said.

A number of respondents said working from public locations like a beach or park could raise privacy concerns, depending on the work being done.

Carabetta agreed.

"Confidentiality is a cornerstone of professional conduct, and outdoor locations—whether it's a beach, café, or park – can pose risks," he said.

"If you're dealing with confidential material, it's best to stick to secure, private locations."

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It's always better to ask for permission than forgiveness when it comes to WFH arrangements, even at relaxed workplaces.

"Acting without approval could lead to disciplinary action or erode trust," Carabetta said.

"That said, many employers are open to flexibility – especially if approached transparently and respectfully and both parties are on the same page."

*The nine.com.au poll, which runs once a fortnight, canvases the views of the nine audience on 9Nation, which is an online community of our readers and viewers.

Have you got a story? Contact reporter Maddison Leach at Google Play.

If those who rule us are not lying awake at night thinking about this, they should be: what do you do about a problem called Trump?

With an unpredictable, abrasive, threatening and manipulative president of the United States, world leaders need masterclasses in Donald management or their countries may suffer.

So, as our PM packs the plane to head to his first real meeting with Mr Trump, he needs a plan.

https://omny.fm/shows/neil-mitchell-asks-why/why-albanese-must-kowtow-to-donald-trump/embed?style=cover

Here's one strategy from a respected American commentator who has been analysing Trump for years.

First, flatter him.

Second, bow the head and treat him like the royalty he admires.

Third, recognise that traditional ties no longer exist.

And fourth, he's a salesman, always remember that.

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James Kirchick, a commentator whose work appears in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, says although Trump admires strength, he responds best to a strategy of admiration and subservience.

He says the fact Anthony Albanese is a left-wing prime minister will not help.

"Flatter him. Do something special for him. The Brits gave him this huge state dinner and the King was there. He loves royalty. He loves being treated like that.

"I wish we had a president who understood that regardless of which leader is in power our allies are our allies for reasons that go beyond that.

"Even though you have a left-wing prime minister it should not inhibit a positive relationship with the United States but unfortunately it does."

Anthony Albanese clearly gives some thought to managing these leaders.

He turned up at 10 Downing Street with a four-pack of Albo Ale as a gift.

Let's hope Kevin Rudd and the diplomatic team don't let that happen at the White House.

Trump doesn't drink.

He lost his brother to alcohol addiction and won't go near it.

Regardless of the gift, it's a crucial meeting with so much uncertainty about relations between the two countries: tariffs, the submarine deal, the defence alliance, and Chinese expansion all need to be discussed.

They are due to meet on October 20.

It has taken too long to organise, which shows where Australia sits on the US agenda.

But the game has changed in many ways for a nation we still see as our defender.

Kirchick spoke on my podcast, Neil Mitchell Asks Why.

"Democratic allies need to understand that simply being a liberal democracy, which used to mean you were an ally because you had the same values, doesn't mean anything anymore.

"The Trump administration doesn't care about those airy fairy romantic things like democracy and liberal values and historical ties.

"The don't care about that. They care about, 'Let's make a deal. What's good for us?'"

EXPLAINED: What to know about Gaza peace plan

Before he's branded as a left-wing part of the "fake news" conspiracy, it must be said Kirchick is seen in the US as a conservative commentator, although he admits voting Democrat recently.

He loathes Nazis and what they stand for but says they have the right to march in the streets.

He is critical of immigration levels.

And he says the people must be armed in case they need to protect themselves from a "tyrannical and authoritarian" government.

But back to Trump management.

Kirchick says:

• He is hugely inconsistent. After there was political violence, he said the country must come together, then soon after called for the destruction of the left.
• He primarily believes in himself.
• He has a deep need for approval.
• He is contradictory – he admires strength but seeks subservience.
• He wants to be remembered for "making America strong" and respected.

And China, which is expanding in the Pacific, lustfully eyeing Taiwan and both duchessing and spying on Australia.

Will the US step in if needed?

KIRCHICK: "Well, he responds to strength in the way that, if you saw the Israeli attack on the Iranian nuclear sites, which was successful in its initial stage, and then he decided, all right, I want to be a part of this. I want to be able to claim credit for it.

"So if you're ever in some kind of spat with the Chinese in the Pacific, you better damn make sure you're doing well.

"If you're not doing well, then he's not going to come in and save you. I mean, he's just not.

MITCHELL: Really? That's frightening to Australia. It is frightening.

KIRCHICK: Look, I was maybe being a little facetious. I would hope in a situation like that, that Donald Trump has people around him, who would be telling him, 'Mr President, it's very important for the United States that we support our allies in this situation. It's good for us. It'll make us look strong. It'll make us respected. And it'll send a message to the Chinese. Don't f— with us.'"

So are the tantrums and absurdly extreme statements tactical or genuine? What do we believe?

"He's a salesman and he always has been. If you look at where his money came from, it's from selling things.

"Like many salesmen, he makes big, grand promises. That's just part of his nature, that's part of his personality.

"And I do think to some extent in his negotiating strategy and he's very open about this, he puts it on the table and his opening offer will be something outrageous, you know, just something totally outrageous."

Finally, although it makes the left shudder, does he really want the Nobel Peace Prize?

"I think he absolutely wants it. He's been saying for a long time that he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize.

"And by the way, I would say he deserves it a lot more than Barack Obama did.

"Barack Obama got it eight months into his presidency.

"He didn't do anything."

Neil Mitchell Asks Why is a Nine podcast posted each Tuesday at 6am.

Dashcam vision has captured the heart-stopping moment an out-of-control truck careered through an Adelaide roundabout, sending concrete rubble flying from its load as it took out power lines and parked cars.

9News spoke exclusively to the truck driver who said he did everything in his power to stop the collision after his brakes failed. 

The truck went through the roundabout in Hazelwood Park yesterday evening, causing extensive damage to vehicles and infrastructure, but remarkably no one was injured. 

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The incident occurred at approximately 6pm on Greenhill Road, known for heavy traffic during peak hours.

Truck driver James Watson said a brake failure was the cause of the incident. 

"I'm trying everything in my power. I'm trying to pull the handbrake, I'm trying to shift gears in the truck, I'm smashing on the brakes with my foot. And I just realised that there was f—ing literally nothing I could do," said Watson. 

He said he tried to avoid a group of parked cars.

"I didn't want to go through 'em, I just hooked the truck to the left and tried to come back in," he said.

Local barber Musa Sharifi narrowly avoided serious injury. 

"The second I got in the car, that truck right here lost control and all the rocks smashed onto the car. Now it's f—ed," said Sharifi, whose car was totalled in the incident. 

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READ MORE: Teen's body was 'compacted in rubbish truck'

Sharifi added, "If I was standing outside for another 10 seconds, I would've been dead."

Watson was unharmed, but left in shock. 

"I'm trying to process it, you know what I mean? It's a bit hard to look back and watch it," he said.

Local business owner Karen Stewart said she could not believe that no one was injured.

Watson went on to buy a lottery ticket after his scare.

This article was produced with the assistance of 9ExPress.

A father-of-three is being remembered as a larger than life character after he died when his boat smashed into a moored yacht in Sydney.

Emergency services rushed to the Parramatta River at Hunters Hill last night when a 900-horsepower vessel crashed into the yacht.

CCTV captured the moment of impact, with the force pushing the yacht forward.

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Shane Florio, 46, and his female passenger, 25, were injured and swam to shore.

Paramedics rushed the pair to the Royal North Shore Hospital. 

Florio died from his critical injuries and the woman was later released. 

Tonight, Florio's heartbroken family told 9News he lived his life to the fullest, adding that he ran a successful demolition business and loved his children.

NSW Police acting Inspector Ryan Spong said the situation was "devastating" for his family.

"These things, when they happen, they have devastating impacts for families, devastating impacts for first responders who have to go deliver these messages to these families, and sometimes, life-long injuries for people," he said. 

READ MORE: 'Breathtaking abuse of the law': Trump sends troops in

The boat, valued at more than $500,000, is now with water police at Balmain.

Spong said there was "extensive damage" to the boat.

"The impact was so severe that it actually immediately sunk the vessel that was on the mooring too," he said.

"So you know that indicates the collision was quite intense."

Police are trying to work out whether speed or alcohol were factors in the crash.

9News understands they have yet to speak with the woman on board. 

DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. Available on the Apple App Store and Google Play.

Affected products should not be consumed.

The man says he was 12 when the woman, who was also a family friend, sexually abused him.

Schools may need to implement a “distance learning programme” if they can not reopen soon.

The damage follows a protest outside his Auckland home last week.

An expert can't determine how a young woman died because her body was crushed in a garbage truck six weeks after she was allegedly murdered, a court has heard.

Marat Ganiev, 53, is accused of killing Isla Bell on October 7, 2024, three days after the 19-year-old was last seen leaving her Brunswick home in Melbourne's north.

Her remains were found at a rubbish tip in the city's southeast on November 19.

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Ganiev faced Melbourne Magistrates Court via video link today, listening through an interpreter for the start of his committal hearing.

Eyal Yaffe, 58, who allegedly helped him dispose of Bell's body, also fronted court charged with assisting an offender.

Ganiev is accused of murdering Bell before 2am on October 7, with CCTV allegedly showing him striking the teen in the kitchen of his St Kilda East apartment.

Prosecutors allege he spent two days cleaning his home before Yaffe came over towing a trailer carrying a black fridge.

The pair was allegedly seen removing a different fridge wrapped in plastic onto the back of the trailer on October 17.

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Yaffe is accused of driving the fridge to a Caulfield South address, while police say Ganiev then moved the appliance multiple times over the course of two weeks.

Ganiev allegedly left the fridge concealed behind other items in a removalist van on October 30, with another resident locating the appliance on November 18.

The man found a bag inside after smelling a foul odour and threw it in the bin, believing it was a dead animal.

Bell's remains were discovered in the Dandenong rubbish facility the next day after her disappearance sparked an emotional missing-person appeal from her family.

Forensic pathologist Hans de Boer told the court today he performed Bell's autopsy but was unable to determine her cause of death due to the advanced state of decomposition.

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There was evidence of injuries including lacerations and fractures, but the expert said he could not ascertain if they occurred shortly before death at the time of death or later on.

When defence barrister Ian Hill KC asked if all of the injuries could have been caused by the compactor in the rubbish truck, Dr de Boer replied: "Absolutely, yes".

Forensic anthropologist Samantha Rowbotham, who also analysed Bell's remains, told the court the injuries happened at or near the point of death, but she could not be more specific about timing.

She said she had not been informed Bell's body was compacted in the rubbish truck before the remains were discovered.

Toxicology reports showed the presence of prescription medication and illicit drugs including MDMA in Bell's system at the time of her death, the court heard.

The committal hearing will continue tomorrow.

Meta and TikTok fronted Parliament’s Education and Workforce select committee on Monday.