A firebombing attack that significantly damaged a Melbourne synagogue has been described as "one of the most evil acts" ever seen.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan made the remarks during a press conference today, where the Australian Federal Police confirmed the fire was being treated "terrorist attack".

The Adass Israel synagogue in Ripponlea in Melbourne's south-east was left gutted after a suspicious blaze on Friday morning, leaving the Jewish community in deep shock.

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AFP Deputy Commissioner Krissy Barrett confirmed the investigation had transitioned into a counter-terrorism investigation.

"This is now a terrorism investigation led by the Victorian joint counter-terrorism team, which includes Victoria Police, the AFP and ASIO joint counter-terrorism teams include the best terrorism investigators in the country, and a Joint Counter Terrorism Team investigation unlocks more powers, more capability and more intelligence," Barrett said.

The declaration will give police extra powers including the ability to stop, search and seize people without a warrant.

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Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton said officers were pursuing three suspects in the case.

"The intelligence that has been gained from that joint management committee meeting has recommended that their belief is that this is likely a terrorist incident that has occurred," Patton said.

Dozens of additional police will patrol places of worship and surrounding streets across the city's south-east following the fire.

Patton also confirmed that a bullet found outside the synagogue had nothing to do with the attack.

Police said last week that two masked intruders were seen spreading accelerant around the building before the fire.

The witness left and police were alerted. Soon after the building was engulfed in flames.

'One of the most evil acts'

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said her thoughts were with the Jewish community throughout the investigation, describing the fire as "one of the most evil acts we've seen".

"This has been an awful, evil, antisemitic, and now we know, confirmed as a terrorist attack," she said during a joint press conference.

"We must remember and continue to hold the community, who is grieving, who suffering, in our hearts and give them all of our support.

"This has to come to an end. We cannot let this conflict overseas continue to be a cloak for behaviour like that."

Speaking on Friday, Rabbi Gabi Kaltmann, the head of a modern Orthodox congregation in Hawthorn, referred to the attack as a "pure hate crime".

"The way this is looking right now this is pure antisemitism. People coming in the wee hours of the morning to a synagogue, breaking windows, throwing fuel on the floors and setting it alight while people are there sitting and learning."

Anyone who witnessed the incident, has dash cam/CCTV footage or information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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But National and Labour are down.

The year is racing to a close, so it's time to get prepared for your Christmas shopping and party planning.

Shopping centres and retailers have all nominated their own special opening hours for the coming days.

From supermarkets to retailers, here is who is open – and isn't – on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's.

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Coles

Generally, all Coles stores will be closed on Christmas Day and open on other days, with specific hours depending on the individual store. Coles stores are all going to be open on Christmas Eve.

Here is the state and territory breakdown for Coles:

Christmas Eve

All Coles stores will be open on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Day (December 25)

All Coles stores closed in all states and territories.

Boxing Day (December 26)

All Coles stores except those in SA will be open.

In SA all metropolitan stores are closed and all regional stores are open.

New Year's Day (January 1)

All Coles stores will be open in all states and territories except for SA.

In SA all metropolitan stores are closed and all regional stores are open.

In WA, Coles Tom Price will be closed, but all other stores will be open.

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Woolworths

Generally, Woolworths stores will be closed on Christmas Day, but all stores around the country will be open Christmas Eve.

Most stores will be open on Boxing Day and through to January 2 – but exceptions do apply so customers are urged to check their individual store's hours.

Christmas Day (December 25)

All Woolworths stores will be closed in all states and territories

Boxing Day (December 26)

All Woolworths stores will be open in NSW, Victoria, Queensland, WA, NT, ACT and Tasmania.

In SA all metropolitan stores will be closed and all regional stores will be open (except Millicent).

New Year's Day (January 1)

All Woolworths stores will be open in NSW, Victoria, Queensland, NT, ACT and Tasmania.

In WA all stores will be open except Northam.

In SA all metropolitan stores will be closed and all regional stores will be open (except Millicent).

Kmart

You can search for your local Kmart's trading hours here. All stores are closed on Christmas Day.

Big W

Over this holiday season, Big W stores will only be closed on Christmas Day.

Potential shoppers were advised to check their local store for exact opening hours.

Liquorland, First Choice Liquor Market, and Vintage Cellars

Generally, all stores will be open for the holiday period, but closed on Christmas Day. In some states, stores will be closed on New Year's Day.

Christmas Day (December 25)

All the bottle shops under these brands will be closed on Christmas Day. Except for a tiny handful of stores in Tasmania and Victoria.

Boxing Day (December 26)

All stores nationwide will reopen on Boxing Day. Except for stores in Alice Springs, and in Queensland, Red Hill and Milton Village will stay closed. A handful of stores in Western Australia will stay closed.

New Year's Eve (December 31)

All stores will be open but shoppers should check online for the hours of their local store.

New Year's Day (January 1)

All stores will be open except some stores in Western Australia.

BWS and Dan Murphy's

Bottle shops under these brands will be open as normal on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Day (December 25)

Almost every store will be closed, except for some select stores in Victoria and Tasmania.

Boxing Day (December 26)
BWS and Dan Murphy's will reopen on Boxing day.

New Year's Eve (December 31)
Dan Murphys will be open until 9pm nationwide, BWS will be open under normal hours.

New Year's Day (January 1)

All stores will be open under slightly reduced hours.

Westfield

Westfield shopping centres will be closed on Christmas Day. For the rest of the holiday period, they will mostly be open with varying trading hours.

Christmas Eve (December 24)

Most Westfield centres will be open until 5pm or 6pm the night before Christmas.=

Christmas Day (December 25)

All stores will be closed.

Boxing Day (December 26)

Across the Public Holidays stores will be open again. Some will be open until 9pm.

New Year's Eve (December 31)

Opening hours are specific to each store, check your local store's trading hours.

New Year's Day (January 1)

In NSW, except for Warringah Mall all centres will be closed. Centres will be closed in the ACT and South Australia. In the other states, stores will be open with reduced hours.

Aldi

The European supermarket will be closed on Christmas Day in all states and territories.

Hours will vary across Christmas Eve, Boxing Day and New Year's Day so Aldi is encouraging all customers to check their website for local trading hours.

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A clever sniffer dog on the NSW mid-north coast has helped identify a new type of koala sub-species which aren't riddled with chlamydia.

Large swathes of the Australian marsupials are famously infected with the sexually transmitted disease (STD) and it's one of the leading causes of koala population decline.

Finding a group of chlamydia-free koalas is rare. However, Max the English springer spaniel struck gold in Coffs Harbour.

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WWF Australia revealed Max, who is trained to sniff out koala excretement, identified a population of 10 koalas on properties in Fernbrook and around the Dorrigo Plateau which appear genetically different to other koalas.

Tests on the poo revealed the koalas found in Fernbrook are also chlamydia-free.

"For a koala researcher this is such an exciting result," Lynn Baker from Canines for Wildlife said.

"We knew the koalas at Fernbrook looked different. They are a lot furrier and darker in colour than their compatriots on the coast. They look like cold weather koalas."

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Baker added: "But if this is a genetically different and chlamydia-free group then it's important that they are protected. 

"There are not many areas left in NSW that have distinct groups of chlamydia-free koalas."

Baker said the team is trying to figure out if there are more chlamydia-free koalas roaming the wild which may be connected to the group in Fernbrook.

The results have also highlighted the importance of reducing logging in state forests to protect the unique Australian marsupials.

A wider survey of koalas in the mid-north coast region found there is a generally healthy population with genetic diversity and low levels of chlamydia.

In NSW, infection rates can be as high as 100 per cent.

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WWF-Australia warns these koalas are in danger if their habitat continues to be logged.

"These surveys provide a picture of a robust, genetically healthy koala population, but that will change very quickly if we allow logging to knock down food trees and sever vital habitat corridors," said WWF conservation scientist Dr Stuart Blanch.

"The NSW Government should halt logging within the proposed national park and engage in sector wide transition planning towards sustainable timber plantations."

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Hamilton teen’s initial prison term was reduced by 60 months due to a range of factors.

Phil Duncan, Stuart Nash, Pita Alexander, Grant McCallum.

John Atkins, a 44-year-old father-of-three, died after he was shot in the head in August.

The average Australian worker earns just shy of $1400 per week, according to fresh employment data.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) found median weekly wages rose modestly by 7.4 per cent from $1300 to $1396 since August 2023.

Average hourly wages also increased to $40, up by just 30 cents from $39.70 in August 2024.

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For part–time workers, the median wage is $691 per week.

Breaking down the data for just full-time workers, the weekly wage was found to be $1700, up $100 from $1600 in August 2023.

The ABS found the median weekly income for Australians has climbed at a faster rate for women over the past five years.

However, male workers in Australia earn $377 more on average per week compared to women.

The median weekly earnings for men in August 2024 is $1577, while women earned $1200.

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The employment data also revealed a slight downward trend in Australians regularly working from home.

It found 36 per cent of employed people usually work at home, down just 1 per cent compared to last year.

"While this was slightly down from 37 per cent in 2023, it was still four percentage points above the pre-pandemic level," ABS head of labour statistics David Taylor said.

"This shows that many of the changes in working arrangements have continued beyond the pandemic."

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Meanwhile, it seems casual work is fast becoming the preferred mode of employment among Aussies.

The ABS found 75 per cent of casual workers in the country actually prefer it that way.

"The higher hourly pay rate was the main reason for almost a quarter of people preferring casual employment," Taylor added.

"For the one-quarter of casual employees who would prefer a non-casual job, the most common reasons were to have paid leave entitlements or have more secure employment.".

Woolworths says the total cost of the recently-resolved strike among workers at four distribution centres in Victoria and New South Wales reached a hefty $140 million.

More than 1500 workers went on strike for about 17 days before the United Workers Union reached an agreement with the supermarket giant on Saturday.

"To date, Australian Food sales have been negatively impacted by approximately $140 million in total (up to December 8) with approximately $90 million incremental since the previous update on Tuesday, 3 December," Woolworths said in a statement.

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"The estimated direct one-off negative impact of this dispute to date on Australian Food EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) is approximately $50 – $60 million, reflecting the impact of lost sales, additional transport and supply chain contingency costs and elevated levels of stock loss."

Woolworths said it was anticipating further losses heading into 2025, due to the time and expense of rebuilding stock levels ahead of the Christmas shopping period.

Shelves had been left bare at some stories with the distribution centres unable to send out goods during the strike.

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"With just over two weeks until Christmas, we are now moving products out of the (distribution centres) and onto supermarket shelves as quickly as possible for our customers," Woolworths Group CEO Amanda Bardwell said.

"We are fully focused on restoring stock levels and getting products to stores where they are needed most, with stock levels to gradually improve as we seek to provide customers with a great shopping experience this Christmas."

The new agreement provides workers with an approximate 11 per cent wage increase over three years, while concerns over performance metrics were also addressed, Woolworths said.

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A police officer has been allegedly hit by a car, and two other officers assaulted after two cars were stolen in Geelong, Victoria.

Police initially responded to reports that a grey Ford Ranger and trailer had been stolen from a property on Barwarre Road in Armstrong Creek about 9.20am.

A short time later, officers sighted the stolen Ford Ranger, driving alongside a stolen black Subaru Liberty, on Surf Coast Highway.

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The officers attempted to intercept the Ford on Peter Street in Grovedale before the Subaru was allegedly driven directly at the police.

A police officer was hit by the car and was taken to hospital with a minor injury.

Another two officers were allegedly assaulted while arresting the female driver of the Subaru and the male driver of the Ford.

The pair suffered minor injuries and were taken to hospital.

An Ararat man and a Norlane woman will be interviewed over the incidents.

Police said a significant amount of allegedly stolen property was located in the Subaru.