The Albanese government has scrapped a rule requiring local councils to hold citizenship ceremonies on Australia Day due to "operational" reasons. Today's changes have repealed rules introduced by former prime minister Scott Morrison in 2019 which he claimed would stop councils from "playing politics with Australia Day". Immigration Minister Andrew Giles revealed that Labor will now allow local councils to hold ceremonies three days before or after the 26th of January, in what was described as a "pragmatic" decision to make processing more efficient.
The European Union have slapped Russia with a series of new sanctions in the closing hours of a summit in Brussels. E-U leaders have come to an agreement on a package of sanctions which will blacklist nearly 200 additional people as well as block investment in Russia's mining industry in response to their continued invasion of Ukraine. These sanctions come after an earlier announcement in the summit, pledging an additional 18 billion euros in financing for Ukraine. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy addressed the leaders via video-link, thanking them for their ongoing support.
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners has called on government to help GPs improve mental healthcare in the bush so that no patients are left behind.
It comes following James Cook University releasing a new study showing that patients living outside of Australia’s cities experience higher rates of attempted and completed suicide, worse mental health and greater barriers to accessing mental healthcare. President of the Royal Australian college of GP's Dr Nicole Higgins says improving mental healthcare outside of metro areas is crucial.
Cancer screening increases survival rate Credit: WQIO
The earlier that pre-cancer or cancer is detected, the more and less invasive treatment options will be available to you. We do now achieve on average relatively high survival for cervical cancer in Australia of about 75 per cent at five years overall. So that's obviously higher than some cancers.
In fact, the cervical cancer death rate has fallen by half, since Australia’s National Cervical Cancer Screening Program was introduced in 1991. Professor Canfell says Australia is now a global leader in the detection and treatment of cervical cancer.
SpaceX is launching a pioneering NASA water-monitoring satellite this evening [with two Australian experts playing a key role in the scientific mission. The Surface Water and Ocean Topography satellite, will be used to survey nearly all the water on the surface of Earth for the first time.
