At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Millions of Australians will receive higher government payments from September, as fresh inflation data increases concerns about further interest rate rises. Around 5.3 million Australians will benefit from the twice-yearly increase to pensions, JobSeeker, Youth Allowance, rent assistance and parenting payments. The new rates take effect from September 20. Single pension: rises by $36.80 to

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka, your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans in Australia and beyond. At least 160 people have died and hundreds remain missing after devastating flash floods swept through villages along the Nepal–Tibet border. Satellite images suggest the flooding may have been triggered by a large section of Himalayan glacier ice breaking away and sending huge amounts of ice and debris into a river. Australia’s Foreign Minister P

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Australia’s inflation rate eased in July but remained higher than economists expected, adding pressure on the Reserve Bank of Australia. New data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed annual inflation fell to 3.5 per cent, down from 3.8 per cent in June. However, the RBA’s preferred measure, trimmed mean inflation, remained at 3.6 per cent for the second consecutive month. It is n

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka, your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans in Australia and beyond. Sri Lanka is set to receive a US$1 million World Bank grant to help prepare a new project aimed at strengthening nature-based tourism. The 18-month grant will support the preparation of the THRIVE–Nature (Tourism for Heritage, Resilience, Inclusion and Value-driven Employment) project. The initiative will focus on improving tourism destinations an

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Victorian public transport passengers have been paying an extra 1 per cent levy since early 2025 to help fund the Suburban Rail Loop, according to a new Victorian Auditor-General’s Office report. The charge was included in annual fare increases linked to inflation but was not publicly identified as a separate levy. It is expected to raise about $8 billion over 37 years, with around $4.8 bil

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka, your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans in Australia and beyond. Sri Lanka is moving forward with plans to introduce an Air Cargo Community System (ACCS) to make air freight operations faster, more efficient and transparent. The initiative was previously proposed in 2023 but stalled due to a lack of coordination among key stakeholders. It has now been revived with the involvement of government agencies, airline

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Australia could consider a dynamic toll pricing system that changes road charges according to traffic demand, a senior Transurban executive says. Unlike current peak-hour tolls, which apply during set periods, dynamic pricing would allow tolls to rise or fall throughout the day depending on traffic levels. Transurban Victoria general manager Anup Jois said the company already uses the model

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Jetstar has launched its first direct service between Melbourne and Colombo, becoming the first Australian airline to operate the route. The inaugural flight departed Melbourne at 12.30pm on Tuesday on a refurbished Boeing 787. The flight takes about 10 hours and 20 minutes. The return service leaves Colombo at 7.50pm and reaches Melbourne the following morning after about 9 hours and 40 mi

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. More than half of international graduates working in Australia are employed below their qualification level, according to a federal government study highlighting a gap between education and the jobs market. The Jobs and Skills Australia report found many international graduates were also working outside their field of study and earning less than Australian graduates with similar qualificati

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka, your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans in Australia and beyond. කොළඹ සහ තදාසන්න ප්‍රදේශ ආවරණය වන නව විදුලි දුම්රිය ව්‍යාපෘතියක් ලබන වසරේ ආරම්භ කිරීමට අපේක්ෂා කරන බවත්, එහි මූලික සැලසුම් කටයුතු මේ වන විට අවසන් කර ඇති බවත් පළාත් සභා හා පළාත් පාලන නියෝජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය රුවන් සෙනරත් මහතා පැවසීය. යෝජිත කොළඹ විදුලි දුම්රිය ව්‍යාපෘතිය මරදානෙන් ආරම්භ කර කොළඹ මහානගර කලාපයේ ප්‍රධාන ප්‍රදේශ ආවරණය කිරීමට සැලසුම් කර ඇති අතර, එම

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Large parts of southern Australia are set for another round of heavy rain this week, with already saturated areas facing an increased risk of flooding. The Bureau of Meteorology says South Australia will be among the first areas affected on Monday. Parts of the Eyre and Yorke peninsulas and the Adelaide Hills could receive 30–50mm of rain, with locally heavier falls possible. The flood risk

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. South Australia is facing a major escalation in its bird flu outbreak after more than 1,000 crested terns died in three mass mortality events on remote offshore islands. The deaths were recorded on Troubridge Island, off Yorke Peninsula, and North Page and South Page islands, near Kangaroo Island. Premier Peter Malinauskas said the deaths were a serious development. South Australia has now

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Origin Energy has revealed that up to 60 customers had their full bank account numbers accessed during a major cyberattack in July. The breach affected around 900,000 current and former customers. Information accessed included names, addresses, dates of birth, phone numbers and other personal details. For some customers, the stolen information also included the last four digits of a credit

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka, your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans in Australia and beyond. Veteran Sri Lankan singer Nanda Malini has died at the age of 82, according to family sources. She passed away at her home in Nawala. Born on August 23, 1943, in Lewanduwa, Aluthgama, Nanda Malini showed her musical talent from an early age and went on to become one of Sri Lanka’s most respected vocalists. She began her musical journey after movin

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. More than 5.3 million Australians will receive higher social security payments each fortnight from September 20, as payments are adjusted for inflation. The maximum Age Pension will increase by $36.80 to $1,237.70 per fortnight for singles, while couples will receive up to $1,866, an increase of $55.60. JobSeeker payments for people without children will rise by $16.20 to $833.70 per fortni

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka, your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans in Australia and beyond. Sri Lanka is preparing to introduce a fully digital system for paying traffic fines from September, allowing motorists to settle fines for motor vehicle offences through online platforms. The system is part of the government’s wider digital transformation programme. Officials say the necessary arrangements are already in place for the new payment

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Australia’s combined federal, state and territory debt is forecast to reach $2.034 trillion by 2029-30, putting growing pressure on government budgets and taxpayers. New analysis from the independent Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) shows state and territory debt could rise to $770.9 billion by the end of the decade, while Commonwealth debt is expected to reach about $1.2 trillion. Interes

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Property prices across regional Australia fell 0.1 per cent in the three months to July, as the national housing slowdown began to affect areas outside the major cities. New data from Cotality shows the regional decline was modest compared with a 2.5 per cent fall across the combined capital cities over the same period. Three interest rate increases since the start of 2026, along with propo

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka, your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans in Australia and beyond. ශ්‍රී ලංකා සංචාරක සංවර්ධන අධිකාරිය (SLTDA) විසින් නිකුත් කළ නවතම දත්ත අනුව, අගෝස්තු මාසයේ පළමු දින 16 තුළ සංචාරකයන් 113,307 දෙනෙකු ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට පැමිණ තිබේ. මෙම කාලසීමාව තුළ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට වැඩිම සංචාරකයන් පිරිසක් පැමිණ ඇත්තේ ඉන්දියාවෙනි. ඒ අනුව, ඉන්දීය ජාතිකයන් 25,355 දෙනෙකු මෙරටට පැමිණ ඇති අතර, එය සමස්ත සංචාරක පැමිණීම්වලින් ආසන්න වශයෙන් 22%ක් වේ. මේ

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Australia is heading into a higher-risk bushfire season, with most states and territories expected to face increased fire danger this spring. The latest seasonal outlook from the Australian and New Zealand Council for Fire and Emergency Services (AFAC) shows elevated risk across every jurisdiction except the ACT. Dry conditions across parts of eastern Australia and heavy vegetation growth i