At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. In a world-first move, Australia will ban anyone under 16 from creating accounts on major social media platforms starting December 10, 2025. The new Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024 makes it illegal for platforms to allow children under 16 to sign up — even with parental consent. Platforms included in the ban are: Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, X (Twitte

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka , your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans  in Australia and beyond. ලංකා විදුලිබල මණ්ඩලය (CEB) රට පුරා ජනනය වන අතිරික්ත සූර්ය ශක්තිය උපයෝගී කර ගනිමින්, දිරි දීමනා ගාස්තුවක් සමඟ වේගවත් ආරෝපණ පහසුකම් ලබා දෙන විදුලි වාහන (EV) ආරෝපණ මධ්‍යස්ථාන ස්ථාපනය කිරීම සඳහා නව ව්‍යාපෘතියක් හඳුන්වා දීමට සූදානම් වන බව CEB නියෝජ්‍ය සාමාන්‍යාධිකාරී (ව්‍යාපාර සහ මෙහෙයුම් උපායමාර්ග) නොයෙල් ප්‍රියන්ත මහතා පැවසීය. මාධ්‍ය වෙත අදහස් දක්ව

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Millions of Australians along the east coast are preparing for heavy rain, strong winds, and thunderstorms this weekend. The Bureau of Meteorology warns that a developing cold front will bring unsettled weather across much of southeastern Australia from Friday through Saturday. Forecaster Jonathon Howe said thunderstorms could hit areas from southern Victoria and South Australia up to nort

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. The Victorian Government is tightening its underquoting laws to prevent real estate agents from misleading homebuyers with unrealistic price guides. From today, CAV can compel agents to justify the comparable sales they use to set property prices - including key attributes such as a home's age, design, renovation level, size, zoning and location. Agents that fail to maintain appropriate re

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Australia is set to roll out its landmark social media ban for children under 16 from December 10, marking a world-first step in online safety. Under the new rules, nine major platforms — including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Reddit, and Kick — will be classed as “age-restricted platforms.” They must take reasonable steps to block underage users or face fines of up to $49.5 mill

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka , your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans  in Australia and beyond. Australian education continues to be a cornerstone of Sri Lanka’s development, helping shape the skilled workforce needed for its future economy. Speaking in Colombo at the 10th Anniversary of the Monash College–UCL partnership, Australian High Commissioner Matthew Duckworth highlighted education as one of the strongest and most trusted links be

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. A new ARC Research Hub for Protected Cropping has been launched to make Australian farming more sustainable, productive, and climate-resilient. Backed by the Australian Research Council (ARC), the Hub brings together top researchers, growers, and industry leaders to transform the way food is produced. Protected cropping systems—which let farmers grow fresh, high-quality produce year-round

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Australians are becoming more worried about rising prices, with new data showing inflation expectations climbing to 5.2%, up 0.4 percentage points from the previous survey. According to the ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Index, confidence remains weak at 84.5 points, well below the long-term average of 109.3. Rising inflation and unemployment, now at a four-year high of 4.5%, are weigh

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka , your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans  in Australia and beyond. මේ වසරේ මේ දක්වා ශ්‍රී ලංකාව වාහන 220,000 කට වඩා ආනයනය කර ඇති අතර එමඟින් රුපියල් බිලියන 587.11 ක රේගු ආදායමක් උපයා ඇති බවත්, එය 2025 දී ආනයන වලින් රාජ්‍ය ආදායමට විශාලතම දායකත්වයක් සපයන බවත් නිලධාරීන් පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ මාර්ග සහ විධි පිළිබඳ කාරක සභාවට පැවසූහ. පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී විජේසිරි බස්නායක මහතාගේ සභාපතිත්වයෙන් යුත් කමිටුවට ඉදිරිපත් කරන ලද දත්

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Australian households in New South Wales, South-East Queensland, and South Australia will soon enjoy three hours of free solar power every day, even if they don’t have rooftop panels. The federal government’s new “Solar Sharer” scheme will launch in July 2026, allowing homes with smart meters to run appliances, charge electric vehicles, and power up batteries at zero cost during daylight h

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Australians are spending more for the fifth quarter in a row, but the boost isn’t coming from shopping sprees — it’s from everyday essentials. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) says household spending rose 0.2% in September, following a flat August and a 0.4% lift in July. Overall, spending is up 5.1% over the past year, outpacing inflation at 2.7%. But the gains aren’t as good as

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Melbourne is in for a wet week, with up to 45mm of rain expected before the Melbourne Cup. The Bureau of Meteorology says steady rain will continue through Thursday, following a soggy start to the week. Temperatures are forecast to reach a cool 16°C on Monday. In just two hours on Monday morning, Hampton recorded 25mm of rain, while Moorabbin, Frankston, and Viewbank saw between 10–16mm. S

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 ලංකාවේ මතභේදාත්මක මාර්ගගත වීසා පද්ධතියට සම්බන්ධ බාහිරකරණ සහ තාක්ෂණ සමාගමක් වන VFS Global, ව්‍යාපෘතිය විමර්ශනය කරන විගණකාධිපතිවරයා හෝ වෙනත් ඕනෑම අධිකාරියක් සමඟ පූර්ණ සහයෝගයෙන් කටයුතු කිරීමට සූදානම් බව පවසයි. මහජන සම්බන්ධතා ආයතනයක් හරහා නිකුත් කළ නිවේදනයක, VFS Global පැවසුවේ 2024 නොවැම්බර් 7 වන දින ජාතික විගණන කාර්යාලයේ (NAO) සමාලෝචනය සඳහා අ

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Earth has recorded its highest temperature in 125,000 years, according to the 2025 State of the Climate Report, with scientists warning that the planet’s “vital signs” are under extreme stress. The report found record losses in forest cover, soaring fossil fuel use, and unprecedented ocean heat. In 2024, the planet’s average temperature was more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, cros

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka , your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans  in Australia and beyond. දෙමෝදර ආරුක්කු නවයේ පාලම ආලෝකමත් කිරීමේ ව්‍යාපෘතිය මන්දගාමී වී ඇතැයි මධ්‍යම සංස්කෘතික අරමුදල (CCF) ප්‍රකාශ කළේය. මෙය සිදු වූයේ, විදුලි රැහැන් යැවීම සඳහා අවශ්‍ය භූමි ප්‍රවේශය පෞද්ගලික ඉඩම් හිමියන් විසින් අවහිර කිරීම නිසාය. CCF අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජනරාල් ඩො. නිලන් කුරේ මහතා පැවසුවේ, විදුලි බල ට්‍රාන්ස්ෆෝමරය ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීමට අවශ්‍ය විදුලි රැහැන් ගැසීමට ඉඩම්

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Reports of violence and neglect in Victorian childcare centres have sharply increased, rising 32% in the past financial year. The Victorian Commission for Children and Young People received 705 notifications of reportable allegations in 2024–25, up from 534 the previous year. These included 967 separate allegations — 627 of physical violence, 152 of neglect, 78 of sexual misconduct, and 27

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Jetstar, part of the Qantas Group, will begin direct flights between Melbourne and Colombo from 28 August 2026. The airline plans to operate three weekly services using a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which can carry around 300 passengers. A Jetstar team recently met with Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) to finalize coordination and preparations for the new route. The move is expected 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. මාස කිහිපයක ඵලදායී ද්විපාර්ශ්වික සාකච්ඡාවලින් පසුව, ඕස්ට්‍රේලියාව - ශ්‍රී ලංකාව සමඟ අපනයන මූල්‍ය ණය සහන ගිවිසුමක් අත්සන් කර ඇති අතර එහි වටිනාකම ආසන්න වශයෙන් ඕස්ට්‍රේලියානු ඩොලර් මිලියන 60 කි. මෙම ගිවිසුම අද කොළඹ මුදල් අමාත්‍යාංශයේදී නිල වශයෙන් අත්සන් කරන ලදී. මුදල්, සැලසුම් සහ ආර්ථික සංවර්ධන අමාත්‍යාංශයේ ලේකම් ආචාර්ය හර්ෂණ සූරියප්පෙරුම සහ ඕස්ට්‍

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Residents in Melbourne’s west were left stunned after powerful winds — likely from a tornado — tore through suburbs on Sunday afternoon, leaving a trail of destruction. The State Emergency Service (SES) received more than 650 calls for help, with reports of trees uprooted, roofs damaged, and trampolines sent flying. Werribee locals described scenes of chaos. “It ripped off my pergola like

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 ලංකාවේ මතභේදාත්මක ඊ-වීසා පද්ධතිය පිළිබඳ විශේෂ විගණනයකින් බරපතල මූල්‍ය හා ක්‍රියා පටිපාටික අක්‍රමිකතා අනාවරණය වී ඇති අතර - සේවාව කළමනාකරණය කරන සමාගම් විසින් නොගෙවූ බදු වලින් ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් මිලියන 1.4 කට වඩා වැඩි ප්‍රමාණයක් ඇතුළුවය. විගණකාධිපතිවරයාගේ වාර්තාවට අනුව, VFS VF Worldwide Holdings Ltd යටතේ ක්‍රියාත්මක වන GBS Technology Services සහ