At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. The NSW Government has stepped in to oversee the planning assessment of the City of Sydney’s proposed Town Hall Square, a $94 million project aimed at creating a major public gathering space in the CBD. NSW Planning Minister Paul Scully has accepted a recommendation from the Independent Planning Commission (IPC) to classify the proposal as a State Significant Development (SSD). This means t

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 Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake says the government plans to reduce Value Added Tax (VAT) rates over the next two to three years to ease the financial burden on the public. Speaking at a ceremony at Temple Trees on Thursday (October 8), where appointment letters were presented to 1,540 newly recruited Grama Niladhari officers, the Pr

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will continue accepting credit card payments for tax obligations until June 30, 2027, following discussions with the government and the provision of transitional funding. The extension gives individuals and businesses more time to prepare for alternative payment arrangements. The ATO said it would continue working with relevant stakeholders to identify o

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Brimbank, Monash and Hume councils are calling for stronger action to reduce gambling harm ahead of the November 2026 Victorian state election. The councils, together with the Alliance for Gambling Reform, are urging all political parties and candidates to support two key measures: mandatory carded play with fixed loss limits, and reduced poker machine operating hours, with venues closing b

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 විදේශ සේවා නියුක්ති කාර්යාංශය (SLBFE) අනුව, මෙම වසරේ පළමු මාස නවය තුළ ශ්‍රී ලාංකික විදේශ රැකියා අපේක්ෂකයින් 211,666 දෙනෙකු විදේශ රැකියා සඳහා පිටත්ව ගොස් තිබේ. එම පිරිසෙන් 141,916 දෙනෙකු තමන්ගේම මාර්ග ඔස්සේ විදේශ රැකියා සඳහා පිටත්ව ගොස් ඇති අතර, 69,750 දෙනෙකු විදේශ රැකියා නියෝජිතායතන හරහා විදේශගත වී තිබේ. විදේශගත වූ පිරිස අතර පිරිමි ශ්‍ර

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. More than 25,000 cat and dog lovers are expected at the Melbourne Showgrounds this month for the 2026 Melbourne Cat Lovers Festival and Dog Lovers Festival. The two-day event will be held on Saturday, October 17, and Sunday, October 18, bringing together pet owners, animal lovers, breeders, experts, retailers and adoption groups. A major attraction at the Cat Lovers Festival will be interna

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 has imported more than 800,000 vehicles worth around US$3.8 billion since vehicle import restrictions were eased in 2024, Deputy Minister of Economic Development Nishantha Jayaweera told Parliament. The Deputy Minister said Letters of Credit (LCs) worth US$1.9 billion were opened during 2024 and 2025. A further US$1.69 billion in LCs had

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Australia Post has announced its 2026 Christmas sending deadlines, urging Australians to post gifts and parcels early to avoid delays during the busy festive season. Millions of parcels are expected to move through the postal network during November and December, with international shipments requiring significantly earlier cut-off dates than domestic deliveries. Domestic Christmas Deadlines

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Two Sri Lankan researchers have been selected among the 13 national finalists for FameLab Australia 2026, highlighting the growing contribution of Sri Lankan talent to Australia’s STEM sector. Shanelle Tennekoon, a PhD candidate at Curtin University in Western Australia, and Nirmani Dassanayake, a PhD researcher at the University of Technology Sydney, were chosen from hundreds of applicants

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka, your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans in Australia and beyond. The Australia Women’s cricket team is set to tour Sri Lanka in December 2026 for a three-match ODI series. The matches will be played in Dambulla and will count towards the ICC Women’s Championship 2025–2029. The Australian squad is scheduled to arrive in Sri Lanka on 10 December 2026, ahead of the series. The tour will provide both teams with an

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka, your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans in Australia and beyond. The Hambantota International Port (HIP) has surpassed one million TEUs in cumulative container throughput since new quay cranes were introduced in 2025. According to Hambantota International Port Group (HIPG), the port handled 428,036 TEUs in 2025 and a further 574,196 TEUs in 2026 so far, bringing the combined total to 1,002,232 TEUs. HIPG CEO Wi

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. A broad group of Australian industry, business, community, multicultural, regional and migration organisations is calling for a National Migration Summit to develop a long-term plan for Australia’s migration system. The call follows a week of competing proposals on migration, including calls to reduce temporary migration and cut Australia’s humanitarian intake. The groups say the debate sho

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Sri Lankan community informed with timely updates. ශ්‍රී ලංකා සංචාරක සංවර්ධන අධිකාරිය (SLTDA) නිකුත් කළ නවතම දත්ත අනුව, 2026 සැප්තැම්බර් මාසයේදී ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට පැමිණි විදේශීය සංචාරකයින් සංඛ්‍යාවේ සුළු පහළ යාමක් වාර්තා වී තිබේ. එම මාසය තුළ ජාත්‍යන්තර සංචාරකයින් 158,557 දෙනෙකු ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට පැමිණ ඇති අතර, එය 2025 සැප්තැම්බර් මාසයට සාපේක්ෂව 0.26%ක අඩුවීමක් බව ශ්‍රී ලංකා සංචාරක සංවර්ධන අධිකාරිය සඳහන් කළේය. සැප්තැම්බර් මාසයේදී ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට සංචාරකයි

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 Lankan swimmer Akalanka Peiris has produced an outstanding series of performances at the Australian Nationals, setting three new Sri Lankan national records in two days. On Thursday, October 1, Peiris broke the national record in the Men’s 50m Backstroke twice in the same day. He first clocked 24.45 seconds in the heats, improving his own prev

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Millions of people across south-east Australia are facing several days of heavy rain and stormy weather as a low-pressure system moves through the region. The system is expected to develop over south-western New South Wales on Friday before moving towards Victoria on Saturday. Parts of western NSW could experience severe thunderstorms, with damaging winds and large hail possible. Victoria i

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Sri Lankan community informed with timely updates. Sri Lanka’s external current account returned to a US$133 million surplus in August 2026, after recording deficits for four consecutive months, according to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL). The improvement was supported by stronger foreign currency inflows, particularly from Sri Lankan workers overseas. Workers’ remittances rose 10 per cent year-on-year to US$749 million in August, pro

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. A major rain and storm system is moving across south-east Australia, with heavy rainfall and thunderstorms expected to increase the risk of flooding over the next 48 hours. The wet weather follows an exceptionally dry September. Melbourne recorded just 18mm of rain last month, but received about 20mm in only one hour on Thursday. More rain is expected as tropical moisture feeds into a slow-

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 and Australia have concluded the sixth round of Senior Officials Talks and the fourth round of the Strategic Maritime Dialogue, with both sides agreeing to strengthen cooperation across several key areas. The talks were held in Colombo on September 21, 2026, according to Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry. The discussions were co-chaired by Sa

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’s inflation rate is expected to remain around 8 per cent through the rest of 2026 and into early 2027 before gradually easing towards the Central Bank’s 5 per cent target after the second quarter of 2027. Central Bank Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe said inflation and other economic risks would continue to be closely monitored as domestic

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Australia and New Zealand could move closer to passport-free travel, with New Zealand’s National Party proposing a trial if it returns to government. The proposed system would be introduced ahead of the 2028 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, which Australia and New Zealand will jointly host. Under the plan, eligible travellers would submit their passport details and digital travel declaration throug