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

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

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. 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 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 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

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

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 Cabinet of Ministers has approved plans to install 12 automated passenger clearance gates at Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) to speed up immigration and passenger clearance procedures. The government had previously approved the purchase of four automated gates in May 2025. Following the continued increase in international passenger tr

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. The Department of Immigration & Emigration of Sri Lanka has revised the eligibility criteria for dependents applying for dual citizenship, introducing a strict age threshold that takes effect on October 1, 2026. According to a special notice issued by the Consulate General of Sri Lanka in Melbourne, Australia, on September 29, 2026, only unmarried children under the age of 21 will be eligib

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka, your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans in Australia and beyond. Kahawatte Plantations PLC (KWPL) and Australia’s Market Development Facility (MDF) have completed a new coffee processing centre and smallholder farmer network aimed at improving the quality and market opportunities of Sri Lankan coffee. The initiative marks KWPL’s expansion into specialty coffee alongside its established tea, rubber and cinnamon

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Sri Lanka has been named among the top 10 fastest-improving travel and tourism economies in the world, according to the World Economic Forum’s Travel & Tourism Development Index 2026. The recognition highlights Sri Lanka’s growing competitiveness as the global tourism industry enters a new phase of expansion. The World Economic Forum reported that international tourist arrivals reached a re

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 total export earnings have exceeded US$12 billion during the first eight months of 2026, according to the Export Development Board (EDB). Export revenue from January to August increased by 4.26 per cent compared with the same period last year. Sri Lanka earned US$11.52 billion from exports during the first eight months of 2025. The lat

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka, your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans in Australia and beyond. රියැදුරු බලපත්‍ර ලබා ගැනීම සඳහා අවශ්‍ය වන වෛද්‍ය සහතික නිකුත් කිරීම සඳහා නව ඩිජිටල් පද්ධතියක් හඳුන්වාදීමට පියවර ගෙන තිබේ. මෙම නව පද්ධතිය හෙට සිට ක්‍රියාත්මක වන බව ජාතික ප්‍රවාහන වෛද්‍ය ආයතනයේ සභාපති මහාචාර්ය ක්ලිෆර්ඩ් පෙරේරා මහතා සඳහන් කළේය. නව ක්‍රමවේදය යටතේ ඕනෑම දුරකථන ජාලයක් ඔස්සේ වෛද්‍ය පරීක්ෂණ සඳහා දිනයක් හා වේලාවක් වෙන්කර ගැනීමට පුද්ගලයන්ට අ

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 exploring how citizens living overseas could be given the opportunity to vote in future elections, with international election experts and regional officials sharing their experiences at a conference in Colombo. The event was jointly organised by the Election Commission of Sri Lanka and the International Foundation for Electoral Syste

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 economy expanded by 4.2 per cent in the second quarter of 2026, slowing from the 5.0 per cent growth recorded during the same period last year. The latest economic data shows mixed performance across key sectors. Industrial activity grew 7.3 per cent and the services sector expanded 2.7 per cent, while agriculture contracted by 2.3 per

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 Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) and the Law Council of Australia have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen cooperation between the two countries’ legal professions. The agreement was signed in Seoul, South Korea, on the sidelines of the 39th LAWASIA Conference. BASL President Rajeev Amarasuriya and Law Council of Austra