This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka, your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans in Australia and beyond. SriLankan Airlines is considering expanding its international network to Perth, China and Africa as part of efforts to support the country’s tourism industry. Chief Executive Officer Vipu Misra said the national carrier sees strong potential in these markets and has a key role in developing new air connections to Sri Lanka. Speaking to the media,

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Sri Lankan community informed with timely updates. Sri Lanka is considering mandatory roadworthiness tests for vehicles every 5,000 kilometres or approximately every three months under a proposed plan to improve road safety. Department of Motor Traffic (DMT) Commissioner General, retired Air Marshal Thushara Fernando, said the proposal is still under review and has been referred to the department’s legal division. The system could be introd

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 Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) plans to establish a new integrated logistics hub at the Port of Colombo through a public–private partnership (PPP), following the cancellation of an earlier joint venture proposal. In a statement issued on October 19, the SLPA said the new project would be offered through a competitive bidding process, subject

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka, your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans in Australia and beyond. Motorcycle registration services have begun at the Department of Motor Traffic’s Gampaha District Regional Office, with the service also being introduced in Jaffna, Hambantota, Anuradhapura and Kurunegala. The launch ceremony at the Gampaha office is scheduled for 9.00 a.m. to 9.30 a.m., under the patronage of the Commissioner General of Motor Tra

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 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism has announced a special Saturday service for people who urgently need documents attested. The service will operate on October 17, 24 and 31, 2026, from 8.30 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. Applicants must visit the Consular Affairs Division Head Office in Battaramulla. The Ministry has conf

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 Customs has achieved its 2026 revenue target of Rs. 2,207 billion ahead of schedule, collecting Rs. 2,208 billion by October 13. The achievement marks an earlier target completion than in 2025, when Customs reached its initial revenue goal of Rs. 2,115 billion on November 11. Following that milestone, the 2025 target was increased to Rs.

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 approved a Rs. 5.43 billion programme to strengthen the country’s ability to prepare for and respond to future pandemics and public health emergencies. The Cabinet of Ministers has approved 35 activities under the Integrated One Health Pandemic Preparedness and Response Strengthening Project, following a proposal submitted by the Min

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 Department of Motor Traffic is receiving more than 25 complaints a day involving the fraudulent use of vehicle registration certificates. The Department has urged vehicle owners to keep their registration books secure to prevent criminals from using them for illegal activities. Investigations have found that fraudsters use these docume

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