At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Australia’s housing market slowdown is spreading, with home values recording their largest monthly decline in more than three years. Property data firm Cotality reported national dwelling values fell 0.4 per cent in June, led by sharp drops in Sydney (-1.2 per cent) and Melbourne (-1 per cent). Brisbane and Perth continued to grow but at a much slower pace, while Adelaide remained unchanged, showing weaker momentum across most capital cities. Cotality research head Gerard Burg said rising costs, higher interest rates, weaker buyer confidence and recent tax changes had combined to put pressure on the market. He said affordability challenges were already affecting demand before the Reserve Bank’s latest rate increases added further pressure. The national market is now estimated to have peaked in March, with values falling 0.7 per cent over the June quarter. Other market data also showed declines, with PropTrack recording a 0.3 per cent fall in June, marking the third consecutive monthly drop. Despite the downturn, some markets remain supported by limited housing supply. Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide continue to have fewer homes available for sale, helping prevent a major price correction. Sydney and Melbourne, however, are facing greater pressure as more properties enter the market and buyers become more cautious. Economists say upcoming tax changes have also created uncertainty, with some investors delaying decisions while they assess the impact. Developers are also feeling the strain, with higher construction costs, expensive financing and weaker prices making new projects harder to deliver. Industry figures say demand remains strong, but many buyers are struggling with affordability after recent interest rate increases. Source : ABC News Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka – the leading platform for news for Australians.

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Almost one million higher-income Australians could be hit with an extra tax bill for not holding private hospital insurance. New analysis shows the number of people paying the Medicare Levy Surcharge (MLS) is rising as more Australians move above the income threshold. For the 2025–26 financial year, the surcharge applies to singles earning more than $101,000 and families earning above $202,000. It adds an extra 1 to 1.5 per cent tax on a person’s full taxable income, on top of the standard 2 per cent Medicare levy. For example, someone earning $200,000 could face an additional $3,000 tax bill if they do not have eligible private hospital cover. ATO figures show 885,087 Australians paid the surcharge in 2023–24, with the number expected to approach one million this financial year. Financial experts say some taxpayers may find basic private hospital cover cheaper than paying the surcharge. The average cost of a basic policy across Australia is around $993 a year, according to Canstar analysis. Basic policies generally provide limited hospital cover, while higher levels such as bronze cover offer access to more health services. Experts also warn that MLS income calculations can include factors such as voluntary super contributions and fringe benefits, meaning some people may exceed the threshold even if their salary appears lower. Australians approaching the income limit are being encouraged to review their health cover options before tax time to avoid unexpected costs. Source : 9 News More updates to come on AusNewsLanka.

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka, your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans in Australia and beyond. සෞඛ්‍ය බලධාරීන් පවසන පරිදි, පවතින වැසි සහිත කාලගුණය රෝගය පැතිරීමට තවදුරටත් හේතු වන බැවින්, ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ඩෙංගු රෝගීන්ගේ තියුණු වැඩිවීමක් දක්නට ලැබේ. ජුනි මාසය වන විට පමණක් ඩෙංගු රෝගීන් 19,318 ක් වාර්තා වී ඇති අතර, මේ වසරේ මේ දක්වා වාර්තා වී ඇති මුළු රෝගීන් සංඛ්‍යාව 53,159 දක්වා ඉහළ ගොස් ඇති බව ජාතික ඩෙංගු පාලන ඒකකය පවසයි. මෙය නිකුත් කරන ලද නවතම වාර්තාවෙන් තහවුරු වූයේ වසර ආරම්භයේ සිට ඩෙංගු රෝගයෙන් මරණ 31 ක් සිදුවී ඇති බවයි. රට පුරා සෞඛ්‍ය වෛද්‍ය නිලධාරී (MOH) කොට්ඨාශ 124 ක් අධි අවදානම් සහිත ඩෙංගු කලාප ලෙස හඳුනාගෙන ඇත. වසරේ මුල් මාස පහ තුළ මාසික ඩෙංගු රෝගීන් 10,000 ට වඩා අඩු වුවද, ජුනි මාසයේදී ආසාදන සංඛ්‍යාව නාටකාකාර ලෙස ඉහළ ගිය අතර මාසයේ මුල් දින 28 තුළ රෝගීන් 19,318 ක් වාර්තා විය. වැඩිම ආසාදන සංඛ්‍යාවක් වාර්තා වී ඇත්තේ බස්නාහිර පළාතෙන් වන අතර, රෝගීන් 27,833 ක් වාර්තා වන අතර එය රටේ මුළු ඩෙංගු රෝගයෙන් 52.36% කි. සෞඛ්‍ය බලධාරීන් මහජනතාවගෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටින්නේ තම වටපිටාව පිරිසිදුව තබා ගැනීමෙන් සහ මදුරු කීටයන් සහ රූකඩ වර්ධනය විය හැකි ජලය එකතැන පල්වීම ඉවත් කිරීමෙන් මදුරුවන් බෝවීම වැළැක්වීමට වහාම පියවර ගන්නා ලෙසයි. මේ අතර, බෝපේ-පෝද්දල ප්‍රාදේශීය සභාව ඩෙංගු වැළැක්වීමේ ප්‍රයත්නයන්හි කොටසක් ලෙස ප්‍රජා පිරිසිදු කිරීමේ ව්‍යාපාරයක් සංවිධානය කර තිබුණි. ඩෙංගු පැතිරීම මැඩපැවැත්වීම සඳහා ගල්කිස්ස පොලිස් මූලස්ථානයේ නිලධාරීන් 100 කට ආසන්න සංඛ්‍යාවක් ප්‍රධාන පොලිස් පරීක්ෂක සුමේධා විමලගුණරත්නගේ අධීක්ෂණය යටතේ පිරිසිදු කිරීමේ ව්‍යාපාරයකට සහභාගී වූහ. Source : Ada Derena News Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka – the leading platform for news for Sri Lankans.

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Amazon is facing legal action in the Federal Court after Australia’s consumer watchdog accused the company of using unfair contract terms to introduce ads on Prime Video without offering refunds to affected subscribers. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) claims Amazon changed the service for more than 850,000 annual Prime subscribers in 2024, moving them to an ad-supported version without providing a refund for the remaining part of their prepaid subscription. The changes were announced in 2023 and took effect from July 2, 2024. Customers who wanted to continue watching without ads were required to pay an extra $2.99 per month. The ACCC alleges Amazon’s contracts allowed the company to change the service conditions without giving customers enough protection or compensation. The watchdog says the terms created an unfair balance between Amazon and consumers. ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said businesses must ensure subscription agreements are fair and transparent for customers. The regulator is seeking penalties, refunds or other compensation for affected customers, along with additional legal orders. The case also involves Amazon’s US parent company, which the ACCC alleges was involved in the decision to introduce advertising in Australia. The action is one of the first major cases under updated unfair contract term laws, which apply to agreements made or renewed from November 2023. The ACCC says subscription services will remain a key area of focus. Source : Variety News Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka – the leading platform for news for Australians.

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. More Australians are choosing to go without private hospital insurance and pay the Medicare levy surcharge instead. New figures from the Australian Taxation Office show the number of people paying the surcharge has increased by 15 per cent in the past year and 74 per cent over three years. The surcharge applies to higher-income earners who do not have private hospital cover. It adds an extra 1 to 1.5 per cent of their income on top of the standard Medicare levy. From July 1, the income threshold will rise from $101,001 to $105,001. However, with the average full-time salary now around $106,950, more workers could fall into the surcharge bracket. People earning above $105,000 without hospital cover will pay at least about $1,050 a year. Those on higher incomes will face larger costs, with the top rate reaching 1.5 per cent for earners above $164,000. Analysis from Canstar suggests some Australians may save money by taking out basic hospital cover, with some entry-level policies costing less than the average surcharge. However, cheaper policies often provide limited benefits. Health insurance premiums also increased by an average of 4.41 per cent in April, making higher-level policies harder for many households to afford. Gold hospital cover, which includes services such as pregnancy and birth, can cost thousands more each year compared with lower-tier options. Experts say many Australians are now weighing up whether paying the surcharge or keeping private health cover offers better value, as rising living costs continue to pressure household budgets. Source : 9 News Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka – the leading platform for news for Australians.

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) පවසන පරිදි, 2026 ජනවාරි 01 සිට ජුනි 21 දක්වා කාලය තුළ ශ්‍රී ලංකාව සංචාරකයින් 1,104,354 ක් පැමිණ තිබේ. ඉන්දියාව 281,418 ක් පැමිණ ඇති අතර, එක්සත් රාජධානිය (104,751) සහ රුසියාව (76,963) දෙවන ස්ථානයේ සිටී. ජුනි මාසයේ මේ දක්වා සංචාරකයින් 82,332 ක් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට පැමිණ ඇති අතර, ඉන්දියාව, එක්සත් රාජධානිය සහ චීනය ප්‍රමුඛතම සංචාරකයින් ලෙස නැගී සිටියි. Source : The Morning News More updates to come on AusNewsLanka.

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Western Australia is preparing for a wet and windy end to the week as a cold front brings heavy rain, storms and strong winds. After a short period of clear weather, conditions are expected to turn on Friday morning, with further rainfall and windy weather continuing into the weekend. Meteorologists say a low-pressure system linked to the cold front will bring cooler temperatures, showers and possible thunderstorms across southern WA. Strong winds are expected, with Perth potentially seeing gusts of up to 60km/h. Areas between Bunbury and Margaret River could experience stronger gusts above 80km/h. Large coastal swells of up to six metres are also forecast. The wet weather will not be limited to WA, with parts of eastern Australia also expecting showers over the coming days. Rainfall totals of around 10–20mm are possible before conditions improve next week. Queensland’s inland regions may also see rain and thunderstorms as another weather system develops. Friday Forecast: 🌧️ Sydney: Cloudy with showers, 12°C–17°C 🌫️ Melbourne: Foggy morning, cool day, 7°C–14°C 🌦️ Brisbane: Partly cloudy with possible showers, 13°C–20°C 🌫️ Canberra: Foggy start, clearing later, 3°C–14°C ☀️ Adelaide: Mostly sunny, 8°C–16°C ☀️ Hobart: Cool and mostly sunny, 3°C–12°C 🌧️ Perth: Wet and windy with possible storms, 9°C–18°C ☀️ Darwin: Sunny and warm, 21°C–32°C Source : Sky News Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka – the leading platform for news for Australians.

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Sri Lankan community informed with timely updates. Wellness travel is moving beyond traditional spa getaways. A new report shows more travellers are now prioritising full wellness experiences over standard holidays focused on relaxation alone. The State of Retreats 2026 report by BookRetreats.com, based on a survey of 1,040 US travellers, found that 49 per cent plan to spend on a wellness retreat this year. That places wellness retreats ahead of gym memberships, supplements and spa treatments. Global demand is rising fast. The Global Wellness Institute expects wellness tourism to reach US$1.4 trillion by 2027. Sri Lanka leads global growth BookRetreats.com ranked destinations based on rising interest, and Sri Lanka came out on top for 2026, recording a 100 per cent increase in demand. The country’s appeal is driven by its long-standing Ayurvedic wellness traditions, which date back more than 2,000 years. It also remains relatively affordable, with short wellness retreats starting from about US$372. Recent visa changes have added to its appeal. From May 2026, Sri Lanka waived visa fees for travellers from 40 countries, saving families up to US$200 before arrival. Year-round beach weather, thanks to alternating monsoon seasons, also makes it a consistent destination. Visitors can also combine wellness stays with wildlife experiences, including elephants and whale watching. Other trending destinations Asia features strongly in the list. Nepal ranked sixth with a 52 per cent rise in interest, driven by yoga and hiking retreats. Thailand came seventh, up 48 per cent, supported by its strong spa and traditional wellness offerings. Top wellness destinations for 2026 Sri Lanka – +100% Australia – +85% Morocco – +83% England – +82% Spain – +80% Nepal – +52% Thailand – +48% Mexico – +44% Costa Rica – +42% Canada – +36% As wellness tourism continues to grow globally, destinations offering nature, culture and holistic health experiences are becoming increasingly popular choices for travellers. Source : Asia News Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka – the leading platform for news for Sri Lankans.

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka, your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans in Australia and beyond. නව ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී පෙරමුණේ පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී, ජනාධිපති නීතිඥ ෆයිසර් මුස්තාපා මහතා විසින් ළමුන්ගේ සමාජ මාධ්‍ය වේදිකා භාවිතය සීමා කිරීම අරමුණු කරගත් පෞද්ගලික මන්ත්‍රී පනත් කෙටුම්පතක් පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට ඉදිරිපත් කර තිබේ. “සමාජ මාධ්‍ය අවම වයස් සීමා පනත් කෙටුම්පත” (Social Media Minimum Age Bill) ලෙස නම් කර ඇති මෙම යෝජිත නීතිමය වැඩපිළිවෙළ මගින් වයස අවුරුදු 16ට අඩු පුද්ගලයින්ට සමාජ මාධ්‍ය සේවා වෙත ප්‍රවේශ වීම තහනම් කිරීමට යෝජනා කර ඇත. ළමුන්ගේ අන්තර්ජාල ආරක්ෂාව තහවුරු කිරීම සහ හානිකර ඩිජිටල් අන්තර්ගතයන්ට ඔවුන් නිරාවරණය වීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් පවතින ගැටලු අවම කිරීම මෙම පනත් කෙටුම්පතේ ප්‍රධාන අරමුණ බව සඳහන් වේ. මෙම පනත සම්මත වුවහොත් ශ්‍රී ලංකාව තුළ සමාජ මාධ්‍ය භාවිතය සඳහා අවම වයස් සීමාවක් නීතිමය රාමුවක් යටතේ ස්ථාපිත වන අතර, මෑත කාලයේ මෙවැනි සීමා හඳුන්වා දී ඇති හෝ සලකා බලමින් සිටින රටවල් කිහිපයක් සමඟ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවද එක්වනු ඇත. විශේෂඥයින් පෙන්වා දෙන්නේ සමාජ මාධ්‍ය භාවිතය සීමා කිරීම මගින් ළමුන්ට ඔවුන්ගේ ළමා කාලය යළි ලබාදිය හැකි බවයි. එමඟින් දිගු වේලාවක් තිරය දෙස බලා සිටීම අවම වී, ක්‍රීඩා හා සමාජ ක්‍රියාකාරකම් සඳහා වැඩි කාලයක් වෙන් කළ හැකි බව ඔවුහු සඳහන් කරති. මේ අතර, බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය රජයද ඔස්ට්‍රේලියාව අනුගමනය කරමින් සමාජ මාධ්‍ය භාවිතය සම්බන්ධයෙන් සමාන තහනම් ආකෘතියක් ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීමට සැලසුම් කර ඇති බව වාර්තා වේ. මෙම සීමාව මගින් පරිශීලකයින් අතර අන්තර්ක්‍රියා සහ සමාජ සබඳතා සඳහා නිර්මාණය කර ඇති, පරිශීලකයින්ට අන්තර්ගතයන් පළ කිරීමට ඉඩ ලබාදෙන සහ ඇල්ගොරිතම භාවිත කරන වේදිකා ආවරණය වනු ඇත. ඒ අනුව Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook සහ X වැනි වේදිකා මෙම තහනමට ඇතුළත් වනු ඇත. කෙසේ වෙතත්, WhatsApp සහ Signal වැනි පණිවිඩ හුවමාරු සේවා තහනම් කිරීමට බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය රජය අදහස් නොකරන බව සඳහන් කර ඇත. ළමුන් අන්තර්ජාලය තුළ ආරක්ෂා කිරීම සහ පවතින අභියෝගයට විසඳුම් ලබාදීමේ අරමුණින්, බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය රජය සමාජ මාධ්‍ය තහනමකට අමතරව වයස අවුරුදු 16ට අඩු ළමුන් සඳහා හානිකර ක්‍රියාකාරකම් වන සජීවී විකාශන (livestreaming) සහ අමුත්තන් සමඟ සන්නිවේදනය කිරීම වැනි පහසුකම් සීමා කිරීමටද සැලසුම් කර ඇත. Source : Ada Derena News More updates to come on AusNewsLanka.

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. The Australian Government has confirmed the permanent Migration Program planning level will remain at 185,000 places for the 2026–27 financial year, unchanged from the previous year. More than 70 per cent of places (132,240) will be allocated to the Skilled stream, focusing on migrants who can support Australia’s workforce and long-term economic needs. The government will also prioritise migrants already living in Australia, with 129,590 places allocated to onshore applicants across skilled and family migration categories. A further 300 places will be reserved for special eligibility cases. Around 55,110 places will be available for offshore applicants, mainly targeting highly skilled migrants. This represents about 30 per cent of the total program, which is consistent with previous years where offshore migration has generally made up around 30–40 per cent of places. The unchanged migration cap means there are no overall cuts to permanent migration numbers. Further details on specific visa allocations and state nomination places are expected to provide more insight into future invitation rounds and processing times. Changes Planned for Skilled Migration Points Test The government will also reform the permanent skilled migration points system to focus more on selecting migrants with stronger education, higher skills and greater long-term contribution potential. Almost two-thirds of permanent skilled migrants are currently selected through points-tested visas. However, the government has not yet released details on how the new system will operate. Net Overseas Migration Expected to Continue Falling Net overseas migration has already dropped by around 45 per cent from its peak in 2022–23 and is expected to continue declining until 2027–28. The government forecasts migration numbers in 2025–26 and 2026–27 may be slightly higher than earlier estimates, mainly because temporary migrants are leaving Australia at lower rates and arrivals from New Zealand remain strong. Overall, the latest migration measures are expected to gradually reduce pressure on net overseas migration while maintaining a focus on skilled workers needed by Australia’s economy. Source : https://smartvisaguide.com Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka – the leading platform for news for Australians.

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Australians could face further mortgage pressure after new inflation data showed price growth remains higher than expected. The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported annual inflation slowed to 4 per cent in May. However, underlying inflation closely watched by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) increased to 3.6 per cent, remaining above the RBA’s 2–3 per cent target range. Economists had expected underlying inflation to rise to around 3.5 per cent, meaning the higher result has created fresh challenges for the central bank as it works to control rising prices. Markets are now pricing in a chance of another interest rate increase at the RBA’s August meeting. Housing was the biggest driver of inflation, with costs rising 6.5 per cent over the year. Higher electricity prices, rents and new home costs contributed to the increase after government energy rebates ended. Food and transport costs also increased by 3.3 per cent, while fuel prices rose 7.7 per cent compared with a year earlier although the increase was smaller than previous months. Economists warned the RBA cannot yet declare inflation under control, with some expecting another rate rise before the end of the year. Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the government’s fuel excise cut helped ease some pressure on households, but acknowledged global issues continue to affect prices. The latest figures come after the RBA raised interest rates three times in 2026, with its June decision marking the first pause of the year. Source : Sky News Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka – the leading platform for news for Australians.

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka, your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans in Australia and beyond. ඩිජිටල් වේදිකා භාවිතා කරමින් සේවා සපයන පුද්ගලයින් ලබන මස 1 වන දින සිට වැට් (අගය එකතු කළ බද්ද) ට යටත් වන බව මුදල් නියෝජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය ආචාර්ය අනිල් ජයන්ත ප්‍රනාන්දු මහතා පවසයි. මෙම පනත ඇතුළුව බදු සංශෝධන කිහිපයක් සඳහා ඊයේ පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේදී අනුමැතිය ලැබුණු බව ඔහු පැවසීය. බදු සංශෝධන පනත් කෙටුම්පත සම්මත වීමත් සමඟ එම බදු බලාත්මක වන බව ද නියෝජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යවරයා ප්‍රකාශ කළේය. සමාජ ආරක්ෂණ දායකත්ව බද්ද ලියාපදිංචි කිරීම සඳහා අවශ්‍ය වාර්ෂික පිරිවැටුම් සීමාව රුපියල් මිලියන 60 සිට රුපියල් මිලියන 36 දක්වා අඩු කිරීම ද බදු සංශෝධනවලට ඇතුළත් බව ඔහු තවදුරටත් පැවසීය. Source : News First More updates to come on AusNewsLanka.