At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Australians are being slugged with record-high home and contents insurance bills, with average premiums jumping by as much as $700 in just one year. New figures from Canstar show the average annual premium has risen from $2452 to $2795 — that’s a 14% hike, or about $343 more than last year. But the pain really depends on where you live. Some states and territories have been hit far harder than others: Northern Territory: the steepest dollar jump — up $700 (17%) to a whopping $4814. NSW: the sharpest percentage rise — up 18% ($403) to $2613. Victoria: premiums climbed 17% ($341) to $2299. Queensland (excluding North QLD): up 16% ($431) to $3166. South Australia: up 17% ($287) to $1933. Tasmania: up 17% ($317) to $2155. WA: up 9% ($192) to $2224. North Queensland: the smallest rise — just 2% ($112) to $4624 (though still the priciest in the country). The main culprits? Extreme weather disasters and soaring rebuilding costs.Claims from ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred alone cost insurers $1.36 billion after more than 125,000 claims. Canstar’s data insights director Sally Tindall said even though premiums are stinging households, skipping insurance altogether is risky. “Even if you’re not in a high-risk weather region, emergencies like a burst pipe or an overflowing sink can be covered if they weren’t preventable,” she said. Canstar found switching policies could save households up to $766 a year, with providers like AAMI, Allianz, QBE and Westpac flagged as offering some of the best value. 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. රජය විසින් නව කෘත්‍රිම බුද්ධි වෙබ් අඩවියක් වන aigov.lk සහ බැංකු කාඩ්පත් භාවිතයෙන් මගීන්ට බස් ගාස්තු ගෙවීමට ඉඩ සලසන පද්ධතියක් හඳුන්වා දෙන බව අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ආචාර්ය හරිනි අමරසූරිය මහත්මිය පැවසුවාය. පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේදී කතා කරමින් අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ආචාර්ය හරිනි අමරසූරිය මහත්මිය පැවසුවේ මෙම මුලපිරීම් ඩිජිටල් ආර්ථික මාසයේ කොටසක් වන අතර එය ශ්‍රී ලංකාව ඩිජිටල් ලෙස බලගැන්වූ ජාතියක් බවට පත්වීම වේගවත් කිරීම අරමුණු කරගත් ජාතික උත්සාහයකි. ඩිජිටල් මෙවලම් පිළිබඳ මහජන දැනුවත්භාවය ඉහළ නැංවීම සහ අනාගතයට සූදානම් ඩිජිටල් ආර්ථිකයක් ගොඩනැගීම සඳහා රජයේ කැපවීම පෙන්නුම් කිරීම සඳහා සැප්තැම්බර් මාසය ඩිජිටල් ආර්ථික මාසය ලෙස ප්‍රකාශයට පත් කර ඇත. ක්‍රියාකාරකම්වලට මහජන ප්‍රදර්ශන, දැනුවත් කිරීමේ ව්‍යාපාර සහ ප්‍රතිපත්ති සාකච්ඡා ඇතුළත් වේ. රජය අඛණ්ඩ ඩිජිටල් ව්‍යාපෘති පුරවැසියන්ට සහ ව්‍යාපාරවලට සෘජු ප්‍රතිලාභ ලබා දෙනු ඇතැයි අපේක්ෂා කරයි. 2030 වන විට, ඩිජිටල් ආර්ථිකය දළ දේශීය නිෂ්පාදිතයට ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් බිලියන 15 ක් දායක වනු ඇතැයි පුරෝකථනය කර ඇති අතර, ඩිජිටල් අපනයනවලින් ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් බිලියන 5 ක් සහ 200,000 ක ශ්‍රම බලකායක් ඇත. ප්‍රධාන සිදුවීම් අතරට සැප්තැම්බර් 24-25 දිනවල ශ්‍රී ලංකා ෆින්ටෙක් සමුළුව සහ සැප්තැම්බර් 29-30 දිනවල ජාතික AI ප්‍රදර්ශනය ඇතුළත් වේ. අනෙකුත් වැඩසටහන් ඩිජිටල් කුසලතා පුහුණුව, ව්‍යවසායකත්වය, ආරම්භක ප්‍රදර්ශන සහ තරුණයින් සහ වෘත්තිකයන් ඉලක්ක කරගත් අධ්‍යාපනික ප්‍රවේශය කෙරෙහි අවධානය යොමු කරනු ඇත. මෙම මාසය සඳහා සැලසුම් කර ඇති අතිරේක මුලපිරීම් අතරට ජාතික සයිබර් ආරක්ෂණ උපාය මාර්ගයක් හඳුන්වාදීම, සහතික කිරීමේ අධිකාරියක්, ඩිජිටල් ගෙවීම් සඳහා පුළුල් කරන ලද රජයේ ගෙවීම් වේදිකාවක් සහ ඩිජිටල් ආර්ථික අත්දැකීම් මධ්‍යස්ථානයක් ඇතුළත් වේ. ඩිජිටල් ආර්ථික අමාත්‍යාංශය, අනෙකුත් අමාත්‍යාංශ සමඟ සම්බන්ධීකරණයෙන්, රටේ ඩිජිටල් සංක්‍රාන්තියට සහාය වීම සඳහා අධ්‍යාපනය වැනි අංශ හරහා යටිතල පහසුකම් අවශ්‍යතා තක්සේරු කරමින් සිටී. More updates to come on AusNewsLanka.

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. NSW is finally set to catch a bit of a break from the non-stop rain — but it’s not all good news. While showers are expected to ease later this morning, the east coast is about to be hit with powerful winds and dangerous surf. The Bureau of Meteorology says the low-pressure system that drenched the state will start moving offshore from mid-morning, dragging most of the rain with it. “By the later part of the day, and certainly going into Friday, we’re looking at much drier conditions across the mainland,” senior meteorologist Miriam Bradbury  said. But the bureau has warned the next threat is in the water and along the coast, with large waves and potentially hazardous to damaging surf rolling in from Thursday. Right now, several weather warnings are in place across NSW: Severe weather warnings for the Mid North Coast, Northern Tablelands and Hunter. A coastal hazard warning for Sydney, the Hunter and the Mid North Coast. Flood warnings remain active for the Namoi, Georges, Nepean, Cooks and Macquarie rivers, plus St Georges Basin. According to Weatherzone, gusty southerlies will push through today, with wind speeds of 90–100km/h expected between Batemans Bay and Port Macquarie. Even stronger gusts of up to 110km/h could slam parts of Sydney and the Hunter coastlines. Those winds will also whip up some monster seas. Swells of 5 to 6 metres are forecast between the Illawarra and the Mid North Coast, with some waves surging close to 10 metres. The winds are tipped to gradually ease into Thursday afternoon as the system drifts further away, but conditions along the coast will stay wild and dangerous. 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. NAB has become the latest of Australia’s big four banks to announce job cuts, confirming this morning it has axed 410 roles. The redundancies are hitting the bank’s technology and enterprise operations division, with staff told yesterday. Some will be moved into new positions, but many are facing tough news. A NAB spokesperson said the move was about adapting to a changing environment. “Like many businesses, we regularly look at how we work and how we’re structured to deliver the best experience for our customers. These decisions are always difficult, and we understand the impact they can have on our colleagues.” The bank says it will explore redeployment and career transition support for those affected, and some roles may shift to different geographic locations. Reports suggest new positions are being created in India and Vietnam. NAB stressed that while some roles are disappearing, others are being added. “Having a global workforce helps us deliver better outcomes — extending our hours of operation, speeding up processes, and improving turnaround times for customers,” the spokesperson said. The cuts come as all of the big four banks move to shrink their workforces. Just yesterday, ANZ confirmed it would slash 3,500 jobs and 1,000 contractor roles, mostly from its Melbourne Docklands offices. In May, Westpac revealed plans to shed more than 1,500 positions. And back in March, Commonwealth Bank cut 164 jobs in its tech division. With NAB also headquartered in Docklands, Melbourne, the wave of redundancies is hitting Australia’s financial hub especially hard. 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. The Bureau of Meteorology is warning New South Wales residents to brace for a wild day of weather, with thunderstorms, heavy rain and even flash flooding on the cards. A huge cloud band is sweeping across Australia, pushed along by a low-pressure system and cold front. It’s expected to move from South Australia across to the east coast today and tomorrow. Some areas could cop a drenching — the Illawarra, northern South Coast and eastern Southern Tablelands are at risk of 60 to 100mm of rain in just six hours from tonight. Over a full day, parts of the coast could see up to 140mm. The Bureau posted on X (Twitter) this morning, warning that storms could be “extensive” and may turn severe, bringing damaging winds, heavy rain and even large hail. “It’s a good day to stay up to date,” the Bureau advised. Right now, severe weather warnings are in place for Lord Howe Island, the Illawarra, parts of the South Coast and the Southern Tablelands, with a minor flood warning active for the Namoi River. In Sydney, between 15 and 45mm of rain is expected today before easing tonight, but meteorologists are warning of damaging gusts and big coastal waves as the system lingers offshore. BoM senior meteorologist Miriam Bradbury said moisture and strong winds will be pushed up against the NSW coast. “It will linger there … potentially leading to further severe weather for areas between the Hunter and the South Coast,” she said. And it’s not just NSW — over the next couple of days the system will also soak northern Victoria and southern Queensland. Severe thunderstorms are again possible, with the risk of damaging winds and heavy rainfall. 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. ANZ has confirmed it will slash about 3,500 jobs by next September as part of a major restructure, with the bank’s boss insisting it’s “the right thing to do.” The shake-up is aimed at cutting down on duplication, internal complexity, and reliance on outside consultants. Around 1,000 contractors who provide managed services are also expected to be affected. The bank says the changes will have only a limited impact on frontline, customer-facing roles. ANZ Chief Executive Mr Matos acknowledged the human toll of the decision. “The most important thing today is to acknowledge that we are impacting some employees and their families … and that’s not good news. We’re very sensitive to that.” But the move has sparked anger from the Finance Sector Union (FSU), which blasted the cuts as a betrayal of workers in the pursuit of bigger profits.FSU president Wendy Streets didn’t hold back: “This is out of control — it’s not strategy, it’s unhinged.” The union also claims many employees first heard about the sweeping job losses not from management, but through news alerts on their phones while getting ready for work or making breakfast. ANZ has pushed back on that, with Matos saying he didn’t believe it was true — though he stopped short of giving a clear answer. While the official timeline stretches to September 2026, Matos suggested the bulk of the cuts will come early next year. 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 Worlds  in Australia and beyond. Big news out of Russia has caught the world’s attention: a brand-new cancer vaccine called Enteromix  has shown 100% efficacy and safety  in its first human trials. It almost sounds too good to be true—but the early results are extremely promising. So what’s the breakthrough? Patients in the initial trial actually saw their tumours shrink, with no serious side effects reported. Enteromix is built on the same mRNA technology we all became familiar with during the COVID-19 vaccine era, but this time, it’s being used to train the immune system to specifically recognize and attack cancer cells. Unlike chemotherapy—which is often tough on the whole body—Enteromix is designed to be much more precise and gentle. And here’s the truly groundbreaking part: it’s personalized. Every dose is tailored to match the genetic profile of a patient’s tumour. That means a treatment designed just for you, not a one-size-fits-all approach. The first trials involved 48 volunteers and were carried out by Russia’s National Medical Research Radiological Centre together with the Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology. The announcement was made at the 2025 St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, and the vaccine is now just a step away from regulatory approval in Russia. Why Enteromix stands out Cancer vaccines have been around in theory for decades, but most never lived up to the hype. Enteromix feels different for two reasons: Personalization  – Each vaccine dose is built from the unique genetic makeup of a patient’s tumour. mRNA technology  – The same flexible, rapid platform that powered COVID vaccines, now aimed at cancer. That combo of customization and speed could be a game-changer, making it possible to adapt treatments quickly to different cancers and patients. What this could mean for patients If larger trials confirm these results and regulators greenlight it, the ripple effects could be huge. Globally:  It could signal a move away from harsh, broad treatments like chemo toward targeted therapies with fewer side effects. For India:  With colorectal and cervical cancer ranking among the top cancer killers, a personalized vaccine like this could save countless lives— if  cost, infrastructure, and regulatory approval line up. Of course, we need to keep our excitement in check. Early success doesn’t always guarantee long-term results. Plus, producing personalized mRNA vaccines at scale isn’t simple—it requires advanced labs, cold-chain logistics, and genomic profiling capabilities. Still, Enteromix has lit a spark of hope in the oncology world. Whether it turns out to be a revolutionary standard of care or just a promising experiment will depend on how well global health systems, regulators, and innovators work together in the years ahead. More updates to come on AusNewsLanka .

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Australia Post says it’s getting back to business with the United States after a short suspension caused by tariffs introduced under former US president Donald Trump. From September 25, postal services to the US and its territories — including Puerto Rico, Guam and the US Virgin Islands — will resume. Business customers will again be able to send parcels after weeks of disruption. The restart comes thanks to a new partnership with Zonos, one of the few providers approved by US Customs and Border Protection and the Universal Postal Union to meet the latest postal rules. Australia Post was one of nearly 200 global postal providers forced to halt US deliveries when Trump’s customs and tariff changes came into effect. Gary Starr, Executive General Manager of Parcels, Post & eCommerce, said customers had borne the brunt of the suspension. “The real impact has been on exporters relying on our cost-effective service,” he explained. “We’ve been working around the clock to find a solution and get services back up and running as quickly as possible.” Starr added the suspension will be officially lifted on September 25, but if things can move faster, they’ll reopen sooner. Australia Post is also developing a separate solution so parcels can once again be sent via its post office network. For now, gifts under $US100 ($A151), as well as letters and documents, remain exempt from the tariffs. The federal government has already voiced its disappointment with the Trump administration’s measures, saying it will keep pushing to remove trade barriers that hurt Australian exporters. 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. වසර පුරාවට ලැබුණු ශක්තිමත් ගලා ඒම් හේතුවෙන් 2025 දී ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ විදේශ ශ්‍රමික ප්‍රේෂණ වාර්තාගත ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් බිලියන 5 ක් වූ බව ශ්‍රී ලංකා මහ බැංකුව (CBSL) වාර්තා කළේය. 2025 අගෝස්තු මාසයේදී, ප්‍රේෂණ ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් මිලියන 680.8 ක් වූ අතර එය 2024 අගෝස්තු මාසයේදී ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් මිලියන 577.5 සිට 19.3% කින් ඉහළ ගොස් ඇත. ජනවාරි සිට අගෝස්තු දක්වා කාලය තුළ, මුළු ප්‍රේෂණ ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් මිලියන 5,116 ක් වූ අතර එය පසුගිය වසරේ එම කාලය තුළ ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් මිලියන 4,288.2 ක් විය. 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. Australia’s two biggest supermarket chains, Woolworths and Coles, are bracing for a massive bill after a Federal Court ruling last week found they’d underpaid thousands of staff. The court decision relates to almost 30,000 salaried store team leaders, with the judge ruling there was effectively tacit approval for staff to work beyond their official hours without proper pay. On the ASX today, Woolworths told investors it expects to pay somewhere between $180 million and $330 million after tax to affected employees. On top of that, another $140 million to $200 million could be needed to cover things like superannuation, payroll tax and interest. The company stressed these figures are just “very preliminary estimates” and still highly uncertain. Coles also weighed in, warning of an extra $150 million to $250 million in remediation costs. But the company pushed back against speculation, saying it’s still unclear exactly how the decision applies to its own operations. Both companies have already made repayments — Woolworths about $330 million and Coles around $7 million — but the Fair Work Ombudsman and former employees behind the class actions say it’s not enough. At the heart of the case is how work hours were handled. The watchdog says the relevant award set out a 38-hour work week, yet staff were effectively pushed into overtime with poor record-keeping, informal rosters, and issues around allowances and penalties. Woolworths argues some managers were authorised to work up to 45 hours without being required to do extra overtime. Coles, meanwhile, says its managers had autonomy over their schedules and the Ombudsman has overestimated their working hours. Either way, both supermarket giants are now staring down hundreds of millions more in payouts as the case continues to play out. 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. 2025 සැප්තැම්බර් 1 වන දින සිට තාවකාලික සහ ස්ථිර එකතු කළ අගය මත බදු (VAT) ලියාපදිංචිය සඳහා වන සියලුම අයදුම්පත් එහි මාර්ගගත “ඊ-සේවා” වේදිකාව හරහා පමණක් ඉදිරිපත් කළ යුතු බව දේශීය ආදායම් දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව (IRD) නිවේදනය කළේය. 2025 අගෝස්තු 31 වන දිනෙන් පසු අතින් ඉදිරිපත් කිරීම් තවදුරටත් පිළිගනු නොලබන බව දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව පැවසීය. වැට් බදු ලියාපදිංචිය අපේක්ෂා කරන ඕනෑම පුද්ගලයෙකු හෝ ව්‍යාපාරයක් මෙම ක්‍රියාවලිය ඩිජිටල් ආකාරයෙන් සම්පූර්ණ කිරීමට අවශ්‍ය වනු ඇත. මාර්ගගත සේවාව පිළිබඳ මග පෙන්වීම සහ සහාය සඳහා බදු ගෙවන්නන්ට IRD හි නිල වෙබ් අඩවියට පිවිසීමට හෝ 1944 හරහා ඇමතුම් මධ්‍යස්ථානය අමතන්නැයි උපදෙස් දී ඇත. More updates to come on AusNewsLanka .

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. A Sydney postal worker is at the centre of a bizarre alleged fraud case, accused of stealing dozens of bank cards straight out of the mail and helping fuel a $1.4 million spending spree. Police say 56-year-old Mauro Paul Coluzzi pinched bank cards sent to homes in Edgecliff, Woollahra and Double Bay and passed them on to two organised crime groups. In total, 62 people’s cards were allegedly compromised — with hundreds of fraud offences flowing from the scheme. Court documents reveal some of the unusual ways the cards were used. There was a tech splurge — more than $34,600 on Apple products including 12 iPhones, four Apple Watches, a MacBook and AirPods. Another $4,500 went into gift cards, including one for the online game Roblox. But it didn’t stop there. Police allege the stolen funds also went toward roses, punnets of strawberries, an air fryer, Mecca beauty products and even a Square payment terminal. Tobacco was also a favourite, with $6,000 allegedly spent in just five days. Still, cash withdrawals were the big-ticket item. More than $54,000 in cash was pulled from ATMs across Sydney over 11 months. Coluzzi was arrested last month after a nine-month investigation. He’s facing two counts of dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage, one count of attempting to do the same, and police say there are at least 143 other fraud offences linked to him. He was granted bail under strict conditions, including what’s essentially home detention and a massive $400,000 surety. But because that money hasn’t yet been put forward, he remains in custody. His lawyer told the court she’s hopeful it’ll be sorted within days. Coluzzi’s case has been adjourned until September 25, when he’ll need to enter pleas to 145 charges. He’s also accused of being part of a criminal group alongside Ashish Tamrakar, 35, and Ibrahim Abbas, 27. Both men are also before the courts, facing dozens of fraud-related offences of their own. Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka  – the leading platform for news for Australians .