A Brazilian backpacker is found naked and screaming for help on a remote beach in South Australia, while her friend from Germany is covered head-to-toe in blood. They are the victims of Roman Heinze, a 61-year old Australian, who was sentenced to at least 17 years in prison on Wednesday for kidnapping, assault and indecent […]

Australia has used a so-called “backpacker tax” to illegally tax foreign workers from eight countries, according to a landmark ruling. In 2017, the government imposed a controversial 15% tax rate on two visa categories for working holiday-makers. But a court on Wednesday found the levy was in breach of existing treaties with the UK, US, […]

A girl has suffered a “significant leg injury” in a shark attack at a popular tourist spot in Australia, paramedics say. It is the second serious shark attack in Queensland’s Whitsunday Islands within 24 hours. On Wednesday, a woman was treated for leg and torso wounds. She remains in a critical condition. The girl, 12, […]

Two British tourists have been seriously injured in a shark attack at a popular holiday spot in Australia. The men, aged 22 and 28, were swimming in Queensland’s Whitsunday Islands when they were attacked on Tuesday. The shark severed the older man’s foot and left the other with leg wounds, Queensland Ambulance Service said. Authorities […]

From 2019 climbing on Uluru will be banned in respect of the wishes of Anangu Aboriginal Australians. The rock is a major visitor attraction, and many tourists visit the landmark to scale the rock. Visitors to the site explain why they chose to climb, or not climb, the sacred landmark. You may also like: ‘I […]

Australian actor Joel McIlroy, who once starred on soap Home and Away, has been charged with repeatedly punching a policewoman in Sydney. McIlroy, 46, played Dr Flynn Saunders on the popular show from 1994 to 2006. The assault occurred on Tuesday after he approached officers who were making an arrest on a street, police said. […]

An Australian reality TV star who says she was unfairly portrayed as a bully has won a landmark compensation case. Nicole Prince said she suffered psychological injury following her experience on Channel Seven’s House Rules programme in 2017. She argued that she and her team-mate, Fiona Taylor, were harassed by other contestants and that both […]

Australia’s biggest newspapers were expected to run heavily censored front pages this morning to protest against recent legislation that restricts press freedoms. Papers from the domestic unit of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, Australian Financial Review publisher Nine Entertainment and the website of the government-funded Australian Broadcasting Corp were expected to show current news stories with […]

Australia’s biggest newspaper rivals have made a rare showing of unity by publishing redacted front pages in a protest against press restrictions. The News Corp Australia and Nine mastheads on Monday showed blacked-out text beside red stamps marked “secret”. The protest is aimed at national security laws which journalists say have stifled reporting and created […]

Australian airline Qantas has completed the first non-stop commercial flight from New York to Sydney. It was used to carry out a series of tests to assess the effects of ultra long-haul flights on crew fatigue and passenger jetlag. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner touched down in Sydney early on Sunday morning after a flight of […]