A group of Canadian engineers have been working in the Sunshine Coast hinterland to assemble a Bell 214 water bomber- an aircraft that will help in the firefighting effort across Queensland.

The aircraft will be part of Queensland's aerial artillery fleet, with a second aircraft expected to arrive within the next 10 days.  

Team leader Garth Ramsay stated that his team would spend the next month in Australia to maintain the aircraft that is deployed.

A recent report released by the Sleep Health Foundation disclosed that more than one in seven Australians have insomnia- with many people going undiagnosed or untreated, despite symptoms of this sleep disorder arising at least three times a week.

The Sleep Health Foundation found that 14.8 per cent of 2044 Australians who took the survey met the criteria for clinical insomnia.

Early learning in Australia is lagging behind other developed countries, a new report card from the peak early childhood advocacy has found. 

Research has shown the first five years of a child’s life are crucial to their lifelong development and children who attend early learning services are 33 per cent less likely to be developmentally vulnerable when they start school.

Three British citizens were brought back to the UK from Sierra Leone to be medically assessed after coming into close proximity with two individuals with Lassa fever. 

Public Health England stated that the three citizens will be given the required treatment if necessary- getting in contact with 15 others who were noted to have been in proximity to the Dutch Lassa fever.

Dr Jake Dunning of Public Health England, stated that the fever is not very contagious between people, so the public risk remains low. 

The Sumatran rhinoceros is now extinct in Malaysia after the last of the breed died of cancer; with there now approximately only 80 of the species are left in the wild in Indonesia. 

The 25-year-old female rhino, named Iman, who has been cared for in a wildlife reserve since her capture in 2014, died in the state of Sabah on the island of Borneo. 

The Rhino’s isolation, caused by habitat loss and poaching, means they rarely breed and may become extinct in a matter of decades, according to conservation group International Rhino Foundation.

A school on Brisbane’s southside is trialling new technology that will automatically lock up students’ mobile phones as they enter the front gate.

Corinda State High School is the first in the state to trial a tech-savvy pouch that locks the phones inside and it has a mechanical lock that opens when tapped against the unlocking base. 

Australian police have played a key role in an international drug bust that's prevented 700kg of crystalline MDMA from reaching Brisbane, possibly to end up with Schoolies.

Australian Federal Police and Queensland police worked with officers in The Netherlands and Belgium to intercept a huge haul of the drug in the Dutch city of Rotterdam in late August.

Other raids at 15 locations in The Netherlands and Belgium earlier this month uncovered secret drug labs and more drugs.

Oxfam has published a report calling out Australian-based brands for failing to credibly commit to living wages in foreign countries. 

Ahead of the Christmas season, the non-for-profit organisation has released a list of fashion brands that have failed to make commitments ensuring payment of living wages to women making their clothes in countries like Vietnam or Bangladesh.  

Some of the big names appearing on the list include Just Jeans, Peter Alexander, Jay Jays, Myer, Rivers, Katies and W. Lane and Big W.

It is easier to buy a home in most of Australia than it was 10 years ago, new research has found.

CoreLogic's Property Pulse study says housing costs have risen at the same pace as incomes over the last ten years.

But because mortgage rates have dropped to record lows, it is easier for homebuyers to pay off their homes.

Study shows that Brisbane, Perth, Darwin, regional Queensland and regional WA have become much more affordable in the past decade.