Leading refugee advocates are using  World Refugee Day to call for a "rethink" on Australia’s approach to refugee policy.

The globally recognised day falls during International Refugee Week, which this year is themed ‘With Refugees’, encouraging the community to better connect with refugees.

Refugee Council of Australia CEO Paul Power said the occasion is an opportune time for Australia to reconsider its policy on offshore detention and boat turn backs.

Five Aboriginal women artists from a remote Northern Territory community will exhibit their work in Paris.

The group will exhibit their work of cultural and ancestral stories, at the Australian embassy in October.

Ingrid Johanson, the manager of Babbarra Women's Centre, pitched the exhibition to the embassy last year knowing 2019 marked the United Nations Year of Indigenous Languages.

British finance minister Philip Hammond has warned contenders in the race to become Britain's next pm, that a no-deal Brexit could pull the United Kingdom economy apart.

Calls for an independence referendum in Scotland have grown since the Brexit vote, when a majority of Scottish voters backed remaining in the EU.

A opinion poll,  showed a majority of Conservative Party members would accept losing Scotland from the United Kingdom as long as Brexit is delivered.

The first US congressional hearing in ten years was held on the 19th of June to debate compensation for the descendants of slaves.

A bill proposing potential reparations for descendants of slaves was presented for debate during a U.S. House subcommittee hearing.

Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey, who is a presidential candidate, said the US is yet to truly acknowledge and grapple with the racism and white supremacy that tainted this country.

The Palaszczuk Government has committed more than $13 million in the 2019-20 budget for the prevention of domestic and family violence in central Queensland with $290 000 budgeted for counselling and support services in long reach.

Karyn Battersby, Team Leader for Domestic and Family Violence Services for Relationships Australia Queensland, said there were specific and unique challenges for accessing support in rural communities such as isolation and limited resources.

Sacked Ipswich councillors have told a court they should legally be considered “employees” as they tried to win compensation for losing their jobs.

Tony Morris; representing the former councilors, said at the Queensland Industrial Relations Commision, that even members of Parliament should be considered “employees of the Parliament” under common law and the  councillors had the same rights.

Counsel for Ipswich City Council,  Andrew Herbert says It would be extraordinary to the point of impossible for them to be considered an employee.

A new report reveals the number of people fleeing war, persecution and conflict around the world topped more than 70 million last year.

The figure represents 2.3 million more people than the previous year and the highest level seen in almost 70 years.

National Director of Australia for UNHCR, Naomi Steer, says it's the biggest humanitarian crisis of our time with children among the worst-affected.

Unpredictable new drug cocktails have recently been discovered by James Cook University and  Queensland Health’s Forensic and Scientific Services.

JCU’s Professor Alan Clough said that 52 impurities were found in samples of commonly-used illicit drugs. Many were contaminated or deliberately cut with novel psychoactive substances, otherwise known as designer drugs.

Transplant organs are still being sourced from executed prisoners in China, according to an inquiry in London initiated by a campaign group.

Taking organs from prisoners is illegal and even though the Chinese government previously said it had stopped the practice four years ago, the chair of the tribunal, Geoffrey Nice, said that he believes it is still widespread.