Sex workers across Australia are hopeful the tide is turning in their favour, with several jurisdictions considering changing laws that prohibit brothels or leave workers operating alone out of hotel rooms.

Queensland’s Attorney-General has also been in discussions with Police about reviewing its laws and South Australia’s Parliament will - after many previous attempts - again debate legislative change in June.

Looking across the nation, a teenage apprentice has died after scaffolding collapsed at a construction site in Macquarie Park, sparking a call by unions for national industrial manslaughter laws to be introduced on building sites.

When the Berejiklian government was asked on Tuesday whether it would consider reforms to the industry it directed inquiries to SafeWork NSW.

Queensland Rail have added 14,000 seats to the South-East Queensland network, with 32 extra weekly services at peak times being implemented next month.

This comes after the upgrade of 193 three-carriage trains to six carriage trains in December.

Transport Minister, Mark Bailey, says commuters travelling during the morning and afternoon peak on the Shorncliffe, Cleveland, Redcliffe Peninsula, Ferny Grove, Springfield, Gold Coast and Airport lines would benefit.

Council and state government orders to preserve the Broadway Hotel are under appeal.

Despite the owner claiming the hotel was damaged beyond repair by several fires, including the first in 2010, engineering inspectors have confirmed that the hotel is capable of repair.

Authorities have issued an order for the owner to install a support system by the end of this month, however the council is not currently aware of any work being done to repair the building.

Brisbane City Council’s plans to introduce more ‘green bridges’ has left Transport Minister Mark Bailey questioning why the Walter Taylor Bridge in Indooroopilly was overlooked.

The new $550 million commitment for the green bridges did not mention any plans to help the gridlocked motorists in the western suburbs, vying for access at the one-lane bridge.

Helensvale State School on the Gold Coast has gone into lockdown for the second time in two months after threats were left on an answering machine.

Police were called to the school after 8.30am yesterday morning and remained at the scene for 90 minutes before verifying at 10:05am that the threat was a hoax.

The police said the threat was similar to the previous incident on February 19.

In an Australian first, global IT company International Business Machines will hire roughly 10 employees with autism at its Client Innovation Centre in Ballarat, joining the growing trend of neurodiversity programs in the workplace.

Around 15 candidates commenced IBM’s pre-employment training and assessment program last week that connects autistic applicants with employers.

Australian apple growers are watching closely as a world first commercial harvesting of apples using robotic machinery goes underway at an orchard in New Zealand.

A similar prototype robot has been trialled in an orchard in Victoria, and Australian fruit growers are keen to see how the robot performs.

One of Tasmania’s largest apple growers, Howard Hansen, said while the development is exciting, he believes the project has a way to go and requires more refinement before it becomes a reality in Tasmanian orchards.

It is suspected that 23 Chinese kindergarten students have been deliberately poisoned by their teacher.

The teacher, who can be identified by the surname Wang, has been arrested in eastern China after it is believed he adulterated the children’s food with sodium nitrate, according to the Jiaozuo city police.

The children were served rice porridge for breakfast at the kindergarten and after eating it they began vomiting and fainting, with one parent saying their child was taken to hospital where their stomach was pumped.