Greens Councillor Jonathon Sri is proposing for construction companies to begin work from 7am on weekday and 8am on weekends.

Councillor Sri said the current rules don’t strike the right balance between the need for work and peace for residents.

The proposal follows a string of complaints according to Mr Sri.

In a statement, Brisbane City Council said it does not support the proposed changes.

A team of scientists in Mozambique are researching to see if poaching has altered the genetics of elephants.

The scientists noted that among elephants who have survived poaching, there has been a 30 per cent increase of females born without tusks.  

One of the researchers has said that a key explanation for the tuskless elephants is the elephants who survived poaching then passed on the tuskless trait on to their daughters.

Australia's road toll has fallen to its lowest in four years, with 78 fewer deaths in 2018 than the previous year.

There were 1,150 deaths on the nation's roads in the 12 months to December, which is the lowest total since 2014.

Despite the improvement, Acting Prime Minister Michael McCormack said the ultimate safety outcome is a target of zero road deaths.

The blind and vision-impaired people will soon be able to gaze at the stars through a new app being developed by a Brisbane startup company.

The Astreos app, developed by OSeyeris, is designed to be used with a smartphone as an augmented reality application to allow people without sight the experience of looking at the night sky.

Despite the focus on blind users, the app also includes intricate 3D visualisations of heavenly bodies, allowing people to see the stars in a new way.

UN rights office reports that at least 890 people have been killed in ethnic violence in the north-western Democratic Republic of Congo in mid-December.

This is double the estimate provided by a local priest and civil society activist on Monday that at least 400 people had been killed in bloodshed that led the government to cancel voting there in last month’s presidential election.

Young Australians have launched a campaign calling on politicians to introduce pill testing. Students for Sensible Drug Policy announced the #BeHeardNotHarmed campaign on Wednesday to prevent drug overdose deaths.

Spokesperson Nick Kent said it is the next step in ending the rising national crisis of young people at risk.

Australian Greens leader and drug and alcohol doctor, Richard Di Natali said politicians need to listen to health experts and research, which has demonstrated that pill-testing saves lives.

Marine volunteers in Queensland have complained of bureaucratic inertia and a lack of transparency in a recent review, warning the future of some units is in doubt.

Queensland marine search and rescue services are run by two volunteer organisations, with volunteers revealing both organisations suffer from poor internal communication, dated constitutions, and a lack of transparency.

The report argues for long-term reform, stating that a shake-up of funding is needed.

Australia’s ageing population has pushed more potential university students towards allied health courses, the Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre’s 2019 offers have revealed.

Health and allied health courses make up almost one-third of the courses chosen by roughly 16,000 prospective university Queensland students in 2019.

QTAC offers to prospective students were released on Wednesday morning.

The Federal Government's decision to grant $444 million dollars to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation failed to fully comply with transparency rules, auditor-general, Grant Hehir found.

In April last year, the Turnbull government announced it was giving the money to the foundation, which at the time had annual revenue of about $10 million and only six full-time staff.

Hehir and his office found the department failed to properly follow government rules around making grants - rules designed to ensure transparency and value for money.