The Victorian Government has pledged to provide free tampons and pads in Victorian state schools if it wins the next election. 

Health Minister Jill Hennessy, said this is about giving female students the dignity they deserve, whilst also helping families with the financial cost. 

Ms Henessy also compared pads and tampons to hand soap and toilet paper as basic bathroom necessities. 

Two Councillors and the Mayor have led conversation to pass a resolution that will declare Noosa Shire a refugee welcome zone. 

The purpose of the refugee welcome zone is to make a public declaration and commitment to welcoming refugees into the community, upholding the human rights of refugees and demonstrating that Noosa Shire is an inclusive and tolerant community. 

The Palaszczuk Government has pledged $1.9 to upgrade the Aramac Aquatic Centre.

State Minister Cameron Dick, says that the pool is a key piece of community infrastructure in the region where temperatures soar to over 35 degrees.

The upgrade features a six-lane, 25-metre pool, a 10-metre kids splash pad, and associated treatment plants.

Amnesty International is stripping Myanmar's de facto leader Un sun su kyi of its highest honour, the Ambassador of Conscience Award.

The Nobel Peace Prize recipient and politician received the Conscience Award in 2009; however, Amnesty International said it was dismayed at her failure to speak out against the military crackdown on Myanmar’s ethnic Rohingya minority.

The Nobel Prize Winner has since faced growing international pressure to condemn the army's alleged brutality against the Rohingya. However, she has refused to do so.

A South African parliamentary committee has backed the recommendation to amend the constitution to enable land expropriation without compensation. 

The issue of land ownership is a highly sensitive and divisive topic within the country. 

President Cyril Ramaphosa hopes to change the constitution to address racial disparities in land ownership which persist more than two decades after the demise of the Apartheid in 1994.  

Bob Katter has outlined his support for an increase to the unemployment benefit ‘Newstart’ this morning.

The entire lower house crossbench has come out in favour of the increase to Newstart... prompting Australia’s peak body for the community services sector to accuse major parties of being out of touch.

Mr Katter has said the Newstart program will help tackle malnutrition in Indigenous communities. 

Japanese gas giant, Inpex has signed a $24 million deal to set up a fund for Darwin's Larrakia people almost a decade after it was first promised.

The fund will exist for the projected 40-year lifespan of the Gas pipeline project at Bladin Point near Darwin.

At a ceremony in Darwin, the Inpex chief executive said his company wanted to recognise the Larrakian people as traditional owners of the region's land and waters.

Hundreds of rented motorised scooters will be whizzing around Brisbane streets this weekend after the Queensland government suddenly reversed its opposition to Lime and app-driven scooter hire company.

The Palaszczuk government initially refused to sanction the trial and warned the Californian company that it could be prosecuted if it went ahead with its Brisbane trial.

The Government was originally opposed to the scooters because of safety and insurance fears.