More than 1 in 20 Australian students owe over $50 000 in HECS debt.

6% of graduates owe more than $50 000 in debt compared to 2.1% in 2011.

Grattan Institute higher education program director Andrew Norton blames the growth on an increase in postgraduate study and people not repaying existing education debts.

Carers at a Canberra Wildlife Sanctuary are struggling to accommodate large numbers of injured and malnourished roos affected by the worsening drought.

Wildcare volunteer Helen Stevens currently has 9 joeys in her care, and is going through 45 bottles of special kangaroo milk each day in an effort to boost the young roos’ growth.

Ms Stevens says she is very concerned about the oncoming fire season, with some carers still nursing joeys burnt in the 2017 Carwoola bushfires.

Following his visit to Ireland, Pope Francis says he will not respond to allegations he covered up sexual abuse for years.

The accusations come from Archbishop Vigano, who also alleged other past Vatican and US church officials were involved in the cover up.

The Pope says the document containing the allegations speaks for itself.

Bosnian journalists are demanding justice after a reporter was severely beaten for covering a political protest in the lead up to elections.

Vladimir Kovacevic was attacked after reporting on a protest against the cover-up of 21 year old student David Dragicevic’s death.

The US and European Union have also condemned the assault.

A heritage building in Fortitude Valley will become the new home for Byron Bay craft beer company, Stone and Wood in 2019.

Dating back to 1936, the heritage brick building on Bridge St will accommodate the boutique brewery which will include a new rotation of beers and a tasting room.

Stone and Wood managing director Ben Summons has been on the lookout for an exclusive Brisbane city location for months, believing this location in Fortitude Valley ‘ticks all the boxes’.

Victoria is set to open its first new mine in over a decade.

Despite promising to bring new jobs to one of the highest areas of unemployment in the state, local groups are concerned about the mine’s reuse of a dam that previously leaked acidic water.

Victorian National Parks Association spokesman Phil Ingamells said the development is a disappointing and concerning move.

Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will resign Federal Parliament effective from this Friday, following his ousting as leader of the Liberal Party last week.

In a meeting with senior Liberal colleagues, he stated he will leave his seat of Wentworth in eastern Sydney, causing a by-election which could see the Liberals lose this seat.

Those in the running for the seat for Wentworth include former diplomat Dave Sharma, and sister of former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Christine Foster.

A UN report is calling for the prosecution of Myanmar military chiefs following the mass killings and gang rapes of Muslim Rohingya with “genocidal intent”.

The report also blames the country’s leader, Nobel Peace Prize winner (Ong San Su Ki) Aung San Suu Kyi, for failing to protect minorities, particularly in the (Rahine) Rakhine State.

Ms Suu Kyi’s government has rejected these allegations.

Plans to build a multi-use port on Manus Island have garnered concerns that China may seek to gain a strategic foothold in the Pacific Island.

With China’s high levels of foreign investment in the country, Australian defence experts worry co-financing this multi-million dollar project will catch PNG in a so-called ‘debt trap’.

Manus Island community leader Ron Knight said China is ‘breathing down the neck of PNG, like Sri Lanka’, where the government was forced to surrender a major port after it was unable to service it’s $1.1 billion debt.