Teacher unions are calling for increased public school funding across the country following further cuts to the sector in the 2018-19 Federal Budget.

Almost 11,000 people have signed an open letter to the Federal Government, which the Australian Education Union claims almost $2 billion is being cut from the sector.

Unionists yesterday unfurled a banner outside Parliament House which revealed the 11,000 signatures calling for a funding boost.

Tasmanian Liberals have joined calls urging the State Government against relaxing gun laws following notice a new parliamentary inquiry into firearms regulation will be established.

Former Tasmanian Liberal Attorney-General Ron Cornish, who helped establish the National Firearms Agreement following the Port Arthur Massacre, says he is relieved the Government is halting reforms in lieu of an inquiry.

The proposed changes would have included increased access to silencers and category-C firearms and extending some licence periods.

A Toowoomba Grammar School Student who dislocated his spine playing rugby union earlier this year has been discharged from hospital.

Year 12 student Ollie Bierhoff was one of four teens seriously injured during the opening weeks of the Queensland schoolboy rugby season.

Ollie is aiming to return to school in Term 4 to complete his final year.

Townsville Hospital is home to a trial of the first humanoid social robot in an Australian acute clinical setting.

The robot, that goes by the name of Pepper, provides information about the hospital to patients, freeing up time of other health professionals.

The aim of the trial is to gain further insights into how robots can be integrated into hospitals, particularly the viability of digital interactions between patients and visitors.

Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister says he is hoping to replicate Australia’s zero tolerance policy towards asylum seekers arriving by boat.

Prime Minister Salvini made the comments after refusing to allow the Italian Coast Guard to disembark migrants it had rescued at sea.

Mr Salvini has since allowed 27 children off the vessel, but says the remaining 150 adult migrants cannot disembark until other European countries agree to take them.

A former US government contractor has been sentenced to more than 5 years in prison after leaking official NSA documents to a news organisation.

The document detailed Russian government efforts to penetrate a Florida-based supplier of voting software and the accounts of election officials ahead of the 2016 elections.

The sentence is the longest ever imposed for an unauthorised disclosure to the media.

Serious incidents reported to Tasmania's Child Safety Service are not being officially recorded or followed up, in order for the government department to limit caseloads.

Government agency staff say child safety matters reported by the police and educators are being recorded as ‘case notes’ so investigations will not have to be undertaken by front line staff.

Early this year, 250 Tasmanian young people were on a waiting list for a child safety officer.

Chinese-owned telecom giant Huawei has been banned from rolling out on Australia’s 5G network by the Federal Government, citing security concerns.

A Government spokesperson says of the ban that Chinese Government involvement in telecommunications companies present too many security risks and the company is likely to be subject to extrajudicial directions.

A team of researchers at the University of Queensland has been awarded $1.45 million by the US Department of Defence for a three-year project to develop new antibiotics to treat tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis is the one of the top ten causes of death worldwide, causing 1.7 million deaths every year.

UQ’s Dr Blumenthal says the research team will continue studying the most promising compound identified in an earlier study in 2014.