According to research commissioned by Specsavers, more than five per cent of Queenslanders over 40 have never had an eye test and more than a quarter are experiencing unchecked distance vision problems.

A third of Queenslanders over 40 have experienced close-up vision problems they haven’t reported which is higher than the the national average.

Specsavers Runaway Bay optometrist director Simon Kelly said there was no excuse and couldn’t understand why people wouldn’t get their eyes checked

An ABC investigation has revealed that Australia’s biggest online doctor’s appointment booking service funnelled hundreds of users private medical information to a law firm.

Secret documents obtained by ABC from plaintiff law giant Slater and Gordon reveal HealthEngine was passing on a daily list of prospective clients to the firm, based on personal medical information and part of a “referral partnership pilot” last year.

School attendance rates have risen at a Primary School in far north-west Tasmania following the introduction of a weekly podcast program.

A group of Smithton Primary School students write, edit and produce a weekly 15 minute radio program to celebrate and learn about the school’s cultural kaleidoscope.

Principal Leslee White said that attendance rates have gone up by two per cent at the school.

Saudi Arabia has ended it’s driving ban on women in a move to veer the economy from its reliance on oil.

The participation of women in the labour market is poor and Middle East based Bloomberg economist, Ziad Daoud said lifting the ban is likely to increase the number of women looking for jobs therefore overall income and output.

The changes will take time but larger participation of women could lift potential economic growth by as much as 0.9% a year.

An explosion in the western german city of Wuppertal has destroyed an apartment building, injuring 25 people with 4 severely hurt.

News agency DPA reported the detonation was so severe it destroyed the building’s attic and the top three floors.

German police said they are still investigating the cause of the explosion.

The controversial high rise residential development that neighbours the heritage-listed Customs house is now sixty per cent sold while still two years from completion.

The University of Queensland, which owns the heritage icon, appealed the development proposal initially but reached an agreement with developers Cbus that would preserve Customs House.

Of the properties sold, about 70 per cent were purchased by owner-occupiers and the remaining 30 per cent to investors.

The popular Valley Fiesta will return to Brisbane in 2018, but will now span five days and welcomes QMusic as its new producer.

Lord mayor Graham Quirk said QMusic would deliver even more to see and do at the festival.

The event would include a range of free and ticketed events across local venues, laneways and shops, as well as outdoor performances, theatre and art installations.

Infrastructure Australia has renewed its calls for governments to consider charging motorists based on how far they travel in the Prioritising Reform report.

The report addressed the seventy-eight recommendations to address the nation’s infrastructure gaps and challenges outlined in their 2016 report.

While the Prioritising Reform report found improvements had been made to infrastructure, it supported a transition into a fairer, user-pays approach.   

An inquiry that examined the risks with fracking has found that a gas boom in the Northern Territory would contribute as much as 6.6 per cent to Australia’s annual emissions.

The inquiry found a single onshore shale gas field in the Northern Territory would produce double the amount of emissions as the entire Australian waste sector and increase overall emissions by 4.5 per cent.

Experts said increased emissions would jeopardise the commitment Australia made to the landmark 2015 Paris climate change agreement.