More students are staying at school to complete year 12 but many are doing subjects not useful to them, according to the latest Review to Achieve Educational Excellence in Australian Schools.

Review chairperson David Gonski said Australia needs a review of its education system to correct the skewed focus on academic subjects to the detriment of vocational subjects.

Gonski also suggested fostering greater involvement with the community in training students to be more employment ready.

Perth events company, JumpClimb, closed its door after being behind a scandal of leaving artists waiting on about $200,000 of outstanding pay.

A company statement said they are no longer able to operate due to a combination of factors including a downturn in ticket sales on recent projects, debtors going into receivership and the general economic slow-down.

The statement further said they are currently attempting to settle accounts with their existing creditors.

The Brisbane International Film Festival is moving to GOMA for the next three years, contributing to Queensland’s screen culture.

The Cinematheque is the only cinema facility of its kind in an Australian art museum and Director Chris Saines said the opportunity would be an exciting challenge for the gallery.

BIFF would be Brisbane’s flagship film festival, screening the best in Australian and international cinema.

Claims that researchers in the US have kept a pig’s brain alive outside the body for 36 hours have been met with mixed reactions from the scientific community.

The researchers claimed the ability to keep brains alive for this long outside the body would greatly assist research into how the brain works as well as treatments for diseases.

Others have stressed the vast differences between pig and human brains and dismissed the potential for brain transplants.

Across Latin America and the Caribbean, nearly 350 victims of human trafficking have been rescued by police.

The victims were found working throughout night clubs, factories, markets, farms and mines, and some even in spaces no bigger than coffins.

The raids were co-ordinated and are the result of a two-and-a-half year project funded by the Canadian government.

The manufacturer of a high end dog food brand under investigation for its connection with more than 70 dogs falling sick, offered to reimburse vet bills and replace dogs that have been euthanised.

Advance Dermocare dry dog food was voluntarily recalled after a number of dogs which had eaten the food have contracted megaesophagus.

The rare condition causes the oesophagus to become enlarged and lose the ability to move food down to the stomach meaning that the surviving dogs need to consume their food sitting upright.  

The Federal government added dialysis services to the medicare benefits schedule to provide remote- living Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders better access to life saving treatment.

The sector welcomed the addition as a lifeline for the growing health crisis of Indigenous Kidney Disease which has had to rely on private donations and fundraising to provide care due to inadequate government funding.

Brisbane based company, Hydrox Technologies co-founders, Robert and Mark Trenchard, are reducing plastic waste by up to 30 percent with new solar shrink mulch film.

The film is solar powered and designed to shrink and tighten at low temperatures when exposed to the sun and is 50 percent stronger than conventional mulch film on the market.

The product was named in the top 10 new agricultural products for 2018 at the World AG Expo in California earlier this year for its potential to minimise costs, wastage and protect the environment. ​​​​​​

More than 80 per cent of Tigerair pilots were set to take disruptive action on Friday, refusing to fly aircraft with allowable defects or fly hours outside their roster.

Members of the Australian Federation of Air Pilots and VIPA, a union for Virgin Australia Group pilots, planned to take the action after 12 months of negotiations over pay and conditions.

AFAP executive director Simon Lutton said the actions could cause delays and cancellations for Tigerair passengers.