The Queensland Government will move to rectify the law which forced people who had undergone gender reassignment to divorce their partner before their gender was legally recognised.

Section 22 of the 2003 Births, Deaths and Marriages Registrations Act will be changed now that same sex marriage is legally recognised in Australia.

Attorney- General and Minister for Justice Yvette D’Ath says the law has been unjust and unfair to members of the community that were forced to choose between their marriage and their gender identity.

The first Pub Choir event outside of Brisbane was recently held on the Sunshine Coast, with over 300 people coming together to learn Paul Kelly’s ‘Dumb Things’.

Director and creator Astrid Jorgensen says the event on the Sunshine Coast was a test run to expand and take the phenomenon interstate with dates for an event in Hobart confirmed.

Ms Jorgensen says people come to the events because the pub is a comfortable place for people to enjoy singing loudly without judgement. 

A new study has revealed that Victorian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are three times more likely to be diagnosed with lung cancer and die from the disease than non-Aboriginal women.

Cancer Council Victoria has urged the state’s indigenous population who smoke to get support and quit to reduce the risk of getting lung cancer.

Council Chief Executive Todd Harper said “lung cancer accounts for more than one-in-four cancer deaths in Aboriginal Victorians, compared to almost one-in-five in other Victorians”.

Tasmania’s Liberal premier Will Hodgman is open to political donation reform after oppositions claimed the gaming lobby bankrolled his election campaign.

The Liberals were re-elected on Saturday night, winning at least 13 of 25 lower house seats.

Mr Hodgman was pressed to reveal Liberal political donations during the five-week campaign but refused, saying he was abiding by current laws that require parties to disclose donations of more than $13,500 annually.

Voting has closed in the Italian election and early predictions are pointing towards a hung parliament.

The election has been relatively split between  center right and left parties with other anti-establishment and far right parties taking a cut of the votes.

Analysts predict Silvio Berlusconi’s centre right coalition will win the most seats despite Mr Berlusconi being ineligible to hold office until 2019 because of a tax fraud conviction.

Heavy rains have bought flooding to parts of Kenya, as many parts of the country are hit by unseasonable downpours.

Rainfall is generally scarce in Kenya, and tends to pass quickly. However, a recent 22mm of downpour has been enough to cause significant flooding and disrupt traffic in Narobi on Saturday.

Despite the mass inconveniences of flooding, many residents have welcomed the rain as the country is in the midst of an ongoing drought.

Australia’s “yellow lid bin” recycling system is at serious risk – with recent reports finding considerable amounts of recyclable materials still being dumped in landfill.  

The industry is feeling the effects of China’s import ban which came into effect at the beginning of the year, with 600,000 tonnes of recycling now being stockpiled in warehouses across the country.