Indigenous justice advocate, Leanne Liddle, has been named the Northern Territory Australian of the year.

Liddle is responsible for powering a major agreement aiming to reduce indigenous incarceration rates and bettering justice outcomes in the Northern Territory. 

She has now been named the 2022 Northern Territory Australian of the year.

She announced at the awards ceremony in Darwin, "I want people to know that we don't live in a fair and just system, where everything is equal."

As New South Wales and Victoria open international borders, Western Australia’s remain partially open to the rest of the country. 

Western Australians no longer have to apply for an exemption to travel overseas, however the number of people allowed into the state remains capped at 265 passengers a week. 

Perth travel agent Ceri Grantis says, “it’s super frustrating. We are so far behind the rest of Australia.”

New high tech-cameras will detect phone usage and a lack of seatbelts. Motorists will face penalties of $1033 for using their phone whilst driving and $413 for not wearing a seatbelt. 

Road and transport minister Mark Bailey announced QUOTE “there will be absolutely no mercy.”

The location of the mobile cameras will be kept secret and will be moved to both urban and rural areas.

Students and staff at the University of Pittsburgh are being encouraged to share their pronouns as a part of a new voluntary guide on gender-inclusive language.

The guide includes examples of how to use non-gendered pronouns like “they” and “ze” and has made suggestions for using non-gendered language in the classroom. 

A professor at the university, Gerald Shuster says, “the university is working very hard to make sure that we don't unintentionally create issues for transgender students or students who feel they are unfairly characterised.”

Four extinction rebellion protesters were arrested and removed after shutting down the William Jolly Bridge in Brisbane’s CBD yesterday morning.

The protesters parked a ute across two lanes at the intersection of Coronation drive and the William Jolly Bridge and locked themselves to a kayak in the middle of the road. 

Queensland Health took to twitter yesterday to announce 175 people who received their covid-19 doses on October 23rd at a pop-up clinic in Flagstone Community Centre had been contacted. 

Queensland Health says the ‘ultra-low’ dose was as a result of human error during preparation. 

Acting Chief Health Officer Dr Peter Aitken says the ultra-low dose is not harmful, however it may affect immunity to the virus. 

Almost one million Queenslanders will be exposed to Covid 19 when the borders reopen in less than seven weeks.

As the state falls short of the 80% target, new vaccine data shows just 11 local government areas on track to meet the December 17 deadline.

The Palaszczuk government urged Queenslanders to get their first jab by Sunday or be left unprotected when the borders reopen.

911,728 Queenslanders aged 16 and older are yet to have one dose of the vaccine

The federal government has announced plans for Hong Kong nationals living in Australia to become permanent Australian residents. 

The plan detailed two new visa options, making the process substantially easier.  

The government estimates 9000 temporary skilled, temporary graduate and student visa holders will be eligible to apply from early next year. 

Immigration Minister Alex Hawke says these “simpler visa streams will attract skills and talent and build business links, helping to boost productivity and create further job opportunities for Australians."

Australia’s program to shut down cyberbullies will grow next year, reaching social networks like snapchat and WhatsApp. 

The changes will see bullies stripped of their accounts or taken to court with reduced time given to social media giants to remove harmful messages from their platforms. This will change from 48 hours to just one day.

The expansion of the Australian eSafety Commission’s cyberbullying scheme will begin in January as part of the Online Safety Act.