Almost 90% of the nation have received their first dose of the vaccine having hit the 80% target over the weekend. 

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the state will most likely reach the 80% target by today. 

As a result Premier Palaszczuk has announced Queenslanders will not be required to wear a mask from the time the target is reached and if you’ve had at least one dose of the vaccine. 

Ms Palaszczuk says, “This is another small step back towards life as normal”.

Chansey Paech has been named the first openly gay Indigenous speaker of an Australian Parliament. 

He is joined by Ngaree Ah Kit as the Northern Territory’s deputy speaker. This is the first time two Aboriginal people have held the top spots in an Australian Parliament. 

Mr Paech said it was an honour to be elected and he hopes to inspire young Aboriginal kids in remote communities across the Northern Territory.

Speaking at the COP26 summit in Glasgow, Mr Obama says the world is “nowhere near where we need to be”. 

He called out nations for failing to meet the UN Paris agreement set in 2015, however activists took to Twitter to point out how his own administration failed to keep its promise to deliver $100 billion a year in climate finance to poorer nations. 

One user tweeted, “The US has broken that promise, it will cost lives in Africa… You want to meet COP26 youth. We want action.”

Queensland businesses and those stranded interstate are calling for clarity ahead of the first stage of borders reopening next weekend. 

More than 750 businesses in Queensland want to know what restrictions might be placed on them over the Christmas season, concerned that the Check-In app may have to include people’s vaccination status. 

There are also concerns of serious delays for regular commuters at the checkpoints once the borders open. 

The Bunya Highway and Silverleaf Road are set to receive an intersection upgrade which the government are hoping will reduce car incidents. 

This project is jointly funded under the Australian Government’s Accelerated Road Safety Program as part of a $3.79 million package to upgrade various intersections in the Wide Bay Burnett.

The project is much needed after a series of crashes in the area including a fiery truck crash and numerous fatalities along the Bunya Highway.

There are concerns that increased climate change is resulting in more Koala’s dying from chlamydia. 

Wildlife experts say the silent killer is spreading through Australia's koala population, posing a threat to the marsupial across large parts of the country.

A recent report from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation says when the marsupials are exposed to unusually stressful environmental conditions, including hot weather, chlamydia spreads more quickly through their population. 

Experts are claiming lyrebirds are damaging Tasmania's forests following an explosion in population throughout the state's wetlands. 

The birds, best known for their mimicking abilities, were introduced to Tasmania in the 1930s and 1940s as it was believed the mainland population was under threat. 

Dr Eric Woehler from Birdlife Tasmania says not enough was known about the species and the ecological impact.

Youth living on the pacific islands are growing up with fear as climate change is threatening their homes and futures. 

Shannon Sogavare, a 16 year old girl from the Solomon Islands says she has already seen how rising sea levels have swallowed parts of her country's landscape. 

Modelling from Save the Children's Born into The Climate Crisis report shows a grim future for the region with children in Australia and the Pacific predicted to experience up to 10 times more extreme weather events than their ancestors.