Australia's first Indigenous LGBTIQ+ Commissioner is calling for better services and safer spaces for the First Nations and queer community. 

Wiradjuri man Todd Fernando is the second commissioner to ever hold the role after its creation in 2015, and his focus is on intersecting identities of race and queerness. 

Mr Fernando says First Nations people often feel the need to minimise their culture to connect with their LGBTQI+ identities.

A three-week public inquiry begins today into the financial mismanagement of the New South Wales Central Coast Council, which accrued more than half a billion dollars in debt. 

The commissioner will look at whether council's actions contributed to its financial position, and whether it had regard for its financial sustainability. 

Suspended mayor Lisa Matthews will be the first to be investigated.

The Taliban have hung a dead body from a crane parked in an Afghanistan city square in a gruesome display that signals its return to brutal tactics of the past. 

Sher Ahmad Ammar, deputy governor of Herat says this, and other dead bodies, were brought to the main square and hung up in the city as a lesson.

Brisbane Pride are requesting officers not participate in this year’s Pride March while wearing uniform. 

The decision comes after investigations were launched on a number of current and past police officers who are members of a Facebook group littered with homophobic, sexist and racist posts.

Brisbane Pride Festival has issued a statement via the organisation’s website stating they acknowledge progress in changing the behaviours of the Queensland Police Service, but that change has been inconsistent.

A team of Brisbane scientists have taken a podium finish in the “Robot Olympics”. 

The Data61 team, originating from the C-S-I-R-O robotics company, Emesent, based robot dog designs on Bluey characters “Bluey” and “Bingo”.

In a tie-breaking finish, the team took second place for their efforts, with C-S-I-R-O robotics group leader Navinda Kottege saying the team were “extraordinarily proud of their work”. 
 

Queensland Deputy Premier Steven Miles is criticising Prime Minister Scott Morrison for his suggestion, that the state's borders should be open by Christmas.

Mr Miles hit out at the Prime Minister, who he says should focus on federal matters.

Mr Miles says "Diplomacy is his job. International trade is his job. Vaccination should be his job, but we're doing it. Quarantine should have been his job, but we're doing it.”

A Victorian legal challenge aims to lower the eligibility for the age pension for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. 

The Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service and the Human Rights Law Centre argue, given the gap in life expectancy it is inequitable and discriminatory to hold both Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians to the same retirement age. 

The case is led by Dennis, a 64-year-old Wakka Wakka man raised on the Cherbourg Aboriginal Settlement in Queensland

Northern Tasmania will host the inaugural 2021 Tasmanian Disability Festival Award, on December 3rd. 

The awards are celebrating organisations and individuals who provide outstanding support to people with disabilities.

Tasmanian Disability Festival co-director Dan Ryan says the 2021 awards were a first for the state and are intended to be as inclusive as possible. 

Mr Ryan encourages the public to nominate individuals who go above and beyond, but also businesses who are active in supporting the disability sector.

Switzerland has voted by a wide margin to allow same-sex couples to marry, in a referendum bringing the Alpine nation into line with many others in western Europe. 

Official results show the measure passed with 64 point one per cent of voters in favour, and won a majority in all of Switzerland's 26 states. 

Supporters say the change in law will put same-sex partners on equal legal footing with heterosexual couples, facilitating adoption and citizenship for same-sex spouses.