Queensland authorities will begin to roll out mobile phone and seatbelt detection cameras across the state from today, with fines to be issued from November 2021. 

Drivers will be issued warnings rather than fines for the first three months after which they will face the same fines as those issued by police officers.

Queensland is believed to be the first jurisdiction in the world to use fixed-camera technology to detect seatbelt offences.

Record numbers of native marsupials have been spotted across the state this year, including the endangered bilby.

Rangers from the Department of Environment and Science recorded 471 bilbies at Astrebla Downs National Park in far-west Queensland last month.

Senior parks and wildlife ranger Barry Nolan says the boom among various marsupial populations at Astrebla Downs was due to a combination of good rain and a successful feral cat control program.

The national recovery team for the bilby hopes to increase the marsupial's wild population to 10,000.

The Palaszczuk Government has allocated $1 million in grants to fund community groups across the state to keep local waters litter-free.

These grants will enable community groups, organisations and universities to continue to clean up litter, educate the community and develop waste-catching technology.

Environment and Great Barrier Reef Minister Meaghan Scanlon has stressed the importance of these grants, saying “we’ve all seen the distressing images of what can happen to our marine life when people are careless with their rubbish.”

A Victorian teen is campaigning for improved sexual education in schools.

Stephanie Liow, year 12 student, was prompted by the general conversation around consent this year to reflect and take action.

She has petitioned to her state parliament for compulsory holistic sex education in the school curriculum, and this petition was endorsed by leader of the Victorian Greens, Samantha Ratnam.

As the NSW lockdown continues, the Trade unions are demanding the federal government to reinstate JobKeeper.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions wants immediate cash grants for small businesses and says current assistance measures are "confusing, inadequate and often administratively burdensome”.

NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet has also appealed for the reintroduction of wage subsidies.

The prime minister Scott Morrison says he is "very open to considering how we deal with the situation as it further evolves".

The death toll in India from flooding and landslides, triggered by heavy monsoon rains, has reached 159, as experts say climate change has caused the annual deluge to increase in frequency and intensity.

The country's western coast has been inundated by torrential rains since Thursday, with the India Meteorological Department warning of further downpours over the next few days.

Some 230,000 people were evacuated across the state amid the torrid conditions as the search for 100 people still missing continues.