An elite Melbourne private school offered parents fee discounts of 20% last year after it received nearly $20 million in JobKeeper subsidies.

A Guardian investigation reveals Wesley College, one of the most expensive private schools in Victoria, gave parents fee rebates, waived other costs and made a 5 million dollar transfer to its scholarship fund after it received $18.2 million in JobKeeper last year.

The school says JobKeeper payments were used to pay staff.

A content warning for this story, which mentions crimes against children.

A new United Nations report finds grave violations of children’s human rights remain alarmingly high, with the coronavirus pandemic increasing their vulnerability to abduction, recruitment and violence. 

In its annual Children and Armed Conflict (CAAC) report released this week, the UN said at least 19,379 children affected by war in 2020 were victims of grave violations. 

President Joe Biden has announced a “zero-tolerance” policy for gun dealers including new funding for police and communities. 

The announcement comes in response to rising crime rates in the US by taking strategic steps towards gun violence. 

New gun safety measures will redirect some of the nation's three-hundred and fifty billion dollar COVID-19 funds to address crime. 

Biden believes easy access to guns in the US is the source of gun violence and is seeking more transparency on gun data and better coordination among states.

Supreme court justice Susan Brown will tomorrow rule on whether coal mining giant Adani will be allowed to withhold key particulars of its civil case against prominent stop adani activist Ben Pennings. 

Adani’s Barristers argue Mr Pennings could use confidential information to injure Adani’s mining operations in the Galilee basin, despite revealing in court they do not know what confidential information Mr Pennings has accessed, if any. 

Penning said the lawsuit is a strategic attempt to quash protest against the controversial mine.

Musicians aged 12 years and over will once again compete in the ultimate musical showdown, performing songs in front of crowds at this year's Ekka festival. 

Entries for the country music showdown open up to willing contestants today creating pathways to boost an artists music career. 

Head of entertainment Tony Laffan said, “The Ekka is all about celebrating the best of Queensland and encouraging emerging talents across all industries, including the arts.”

Australia is granting three members of a Tamil asylum seeker family 3 month bridging visas to work and study in Western Australia.

The Muruggapan family who were detained for more than two years on remote Christmas Island, were evacuated to the state after the family’s youngest child developed a potentially life-threatening condition thought to be the result of untreated pneumonia.

The CSIRO have developed a DNA test capable of improving management of wild fish populations by determining the ages of fishes.

The cost effective and non-lethal alternative to counting growth rings can be used for conservation or harvesting, proving a vital tool towards the management of fisheries.  

Postdoctoral member of the CSIRO Doctor Ben Mayne said, "We’re now hoping to share this test with fisheries managers to support conservation projects and sustainable fisheries worldwide.”