Cairns police officers are running a program for mentoring young Indigenous women.

This Cairns branch of project “Booyah”, a Queensland police youth mentoring program, is different to most as it is an all-female run and focused branch.

The Cairns team run a 20 week program that aims to help disadvantaged youth gain the skills and qualifications to become employable.

Australians will now be prompted to include traditional place names when addressing letters and parcels, after a community campaign.

The new Australia Post packaging will include a dedicated spot where customers can choose to include the First Nation country, just above the street address on a letter or parcel.

It will be phased in as stock becomes available, as part of NAIDOC week this week.

The National Disabilities Insurance Scheme Agency has released a paper which highlights the long history of people with disabilities not being supported to make decisions for themselves. 

People with disabilities are left out of making decisions about their lives, with the National Disability Insurance Scheme admitting that it relies on others to make decisions on people's behalf.

The NDIS agency is seeking feedback concerning their new policy to ensure participants of NDIS can play a bigger role.

In Australia, six in ten women of colour have experienced discrimination associated with their identity, such as their sex, religion and or ethnicity.

A nationwide survey of women of diverse cultural backgrounds revealed that more than half of culturally diverse women faced discrimination at work in relation to their identity.

Pilar Cassat, Chair of Women of Colour Australia says, despite widespread discourse on diversity and inclusion, women of colour continue to experience unequal discrimination in employment places.

The UK, Greece, Italy and Israel nations help in tackling the Cyprus wildfire which started on Saturday, with 4 confirmed to have died on Sunday. 

Director of the Department of Forests, Charalambos Alexandrou told local television "It is the worst forest fire in the history of Cyprus".

More than 20 square metres of forest and farmland have been destroyed as well as power lines. Evacuations are still underway as the fire continues to spread.

The ongoing COVID-19 vaccination confusion and shortage is leaving Queenslanders missing out or hesitant to get the vaccine.

After Queensland’s Chief Health Officer Dr Jeanette Young advised under 60s to avoid the AstraZeneca vaccine, against Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s announcement, more Queenslanders have cancelled their vaccine appointments.

The Queensland Health website recommends AstraZeneca for over 60s and Pfizer for under 60s, going first to those who are higher-risk.

The Queensland Council for Civil Liberties President Michael Cope has welcomed the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill, but argued for improvements.

Mr Cope says this bill is important because this reform will, “enable the relief of much pain and suffering, which is increasing as our society ages.”

Queensland is struggling to attract and keep doctors in rural areas, but strengthening connections to place could improve this.

A study from the University of Queensland on the job satisfaction of rural doctors found that giving trainee doctors the opportunity to stay in rural areas for longer, and familiarise themselves with the area, can make the long-term move more desirable.

Dr Remo Ostini, the coordinating editor of the paper, says, “Leaving before you’re settling in like that would just leave you but feeling a bit jarred and bit jaded.”

Australia’s travel bubble with New Zealand will resume from today with only certain states and territories including South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria.

Travel conditions apply which require travellers to not have recently visited a hotspot area since June 22nd and to return a negative COVID-19 test 72 hours before flying.

Other areas like New South Wales, Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia remained locked out due to the numbers of COVID-19 cases.