The Queensland Law Reform Commission has submitted its draft Laws for Voluntary Assisted Dying to state parliament.

Commission chair Justice Peter Applegarth says rather than being a decision on legalising assisted dying, the submissions merely outline the nature of any potential laws should they gain public and government support.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk made fast-tracking euthanasia laws a key election promise last year and has set the implementation deadline for August 2022.

Researchers at QUT have highlighted how tiny structures called POMs could have large implications in the future of the clean energy sector. 

Deepak Dubal from QUT says that the unique properties of POMs mean that they have greater energy conversion rates and storage capacity. 

Dubal says that POMs could be used as a catalyst in emerging industries such as the hydrogen industry and that the design and engineering of such materials remains at the forefront of finding solutions for complex global energy problems.

A 44 year-old woman from the Gold Coast with stage four bowel cancer has attended her own living funeral - which she says was like a life reunion. 

Kelly Hardy had no symptoms aside from stomach discomfort until she was diagnosed in 2019 after the cancer had already spread to her liver and lungs.

Kelly wanted to attend her own funeral to see everyone from her life and raise money for her family during the event by holding raffles and other fundraising efforts.

The future of 13 Confucius Institutes across Australian universities is in doubt under the scrutiny of the federal government’s foreign veto policy.

Set up in collaboration with Chinese universities, the institutes were the focus of a series of protests in 2019 amid concerns they function as propaganda platforms for the Chinese Communist Party.

Foreign Minister Maryse Payne exercised the government’s foreign veto policy against China last month as she cancelled Victoria’s Belt and Road Deal with the CCP amid rising diplomatic tensions.

Children as young as 12 are set to receive the Pfizer vaccine in the United States with regulators hoping to protect students before they head back to school in the coming weeks.

Distribution is set to get underway once the federal vaccine advisory committee makes recommendations on how the two-dose vaccine should be used for 12-15 year-olds'. 

Paediatrician and Pfizer senior vice president Doctor Bill Gruber says the move is a watershed moment in fighting the pandemic.

Priests in around 100 Catholic churches across Germany are now offering blessings to same-sex couples in defiance of The Vatican.

While Pope Francis has previously said he believes same-sex couples have the right to civil unions, he has also approved the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith’s stance that the Catholic Church does not have the power to bless same-sex marriages.

The Love Wins movement says it welcomes the decision to bless same-sex marriages in Germany and has produced a map showing the churches offering blessings.