Good morning. As we continue our investigation into government agencies\u2019 use of outsourced call centre workers, we focus today on NDIS call handlers who describe being burned out amid intense pressure to hit their targets.<\/p>\n
In other news: the AI revolution has reached Australia\u2019s classrooms \u2013 and while some educators are embracing the new technology, there\u2019s fears some schools could be left behind by the rapid pace of change.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, an armed intruder has been shot and killed by US Secret Service agents at Donald Trump\u2019s Mar-a-Lago residence. Plus: we have all the action from the Baftas and the Winter Olympics closing ceremony.<\/p>\n
AustraliaIndependent Schools Australia is urging the federal government to take up a national AI pilot or risk creating a widening educational divide. Photograph: Hills Christian Community School<\/p>\n
AI in schools | The peak body for independent schools is urging the government to take up a national AI pilot or risk creating a \u201ctwo-speed system\u201d<\/a> and widening the education divide.<\/p>\n Cost of living | The Reserve Bank\u2019s deputy governor has urged shoppers to \u201cvote with their feet\u201d<\/a> to avoid dodgy price hikes and warned that inflationary pressures have endured into the new year.<\/p>\n \u2018I want it to end\u2019 | Five years after Darren Culleton died in custody, his family is still waiting for compensation. After an investigation and an inquest, they\u2019re now holding on for an independent medical panel process beset with delays<\/a>.<\/p>\n Tariffs turmoil | Australia will \u201cexamine all options\u201d<\/a> says the trade minister, Don Farrell, after Donald Trump announced a temporary 15% tariff<\/a> would apply to US imports from all countries.<\/p>\n Security concerns | The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, says authorities have few options<\/a> to prevent the return of 34 Australian women and children from a Syrian detention camp.<\/p>\n WorldDonald Trump\u2019s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. Photograph: Steve Helber\/AP<\/p>\n Mar-a-Lago shooting | The US Secret Service announced that an armed man was shot and killed<\/a> after entering the secure perimeter of Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump\u2019s Florida residence and private club.<\/p>\n Epstein links | An inquiry in the UK into Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor\u2019s Jeffrey Epstein links has not been ruled out<\/a> as police searches of his former home on the Windsor estate continued.<\/p>\n Middle East crisis | Leaders from across the Islamic world have condemned remarks<\/a> by the US ambassador to Israel suggesting it would \u201cbe fine\u201d for Israel to claim a broad swath of the Middle East.<\/p>\n Russia-Ukraine war | Russia has fired scores of missiles and drones<\/a> at targets across Ukraine, flattening buildings in Kyiv, two days before the fourth anniversary of Vladimir Putin\u2019s full-scale invasion.<\/p>\n Baftas 2026 | It\u2019s the biggest night of the year in British cinema: follow the latest on the red carpet gowns, the gossip and glitz from the ceremony here<\/a>. Plus: the full list of winners<\/a>.<\/p>\n Full StoryThe ACCC has accused Coles of offering \u201cillusory\u201d discounts on many everyday products. Composite: Asanka Ratnayake\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Coles in court: the high-stakes battle over the price of your groceries<\/p>\n The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is taking Coles to the federal court testing allegations the supermarket breached the law by offering \u201cillusory\u201d discounts on many everyday products. Coles denies any wrongdoing. One week into the court battle, Jonathan Barrett tells Reged Ahmad about what we\u2019ve learned about how discounts are set \u2013 and whether the outcome could bring prices down<\/a>.<\/p>\n In-depthPrivate contractors win call centre contracts on the promise they can deliver the service more efficiently than the public sector, with enough savings to generate a healthy profit. Illustration: Guardian Design<\/p>\n There\u2019s a checklist of horrors that call handlers on the national disability insurance scheme phone lines hear about; staff field calls from desperate participants containing allegations of rape, violence and financial and emotional abuse. But outsourced NDIS call handlers say they suffer from a lack of proper training<\/a> and intense performance targets in a pressure-cooker workplace.<\/p>\n Not the news\u2018I never actually put any money in to start the rides, because I considered them a waste.\u2019 Composite: Victoria Hart\/Alamy<\/p>\n In the latest of our Kindness of strangers<\/a> series, we hear from a reader who found themselves desperate and exhausted as they wrangled their two young kids while out grocery shopping. Letting her children sit for a moment on a mechanical ride in front of the shopping centre so she could take a breather, an old man put $2 in the slot to start the ride \u2013 leaving the kids over the moon, and a parent eternally grateful<\/a>.<\/p>\n SportValentino Guseli of Australia in action during the third run of the snowboard halfpipe final at the Winter Olympics. Photograph: Dylan Martinez\/Reuters<\/p>\n At least 40 Victorians are set to launch legal action<\/a> against the state\u2019s hospitals over claims their loved ones died by suicide after being prematurely discharged or denied critical care, the Age reports. The East West rail line in South Australia has been closed<\/a> after sections of track of \u201cup to 100 metres\u201d were washed away by flooding, ABC News reports. Former PM Tony Abbott\u2019s book on Australian history has already generated sales in excess of $2m<\/a>, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.<\/p>\n What\u2019s happening today<\/p>\n Queensland | Public hearings are scheduled in Brisbane in the parliamentary inquiry into the quality and safety of Australia\u2019s early childhood education and care system.<\/p>\n NSW | A coronial inquest into the death of Tammy Shipley in custody is set to continue in Lidcombe.<\/p>\n Victoria | Select committee hearings into capital gains tax are due to be held in Melbourne.<\/p>\n Victoria | The ACCC case against Coles continues in federal court in Melbourne over alleged misleading conduct in its product pricing.<\/p>\n Sign up<\/p>\n If you would like to receive this Morning Mail update to your email inbox every weekday, sign up here<\/a>, or finish your day with our Afternoon Update newsletter<\/a>. You can follow the latest in US politics by signing up for This Week in Trumpland<\/a>.<\/p>\n Brain teaser<\/p>\n And finally, here are the Guardian\u2019s crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Good morning. As we continue our investigation into government agencies\u2019 use of outsourced call centre workers, we focus…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":497643,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[256,254,255,64,63,105],"class_list":["post-509496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=509496"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509496\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/497643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=509496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=509496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=509496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}