![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/8093.jpg\")
Photograph: Joel Carrett\/AAP<\/p>\nVictoria set for \u2018much more\u2019 rainfall after period of wild weather<\/p>\n
Significant rainfall is expected to continue across much of Victoria, which has already been battered by storms and flash flooding.<\/p>\n
AAP reports Melbourne recorded one of its wettest October days in several years after the city received up to 25mm of rain within an hour on Thursday afternoon, with other areas of Victoria also hard hit.<\/p>\n
More than 200 calls for help were made to the SES, including six water rescues, after parts of Melbourne were hit by the flash flooding. The city was plunged into darkness about 3pm as the system moved through, with the Melbourne (Olympic Park) measuring station recording 47.8mm of rain since 9am on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Photograph: Joel Carrett\/AAP<\/p>\n
David Crock, a senior meteorologist with the Bureau of Meteorology, said the total marked the city\u2019s highest daily rainfall total since April 2024.<\/p>\n
Rainfall will continue on Friday and Saturday in Victoria, with a flood watch current for catchments across much of central and eastern parts of the state.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is much more to come,\u201d Crock said.<\/p>\n
Conditions are expected to ease on Sunday as the low pressure system moves offshore, with conditions predicted to ease from the west.<\/p>\n
Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a021.23 EDT<\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n NSW police allege two women targeted in \u2018excessively violent\u2019 home invasions NSW police believe two women who were allegedly assaulted and robbed during separate home invasions were targeted in premeditated attacks.<\/p>\n Speaking at a press conference, the sex crimes squad commander, Detective Supt Virginia Gorman, said the three men charged had allegedly planned the offences.<\/p>\n double quotation markI believe that these men had done some research and they believed that these women might be home alone and they might have money on the premises. So they were specifically targeted.<\/p>\n Gorman described the alleged offences as \u201cvery violent\u201d. She said:<\/p>\n double quotation markExcessively violent for three men armed with a weapon against vulnerable women home alone \u2013 excessively. It\u2019s excessive violence.<\/p>\n They were armed with a knife. They used duct tape to restrain them. They had duct tape over their mouths. They assaulted the women, punching a woman. You don\u2019t need to do that to overcome a solo female. The violence is over the top for what they\u2019ve done.<\/p>\n Police said both women were treated for \u201cminor physical injuries\u201d.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a022.10 EDT<\/p>\n Jackie O\u2019s $80m legal fight with ARN Media delayed by months<\/p>\n Federal court justice Wendy Abraham on Friday postponed radio host Jackie \u201cO\u201d Henderson\u2019s two-week trial until late April after a crucial pre-trial hearing was aborted on Thursday.<\/p>\n AAP reports a civil trial between the owner of KIIS FM, ARN Media and its former breakfast star was set to begin on 12 October, but a delay in pre-trial proceedings and the filing of documents have caused a mammoth delay.<\/p>\n Dozens of documents in the 3,900-page court book have been caught up in battles between the two sides over legal privilege.<\/p>\n Henderson is suing the radio giant for unlawful termination of her $100 million contract after refusing to work with her co-host.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a021.33 EDT<\/p>\n Victoria set for \u2018much more\u2019 rainfall after period of wild weather<\/p>\n Significant rainfall is expected to continue across much of Victoria, which has already been battered by storms and flash flooding.<\/p>\n AAP reports Melbourne recorded one of its wettest October days in several years after the city received up to 25mm of rain within an hour on Thursday afternoon, with other areas of Victoria also hard hit.<\/p>\n More than 200 calls for help were made to the SES, including six water rescues, after parts of Melbourne were hit by the flash flooding. The city was plunged into darkness about 3pm as the system moved through, with the Melbourne (Olympic Park) measuring station recording 47.8mm of rain since 9am on Thursday.<\/p>\n Photograph: Joel Carrett\/AAP<\/p>\n David Crock, a senior meteorologist with the Bureau of Meteorology, said the total marked the city\u2019s highest daily rainfall total since April 2024.<\/p>\n Rainfall will continue on Friday and Saturday in Victoria, with a flood watch current for catchments across much of central and eastern parts of the state.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is much more to come,\u201d Crock said.<\/p>\n Conditions are expected to ease on Sunday as the low pressure system moves offshore, with conditions predicted to ease from the west.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a021.23 EDT<\/p>\n Anthropic pushes for opt-out model for Australian content<\/p>\n The AI giant Anthropic has urged the Albanese government to consider giving \u201cconditional approval\u201d for big tech to train its models on Australian copyrighted works under an opt-out model, after conceding it won\u2019t secure a blanket copyright exemption.<\/p>\n But Australia\u2019s public broadcasters, the ABC and SBS, have strongly criticised AI firms, calling on the government to enact strict new rules to compensate media organisations and protect public interest journalism.<\/p>\n In submissions to a federal parliamentary inquiry, the ABC demanded AI companies be subject to the same copyright, defamation and privacy rules as media outlets, warning of a \u201ccannibalisation\u201d of mainstream news.<\/p>\n Read more here:<\/p>\n Share<\/a> Steam has age checks \u2013 but just with credit cards for now<\/p>\n Earlier in the blog we had the eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, calling out Valve and its gaming platform Steam as \u201coutliers\u201d in relying on self-declaration for age instead of having age assurance technology \u2013 similar to the social media ban \u2013 which they have been required to have since March this year.<\/p>\n In the eSafety report out today, it clarifies that Steam did not have these measures in place during the reporting period when the questions were issued to Valve.<\/p>\n Steam has since brought in a form of age checking as of last month. There\u2019s been a bit of controversy about it because to access content meant for people aged 18 and over in Australia, the only form of age checking Steam is accepting is credit cards.<\/p>\n This presents an issue for anyone who doesn\u2019t have a credit card, or doesn\u2019t want to use it for Steam.<\/p>\n The eSafety commissioner\u2019s statement out today makes clear the office is \u201cengaging with the company to seek commitments that it will put in place additional forms of age assurance to give its customers choice\u201d.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Card surcharge ban will take time to work through<\/p>\n Australian businesses will need time to adjust to the new ban on card surcharges as the major banks prepare for a potential merchant fees war, AAP reports.<\/p>\n The change, driven by the central bank to give consumers transparency at the till, only came into effect on Thursday.<\/p>\n Commonwealth Bank says that from its end, the transition has been relatively smooth, although it has sensed pockets of anxiety.<\/p>\n Photograph: SolStock\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Even though consumers will no longer see the surcharge on eftpos, Visa, Mastercard and Amex transactions, businesses are still on the hook to cover the cost by either absorbing it or increasing product prices.<\/p>\n The banks have already remotely removed the surcharge option from the in-shop terminals used by merchants, including key hospitality operations that were the biggest fee users.<\/p>\n At the same time, banks still have to cover the interchange fee \u2013 paid by the merchant\u2019s bank to the customer\u2019s bank when a payment is processed \u2013 even though it has now dropped to 0.3%, from 0.8% (roughly three cents on every $10) \u2013 and shopkeepers still pay merchant fees to their banks.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Labor to make it harder for international students to ‘course hop’ International students will soon find it harder to transfer courses, and remain in Australia for longer, under a series of rule changes to stop the increase of \u201cpermanently temporary\u201d migrants.<\/p>\n The assistant minister for international education, Julian Hill, is giving a speech this morning to the Migration Institute of Australia and says under the rules a student will now need a separate visa to transfer courses, making it much harder to \u201ccourse hop\u201d.<\/p>\n The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, announced at the press club last month that transfers could only be to courses of equal or higher value, meaning a student could not start a bachelor or masters\u2019 degree and then drop to a vocational course.<\/p>\n Hill will say:<\/p>\n double quotation markOne of the biggest problems has been the growth in permanently temporary migrants. People who hop from visa to visa, who may have spent most of their adult lives here, with kids who are now Australian, but who will never make the cut for skilled migration or who wait for years on bridging visas for a permanent visa.<\/p>\n Hill will also crack down on migration lawyers and agents who try to \u201cgame\u201d the system by profiting off people who have baseless visa claims.<\/p>\n Assistant minister for international education Julian Hill. Photograph: Mick Tsikas\/AAPShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a019.50 EDT<\/p>\n Online game \u2018threat environment is getting more serious\u2019, eSafety chief says<\/p>\n Julie Inman-Grant, the eSafety commissioner, said she expected by now there would be \u201cbetter protections\u201d for children in the online gaming space as \u201cthe threat environment is getting more serious\u201d.<\/p>\n She told RN this morning some changes had been made, but other companies were lagging behind:<\/p>\n double quotation markSome are doing better than others. We\u2019re starting to see Roblox uplift. And Minecraft has education-based games that are safer than, say, the online version. But we would expect to see more from Fortnite.<\/p>\n And Steam and Valve are really the outliers. They\u2019re still relying on self-declaration for age assurance, even though in March we have required all gaming platforms to be able to age assure those under 18 and prevent harmful content being served to them.<\/p>\n Inman-Grant said it was a \u201cshame\u201d that some companies needed regulatory pressure to better their safety standards.<\/p>\n double quotation markWe\u2019re starting to see gaming platforms act more like social media platforms. They\u2019re trying to keep the kids on the platforms longer. \u2026 They\u2019re introducing new services like dating services and shopping malls where the primary demographic is 8 to 13 and they\u2019re allowing adults to intermingle. I mean, what could possibly go wrong there?<\/p>\n Julie Inman-Grant is calling for \u2018better protections\u2019 for children who play games online. Photograph: Sabrina Bracher\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a019.53 EDT<\/p>\n Man charged with sexually assaulting woman in Sydney park<\/p>\n A Sydney man has been charged after allegedly restraining, choking and sexually assaulting a young woman in a park, Australian Associated Press reports.<\/p>\n A 23-year-old woman was walking from Flemington Station through Airey Park in Homebush, in Sydney\u2019s west, around 11.15pm on Friday 18 September when she was stopped by a man not known to her, police say.<\/p>\n Police will allege the man, 27, then allegedly restrained the woman and dragged her into nearby bushland, where he sexually assaulted her.<\/p>\n Police searched a Padstow property about 8.50am on Thursday, arresting the 27-year-old man and seizing several items for forensic examination.<\/p>\n He was charged with aggravated sex assault – inflicting actual bodily harm, intentionally choking without consent, taking a person with intent to commit a serious indictable offence and stalk\/intimidating with intent to cause fear of physical harm.<\/p>\n The man is due to appear in Bankstown local court on Friday.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a019.33 EDT<\/p>\n Some findings from the eSafety report on online game companies<\/p>\n The eSafety commission released a major new report<\/a> into online game service providers today, examining how the companies keep kids safe on the internet, or fail to do so.<\/p>\n The report found that \u201cleft unchecked or unmoderated, there is a risk that these games could contain unlawful material or serve as high-risk environments for child sexual exploitation and abuse or activity which promotes, incites or instructs in matters of crime or violence\u201d.<\/p>\n Most of the providers employed tools to proactively detect unlawful or harmful material, but the quality and coverage of those tools varied across each one, eSafety said. It expected the industry to raise the bar to combat serious harms like child sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual extortion and material or activity that promotes or incites violence.<\/p>\n Some of the providers also took longer than others to respond to user or automatic reports of specific harms, which could leave other users exposed to serious harms for longer.<\/p>\n The full findings are available here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a018.55 EDT<\/p>\n eSafety commissioner says \u2018time for new leadership\u2019 after 10 years in role<\/p>\n Julie Inman-Grant, the eSafety commissioner, confirmed this morning \u201cit\u2019s probably time for new leadership\u201d at the body after serving 10 years in the role.<\/p>\n She spoke to RN Breakfast this morning, saying 10 years was a \u201cgood, round, solid number\u201d, adding:<\/p>\n double quotation markWe\u2019ve increased the office tenfold. We\u2019ve done amazing things. I think with the new digital duty of care, I\u2019m going to be actively shaping that to the extent that I can and getting all the right pieces in place.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s probably time for new leadership. This is not an easy gig from a personal perspective, but also professionally, it\u2019s been the role of a lifetime. And, you know, to be able to try and make some positive change has been an incredible opportunity. But yeah, I think it\u2019s time to be thinking about what\u2019s next.<\/p>\n eSafety commissioner Julie Inman-Grant. Photograph: Mick Tsikas\/AAPShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a018.55 EDT<\/p>\n Industry minister says it is important Australia works in tandem with AI<\/p>\n Tim Ayres, the minister for industry and innovation, was asked this morning why the government\u2019s rhetoric on artificial intelligence had softened after an initially stern tone on the OpenAI breach<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ayres said the government had, in fact, been direct with OpenAI, but maintained the country and tech giants had to work in tandem. He told RN Breakfast:<\/p>\n double quotation markIt reinforces the government\u2019s approach here, which is about making sure that artificial intelligence investment here supports Australia\u2019s national interest, happens on Australia\u2019s terms.<\/p>\n He said Albanese had initially given a direct, firm message to the founder of OpenAI, but that has since been followed by \u201cextensive, enhanced cooperation, working through the issues in a constructive way\u201d.<\/p>\n double quotation markIt underscores why it is that we\u2019re legislating AI standards, why it is that we\u2019re seeking to secure the right level of artificial intelligence investment, including training investment here in Australia, because it makes Australia stronger and means that we are part of shaping the technology and that is crucial for Australia and Australians.<\/p>\n Industry minister Tim Ayres says Australia should be \u2018part of shaping the technology\u2019 of AI. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi\/AAPShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a018.16 EDT<\/p>\n Minns government vows to regulate labour hire in NSW<\/p>\n The Minns government has pledged to regulate labour hire in New South Wales if reelected, a move meant to protect workers and businesses from dodgy labour hire providers.<\/p>\n An independent report found<\/a> earlier this year a number of labour supply companies had been incorporated within days of each other at the same address, with the same director and secretary, during the Western Sydney Airport Metro project.<\/p>\n The investigation found suspected underpayment of workers, insurance fraud, tax fraud and unaccounted invoices worth than $10m.<\/p>\n The contractor was terminated after the report.<\/p>\n Other entities, including farmers and unions, have raised concerns about labour hire providers in the horticulture sector.<\/p>\n Sophie Cotsis, the minister for industrial relations, said in a statement:<\/p>\n double quotation markThe NSW Government has zero-tolerance for the exploitation of workers, and this commitment builds on the work we are doing to stamp out dodgy labour hire firms.<\/p>\n Every worker deserves fair pay, access to their entitlements, and to work and live in a safe environment and a labour hire licencing scheme is an important step in ensuring safer workplaces for labour hire workers.<\/p>\n NSW industrial relations minister Sophie Cotsis. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi\/AAPShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a018.16 EDT<\/p>\n Former Wallaby hooker Nathan Charles diagnosed with MND at 37<\/p>\n The former Wallaby Nathan Charles, who became the first cystic fibrosis sufferer in the world to play a contact sport professionally, has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND).<\/p>\n AAP reports the 37-year-old, who played four Test matches for Australia, revealed he has been diagnosed with the same disease as retired South Sydney NRL star Jai Arrow.<\/p>\n During a Stan Sport interview with former Wallaby turned commentator Justin Harrison, Charles said he had only recently been diagnosed.<\/p>\n Read more:<\/p>\n Australia\u2019s Nathan Charles, centre. Photograph: Rick Rycroft\/APShare<\/a> Good morning, and happy Friday. Nick Visser here to take over the blog. Let\u2019s get to it.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a017.56 EDT<\/p>\n Atlassian enters 10-year solar energy deal with community co-op to power Sydney HQ<\/p>\n A solar farm owned by a group of community investors has secured a 10-year deal with one of Australia\u2019s biggest technology companies to help power its headquarters, Australian Associated Press reports.<\/p>\n Atlassian announced its virtual power purchase agreement with the Goulburn Community Energy Co-operative on Friday in a deal that will fund almost 70% of the project\u2019s output over the next decade.<\/p>\n Electricity generated by the project in NSW\u2019s Southern Tablelands will help to meet the renewable energy needs of the tech firm\u2019s 39-storey Sydney base, currently in construction near Central station, when it opens in 2028.<\/p>\n The announcement comes amid heated debate over whether technology companies should be required to invest in renewable energy generation to meet growing demands from data centres and artificial intelligence operations in Australia.<\/p>\n The solar and battery farm, located on 2.2 hectares of industrial land in Goulburn, features 2,300 solar panels and a four megawatt-hour battery. Owned by a group of about 288 local investors, who contributed a minimum of $400, the farm connected to the electricity grid in March 2026, 12 years after it was proposed.<\/p>\n The agreement follows a $2.3m NSW government grant and would support local workers and suppliers, Andrew Bray, the Goulburn Community Energy Co-operative chair, said:<\/p>\n double quotation markOur active volunteers and investor community worked patiently and diligently across a number of years to see this project come to fruition.<\/p>\n To have a blue-chip Australian company like Atlassian come on board as a commercial partner is a huge vote of confidence in what we have built.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a016.53 EDT<\/p>\n Online gaming ‘shortcomings’ put children at risk, eSafety report finds Online gaming services are failing to take enough action to prevent children being exposed to harmful content, a new report from the eSafety Commissioner has found.<\/p>\n In a report published today, the online safety watchdog found measures adopted by gaming providers were not up to standard and varied in quality between platforms.<\/p>\n Platforms with the dominant purpose of gaming are not covered under Australia\u2019s under-16s social media ban but are subject to the eSafety Commissioner\u2019s information gathering notices.<\/p>\n The report \u2013 which drew details from Fortnite\u2019s developer, Epic Games<\/a>, Roblox, Minecraft and Valve\u2019s Steam \u2013 found some positive signs but overall determined \u201cdisparities and shortcomings\u201d.<\/p>\n Among them, examples of some platforms relying on age self-declaration resulting in children being able to easily access third-party content lacking sufficient content moderation as well as a limited number of human moderators to respond to harmful content.<\/p>\n The commissioner, Julie Inman-Grant, said:<\/p>\n double quotation markWhile we have seen some safety improvements as a result of sustained regulatory pressure, including the recent court-enforceable undertakings we accepted from Roblox, there is still significant work to be done across the board to prevent serious harms in online gaming to children.<\/p>\n![\"Achol](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1790908090_384_Achol_Arok,_L.png\")
Achol Arok<\/p>\n![\"Josh](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1790908091_928_Josh_Butler.png\")
Josh Butler<\/p>\n![\"Josh](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Josh_Taylor.png\")
Josh Taylor<\/p>\n![\"Krishani](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Krishani_Dhanji.png\")
Krishani Dhanji<\/p>\n![\"Nick](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1790908093_134_Nick_Visser.png\")
Nick Visser<\/p>\n![\"Sarah](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Sarah_Basford_Canales.png\")
Sarah Basford Canales<\/p>\n
![\"Martin](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Martin_Farrer,_L.png\")
Martin Farrer<\/p>\n