CANBERRA, Australia — The impact of Covid-19 on mental health has been profound, but the assumption it would lead to an increase in suicide rates has, in some cases, proved false. “If anything, the opposite has been true,” as per the Lifeline chairman John Brogden. Calls to the national crisis support charity reached record levels last year; however, the number of suicides in the south-eastern state of New South Wales dropped five percent between March and December. In Victoria, the fall was 2 percent, a figure Brogden says is “more remarkable still considering the state’s very hard lockdown.” Data collected in 21…
Author: zenger.news
Victoria, Australia — Victorians, residents of the southeast Australian state of Victoria, aged over 70 will be able to show up to a vaccine center and get jabbed without an appointment from April 21, as the state prepares to scale up its rollout. The AstraZeneca vaccine will be available to Victorians in groups 1a and 1b at the three major locations — Royal Exhibition Building, the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, and the former Ford factory in Geelong, Victoria. Anyone over the age of 70 can show up with or without a booking. “Our medical experts’ recommendations obviously impacted the national…
MELBOURNE, Australia — An inquiry into the “open secret” of sexual harassment in Australian state Victoria’s courts system says legal and cultural changes are needed to better protect lawyers from predatory behavior. The Victorian review was sparked by a separate independent inquiry that found former High Court justice Dyson Heydon harassed six associates while he worked there. Heydon denied the accusations. Former Victorian human rights commissioner Helen Szoke‘s review released on April 19 found sexual harassment was an “open secret” in the broader legal profession and courts. It was frequently experienced and perpetrated by barristers, with young women particularly at risk…
BRISBANE, Australia — A fundraising effort for a man whose boat was found empty and motoring in circles in Brisbane’s Moreton Bay has raised over AUD 30,000 ($23,284) in less than a day. Fisherman Trent Riley posted two videos on social media showing calm waters two hours before he went missing on April 14. The 26-year-old’s small aluminum boat was found off Mud Island, near the Port of Brisbane, at about 3.30 pm. A GoFundMe page set up to help his family “continue the search for Trent” and cover expenses has raised more than AUD 48,000 ($37,470) of a $50,000 ($39,030) goal since it was posted…
AUCKLAND, New Zealand — The New Zealand government concedes thousands of families will remain separated even as it relaxes border policies to allow some partners to reunite with loved ones. When New Zealand closed its border to all but citizens and residents last March, many partners and families situated in different countries were separated. In numerous cases, they have been unable to reunite more than a year later. On April 19, Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi said he would create new exemptions to New Zealand’s border closures to allow families of critical healthcare workers and other highly-skilled workers to join them in…
SYDNEY — Millions of Australians will be worse off when a tax stimulus measure finishes at the end of this financial year. The low and middle-income tax offset in Australia amounting to AUD 1,080 ($835), which benefits people with a taxable income of between AUD 48,000 ($37,121) and AUD 90,000 ($69,602), is due to end in June 2021. Analysts at the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre estimate some 3.4 million taxpayers will lose out from its removal, 50 percent of whom will be women. The low and middle-income tax offset, which is claimable when people submit their tax returns, was due to end in the 2019-20…
BRISBANE, Australia — A group of 17 asylum seekers was flown to Melbourne after Queensland Health ordered the Australian Border Force to move them out of a Brisbane quarantine facility. The 17 men had been held in the Kangaroo Point Central Hotel and Apartments for more than a year after being brought to Australia for medical care from Nauru and Manus Island detention centers. The men were unexpectedly moved from the hotel to the Brisbane Immigration Transit Accommodation (BITA) facility on April 16 amid a dispute involving the hotel owners, the lessor, and sub-lessor Serco. Serco helps run immigration detention sites…
CANBERRA, Australia — Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has hailed the opening up of the Australia-New Zealand travel bubble as a “win-win” for both countries. From April 18 night, travelers from Australia were once again able to cross the Tasman quarantine-free after more than a year of tight restrictions. “Today’s milestone is a win-win for Australians and New Zealanders, boosting our economies while keeping our people safe and just in time for Anzac Day,” Morrison said on April 18. Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand that broadly commemorates all Australians and New Zealanders “who…
A large truck, equipped for draining the sewers, was hauled out of an even larger sinkhole last week in Rome.The fire department, with the help of two large cranes, came to the rescue after a sinkhole opened in Via dei Colli Portuensi in the Italian capital on the morning of April 15. The chasm opened as a heavy truck was driving along the road. The driver was able to get out and was unhurt. In addition, a car that was parked on the side of the road partly sank and had to be recovered. The removal operation was complex because…
NAIROBI, Kenya — An oxygen shortage has created a health emergency at the largest hospital in East Africa. Hundreds of patients in intensive care units at Kenyatta National Hospital are in dire need of oxygen as some individuals and private hospitals are said to be holding more than 20,000 cylinders, according to Cabinet Secretary for Health Mutahi Kagwe. “I wish to make an appeal to those holding cylinders, be they hospital facilities or individuals in other sectors, please return those cylinders to manufacturers, so they can refill and use them in hospitals that need them,” Kagwe tweeted on March 29. Mustafa…