Good afternoon. All states and territories have agreed to introduce reforms by the end of the year to close a “loophole” that has allowed potential child abusers to work across jurisdictions, the federal attorney general has announced.
After a meeting of state and territory attorneys general on Friday, Michelle Rowland announced the “long overdue reform” to create a system that ensured those working with children who were “banned in one” jurisdiction were “banned in all”.
“There are some 6m … working with children checks around Australia, and each of them is subject to a bespoke scheme in each state and territory – they are systems that do not talk to one another,” Rowland said.
But Rowland ruled out establishing a national working with children check system, saying “the key issue there is time”.
Top news
Putin hails ‘heroic’ North Korean troops fighting against Ukraine in letter to Kim Jong-un
Man fleeing Ice raid outside LA Home Depot hit and killed on freeway
India and Pakistan tensions spill over into contest over whose flagpole is bigger
In pictures
The Heart of Voh is a symbol of New Caledonia’s pristine environment – a light-green, heart-shaped patch of mangrove forest. But the heart is now under assault from the climate crisis. As rising seas change the salinity of the water and alter the kind of vegetation that can survive there, its distinctive shape and the ecosystem within it are changing – and scientists say within a few decades it could vanish entirely.
What they said …
***
“VP Day brings back memories of how I lived and survived during that period, but also that I have to remember all my friends who have now passed away.” – Ron Gee Kee
On 15 August 1945, half a million people poured on to the streets of Sydney to celebrate the end of the second world war in the Pacific. Albert “Ron” Gee Kee was a naval coder in Darwin when news came in of Japan’s surrender – 80 years on from Victory in the Pacific Day, the 101-year-old reflects on a slightly lonely celebration.
Podcast
British-Australian doctor Mohammed Mustafa has seen first-hand the horrors occurring daily in Gaza from his time working in hospitals across the region. Speaking to chief political correspondent Tom McIlroy, he describes life in the war zone, says that Australian politicians are clinging to talking points while children die, and warns that recognition of Palestinian statehood must be matched by real action to end the humanitarian crisis.
Before bed read
I can’t read anyone’s body language and I feel flirt-illiterate. How do I meet new people?
Dating is different for everyone, writes advice columnist Eleanor Gordon-Smith. It’s about being yourself, on purpose, in ways that let your people find you.
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: DOME. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
Sign up
If you would like to receive this Afternoon Update to your email inbox every weekday, sign up here, or start your day with a curated breakdown of the key stories you need to know with our Morning Mail newsletter. You can follow the latest in US politics by signing up for This Week in Trumpland.
