The Latest Breaking News from Queensland

Heavy rainfall in the ACT has led to some crossings being closed for safety reasons.

The severe floods in southeast Queensland this week have forced hundreds of residents to flee the town of Gympie and have cut off major roads, after intense rain battered the state for several days. The rain is expected to continue today, and travel south into New South Wales.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has compared the current floodwater effects to those of a cyclone. “At the moment, what we have is similar to like Cyclone Debbie or Cyclone Oswald or a monsoonal trough that we saw in Townsville, where it’s just sitting over the entire south-east of our state.”

Eight people have now died, with at least two more missing as major flooding hits Brisbane, Lismore, Murwillumbah and Gympie

Follow the latest updates live

Victoria's chief health officer is warning of the risk of Japanese encephalitis, with evidence of the virus found in animals in Victoria, NSW and Queensland.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says schools across south-east Queensland will be closed on Monday and people are urged to work from home as the flooding situation worsens. See how the day unfolded in our live blog.

Hundreds of schools will be closed across south-east Queensland on Monday and people have been encouraged to work from home as a deadly weather system continues to lash the state.

At the Tolga bat hospital in Queensland’s Atherton Tablelands, orphaned bat babies are nursed to health, ready to fulfil their role in our forest ecosystems

Floods have claimed lives and Sydney is experiencing its wettest summer in decades amid La Niña and climate change. Is this the new normal?

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says Queenslanders impacted by widespread flooding in the state's southeast can be assured the recovery has already begun.