PM

In the Northern Territory, the youth detention royal commission has heard a 'boys' club mentality' led to systemic failures at Don Dale. Today, the commissioners heard from the head of the professional standards unit at NT corrections. They were told a group of Don Dale guards known as 'Jimmy's boys' threatened detainees and refused to follow rules.

Young offenders in Victoria's youth justice centres have been held in isolation for up to 45 days at a time. A damning report from the state's Commissioner for Children and Young People reveals the true extent of the use of isolation and lockdowns in the state's youth prisons. The State Government has already accepted the report's 21 recommendations in principle, but the Opposition says it further reveals the crisis facing the system.

Financial markets sentiment turned overnight, on fears Donald Trump may not have the support even from within his own party to get key reforms over the line. Sellers turned to the Australian market this morning, wiping out much of the year's gain in the first few hours of trade. Financial analysts believe that several key stock measurements show the share market is 'due for a correction'.

The Governments childcare reforms seem set to pass through the senate after the government dropped its insistence on deep welfare cuts. Instead there'll be a relatively modest cut to family tax benefits, though Labor says that will still effect around 1.5 million families, some of whom will be hundreds of dollars a year worse off.

The early learning sector argues that children, families and the economy will suffer unless there are changes to the Government's proposed childcare bill. The Parliament is considering a bill to increase day-care subsidies, and the Government wants its bill to pass through this week. But childcare advocates say there's deficiencies in the bill, and they're desperately lobbying all sides of politics to try to get amendments.

A coalition of 13 environment groups has today vowed to wage a campaign of mass protest against Indian mining giant Adani's planned coal mine in North Queensland - a campaign it maintains will be bigger than the protests that stopped the Franklin Dam in Tasmania. The launch comes as the Adani Group faces growing pressure to reveal which of its many companies has applied for a billion dollar taxpayer-funded loan. A law firm is seeking answers, amid confusion about whether the loan will go to an Adani company listed on the stock exchange, or a shell company controlled in the Cayman Islands.

At the child sexual abuse Royal Commission, senior clergy and senior officials of the Anglican Church have given evidence indicating the church is a long way off committing to the national redress scheme for abuse survivors. The difficulty of getting all Anglican dioceses to agree to opt-in to the scheme is a major barrier the Commission heard.

Efforts to combat the deadly but preventable coal miners' disease, black lung has been deliberately underfunded over several decades - according to the head of a Queensland inquiry. The Parliamentary Inquiry's interim report was tabled this afternoon, after a six-month investigation into the re-emergence of the disease. 19 cases are confirmed and the report predicts more will follow after a catastrophic failure of regulatory systems. It's the latest of several probes into the disease, with a Senate Committee and a medical investigation already condemning the care of workers.

South Australia is under pressure to abolish what is known as the 'gay panic' defence. The State is the last in the country where this type of provocation defence can still be used, after the Queensland parliament scrapped it last night. It allows for a person accused of murder to have the charge downgraded if the victim made a 'homosexual advance'. Critics say it's an archaic and outrageous defence, but the South Australian Law Society argues scrapping or changing the law is unnecessary.

In deeply conservative Afghanistan, a teenage girl has made history by becoming the first female to make it to the final of the country's version of Australian Idol. Zulala Hashemi took to the stage last night to battle it out with her rival, a male rapper. And while she may not have taken the crown, the 16-year-old risked her life to become one of the few female stars in Afghanistan.