PM

The data released today at the child sexual abuse Royal Commission on the number of claims has led to shocking results. The records date back to the 1950s and show the extent of the abuse. In Australia, the Catholic Church has paid out $276 million in response to claims. Francis Sullivan from the church's Truth Justice and Healing Council speaks to PM

The latest official figures show the unemployment rate fell slightly in January to 5.7 per cent. A surge in Australians landing part time work, more than made up a big slump in full-time work. Social researchers say the trend to part-time work is placing a heavy financial burden on families, and is also seeing the nation undergo a significant social change.

The Coalition has used Question Time to mock the Opposition Leader Bill Shorten over what it's calling a train wreck of an interview on energy policy. The ABC's Sabra Lane asked Mr Shorten how much his renewable energy target will cost four times on AM this morning. Each time Mr Shorten brushed it off saying the cost of not acting on climate change was Labor's focus.

Well disability advocates say they're increasingly alarmed by the tone and substance of the political debate over the future funding for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

They say as yet there are no firm figures on the real costs of the scheme.

Sexual health advocates say the Australian Government has made a historic step today by announcing new foreign aid funding to provide reproductive health services following humanitarian crises. The decision, announced by the Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, comes in the wake of President Donald Trump's executive order barring NGOs who provide or promote abortions from receiving US Government funding. International organisations say while today's announcement is welcome, Australia's overall foreign aid budget continues to be squeezed. They say in the wake of the US Government's decision it's more important that ever that countries like Australia consider increasing spending on reproductive health services.

Former Australian prisoners of war have described it as a war in itself, the torture which thousands suffered in the pacific during captivity in World War II. Today, seven ex-p-o-w's and their families, along with the Governor General, Sir Peter Cosgrove, marked the moment that Singapore fell to the Japanese, 75 years ago, in February 1942. Around two thousand people came to pay their respects at the event, held at the country's only prisoner of war memorial, in the regional Victorian city of Ballarat.

In Jakarta, the polls have just closed in a bitter contest for the seat of Governor. Counting has begun although an official result will be some weeks away. It's been a divisive, bitterly fought campaign dominated by race and religion with the incumbent a Christian and ethnic Chinese loathed by hardline Islamist groups.

The South Korea spy agency believes that North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un directly ordered the assassination of his half brother. Kim Jong-nam died in Kuala Lumpur, after reportedly being poisoned by North Korean agents at an airport. He was the son of Kim Jong-il, and was at one stage the heir-apparent, that was before he fell out of favour in 2001 and went into exile. While Kim Jong-nam's death has come as a shock, there's plenty of speculation as to the precise motive for his murder.

It hasn't been as cheap as it is now to own or run a car since the 1970s. Low interest rates, and more efficient production techniques have made cars more affordable. But analysts warn higher fuel prices and interest rates could turn that on its head.

It's been revealed that 60,000 South Australian customers lost power during load shedding last week, that didn't need to. Power distributor, SA Power Networks says their automated 'load shedding' software made a mistake, and that is now being investigated. The error was revealed in the Australian Energy Market Operator's report into Wednesday's cuts, which has just been released.