PM

A Victorian inquiry has reported unacceptable abuse, exploitation and sexual harassment of labour hire workers. The Victorian Government has responded by promising a licensing scheme in the state, and wants it to apply nationwide.

The Prime Minister's blaming the Queensland Labor Government for delays in starting the Rookwood Weir project in central Queensland, after the state's Water Minister said the Federal Government had failed to fund a feasibility study. Federal Labor, meanwhile, is trying to keep the heat on the Government over its paid parental leave reforms, which look like being delayed in the Senate.

Treasury never specifically investigated whether a higher backpacker tax would hurt the farm sector or reduce the flow of working holiday makers into Australia, a senate inquiry has heard. It's the first time government officials have spoken publicly about how they assessed the cost of the backpacker tax, before it was announced in the 2015 budget.

The New South Wales police memorial will soon include the names of officers who have taken their own lives after suffering workplace trauma. It will become the only state that honors officers who have committed suicide. Commissioner Andrew Scipione spoke to Lorna Knowles about why he decided to go it alone.

It's been five years since the New South Wales government overhauled its school scripture program and introduced ethics classes as an alternative. Now the first generation of pupils are seniors in high school. Both teachers and students say the classes have changed the way they think and interact.

A new website is giving charities a star rating based on their transparency and financial effectiveness.

A new report on the treatment of at-risk children in Northern Territory detention centres has found a number of breaches of regulations, and an approach that was reactive and at times frantic. The Northern Territory Children's Commissioner's investigation highlights several new examples of system failures in youth detention. In one case last year, a teenager who'd attempted self-harm was left naked for almost 11 hours because of a failure to provide adequate non-rip clothing. Another detainee was isolated in an at-risk cell for nearly four days before being seen by mental health staff.

Economists say they're concerned about entrenched low inflation. Official figures show underlying or core inflation, which strips out unusual price changes, rose by just 0.3 per cent in the September quarter. The most significant price rises for the quarter were for fruit and vegetables (affected by weather events), electricity, and property rates and charges. Core inflation, which the RBA monitors, remains subdued, but probably not enough to prompt the Reserve Bank to cut interest rates again.

A senior manager at the tech giant Google says Australia's innovators are among the best in the world. Jacqueline Guller is director of Google's philanthropy arm. She says it's the reason Australia was selected to hold one of its famous Google Impact Challenges for a second time. She was in Australia today as ten community organisations from around the country bid to win a share of more than three-and-half-million dollars for innovation projects.

The search for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in the southern Indian ocean is entering its final days. Just 10,000 square kilometres remain to be searched of the 120,000 square kilometre field, and as that search ends, the fight for compensation is heating up.