The Canberra Times Today

Today is May 4, 2021 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, the ACT government's new COVID-19 vaccine booking website had to be updated on Monday after a number of Canberrans struggled to sign up, and the ACT opposition has blasted the territory government's plans to encourage employers to adopt more flexible working hours in order to help ease peak-hour demands on the public transport system.

Today is May 3, 2021 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, homes in parts of Canberra's north will be powered by the country's largest commercially provided battery as soon as this month, and a proposal to make companies who made large profits while on JobKeeper pay back the government subsidy to the Treasury could bring more than $1 billion to the economy.

Today is April 30, 2021 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, the ACT government will lean on Canberra's major employers to encourage more flexible working hours to spread out peak-hour demands on the public transport network, and Canberra tenants who have fallen behind on their rent due to the pandemic will be provided additional leniency in catching up, as renters contend with worsening housing affordability.

Today is April 29, 2021 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, an urgent investment into social and community housing in the ACT is needed, advocates say, as new data shows there are no affordable rentals in Canberra for people on government welfare payments for the fifth year in a row, and the University of Canberra is set to shift its presence further north, after plans were unveiled to establish a campus in Sydney.

Today is April 28, 2021 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, Indian-Australian community groups and aid organisations are backing Australia's decision to temporarily suspend all flights to India and send urgent medical supplies, and reopening former government schools should be explored as a way to ease enrolment pressure where a more permanent solution to growing demand is needed, the peak body for public school communities says.

Today is April 27, 2021 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, Canberra's Indian community leaders have called on the federal government to urgently help their coronavirus-ravaged homeland and the Australian citizens stranded there, as the worsening crisis engulfing the country reverberates through to the nation's capital, and Canberra's property market has showed no sign of letting up, with another near record week for auction clearance rates.

Today is April 26, 2021 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, the former head of Corrections at Canberra's jail had to apologise to his staff for failing to reveal to the public the seriousness of the riot at the Alexander Maconochie Centre in November last year, and concerns have been raised for further delays in the delivery of Canberra's first adolescent mental health unit, with its investor anticipating an "exorbitant" additional fee after deciding to provide more beds.

Today is April 23, 2021 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, Australia is to reduce flights from India as the populous South Asian nation buckles under an overwhelming "severe" third wave of COVID-19, this time a deadly and virulent "double mutant" strain, and a study investigating a drug's effectiveness on women in relationships experiencing low libido is recruiting participants in Canberra.

Today is April 22, 2021 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, the Home Affairs Department has been dealt a major legal blow in its attempts to introduce workplace policies during COVID-19, including dress standards for working at home, without the necessary prior consultation with staff, and plans for a 14-storey hotel in Canberra's city centre have been revealed, with the 238 room development to be constructed at the site of the car park in front of the existing Crowne Plaza hotel.

Today is April 21, 2021 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, an inner-south Catholic primary school will stay open until at least 2023 while the Catholic Education office explores options to make it financially sustainable, and efforts to speed up the COVID-19 vaccine rollout with a new military face still have no timetable for completing vaccinations of the most vulnerable and urgent groups in phases 1a and 1b.