The Canberra Times Today

Today is April 6, 2021 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, the ACT government is looking at standing up more mass COVID-19 vaccination centres in the territory, but when they come online will come down to Commonwealth supply, and international arrivals could have to give a finger-prick blood sample when they arrive in Australia to test their immunity levels for COVID-19, as part of new measures being developed by Canberra researchers.

Today is April 5, 2021 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, the federal government has provided twice the amount of economic support to Canberrans during the coronavirus pandemic than the ACT government, and senior federal minister Peter Dutton concedes there will be hiccups with the national COVID-19 vaccine rollout from time to time, but says Australia is not in the same state of "mad panic" as the US and the UK to get it done.

Today is April 2, 2021 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, Canberrans are again allowed to travel to and from the greater Brisbane area, after the ACT government eased travel restrictions, and quarantine workers will be required to have the COVID-19 vaccine in order to work when the next repatriation flight arrives in the ACT.

Today is April 1, 2021 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, ACT healthcare workers at risk of coming into contact with coronavirus cases have been told they could be reassigned to another area if they refuse the COVID-19 vaccine, and female prisoners at Canberra's jail are subjected to "catcalls and worse" when they are forced to "parade" past male detainees, and they're still being housed in a wing built for the worst male offenders.

Today is March 31, 2021 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, more than 150,000 Australians - including 1000 people in the ACT - will be plunged into poverty when the JobSeeker payment is cut to its new rate on Thursday, according to new analysis, and Canberra MLAs are calling on the federal government to scrap laws that make it impossible for the ACT to decide whether it should introduce voluntary assisted dying.

Today is March 30, 2021 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, a long-awaited ban on single-use plastics in Canberra is set to pass the ACT Legislative Assembly on Tuesday, and ACT Policing is hoping to shock Canberrans into driving better this Easter, and has released a graphic video featuring the aftermath of a major car accident along with trauma surgeons and a funeral director.

Today is March 29, 2021 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, sexual assault trials and conviction rates in the ACT have plummeted over the past five years, despite an increase in reports to victim services and police, and the ACT is coronavirus-free again as the last remaining active case in hotel quarantine recovered from the infection.

Today is March 26, 2021 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, the federal government would continue to pursue staffers allegedly involved in "disgusting and inappropriate" sex acts in Parliament House, Finance Minister Simon Birmingham has confirmed, and Labor must reassure coal mining workers they are central to Australia's green-energy future, rather than "part of the problem", the party's climate change and energy spokesman has said.

Today is March 25, 2021 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, light rail and a new indoor sports centre form the centrepiece of the University of Canberra's ambitious 20-year campus master plan revealed on Thursday, and Prime Minister Scott Morrison is contemplating the political future of Christian Porter and whether he remains as Attorney-General.

Today is March 24, 2021 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, ACT SES crews have responded to more than 180 calls for help amid a deluge of rain which caused a bridge in Namadgi National Park to be washed away by floodwater, while the threat to low-lying properties at the swollen Queanbeyan River has subsided.