The World Today

Disasters like Cyclone Debbie often bring out the best in people, but there are now reports coming in of looting and thefts during some of the worst of this week's weather. Police are urging residents to stay vigilant, and to report any suspicious behaviour.

Dozens of Aboriginal child abuse survivors are about to be compensated for the horrific abuse they suffered. In what lawyers are calling a significant development, former residents of the Retta Dixon home Darwin settled their case out of court with the Federal Government, a convicted paedophile and a religious organisation.

In Queensland, flash-flooding is now the greatest concern as ex-tropical Cyclone Debbie continues to lash the coast from north Queensland to the New South Wales border. Eleven rescues are still underway, with emergency services workers trying to get to people stranded at the town of Eaton near Innisfail. All schools and many businesses are closed in Queensland's south-east, with as much as 400 millimetres of rain expected this afternoon. Last night, emergency crews were called to 38 separate rescues, as the town of Homebush near Mackay was inundated and people were forced onto the roofs of their houses and cars.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten have been inspecting cyclone damage in Bowen. The World Today reporter Annie Guest is there said the leaders were able to observe damage to crops and roads as they flew in, and were welcomed by an upturned light aircraft on the tarmac of Bowen airport. The Prime Minister highlighted the hit to the local agricultural sector and the resilience of the community before flying out to Proserpine. He said assistance would be available immediately.

Melanie Langley went to Hamilton Island last weekend for a work conference and has been stranded there ever since. She's told Barney Porter that all the guests at her hotel have now been told to go to the island's airport. Authorities are not informing the public of the reasons for departure.

The decision has finally been made about who will lead Australia's largest and oldest police force. The New South Wales Premier has announced that Assistant Commissioner Mick Fuller will replace Andrew Scipione as the new Police Commissioner. It's been a hotly contested selection process and the new Police chief is likely to face a tough job uniting - or as he put it 're-engineering' the force.

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Mick Fuller, Incoming NSW Police Commissioner

Gladys Berejiklian, NSW Premier

Scott Weber, NSW Police Association President

An American psychiatrist has told the child sex abuse royal commission that childhood abuse affects brain development and abuse survivors are more susceptible to a range of mental and physical disorders including heart disease, schizophrenia, and depression. The Commission heard if a child isn't believed when they report their abuse the health consequences are likely to be worse.

Labor says the decision last night to introduce a code of conduct for the sugar industry could chill foreign investors and damage the sugar industry's reputation. But the Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce is dismissing such concerns, saying the Government's been in discussions with Singapore and that any challenge to the code of conduct under a free trade agreements would likely fail.

After the 'Go' referendum result that sent shockwaves around the world last June, Britain is now officially on its way out of the European Union. Prime Minister Theresa May's letter to Brussels has started the timer on the two years of negotiations to unwind the 40-year relationship. Europe correspondent Lisa Millar headed to one of the most pro-Brexit towns in the UK, Leigh-on-Sea on England's east coast, to see how the Brexiteers are feeling now.

As the process for separating the United Kingdom from the European Union gets underway, both the Stay and Go camps can only guess what the anticipated two years of negotiations will bring. Monash University's Dr Ben Wellings is a close observer of British EU relations says the UK has a slight advantage over the EU, which must be more risk-averse and must bring 27 different governments into agreement.