3+ day, 12+ hour ago   (311+ words) Follow the day’s news live Welcome to Guardian Australia’s live news coverage for Friday. Opal Healthcare refunds residents after review into misuse of aged care standards Opal Healthcare has refunded roughly $190,000 to almost 350 residents under a sweeping review into misuse…...

4+ day, 4+ hour ago   (780+ words) Exclusive: Claimants could trade part of payment for specialist equipment, services or training under proposal Some disabled people could receive “in kind” support rather than just cash payments under a radical overhaul of the personal independence payment (Pip) proposed by…...

4+ day, 20+ hour ago   (58+ words) The Guardian The Royal National Lifeboat Institution's chief executive, Peter Sparkes, has addressed deliberate misinformation circulating about the organisation's purpose and lifesaving work after far-right agitators caused unrest in Dover and Portsmouth at the weekend ‘Their boat was sinking’: RNLI…...

5+ day, 18+ hour ago   (212+ words) Rates of smoking in Australia are the lowest they’ve ever been, but at the same time, the illicit trade has never been bigger. It’s estimated 80% of the tobacco trade is now illicit and the same taxes that helped curb smoking…...

6+ day, 5+ hour ago   (638+ words) Nearly half of respondents say spending on personal independence payments should be increased There is little appetite for cuts to disability benefits even among Conservative and Reform voters, and proposals to reduce spending could prove politically risky, according to an…...

6+ day, 11+ hour ago   (704+ words) Federal Greens partyroom split over plan for NSW to get millions of dollars worth in carbon credits for creating a koala national park A New South Wales Greens MP has made an impassioned plea to her federal colleagues, urging them…...

6+ day, 18+ hour ago   (505+ words) Indigenous Australians forcibly removed under government policies more likely to have severe or profound disability, report finds The tens of thousands of Indigenous Australians and their descendents who were forcibly removed under government assimilation policies have far greater physical and…...