Listen to Australian and world news, and follow trending topics with SBS News Podcasts .
Triple-murderer Erin Patterson's future is in the hands of three appeal judges, who are set to rule today if a retrial or a longer sentence is warranted.
The so-called mushroom killer is serving three life sentences with a non-parole period of 33 years after a jury found her guilty of murdering her parents-in-laws Don and Gail Patterson, as well as Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson, in 2023.
Patterson has sought to overturn the guilty finding that led to her life sentence.
If the Victorian Court of Appeal quashes her convictions, it could either order a retrial or acquit her of the charges.
The court will also decide on a prosecution bid to keep her behind bars for the rest of her life.
A bill to ban conversion therapy practices in Tasmania has passed the state's lower house in what advocates are calling a major milestone for the LGBTQI+ community.
The legislation seeks to ban deliberate attempts to change a person's sexual or gender identity, in line with most other states.
It was introduced by the Greens and supported by Labor, but Liberal MPs have been granted a conscience vote.
Greens leader Rosalie Woodruff is urging Upper House MPs to support the bill when it comes before them.
"At the heart of this bill are those people who suffered the despair, the loneliness and shame, and the years of life lost from such conversion practices. We recognise their trauma and the enormous courage of those who publicly shared their stories. Their truth has been the catalyst for this bill, which is carefully designed to make sure never again should others suffer as they have."
Members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's governing coalition want the opening of the new Israeli parliament postponed over electoral fraud allegations connected to the country's Arab parties.
But acting director general of the Central Elections Committee, Dean Livne, says there is no indication that Arab parties had obtained votes unlawfully.
The opposition meanwhile has accused Netanyahu of using the claims to de-legitimise the historic gains by Arab-led parties who have improved on the number of seats won in the Knesset.
If the remainder of the opposition teams up with Arab parties, they could potentially form a majority government in parliament.
The Prime Minister says there was a security incident at the Lodge in Canberra earlier this week.
Without providing details, Anthony Albanese told Parliament the security incident took place as he gave a speech to honour police on Wednesday night.
He says it is a further sign political debate must not be allowed to get out of control.
"Australian Federal Police officers visited The Lodge. Once again, we know that the security situation's very serious, which is why I do say, turn down the heat across a range of issues."
Australians are among a group of passengers left stranded by a cruise ship forced to abandon its passage in Cambodia because of high fuel costs.
The Department of Foreign Affairs has not officially confirmed if it's in contact with any of the hundreds of stranded passengers - some of whom have paid large sums to buy a permanent or long-term place on the ship.
But Melbourne retiree Frances Paroissien and Brisbane mother Rina Cavazza told Channel 7 their lives have been thrown into chaos.
Ms Cavazza says the US-based Villa Vie Odyssey have not handled the situation as they should have.
"It's just - I'm more numb than anything… The way I see it's just mismanagement from the beginning."
An independent review examining the way governments engage with Indigenous communities in natural disasters has found major gaps between what's promised and what's delivered.
Sixty-three natural disasters have been declared in Australia this year, and almost all of them disproportionately impacted First Nations communities.
The National Disaster Preparedness Scorecard compiled by Monash University reveals despite this, not a single state or territory government has funded Indigenous-led disaster recovery projects.
Bhiamie Williamson is a Euahlayi man who leads the National Indigenous Disaster Resilience research program.
He tells NITV governments need to listen and learn from First Nations communities.
"The opportunity to change to meet the increasing threats of climate change in a comfortable way are no longer available to governments and as they think about what are arrangements and how they need to change and adapt to meet the challenges of the future you know, we can begin by really listening to the experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander communities."
Kangaroos captain, Isaah Yeo, says his team haven't been displaying their top form in the Rugby League World Cup so far.
He says they need to lift their game if they have any chance of taking home the trophy.
They've scraped through with narrow victories over New Zealand and Fiji so far.
The Kangaroos meet the Cook Islands in Townsville on Saturday - and Yeo tells Channel Nine they must do better this weekend.
"We could just be just a bit more clinical with how we do things. So obviously there's an expectation for the Australian side that you're sort of performing at a 10 out of 10 each game. Well, that's probably not the reality. So we understand, yeah, that we need to be better, but yeah, still really happy that we've got two wins in the bank for sure."
