Evening News Bulletin 7 August 2024

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Source: SBS News

Australians warned not to travel to Bangladesh... health checks to extend the careers of older doctors being considered... and the AFL fixture revealed for the final round of the home and away season


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TRANSCRIPT

Australians have been told not to travel to Bangladesh following recent political unrest, with the Department of Foreign Affairs raising its official travel warning to the country to its highest level.

Travel advice has been upgraded to 'do not travel', placing Bangladesh on par with countries such as Iran and Afghanistan.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong says the situation in Bangladesh has become extremely volatile following violent protests, which had led to its prime minister fleeing the country and resigning.

***

The Diversity Council of Australia says close to half of people with disabilities they surveyed say they've experienced discrimination or harassment at work.

That's nearly double the rate of people without a disability.

Chief Executive of the Council, Lisa Annese, says while over a third with a disability reported being ignored, as opposed to a quarter of people without.

"Workplaces have an opportunity to create greater inclusion at work. They can do that by building their capability and their knowledge around disability. Because if you don't know, then investing in that knowledge will help you build your confidence. We encourage workplaces to take a zero tolerance approach to workplace harassment and discrimination."

Diversity Council Australia also found more than one in three employees with a disability chose not to share their status with their employer, out of fear it could limit their opportunities.

***

Health checks for doctors over 70 are being considered to safely extend the practice of late career medical practitioners.

It comes after data has revealed the rates of patient complaints jump significantly with increasing age.

The Medical Board of Australia is calling for submissions to hear what doctors, patients and the wider health sector think about regulatory options for keeping late career doctors in safe practice.

Board Chair Dr Anne Tonkin says measures to identity issues earlier could prevent future patient harm.

"The three options that are in the consultation paper are firstly to do nothing new. The second option is to ask for every doctor over the age of 70 to have a really detailed fitness to practice in examination done by an occupational health physician. The third option is the health check with the local gp, the person's own gp, or another doctor if they prefer, just to make sure that they are looking after their health as well as they can."

***

A small earthquake which rattled parts of Victoria this morning is likely an aftershock from a 2021 quake.

The 4.1 magnitude tremor near Woods Point, about three hours east of Melbourne, just before 4am.

There have been no reports of damage.

Scientists say this was an aftershock from Victoria’s record 5.9 magnitude earthquake in September 2021.

That 2021 quake damaged buildings in Melbourne and was felt as far away as Canberra, Sydney and Adelaide after spreading from its epicentre in Mansfield, about 60km from Woods Point.

Chief Scientist at the Seismology Research Centre, Adam Pascale, says the physical size of the earthquake was about 1/100th that of the earthquake which occurred in 2021.


"This is the largest aftershock since the magnitude 5.9 in 2021. We've had three big aftershocks since then. It was a 4.2, 4.7 about a year ago, and now this 4.1. So the earth is still trying to settle back into a way that it can start building up stress again, so it thinks it has, and build up some stress and then it slips again. So this is every time the earth slips, it's creating an earthquake. So we expect these to continue on. We've seen about 1600 aftershocks since that first earthquake."

***

Indigenous rangers from the Bandjalang Clan have presented the National First Nations Dingo Declaration to members of New South Wales parliament.

The declaration aims to highlight the deep cultural significance of the dingo to First Nations people.

The Minyumai Rangers manage a 2000 hectare property bordering the Bundjalung National Park on the New South Wales north coast.

They are undertaking a monitoring program to better understand the local dingo population.

Dingoes keep landscapes healthy by controlling the population of kangaroos, feral pigs, cats, and foxes, and eradicating feral goats.

Minyumai ranger Maitland Wilson says dingoes are subjected to lethal control across the state, and this needs to be reduced.

"Dingoes to us are very sacred. Just like every other Indigenous group in Australia, some have that animal as a totem and we respect that as well. They do a lot of baiting and trapping on our country, and what we really want to see is that stopped so these animals can be protected on country."

***

And in sport,

The AFL has confirmed the schedule of matches for round 24- last round of fixtures before the finals series begins.

A Melbourne-Collingwood Friday night clash on August the 23rd will open round 24 at the MCG, while finals contenders Geelong, Hawthorn and Sydney are all in action on Saturday the 24th of August.

The Brisbane Lions host Essendon at the 'Gabba on the Saturday night and the Western Bulldogs will host GWS in Ballarat on Sunday the 25th of August.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has announced tickets will be free for all children 14 years and under for Round 24.

"Kids going free is going to be a way that we can help families get along, cheer for their teams. And also too, just make that a little bit easier to make that, to get to the trip, to the footy. And if you look at the five games, they're not just here in Melbourne. There's two games here at the MCG. There's a game at Marvel Stadium, but also two, there's a game down the road at Kardinia Park and another one out to the west in Ballarat with the Western Bulldogs. So these are games right across the state."






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