TRANSCRIPT
- Reports Victoria is considering a pill testing trial
- An Iranian official returns to Tehran after being released from a Swedish prison
- Australian swimmer Cate Campbell misses out on selection to the Paris Olympics
The Victorian government is reportedly considering a proposal for pill testing at music festivals in a bid to drive down overdose deaths.
The Age newspaper says the pill testing trial plan will go to cabinet and potentially be announced within weeks.
A 12 month trial would likely see mobile teams be stationed at music events to check tablets and give advice on safety and harm minimisation to partygoers.
Jacinta Allan has previously rejected calls for such a service.
"There are no currently plans to change the government's policy settings on drug checking. However, I am seeking and waiting for further advice from the Department of Health because we saw the weekend before last a number of people hospitalised after attending a music festival in Melbourne. We need to get the results of that Department of Health investigation into the circumstances behind what happened at that event, and also to consider that in the context of other evidence and advice from experts."
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Australia is becoming an increasingly cashless society.
Reserve Bank data shows cash was used in 13 per cent of all payments in Australia in 2022, with COVID lockdowns responsible for accelerating a decline that had been underway since at least in 2007, when almost 70 per cent of payments were made in cash.
But business professor Steve Worthington says it'll be a long time before Australians lose the ability to use notes and coins mainly because it's easily accessible in emergencies or when there is an internet or bank outage.
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Hamid Noury has arrived back in Iran after being released from prison in Sweden.
The former Iranian official was set free as part of a prisoner exchange that saw two Swedish nationals also released from detention in Iran.
Noury had been arrested at a Stockholm airport in 2019 and later sentenced to life in prison for war crimes for the mass execution and torture of political prisoners, charges he denied.
Sweden's Prime Minister says the Swedish men were pawns in a "cynical" negotiation - but he felt he had little choice but to agree to the terms of the deal.
"As prime minister I have a special responsibility for Swedish citizens' safety. The government has therefore worked intensively on the issue, together with the Swedish security services which have negotiated with Iran."
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Thousands of women in Brazil have staged a protest against a bill which tightens abortion restrictions in the country.
Abortion is currently allowed in Brazil only in cases of rape, fetal deformation or when the mother's life is in danger.
The legislation advancing in Brazil's conservative Congress will equate abortions after 22 weeks of pregnancy - even for rape victims - to homicide, and establish sentences of six to 20 years in prison.
Demonstrators have called the bill the most repressive approach to women's reproductive rights in decades.
A number of doctors have joined the protests who say the legislation could drive people to obtain unsafe terminations.
"The greatest fear and stigma among people of accessing legal abortion services - apart from pushing people towards the route of unsafe abortion, which is something that already happens, but which we have seen has worsened - is that when people are afraid, they take more drastic measures and access more unsafe methods of abortion. They don’t stop having abortions."
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A charity that offers free bra fittings to rural women has won an award for its partnership to lift mammogram rates in Indigenous communities.
The group called Support The Girls has taken out the Exceptional Aboriginal Healthcare category at NSW Health's Murrumbidgee excellence awards.
Organisers say screening rates are up from nine per cent to 74 per cent in some areas thanks in large part to the group's partnership with BreastScreen NSW and Aboriginal health organisations.
Breastscreen health promotion officer Heather Hillam says Indigenous women are often highly reluctant to get checked, but that the charity helps to serve them in a safe and culturally appropriate environment.
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Four time gold medal Australian swimmer Cate Campbell has missed selection for the Paris Olympics.
The result means that she has failed in her bid to become the first Australian to swim at five Olympics, but the 41 one strong swim team has vowed to honour her legacy at the Games, which start next month.
Chief among them is Shayna Jack, who has claimed individual freestyle berths in the 50m and 100m.
She says Campbell will forever be "idolised and an inspiration" to everyone for what she has achieved.
