A daily 5 minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability.
Welcome to SBS News in Easy English...I'm Gareth Boreham
Former Liberal Party staffer Brittany Higgins is expected to return to court for continued cross-examination this week in the trial of her accused rapist.
Ms Higgins has been unavailable to give evidence since Monday, but ACT Supreme Court Chief Justice Lucy McCallum has told the jury today [[Wed 12 Oct]] that Ms Higgins is expected to return to court on Friday.
Bruce Lehrmann is on trial charged with sexual intercourse without consent.
He has pleaded not guilty.
The Victorian government has announced it is establishing a redress scheme for people who were abused in state care.
The scheme will apply to the estimated 90,000 people who were in care between 1928 and 1990, and will include $2.9 million for the design of the compensation program and urgent hardship payments of up to $10,000 for care leavers in exceptional circumstances.
Premier Daniel Andrews says the redress scheme is the government's way of recognising that many of the children in care - sometimes known as the Forgotten Australians - experienced grief and trauma as a result of the abuse they suffered.
He says survivors will be part of the scheme's co-design process.
"We say co-design because that's what it must be. This must be led by those who carry this burden, who have this grief and pain. Those with lived experience - those victim survivors and their advocates - must drive the design of this scheme."
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has paid a heartfelt tribute to the 88 Australians killed in the Bali Bombings.
202 people in total died when three bombs were detonated at nightclubs on this day in October, 2002.
Addressing a commemorative ceremony at Sydney's Coogee Beach, Mr Albanese says the attacks were 'an act of malice and depravity', and that time hasn't dimmed the grief felt by the friends and families of those killed.
"20 years on the ache does not dim. We think of them with the ache of knowing that they should still be here. Their senses filled with everything that we feel now. The salty tang of the air. The sea in its ancient rhythm, foaming against beach and cliff. So many futures were stolen that night. We think of every conversation never had, every moment of love never known. We think of those who survived and those who helped. What they saw that night will never leave them."
And the memorial to mark the anniversary of the Bali Bombings is now underway in Canberra.
Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong has paid tribute to the many victims of the attack.
"20 years have passed since that terrible night. 20 years of grief. 20 years of struggle to rebuild bodies and lives. So today we remember what was taken. Today we remember what was lost. And we wonder what might have been had they all come home."
A class action is underway in a Sydney Federal Court over the March 2020 voyage of the Ruby Princess Cruise Ship.
More than 600 passengers caught Covid after the ship returned to Sydney, with 28 deaths as a result.
The case alleges that cruise operators failed to protect passengers from the risk of catching the virus and breached their duty of care along with consumer law.
Vicky Antzoulatos from Shine Lawyers is leading the claim.
She paid tribute to her clients outside court this morning.
"We're her today to seek justice for the thousands of passengers on board, to seek justice for the people that sadly lost their lives, and for the families whose lives have been ripped apart."
To sport and Opals stalwart Bec Allen will delay her return to club basketball in Europe in order to seek medical treatment in Melbourne.
Allen was injured in the Opals FIBA World Cup game in Serbia two weeks ago, after being hit with a knee.
Basketball Australia says the injury was not diagnosed as serious at the time, but later scans revealed she has fractured two ribs and a partially collapsed lung.
I'm Gareth Boreham and this is SBS News in Easy English
