A daily 5 minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Welcome to SBS News in Easy English, I'm Deborah Groarke.
There are fears inflation could go even higher after the Reserve Bank increased interest rates on Tuesday.
Financial helplines have reported being overwhelmed with calls for support with mortgage and rental stress.
R-B-A Governor Philip Lowe has defended the increase, saying Australia needs to be on a narrow but steady path forward.
Su-Lin Ong from global investment bank RBC Capital Markets has told SBS that managing inflation is vital.
"The important message I think from the Reserve Bank is that if inflation doesn't come down and becomes entrenched, and stays higher, it will be very damaging for the economy, for people's living standards, for households, and I think importantly it disproportionately affects lower income."
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has spoken with the government of Vietnam about detained Australian Chau Van Kham.
Mr Chau was arrested in January 2019 on national security charges and sentenced to 12 years in jail.
He is a member of the democracy advocacy group Viet Tan, which Vietnam considers a terrorist organisation.
Mr Albanese says he is hopeful the 73-year-old will soon be granted an international prisoner transfer.
A new report has found First Nations people are more likely to go to court than non-Indigenous people for possessing cannabis .
A cannabis cautioning scheme was introduced in 2000 to allow police to issue warnings rather than send people to court.
The New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research says the state's police have used that discretion to caution one in ten Indigenous adults compared with four in ten non-Indigenous people.
Australia's treasurer will travel to New Zealand this afternoon for talks on economic development.
Dr Chalmers will meet with New Zealand Finance Minister Grant Robertson in Wellington.
The two countries are marking 40 years of the Australia-New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement, known as the C-E-R.
Meanwhile, the Treasurer has announced a strategic plan for Australian payment systems.
He says part of that plan is to phase out the use of cheque payments by no later than 2030.
"This transaction will be gradual, coordinated, inclusive and respectful. Public consultation with the whole community will take place before the end of the year, including with the states and territories. And we will work with you to make sure that every Australian gets the assistance that they need to make this important change to other forms of payment in good time."
The Commonwealth Bank has been fined over $3 million [[$3.55m]] by the Australian Communications and Media Authority.
The authority says the bank breached spam laws in 61 million emails sent to customers, sometimes by sending emails to people who had already asked not to receive them.
The fine is the largest financial penalty imposed by the authority for breaches of spam laws.
A second group of firefighters are being sent from New South Wales to Canada to help bring scores of fires under control.
The extra 49 firefighters will bring the total number of Australian and New Zealanders deployed to Alberta to 378.
Authorities say multiple fires have burned through over 3.3 million hectares in Canada.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada could experience its worst-ever year of fires because of warm and dry conditions.
"Our modelling shows that this may be an especially severe wildfire season throughout the season. We're going to get through this together. And our government will keep being there with whatever it takes to keep people safe, and provide support."
I'm Deborah Groarke. This is SBS News in Easy English.
