Welcome to SBS News in Easy English. I'm Biwa Kwan.
Employer groups are concerned that criminal penalties could be imposed on employers who breach what's being legally drafted as the "right to disconnect" from work.
Draft legislation passed the Senate which gives workers the right to ignore out-of-hours calls and emails.
There is recognition that employers could have a legitimate reason for contacting their staff at home, like offers of shifts, but there is still the prospect that employers could be fined $18,000.
The Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Tony Burke, says the government will be looking at adjusting the legislation to provide more clarity.
"These laws about industrial relations are about making sure that people who go to work are not treated or taken for granted as, sort of, commodities. There's been fines in the act since, I dont know, 1907, but the issue of criminal penalties we accept should be clarified."
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Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock says inflation and cost-of-living pressures remain a challenge for Australian households.
Australia’s annual inflation rate has dropped a two-year low of 4.1 per cent, but remains well above the RBA's target of between 2 and 3 per cent.
Ms Bullock made the remarks in her first appearance before the House of Representatives economics committee.
She says there are "encouraging signs" that inflation pressures are easing, but challenges remain.
"Something that has not changed since our previous hearing in 2023 is the challenge presented by high inflation. We all remain acutely aware that the cost of living is rising much faster than it has over recent decades. It's been evident over the past couple of years in many of the essential goods and services we all buy, but also in a myriad of other goods and services that we might regard as a bit more discretionary."
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Thousands of Victorians reported feeling the impact of a 4.3-magnitude earthquake that shook large parts of the state.
It hit near Leongatha in the Gippsland region, 135km southeast of Melbourne, in the early hours of Friday morning.
Bureau of Meteorology says there was no threat of a tsunami in the aftermath of the quake.
The chief scientist at Seismology Research Centre, Adam Pascale, says it is the biggest quake to hit the state since October when the 5.0-magnitude earthquake struck southwestern Victoria.
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Vote counting is underway in Pakistan in a general election marred by militant attacks and the suspension of mobile phone services.
Three-time PM Nawaz Sharif is ahead in early counting, in an election a number of analysts say is among the least credible in the country’s post-independence history.
There have been allegations of "pre-poll rigging" amid a wide crackdown on former leader Imran Khan’s party.
Farzana Shaikh is an analyst from the London-based Chatham House think tank.
She says the role of the military in the elections must not be overlooked.
"The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, the Justice Party led by former prime minister, and now incarcerated leader Imran Khan, is almost surely not going to have a chance of forming the next government. The military establishment ... they've taken a whole series of measures to ensure that the party has no chance as emerging, as the most popular party, or the largest party."
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In basketball, the Australian Opals have begun their campaign to qualify for the Paris Olympics.
The team will play three games in four days - against Brazil today, Germany on Sunday, and Serbia on Monday.
One win across the games will see Australia book a spot at the Paris Games beginning in July.
Australia is currently ranked World No. 3 behind China and the USA.
I'm Biwa Kwan. This has been SBS News in Easy English.
