What we learned; Thursday 29 August
And with that, we are going to put the blog to bed. Before we go, let’s recap the headlines:
Albanese has hot-mic moment while joking with US official about Pacific policing plan
Qantas books $2.1bn profit as fares moderate
Man shot in Queensland home overnight
Blue Mountains dam closed after PFAS detection
‘Extreme shocks’ felt over cost-of-living, CBA boss tells inquiry
Two bodies found in Queensland home
Sex Discrimination Commissioner calls on government to reverse census backflip
Thirteen women have complained about former Seven reporter Robert Ovadia’s conduct, court hears
End of state-level push for Lambie after party sackings
Courtney Act says Labor’s decision on census questions is ‘offensive’ to LGBTQ+ community
Josh Burns becomes first Labor MP to call for LGBTQ+ questions on census
Orcas sighted off Sydney coast for first time since 2018
Thank you so much for spending part of your day with us. We will be back tomorrow – until then, stay safe.
Updated
NSW birth trauma inquiry recommendations to be implemented
An overhaul of how health staff deal with mothers’ consent and better access to continuous care teams throughout pregnancy have been promised after a landmark inquiry into birth trauma.
The NSW health minister on Thursday apologised to any woman who had not received the required high standard of care as the state government accepted all recommendations from a report handed down in May.
Advocates welcomed the move but demanded the government conduct genuine consultation when rolling out five high-priority initiatives to address the often-confronting failings highlighted during the parliamentary inquiry.
They include increasing access to maternity continuity-of-care models, supporting women who have pregnancy complications and improving consent processes in birth care within the next year.
The inquiry received submissions from 4,000 people including patients, doctors, midwives and experts, with witnesses revealing life-threatening experiences and birth injuries along with non-consensual and insensitive treatment from staff.
-AAP
Updated
