What we learned: Wednesday 20 December
With that, we will wrap the blog for the evening. Stay safe and dry out there, folks. Here were the major developments of the day:
Queensland and New South Wales are grappling with heavy rainfall while in Western Australia an emergency warning has been issued for a fire burning in the wheatbelt region of the state. Residents in an area covering parts of Toodyay and Julimar are being told is too late to evacuate and there is a threat to lives and homes.
Meanwhile, thunderstorm warnings are in place for heavy rainfall, possible hail and flash flooding for parts of Australia’s east coast. Southern and central parts of Queensland are being urged to brace for a deluge, as is northern NSW near Walgett.
Still in Queensland, recovery efforts for the aftermath of Cyclone Jasper are continuing, with mobile operators hit by outages in the north of the state. The federal government has announced additional financial support for flood victims.
Authorities have confirmed 97 people were able to be airlifted out of the remote Aboriginal community of Wujal Wujal on Tuesday, while grave concerns remain for an 85-year-old missing in the floods.
An NDIS participant is taking Qantas to court over allegations of disability discrimination after the airline barred her assistance dog from travelling with her on its planes.
And the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has held his first press conference with the recently elected New Zealand prime minister, Christopher Luxon.
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Government announces unique student identifier number to become part of myGov
The federal government has announced a new service to join myGov in a bid to streamline processes for post-secondary students.
The Unique Student Identifier (USI) has been added to the authenticated government platform as the 16th service people can choose to link to their account. The USI is an individual education number that remains for life, used at university, Tafe and other nationally recognised training institutions.
The minister for government services, Bill Shorten, said the reform was introduced to simplify digital government services.
People want better access to online services, and to interact with government in a way that suits them.
The minister for education, Jason Clare, said the USI login would also make it easier for higher education students to manage their loans and update their education details.
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