Good morning. As we continue our investigation into government agencies’ use of outsourced call centre workers, we focus today on NDIS call handlers who describe being burned out amid intense pressure to hit their targets.
In other news: the AI revolution has reached Australia’s classrooms – and while some educators are embracing the new technology, there’s fears some schools could be left behind by the rapid pace of change.
Elsewhere, an armed intruder has been shot and killed by US Secret Service agents at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence. Plus: we have all the action from the Baftas and the Winter Olympics closing ceremony.
Australia
AI in schools | The peak body for independent schools is urging the government to take up a national AI pilot or risk creating a “two-speed system” and widening the education divide.
Cost of living | The Reserve Bank’s deputy governor has urged shoppers to “vote with their feet” to avoid dodgy price hikes and warned that inflationary pressures have endured into the new year.
‘I want it to end’ | Five years after Darren Culleton died in custody, his family is still waiting for compensation. After an investigation and an inquest, they’re now holding on for an independent medical panel process beset with delays.
Tariffs turmoil | Australia will “examine all options” says the trade minister, Don Farrell, after Donald Trump announced a temporary 15% tariff would apply to US imports from all countries.
Security concerns | The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, says authorities have few options to prevent the return of 34 Australian women and children from a Syrian detention camp.
World
Mar-a-Lago shooting | The US Secret Service announced that an armed man was shot and killed after entering the secure perimeter of Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump’s Florida residence and private club.
Epstein links | An inquiry in the UK into Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s Jeffrey Epstein links has not been ruled out as police searches of his former home on the Windsor estate continued.
Middle East crisis | Leaders from across the Islamic world have condemned remarks by the US ambassador to Israel suggesting it would “be fine” for Israel to claim a broad swath of the Middle East.
Russia-Ukraine war | Russia has fired scores of missiles and drones at targets across Ukraine, flattening buildings in Kyiv, two days before the fourth anniversary of Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion.
Baftas 2026 | It’s the biggest night of the year in British cinema: follow the latest on the red carpet gowns, the gossip and glitz from the ceremony here. Plus: the full list of winners.
Full Story
Coles in court: the high-stakes battle over the price of your groceries
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is taking Coles to the federal court testing allegations the supermarket breached the law by offering “illusory” discounts on many everyday products. Coles denies any wrongdoing. One week into the court battle, Jonathan Barrett tells Reged Ahmad about what we’ve learned about how discounts are set – and whether the outcome could bring prices down.
In-depth
There’s a checklist of horrors that call handlers on the national disability insurance scheme phone lines hear about; staff field calls from desperate participants containing allegations of rape, violence and financial and emotional abuse. But outsourced NDIS call handlers say they suffer from a lack of proper training and intense performance targets in a pressure-cooker workplace.
Not the news
In the latest of our Kindness of strangers series, we hear from a reader who found themselves desperate and exhausted as they wrangled their two young kids while out grocery shopping. Letting her children sit for a moment on a mechanical ride in front of the shopping centre so she could take a breather, an old man put $2 in the slot to start the ride – leaving the kids over the moon, and a parent eternally grateful.
Sport
Winter Olympics | The closing ceremony brings the curtain down on the Winter Olympics; the US stun Canada in overtime to win first their Olympic men’s ice hockey gold since 1980; and Norway beats the US to top the medal table. Plus: the best images of Australia’s athletes taking on the snow and ice.
Football | Arsenal go five points clear in the Premier League after a 1-4 win over Tottenham; Alexis Mac Allister’s last-gasp winner gave Liverpool the points at Nottingham Forest; Alex Iwobi sealed Fulham’s victory at Sunderland; Australian Daniel Bennie scored a stunning long-range goal for his English club.
Cricket | England won the Super 8s opener at the T20 World Cup as Sri Lanka flailed with the bat.
Media roundup
At least 40 Victorians are set to launch legal action against the state’s hospitals over claims their loved ones died by suicide after being prematurely discharged or denied critical care, the Age reports. The East West rail line in South Australia has been closed after sections of track of “up to 100 metres” were washed away by flooding, ABC News reports. Former PM Tony Abbott’s book on Australian history has already generated sales in excess of $2m, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.
What’s happening today
Queensland | Public hearings are scheduled in Brisbane in the parliamentary inquiry into the quality and safety of Australia’s early childhood education and care system.
NSW | A coronial inquest into the death of Tammy Shipley in custody is set to continue in Lidcombe.
Victoria | Select committee hearings into capital gains tax are due to be held in Melbourne.
Victoria | The ACCC case against Coles continues in federal court in Melbourne over alleged misleading conduct in its product pricing.
Sign up
If you would like to receive this Morning Mail update to your email inbox every weekday, sign up here, or finish your day with our Afternoon Update newsletter. You can follow the latest in US politics by signing up for This Week in Trumpland.
Brain teaser
And finally, here are the Guardian’s crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow.
