Australia

Australians download COVIDSafe contact tracing app

The COVIDSafe smartphone app uses a Bluetooth wireless signal to exchange a "digital handshake" with another user when they come within 1.5m (4.9ft).

The app then logs this contact and encrypts it.

Users will be notified if they have had more than 15 minutes of close contact with another user who tests positive.

Australia has recorded 6,694 confirmed coronavirus cases and 80 deaths from the virus, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Tongan seasonal workers in Australia continue working

Tonga’s liaison officer in Australia, Sione Vaka, told Kaniva News all Seasonal Worker Programme employees’ visas had been extended for up to 12 months.

Vaka said Tongan workers had not been charged for the extension.

He said employers were making sure employees would not be infected with the virus.

He said the Australian government had directed all employers to make sure their workers had work to do during the lockdown to help their families in Tonga.

All states were on lockdown, but the workers were exempted because they were doing essential services.

Australia’s immediate response to Tonga following Tropical Cyclone Harold

The Australian High Commissioner, Adrian Morrison, praised the hardworking Tongan response agencies and Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) that Australia is working with to support those in need after Cyclone Harold.

These organisations include Caritas, MORDI Tonga Trust and the Tongan Red Cross Society.

“We welcome their ongoing work to provide much-needed emergency hygiene kits, water, shelter and other essential items for those impacted.”

Australia provides support to Tonga to combat COVID-19 and its impact

The arrangement covers an accountable cash grant for assistance regarding the provision of performance linked aid/budget support of AUD $4 million for 2019/20, AUD$3.5 million for 2020/21, and AUD$3.5 million for 2021/22.

The arrangement includes assistance up to AUD12 million in response to the global COVID-19 crisis, of which AUD$7 million, will be received, as additional budget support to assist the Government of Tonga’s immediate response to COVID-19.

Court quashes Cardinal Pell's sexual abuse convictions

The ex-Vatican treasurer, 78, was the most senior Catholic figure ever jailed for such crimes.

In 2018, a jury found he abused two boys in Melbourne in the 1990s.

But the High Court of Australia quashed that verdict on Tuesday, bringing an immediate end to Cardinal Pell's six-year jail sentence.

The Australian cleric had maintained his innocence since he was charged by police in June 2017.

His case rocked the Catholic Church, where he had been one of the Pope's most senior advisers.

Rugby Australia CEO admits July series with Ireland 'highly unlikely' to go ahead

The Wallabies are set to take on Andy Farrell’s Ireland in Brisbane on July 4 and Sydney on July 11, before playing Fiji in Townsville on July 18.

Yet with the global rugby calendar facing huge uncertainty as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, those games look set to be postponed, or even cancelled.

Rugby Australia held their annual general meeting on Monday, where they revealed a $9.4 million operating deficit for the World Cup year of 2019.

Smith captaincy ban over

That is a question that took on new relevance on Sunday after Smith's two-year leadership ban ended.

Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft were suspended from cricket after a ball-tampering scandal on the 2018 tour of South Africa.

A scheme was cooked up to use sandpaper to doctor the ball, with Smith being aware of the plan but doing nothing to prevent it going ahead.

Disgraced by the incident, Smith was served with a one-year playing ban that began on March 29, 2018, with a further 12-month suspension from leading Australia in any format of the game.

Coronavirus: Australia reverses 30 minute hair appointment rule

However, while appointments can now go on for longer, hairdressers and barbers must still observe the "four square metre per person" rule.

Salons have been allowed to remain open, despite other businesses being closed amid the coronavirus outbreak.

But some have called for all salons and barbers to be shut during the outbreak, which has killed 13 in Australia.

Earlier this week Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a number of new restrictions, which saw play centres, libraries and museums closed from midnight on Wednesday.

Australia v NZ behind closed doors

Cricket Australia (CA) confirmed that fans will not be allowed into grounds to watch the three-match series, which starts on Friday at the SCG.

Ticket-holders will be given a full refund with no decision yet made over Australia's upcoming three-match Twenty20 international tour of New Zealand.

"Cricket Australia will continue to monitor the coronavirus situation at home and overseas before making a decision on Australian men's international matches beyond the Australian leg of the ODI tournament," said a statement.

First Australian death from coronavirus

His death was confirmed by Western Australia's chief health officer Andrew Robertson.

The 78-year-old man and his 79-year-old wife were among the 3700 people on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship, including 14 New Zealanders and 164 Australians, when cases of coronavirus began to emerge.

Passengers were placed under isolation, but the virus continued to spread on the ship, with hundreds of people testing positive, including another WA man, who was taken off the ship to be treated in Japan.