May 23, 2013 The country's air-safety investigation bureau has been castigated in its handling of an inquiry into the ditching of an air-ambulance plane in the sea off Norfolk Island in November 2009.

May 23, 2013 Democratic Labor Party senator John Madigan will give away his parliamentary pay increase to provide training equipment to school students.

May 23, 2013 Prime Minister Julia Gillard has been named in a list of the most powerful women in the world, behind German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Beyonce but in front of Queen Elizabeth and actress Angelina Jolie.

May 23, 2013 Australia has ''failed abysmally'' to protect asylum seekers, argues Amnesty International's annual report, released on Thursday morning.

May 23, 2013 A refugee widow and her six-year-old son will taste freedom in Australia after ASIO dramatically reversed an assessment she posed a threat to national security.

May 23, 2013 He helped sail a leaky fishing boat packed with 97 asylum seekers to Christmas Island but a court found he had no idea where the boat was going.

May 23, 2013 Two Victorian hospitals have failed to meet a national infection control benchmark, according to data to be released on Thursday.

May 23, 2013 Private teachers are confused about how Julia Gillard's signature education reforms will affect their schools, prompting a key union to demand the government spell out clear, transparent information.

May 23, 2013 The cost of raising children has risen 50 per cent in the past five years with a middle-income family now spending $812,000 on two children, new modelling shows.

May 23, 2013 Indigenous public servants are quitting their jobs at almost twice the rate of non-indigenous colleagues.