More than 900 calls for assistance made so far, SES says
NSW SES deputy commissioner Debbie Platz says most of the 900 calls for assistance are from people who are already experiencing damage to homes and vehicles.
She is giving a live update on the severe wet weather forecast to pummel NSW:
Most of the incidences that we have received calls for predominantly are from the mid north coast area. So around about 200 calls to that area, and then 100 for the Sydney area and also the Illawarra area, our south-east zone.
Majority of those calls are from people who are preparing already seen some damage with trees down that have damaged homes and vehicles.
Key events
What has been government response to carer charged with child abuse?
Victorian health authorities are recommending 1,200 children get tested for infectious diseases after Joshua Brown was charged with more than 70 child sexual abuse offences allegedly involving eight children.
The Victorian Department of Health and Victoria Police are directly contacting families as a precaution.
1200 children are being advised to get tested for infectious diseases, which can be treated with antibiotics.
Not every child who attended the childcare centres listed will be recommended for testing, as they won’t have attended at the same time as Brown.
– with Australian Associated Press
Carer charged with child abuse worked at 20 Victorian centres
Childcare worker Joshua Brown is facing more than 70 child sexual abuse charges allegedly involving eight children aged between five months to two years old who were in his care.
He worked at 20 childcare centres between January 2017 and May 2025. The alleged offending occurred in Point Cook. Police are investigating allegations at a second childcare centre in Essendon. No charges have been laid in relation to the those allegations.
Police said they believe all alleged offending has taken place within Victoria and no other staff have been involved. Here is a list of where and when he worked:
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15 January 2017 – 9 June 2019: Nino Early Learning Adventures in Point Cook
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18 August 2019 – 27 October 2019 and casual work from 10 November 2019 – 22 December 2019: Explorers Early Learning in Point Cook
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25 November 2019 – 24 July 2020: Adventurers Education in Wyndham Vale
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28 October 2020 – 30 March 2021: Only About Children in Williamstown
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13 April 2021 – 25 May 2021 – Wallaby Childcare centre in Sanctuary Lakes
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21 June 2021 – 16 July 2021: Nido Early Learning School in Werribee
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28 October 2021 – 2 February 2024: Creative Garden Early Learning in Point Cook
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9 February 2023 – 13 February 2023: Leopold World of Learning in Leopold
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14 February 2023 – 10 March 2023: Greenwood in Point Cook
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14 August 2023 – 17 August 2023: Little Blossoms Child Care Centre in Werribee
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1 March 2024 – 30 April 2024: D.O.T.S Occupational Therapy for Children in Footscray
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13 August 2024 – 21 August 2024: Aussie Kindies Early Learning in Sunbury
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14 August 2024 – 16 August 2024: Milestones Early Learning in Werribee
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19 August 2024: Milestones Early Learning in Hoppers Crossing
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22 August 2024 – 12 March 2025: Papilio Early Learning in Hoppers Crossing
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12 September 2024: Kids Academy in Melton
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7 October 2024 – 9 October 2024: Kids Academy Early Learning in Kensington
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11 February 2025: Aussie Kindies Early Learning in Keilor
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17 February 2025 – 9 May 2025: Papilio Early Learning in Essendon
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8 May 2025: Milestones Early Learning in Bundoora
– Australian Associated Press
You can read about what he has been charged with here:
Recall on Coles Smooth and Coles Crunchy Peanut Butter 1kg
Coles is recalling their 1kg smooth peanut butter and crunchy peanut butter sold between 1 May and 30 June this year, with a Best Before date of 05/02/2027, due to aflatoxin contamination.
They apologised to customers for inconvenience in a statement:
Food products containing aflatoxin may cause illness if consumed. Any customers concerned about their health should seek medical advice.
Customers can return the product to any Coles supermarket for a full refund. Coles Online customers can receive a full refund or credit by contacting Coles Online Customer Care on 1800 455 400.
Petra Stock
Warragamba Dam likely to spill in coming days, WaterNSW says
Warragamba Dam is likely to spill in the coming days, based on the current rainfall forecasts, dam operator WaterNSW has advised.
The dam’s storage level was at 98% capacity on Tuesday. The timing and rate of a spill would depend on the rainfall received in the Warragamba catchment.
WaterNSW said:
The smaller Sydney dams, including Cataract, Cordeaux, Avon, Nepean and Woronora are also likely to spill.
Fitzroy Falls, Tallowa, Greaves Creek and Medlow dams are already spilling and will continue to do so.
Spills from the dam have occurred more than 50 times since 1960, including three times in 2024 and once in May this year.
Alleged sexual assaults at Melbourne childcare centres – what should parents do?
Police today confirmed Point Cook man Joshua Brown, 26, was charged last month with more than 70 offences relating to eight alleged victims aged between five months and two years old.
What should parents do?
Unless you have been directly contacted by Victoria Police, there is no evidence to suggest that your child is an alleged victim.
If you believe something inappropriate may have happened to your child or have any more information, police are urging people to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Some families will be eligible for a payment of $5000 to help with alternative care arrangements, loss of earnings, and other practical needs.
– with Australian Associated Press
Daisy Dumas
Sydney woman stranded in Iran reaches Azerbaijan
A Sydney woman who attempted to flee Iran via its Azerbaijani border only to be marooned because Australian authorities had not provided a special code has finally made her way to Baku.
Rose, 70, whose real name is withheld to protect her safety, first left Tehran on 14 June, the day after Israel began its bombardment of the country and its nuclear assets.
Under a communications blackout and using choked roads, the grandmother reached Astara on the Caspian coast on 20 June, just hours after Australia’s Tehran embassy staff were evacuated via the same crossing.
Her family had told the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade that Rose was on her way to Astara and was assured she would be able to leave via its crossing.
But at the border, Rose was told she needed an 11-digit code from the Australian embassy in Turkey. That code took six days to be provided, in which time Rose ran out of heart medication and was forced to leave the border town to seek urgent medical treatment.
In better health and with Tehran’s airspace still closed, she again made her way to Astara yesterday. Last night, she left Iran and is now safely in Baku, her daughter told Guardian Australia.
Her daughter said:
She’s exhausted. I’m counting down until she boards her flight home.
Read more on the background to this story:
Qantas freight pilots to take industrial action after ‘lowball’ offer
Qantas pilots responsible for delivering parcels will take industrial action over the company’s wage offer, which they say will leave them at the bottom of the industry.
More than 100 Express Freighters pilots will be eligible to begin low-level action from Friday after over 90% voted in favour of protected action over the company’s “lowball” offer.
After protracted negotiations over six months, unions said the company has refused to improve the offer, which they say in some cases would see pilots’ remuneration hovering around the bare legal minimum of the Air Pilots Award 2020, and would entrench poor work-life balance.
The pilots fly a significant amount of Australia Post’s parcel freight, mostly overnight, “back of the clock” flights, and spend up to 260 hours away from home per month.
– Australian Associated Press
Henry Belot
Sportsbet fined for sending texts to self-excluded customers
Australia’s largest online sports gambling company, Sportsbet, has been fined for accidentally sending text messages to people who asked to not be contacted.
The Northern Territory Racing and Wagering Commission, which regulates the majority of online bookmakers in Australia, found Sportsbet sent texts containing a survey to 124 customers “who were on either a short-term or long-term break”.
Another 30 people who received the message were on a national self-exclusion register, which is designed to help them address gambling addictions or to limit harm.
According to the regulator, the texts were sent by accident during a training session for new staff on a third-party platform that delivered Sportsbet’s text campaigns.
The error, which was self-reported to the regulator, was quickly spotted and Sportsbet blocked “a further 48,891 messages from reaching unintended recipients”.
The commission decided to treat the messages as one single contravention, rather than 154 separate incidents. Sportsbet was fined $92,400, which is half the maximum penalty amount.
But the commission delivered this criticism:
It is imperative that marketing communications are not directed to individuals who have self-excluded or are taking a break from the use of online wagering services, as such actions risk undermining their efforts to manage gambling related harm and may contribute to relapse.
Moreover, doing so represents a failure to uphold the licensee’s ethical obligation to prioritise customer welfare over commercial interests.
Jacinta Allan says she is ‘sickened’ by child abuse allegations
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, says she feels “sickened” after childcare worker Joshua Brown was charged with more than 70 offences for allegedly sexually abusing eight children in his care.
The early childhood regulator will investigate the conduct of the early education providers Brown worked at, the premier said at a news conference earlier:
I’m sickened by these allegations of abuse. They are shocking and distressing, and my heart just breaks for the families who are living every parent’s worst nightmare. And as a parent too, I can only imagine the unbearable grief and pain the affected families are experiencing right now.
Can I also say that our educators and carers in our early childhood education sector will also be shocked, and I want to make it clear to our early childhood education workforce that I know the alleged actions and allegations of [a] single individual do not reflect the many dedicated and professional childcare educators and carers and staff who go above and beyond every day to teach and care for our children.
The specifics of this case are being thoroughly investigated by police and are being examined by the courts. The safety of our children is our number one priority. The early childhood regulator will immediately commence an investigation into the conduct of the early education providers in which the alleged offender has worked.
Benita Kolovos
A joint Victoria police and government press conference was under way earlier into the investigation into alleged sexual assaults at a Melbourne childcare centre.
Acting commander Janet Stevenson says the alleged assaults were uncovered after the discovery of child abuse material. She says:
We immediately acted and executed a search warrant at the Point Cook home of a 26-year-old Joshua Brown. As a result, Brown was charged with over 70 offences which relate to alleged sexual assaults committed against eight identified child victims.
She says Brown was not known to police prior to the investigation:
However, as soon as we identified his alleged offending, he was removed from the community. He had a valid working with children check, which has since been cancelled.
Daisy Dumas
Above-ground work on stage one of Sydney’s beleaguered M6 tunnel project is set to continue after the New South Wales government and the contractors charged with its construction reached a last-minute compromise.
The consortium building new twin 4km motorway tunnels linking Arncliffe and Kogarah in Sydney’s south have been plagued by sinkholes and a “reverse” rock fault which led to CGU – a joint venture of CPB, Ghella and UGL – pulling out of the project and downing tools from yesterday.
This morning, Transport for NSW announced an agreement had been reached with the contractor.
Surface works, including road works, building pathways and cycleways and revitalising parklands, will continue and are expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Transport for NSW secretary, Josh Murray, said the works would progress “separately to the underground challenges”.
In a statement, he said:
The local community deserves certainty. Finishing these areas will be treated as a priority, including surface roadworks, new walking and cycling links and parklands.
This agreement will also allow Transport to continue work on a solution that will lead to tunnelling being completed, while the contractor continues to play its role in securing the construction site.”
Sarah Basford Canales
Anthony Albanese has dismissed a suggestion by a Sky News host he’s prioritising his relationship with China over the US as he faces pressure to lock in a face-to-face meeting with US president Donald Trump.
The prime minister is expected to visit Beijing this month but has yet to lock in a formal in-person chat with Trump after the president abruptly left a G7 meeting last month amid an escalation in conflict between Iran and Israel.
Albanese is under pressure to convince Trump to grant Australia an exemption on global trade tariffs set to resume next week. The US administration has also urged Australia to drastically lift its defence spending to 3% of GDP or higher in response to China’s growing military. A 30-day review by the US Pentagon into the Aukus deal is also expected to conclude shortly.
On Sky News this morning, the prime minister was asked whether his imminent trip to China suggested he was prioritising that relationship over the US.
Albanese responded:
Well, [Chinese president] Xi Jinping has been in office for some time, and the person who had Xi Jinping address our national parliament here was Tony Abbott, just for the record. I’ve met with the US president more than I have met with the President of China since I’ve been the prime minister and I’ve traveled five times to the United States and one time to China.
Albanese told Sky News he’ll have the chance to meet with Trump and other senior US officials in the upcoming summit season toward the latter half of the year.
When we have a meeting, we’ll have a meeting, and when it’s scheduled, that will occur. We’ll see each other a lot in the last months of the year. That’s when summit season occurs … Australia and the United States are both members, of course, of the G20, of the Quad, of Apec. We’ll see each other quite a lot in coming months.
Some Virgin flights cancelled amid severe weather
Passengers flying in or out of Sydney and Newcastle with Virgin today may have their flight affected by severe weather.
A Virgin Australia spokesperson said:
Some services on Virgin Australia’s network have been impacted by adverse weather in Sydney and Newcastle today. The safety of our guests and crew is our top priority and our meteorologists continue to closely monitor the weather system.
We regret the impact of this on guests’ travel plans and are working hard to ensure they reach their destination safely and as soon as possible.
We encourage guests travelling today and tomorrow to keep an eye on the status of their flight via our website or app.
Guardian Australia understands there have been 12 cancellations.
Petra Stock
NSW SES responds to more than 600 incidents since Monday
New South Wales State Emergency Service has responded to more than 600 incidents since Monday morning, as a severe weather system battered the state’s coast.
An SES spokesperson said there had also been more than 900 calls to the state operations centre.
We’re seeing a lot of debris and trees down, requests for sandbags and also leaking roofs.
We’ve been asking people to prepare their homes and properties since last week, and now it really is too late to be outside in the weather.”
We are anticipating there to be flash flooding this afternoon as commuters head home. So we’re just urging people that if they do come across flood water on a road, to stop, turn around and find an alternative route.
