Unlike the other states and territories, abortion is a criminal offence in New South Wales and Queensland, except under certain circumstances.
The doctor who provides the termination, anyone assisting and the woman herself could all be prosecuted under the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) or the Criminal Code Act 1899 (Qld).
In NSW and Queensland, bills have been developed that, if successful, will lead to the decriminalisation of abortion in both states.
Workers at the Geelong oil refinery, with the support of community members, maintained a 24-hour picket from October 5 to 11 at four refinery access gates over serious safety concerns at the site. The refinery, previously owned by Shell, has been managed by Viva Energy for the past two years.
Do you feel safe while you are at work? Do you think your bosses care about your physical and mental wellbeing?
The growing reality seems to be that more and more bosses do not care about the wellbeing of workers, and the larger the business the worse it seems to get.
Up to 500 people joined a protest on October 19 near NSW Parliament against the Coalition government鈥檚 plans to weaken land clearing laws.
The Coalition came to power promising famers more rights to undertake mass land clearing. Opposition has been wide-ranging.
The NSW government is preparing to sell off the NSW land titles registry, the Land and Property Information (LPI) office, in a move dubbed by one economics commentator as 鈥渁nother dumb privatisation鈥.
Local and overseas banks, insurance companies and superannuation funds are said to be among potential buyers of the registry, which is expected to fetch more than $700 million.
On October 18, students delivered an open letter to Vice-Chancellor Martin Bean signed by 401 RMIT academics and staff calling on the university to dump its fossil fuel investments.
The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) approved the right-wing Australia First Party鈥檚 use of the Eureka flag as its logo on October 13, despite 11 written submissions opposing its use.
The AEC said the objectors provided 鈥渋nsufficient evidence鈥 the application should be refused. It said it had no discretion to consider 鈥渉istorical and cultural claims鈥 surrounding the Eureka flag.聽
Ballarat Trades Hall Council secretary Brett Edgington said the decision by the AEC marked a 鈥渟ad day for Australia鈥.聽
A new investigation by In These Times has revealed that, by percentage of population, Native Americans are more likely to be killed by police than any other sector 鈥 including African Americans.
It also found that while cases of African-American police deaths tend to dominate headlines, killings of Native people go almost entirely unreported by mainstream US media.
The systematic police repression of African Americans that Black Lives Matter (BLM) has exposed has prompted Black athletes to express their solidarity. The latest has been the silent protests at sporting events initiated by Colin Kaepernick, quarterback for NFL team, the San Francisco 49ers.
His protest is simple. He kneels when the national anthem is played before games. In spite of attacks against him, other professional athletes have emulated his protest. Perhaps most significant has been the many high school players across the country who have joined in.
The Australian captain of a women-crewed boat, which tried to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza last month, firmly believes the mission was worthwhile.
鈥淭丑别 managed to reignite the spotlight on Gaza and on the terrible conditions that the Gazan people suffer鈥, Madeline Habib told 麻豆传媒 Weekly.
Tens of thousands of women across Argentina walked off the job on October 19 to 鈥渕ake noise鈥 against gender violence and economic inequalities in the first women鈥檚 national strike in the country鈥檚 history.
The strike came in the wake of a brutal gang rape and murder of a teenage girl that has reinvigorated the fight against femicide and gender violence across the continent.聽Protesters showed signs with the stories of missing or murdered women, chanting 鈥淲e won't forgive, we won't forget鈥.
At least 2000 Seattle teachers sported Black Lives Matter shirts at schools across the city on October 19, . The action was part of several rallies under the banner of 鈥淏lack Lives Matter at School鈥 to push for racial justice in education in the United States.
The protests were organised by聽Social Equality Educators, a group of educators within the Seattle teachers union.