This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka , your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans  in Australia and beyond. SriLankan Airlines has announced it will expand its flight schedule between Colombo and Melbourne, boosting travel links between Sri Lanka and Australia. From August 2, the airline will increase services to 10 flights per week in response to growing passenger demand and rising tourism interest from Australia. The additional flights will operate three times a week – on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Departures from Colombo are scheduled for 2:10pm, arriving in Melbourne at 4:30am the next day. Return flights will leave Melbourne at 6:00am and land in Colombo at 12:15pm. SriLankan Airlines confirmed that its existing daily service on the route will continue unchanged. The airline says the extra flights will provide more convenient travel options for the Sri Lankan community living in Australia, as well as for students studying there. The expanded schedule will also improve connections through Colombo, allowing travellers from destinations across the airline’s network — including several cities in India — to connect more easily to Melbourne. Officials say the move further strengthens Colombo’s role as an important regional aviation hub linking South Asia with Australia. More updates to come on AusNewsLanka .

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. A new national study has revealed that the safest places to live in Australia are determined by more than just crime rates. Researchers assessed neighbourhood safety by looking at four key factors: property crime, building strength, exposure to natural disasters and how well communities are prepared for emergencies. According to iSelect, these elements together give a clearer picture of the real risks residents may face. Safest areas in Australia The study found that suburbs in New South Wales dominated the national rankings. Canada Bay topped the list with a safety score of 83.58. The area recorded low property crime, minimal exposure to natural disasters and relatively modern housing. Other high-ranking locations included: Georges River – 82.99 Willoughby – 82.96 Several other Sydney council areas also placed in the top ten, including Ryde, Inner West, Cumberland, Bayside and Canterbury-Bankstown. Outside NSW, Western Australia also featured, with Rockingham ranking sixth and Cockburn seventh nationally. Lowest-ranked areas At the other end of the scale, several locations in Queensland and Victoria recorded the lowest safety scores. Townsville was ranked the least safe local government area in the country with a score of 41.65. The city recorded high property crime rates and a large number of older homes built before 1980. Other Queensland areas appearing near the bottom included Rockhampton, Cairns and Toowoomba. In Victoria, locations such as Yarra, Monash, Darebin, Yarra Ranges and the City of Melbourne also ranked among the lowest in the state. Researchers noted that areas with older housing and higher exposure to extreme weather often scored lower in the safety assessment. Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka  – the leading platform for news for Australians .

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka , your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans  in Australia and beyond. මැද පෙරදිග රටවල පවතින ගැටුම් හේතුවෙන් එම රටවල පදිංචි ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයින්ට හදිසි පහසුකම් සැපයීම සඳහා තානාපති කාර්යාලවලට මූල්‍ය ප්‍රතිපාදන වෙන් කර ඇති බව ශ්‍රී ලංකා විදේශ සේවා නියුක්ති කාර්යාංශය (SLBFE) පවසයි. මැද පෙරදිග රැකියා සඳහා ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයින් පිටත්ව යාම අඛණ්ඩව සිදුවන බව කාර්යාංශයේ සභාපති කෝෂල වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතා සඳහන් කළේය. More updates to come on AusNewsLanka .

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Floodwaters have damaged hundreds of homes and properties in Bundaberg as widespread flooding continues across the region. The Burnett River peaked at about 7.4 metres, slightly lower than earlier forecasts of 7.6 metres, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. David Crisafulli said the flood level is not as severe as previous disasters but the damage remains significant for many residents. Some homes and businesses have now been hit by floods four times in just over 15 years. For comparison, the river reached 7.9 metres in 2010 and surged to 9.5 metres in 2013, two of the region’s worst flood events. Around 197 people stayed at an evacuation centre overnight, while others took shelter with family and friends. Emergency crews also carried out a rescue after a driver became trapped in floodwaters. Helen Blackburn said the final damage assessment is still underway, but early estimates suggest several hundred properties have been affected. Across the region, about 2,000 homes are currently without power and more than 640 road warnings have been issued due to flooding and dangerous conditions. Flood risks remain across much of Queensland, with several river catchments still under major warnings. The floods have also caused damage to the agricultural sector. Early reports indicate around 1,200 cattle and nearly 1,000 kilometres of fencing have been lost in the Burnett and Wide Bay areas. Authorities say the full economic impact on farms and crops will take time to assess. Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka  – the leading platform for news for Australians .

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Australia will deploy a high-tech surveillance aircraft and advanced missiles to the Middle East as regional tensions continue to rise. Anthony Albanese confirmed that an Boeing E‑7A Wedgetail aircraft will be sent to the region along with medium-range air-to-air missiles. The move is aimed at helping protect civilian infrastructure and Australians living in the area. About 85 Australian Defence Force personnel will accompany the aircraft, which will initially be deployed for four weeks, according to Richard Marles. The Wedgetail is one of the world’s most advanced airborne command and surveillance platforms. It can track threats, coordinate communications and provide early warning of missile or drone attacks. Officials say the deployment is defensive only, stressing that Australia will not send troops into Iran or take part in offensive military operations. The decision comes as Iranian missile and drone attacks have targeted several Gulf nations, including the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Albanese said the deployment also helps safeguard the roughly 115,000 Australians currently across the Middle East. Meanwhile, more Australians are returning home. Over 2,600 people have already left the region on commercial flights, according to Penny Wong. Authorities are also assisting travellers still stranded in some areas. Bus transport has been arranged for Australians in Kuwait, where the airport is closed, while similar arrangements are being organised for those in Bahrain. Source : www.indailysa.com.au Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka  – the leading platform for news for Australians .

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka , your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans  in Australia and beyond. ශ්‍රී ලංකා සිවිල් ගුවන් සේවා අධිකාරිය පවසන්නේ අද දින විශේෂ ගුවන් ගමන් හතක් ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීමට නියමිත බවයි. ශ්‍රී ලංකන් ගුවන් සේවයේ ගුවන් ගමන් දෙකක් අද රියාද් සහ ඩුබායි බලා පිටත් වන බව අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජනරාල් දමින්ද රඹුක්වැල්ල මහතා පැවසීය. මැදපෙරදිග කලාපයේ සමහර ප්‍රදේශවල පවතින ආතතීන් ගුවන් සේවා මෙහෙයුම් වලට අඛණ්ඩව බලපාන අතර, කලින් වසා දමා තිබූ ගුවන් ගමන් කිහිපයක් දැන් අර්ධ වශයෙන් නැවත විවෘත කර ඇති බවත්, ඇතැම් රටවල ගුවන් ගමන් විශාල ප්‍රමාණයක් පෙර දිනට සාපේක්ෂව දැන් විවෘත කර ඇති බවත් රඹුක්වැල්ල මහතා පැවසීය. උදාහරණයක් ලෙස, ඕමානය, සෞදි අරාබිය සහ එක්සත් අරාබි එමීර් රාජ්‍යය තාවකාලිකව වුවද ඔවුන්ගේ ගුවන් ගමන් සැලකිය යුතු ප්‍රමාණයක් නැවත විවෘත කර ඇත. එහි ප්‍රතිඵලයක් ලෙස, මෑත දිනවලට සාපේක්ෂව මෙම ගමනාන්ත වෙත ගුවන් ගමන් සංඛ්‍යාව වැඩි කිරීමට ගුවන් සමාගම් පටන් ගෙන තිබේ. නුදුරු අනාගතයේ දී ක්‍රමයෙන් සාමාන්‍ය ගුවන් ගමන් මෙහෙයුම් වෙත නැවත පැමිණීමට ගුවන් සමාගම් බලාපොරොත්තු වන බව රඹුක්වැල්ල මහතා පැවසීය. ඒ අනුව, ශ්‍රී ලංකන් ගුවන් සේවය අද ගුවන් ගමන් දෙකක් ක්‍රියාත්මක කරයි: එකක් එක්සත් අරාබි එමීර් රාජ්‍යයේ ඩුබායි වෙත සහ තවත් එකක් සෞදි අරාබියේ රියාද් වෙත. ඊට අමතරව, ෆිට්ස්එයාර් ඩුබායි වෙත එක් ගුවන් ගමනක් ක්‍රියාත්මක කරන අතර, සලාම්එයාර් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට අඩු ගුවන් ගමනක් ක්‍රියාත්මක කර ඇති අතර, මගීන් සමඟ පැමිණ නැවත පිටත්ව ගොස් ඇත. ෆ්ලයිඩුබායි ද ඩුබායි සිට මගීන් සමඟ පැමිණ නැවත පිටත්ව ගොස් ඇති අතර, එතිහාඩ් එයාර්වේස් ද ගුවන් ගමනක් ක්‍රියාත්මක කරයි. තවද, කටාර් එයාර්වේස් ගුවන් ගමනක් ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීමට නියමිත අතර, එමිරේට්ස් මුලින් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට ගුවන් ගමන් දෙකක් සැලසුම් කර තිබුණද අද දින එකක් ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීමට අපේක්ෂා කෙරේ. සිවිල් ගුවන් සේවා අධිකාරියේ අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජනරාල් දමින්ද රඹුක්වැල්ලට අනුව, සමස්තයක් වශයෙන්, මේ දක්වා ගුවන් ගමන් අටක් පමණ ක්‍රියාත්මක කර ඇත. Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka  – the leading platform for news for Sri Lankans .

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Australians could soon face petrol prices above $2 per litre as rising global oil costs push inflation higher, economists warn. The surge follows escalating tensions in the Middle East and concerns over shipping disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz. Oil prices have already climbed above US$84 a barrel, increasing pressure on fuel prices across Australia. Economists at National Australia Bank say the spike could lift Australia’s inflation rate higher than previously expected. Headline inflation could peak around 4.75 per cent, about 0.5 percentage points above earlier forecasts. If oil prices continue rising towards US$100 per barrel, analysts warn inflation could climb above five per cent, levels last seen during the economic shocks following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Higher fuel costs may also push up the price of everyday goods. Economists say transport, farming and logistics sectors rely heavily on fuel, meaning increases at the pump could eventually flow through to supermarket prices. Farmers, in particular, depend on diesel to run tractors, irrigation systems and harvesting equipment. Any disruption to fuel supply could impact production of items such as fruit, vegetables, meat, seafood and dairy products. Jim Chalmers warned the economy may face “intense volatility” as global tensions continue. Meanwhile, Chris Bowen said the current pressure on fuel supplies is mainly due to a surge in demand, as some motorists rush to fill tanks and stockpile petrol. Despite the increased demand, authorities say Australia still has adequate fuel reserves, though prices could remain elevated while global markets remain unstable. Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka  – the leading platform for news for Australians .

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka , your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans  in Australia and beyond. Melbourne-based finance professional Janaka Dissanayake (ACMA, CGMA) has been recognised as Best New Broker of 2026 at the prestigious LMG Awards, one of the most anticipated and highly regarded events in Australia’s mortgage broking industry. The award is presented by Loan Market Group (LMG), the largest mortgage broker aggregation group in Australia and New Zealand, supporting a network of more than 6,000 brokers and advisers. With thousands of brokers competing nationwide, the Best New Broker award is considered one of the biggest and most competitive honours of the night, recognising exceptional performance, outstanding client service, and strong results among new entrants to the industry. Janaka brings 17 years of experience in the banking and finance sector in Australia. Before becoming a mortgage broker, he spent 15 years working with ANZ, one of Australia’s largest banks, where he gained deep expertise in lending, financial services, and customer relationship management. Drawing on this experience, Janaka transitioned into mortgage broking to provide more personalised lending advice and access to a wider panel of lenders. Based in Melbourne, his business operates as Loan Market in South Morang - VIC, with services available to clients across Australia. He works closely with first-home buyers, families upgrading their homes, refinancers, and property investors to structure loans tailored to their long-term financial goals. Winning the Best New Broker award highlights Janaka’s outstanding performance in a highly competitive field. Despite being relatively new to mortgage broking, his extensive banking background has enabled him to quickly build trust with clients and deliver well-structured lending solutions. Speaking about the achievement, Janaka said: "This recognition is a tremendous milestone. Having spent many years in banking, moving into mortgage broking allowed me to provide more tailored solutions for my clients. Winning one of the biggest awards of the night motivates me to continue helping people achieve their property dreams." Known for his client-first approach, Janaka carefully analyses lending options and negotiates with banks to secure competitive outcomes. His insight into the banking system also gives clients confidence in making informed financial decisions. Looking ahead, Janaka plans to continue growing his mortgage broking business while helping more Australians navigate the property market and build long-term financial security through property ownership. Janaka Dissanayake  Director l Principal Finance Broker M 0488 939 888  A  Suite 27, Level 1/22, 797 Plenty Road, South Morang, VIC 3752 E   janaka.dissanayake@loanmarket.com.au F https://www.facebook.com/loanmarketjd More updates to come on AusNewsLanka .

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Australians are being urged to avoid travelling to much of the Middle East as security concerns continue to escalate across the region. The Australian government has raised its travel warning for the United Arab Emirates to the highest level — “Do not travel.” The update from Smartraveller cites the rapidly changing security situation and ongoing military strikes across the region. Authorities also confirmed that dependants of Australian officials stationed in the UAE have been ordered to leave the country as a precaution. Penny Wong said more than 1,800 Australians have already returned home on 12 direct flights from the UAE in recent days. However, thousands remain across the Middle East. Travellers are being advised to leave the region as soon as commercial flights are available, as airspace closures and sudden cancellations continue to disrupt travel. Officials say border crossings by land may also be considered if it is safe to do so. Major airports such as Dubai International Airport and Abu Dhabi International Airport could experience sudden closures due to the ongoing conflict. Australia’s highest travel warning is now in place for several countries, including Iran, Israel, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Qatar and Yemen. Other destinations such as Jordan, Oman and Saudi Arabia are under a “reconsider your need to travel” warning. Officials warn the region faces heightened risks from conflict, terrorism, protests and civil unrest. Public places such as transport hubs, markets, shopping centres and major events may be potential targets. Australians currently in the region are encouraged to register with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, follow local emergency instructions and keep family informed of their safety. Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka  – the leading platform for news for Australians .

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka , your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans  in Australia and beyond. 2026 පෙබරවාරි මාසයේදී ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට ලැබුණු විදේශ රැකියා මුදල් ප්‍රේෂණ (remittances) ශක්තිමත්ව පවතිමින් ඇමෙරිකානු ඩොලර් මිලියන 729.0ක් ලෙස වාර්තා වී ඇති අතර, එය පසුගිය වසරේ එම මාසයේ ලැබුණු ඩොලර් මිලියන 548.1ට වඩා සැලකිය යුතු ලෙස ඉහළ අගයක් වේ. එහෙත් එය ජනවාරි මාසයේ වාර්තා වූ ඩොලර් මිලියන 751.1ට වඩා සුළු ලෙස පහළ අගයකි. පෙබරවාරි මාසයේදී විදේශගත ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයන්ගෙන් ලැබුණු මෙම ශක්තිමත් ප්‍රේෂණ හේතුවෙන්, 2026 වසරේ පළමු මාස දෙක තුළ සමස්ත මුදල් ප්‍රේෂණ ප්‍රවාහය ඇමෙරිකානු ඩොලර් මිලියන 1,480.1 දක්වා ඉහළ ගොස් ඇත. එය 2024 වසරේ එම කාලය සමඟ සැසඳීමේදී සියයට 32.0ක දැඩි වර්ධනයක් ලෙස දැක්වේ. 2022 දී ආර්ථික අර්බුදය උදාවීමෙන් පසු, විදේශ රැකියා මුදල් ප්‍රේෂණ සහ සංචාරක ආදායම් ඉහළ යාම ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ දුර්වල වූ ආර්ථිකය ස්ථාවර කිරීමට වැදගත් දායකත්වයක් ලබා දී ඇත. ආර්ථික අර්බුදය හා ඒ සමඟ ඇති වූ දැඩි ජීවන වියදම් හේතුවෙන් විදේශ රැකියා සඳහා රට හැර ගිය පුද්ගලයින්ගේ සංඛ්‍යාව ඉහළ යාමත් සමඟ, මුදල් ප්‍රේෂණ ආදායම ද ක්‍රමයෙන් වැඩි වීමට දායක වී ඇත. එමෙන්ම ශ්‍රී ලංකා මහ බැංකුව 2021 සිට නිල විනිමය අනුපාතයට වඩා ඉහළ වාසි ලබා දෙමින් ක්‍රියාත්මක වූ අවිධිමත් මුදල් හුවමාරුකරුවන්ට එරෙහිව දැඩි පියවර ගෙන තිබීමත්, බැංකු මාර්ග ඔස්සේ ලැබෙන නිල මුදල් ප්‍රේෂණ වැඩි වීමට හේතුවක් වී ඇත. විදේශ රැකියා මුදල් ප්‍රේෂණ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට ලැබෙන විදේශ විනිමය ආදායම් අතර විශාලතම එකක් වන අතර, 2025 වසරේදී රටට ලැබුණු මුදල් ප්‍රේෂණ සමස්තය ඇමෙරිකානු ඩොලර් මිලියන 8,076.2ක් ලෙස වාර්තා වී ඇත. එය සියයට 22.8ක ශක්තිමත් වර්ධනයක් ලෙස සැලකේ. කෙසේ වෙතත්, විදේශ විනිමය හිඟයක් හේතුවෙන් ඇති වූ ආර්ථික අර්බුදයෙන් ශ්‍රී ලංකාව තවමත් ක්‍රමයෙන් පිටවෙමින් පවතින බැවින්, යම් අවදානම් තත්ත්වයන් තවදුරටත් පවතින බව විශේෂඥයින් පෙන්වා දෙති. ඇතැම් විශ්ලේෂකයන් පෙන්වා දෙන්නේ, ඇමෙරිකා එක්සත් ජනපදය සහ ඉරානය අතර නවතම යුද ක්‍රියාමාර්ග හේතුවෙන් මැදපෙරදිග කලාපයේ පවතින ගැටුම් තත්ත්වය, විදේශ රැකියා මුදල් ප්‍රේෂණ ඇතුළු තවත් විදේශ ආදායම් මාර්ගවලටද බලපෑම් ඇති කළ හැකි බවයි. එය තේ ඇතුළු භාණ්ඩ අපනයන ආදායම්වලටද බලපාමින්, දුෂ්කර ලෙස ලබා ගත් බාහිර ආර්ථික ස්ථාවරතාවයට අවදානමක් ඇති කළ හැකි බවද ඔවුහු සඳහන් කරති. එමෙන්ම තෙල් මිල සහ අනෙකුත් භාණ්ඩ මිල තවදුරටත් ඉහළ යන්නේ නම්, එය ආනයන වියදම් ඉහළ යාමටත් උද්ධමනය වැඩි වීමටත් හේතු විය හැකි බවද විශ්ලේෂකයන් අවධාරණය කරති. සති අන්තය වනවිට පවතින තත්ත්වයන් අනුව මෙම අවස්ථාව තවමත් ඉතා වෙනස් විය හැකි තත්ත්වයක පවතී. මැදපෙරදිග ගැටුම් තත්ත්වය දිගටම පැවතේ නම්, එම කලාපයට විදේශ රැකියා සඳහා යන පුද්ගලයින්ගේ සංඛ්‍යාව අඩුවිය හැකි අතර, දැනට එම රටවල සේවය කරන ඇතැම් ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයින්ද නැවත රටට පැමිණීමට පෙළඹිය හැකි බව ද පෙන්වා දෙයි. Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka  – the leading platform for news for Sri Lankans .

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Police have rescued a schoolboy from a car trapped in fast-moving floodwaters in Queensland as severe weather continues to impact large parts of the state. The dramatic rescue happened on a causeway at Bargara near Bundaberg. Video shared online shows two officers wading through thigh-deep rushing water to reach the vehicle before pulling the boy through a window and carrying him to safety. Heavy rain linked to a tropical low has already battered northern Queensland and is now moving further south. The Bureau of Meteorology warns some areas could receive up to 160mm of rain within six hours. Flood alerts are in place across central Queensland, the Darling Downs and parts of the south-east coast. Much of the state remains on flood watch. Authorities also issued an emergency alert for communities near Policemans Creek, urging residents to move to higher ground due to an immediate risk to life and property. Flash-flood warnings have also been issued for areas including Chinchilla, Jandowae and Sapphire. In the south-east, rainfall totals could reach 250mm in 24 hours in already saturated catchments. Several roads have closed, including sections of the Burnett Highway near Booubyjan, while the State Emergency Service has responded to more than 100 calls for help. Other rescues were reported overnight. A woman was pulled from the roof of her car at Peachester after floodwaters lifted the vehicle and pushed it into trees. Authorities say the severe weather zone stretches from Rockhampton and Clermont in the north down through Gladstone, Bundaberg, Gympie and the Sunshine Coast. Rain is expected to continue through today and tonight before gradually easing as the weather system moves offshore. Flood warnings remain active for numerous rivers across the state. Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka  – the leading platform for news for Australians .

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Australia has deployed military assets to the Middle East as tensions escalate between Israel and Iran, with both sides continuing missile and drone strikes. Anthony Albanese confirmed the move in parliament, saying it forms part of contingency plans to respond to the growing conflict in the region. He also welcomed the safe return of hundreds of Australians who recently departed Dubai on limited commercial flights. The government is working with agencies and international partners to assist Australians who still wish to leave the Middle East. According to Albanese, officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade are operating around the clock to support citizens overseas. Six crisis response teams are also being deployed to the region. The announcement came during a visit by Mark Carney, who delivered a rare address to the Parliament of Australia. The two leaders reaffirmed strong ties between Australia and Canada and expressed support for recent US and Israeli actions against Iran. Albanese also confirmed Australia will join Canada’s G7 critical minerals initiative, aimed at strengthening supply chains for resources vital to technology and defence industries. Both leaders highlighted the long-standing partnership between the two nations, built through shared values and cooperation in global conflicts and international initiatives. Opposition Leader Angus Taylor also welcomed Carney’s visit, warning that changing global power dynamics require closer cooperation among Western “middle powers”. Canada and Australia are major global suppliers of key minerals such as lithium, uranium and iron ore, resources increasingly important as Western countries seek to reduce reliance on supply chains dominated by China. Carney’s regional tour also includes visits to Japan and India as part of broader efforts to strengthen international partnerships in the Indo-Pacific. Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka  – the leading platform for news for Australians .