At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Australia’s minimum wage will rise by 5.97 per cent from July 1, while workers on minimum award wages will receive a 4.75 per cent pay increase following the Fair Work Commission’s annual wage review. The new national minimum wage will increase to $26.44 per hour, or $1,004.90 per week for full-time workers. The changes are expected to benefit millions of Australians, including nearly 2.8 million employees who rely on award wages. Many of these workers are employed in industries such as hospitality, retail, healthcare and support services. The Fair Work Commission said the decision was made during a difficult economic period, with rising inflation, higher fuel prices and global uncertainty continuing to affect households and businesses. Unions welcomed the increase, saying it would help lower-paid workers manage growing living costs and provide some financial relief. Business groups, however, warned the higher wages could add pressure to struggling businesses already dealing with rising expenses, interest rates and weaker economic conditions. The Commission also confirmed it will phase out the lowest ongoing award classification, lifting the minimum base pay level for permanent employees. Economists remain divided on the broader impact. Some believe the wage rise will have little effect on inflation, while others warn it could increase business costs and keep pressure on interest rates later this year. Source : ABC News 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’s housing market lost momentum in May, with national home values remaining largely unchanged as rising interest rates, weaker consumer confidence and proposed property tax reforms continue to affect buyer demand. New data from Cotality showed Sydney and Melbourne recorded the biggest declines, with home values falling 0.9 per cent and 0.8 per cent respectively. Canberra also posted a small drop. Cotality research director Tim Lawless said affordability pressures, higher borrowing costs and uncertainty around the economy were all weighing on the market. Sales activity has also slowed, with fewer buyers entering the market compared with last year. Industry experts say many buyers are becoming more cautious amid concerns prices could fall further. Despite the softer national trend, some cities continued to perform strongly. Perth and Darwin recorded the biggest monthly gains, while Brisbane, Adelaide and Hobart also posted modest growth. Regional housing markets remained more resilient than capital cities, although growth has also started to slow. Economists say Sydney remains vulnerable due to high property prices and affordability challenges, while Melbourne continues to face weak confidence and softer demand. The Reserve Bank has lifted interest rates three times this year, pushing the cash rate to 4.35 per cent. Ongoing inflation pressures have also increased the possibility of another rate rise later this year. Proposed changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax are also expected to reduce investor activity, with some forecasts predicting slower price growth and weaker market conditions over the next 12 months. While analysts expect housing prices to soften further, most believe a major market crash remains unlikely unless unemployment rises sharply. Real estate agents in Sydney are already reporting fewer buyers attending inspections and a more cautious market compared with last year. Source : ABC News 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. Sri Lanka and Australia have taken steps to strengthen bilateral relations through a series of high-level diplomatic discussions focused on trade, tourism, parliamentary cooperation and diaspora engagement. The talks were held between Sri Lanka’s Foreign Affairs Minister Vijitha Herath and Australian parliamentary representatives, including members from the state of Victoria, during an official regional visit covering Australia and New Zealand. Both sides highlighted the importance of stronger parliamentary and government-to-government cooperation to support long-term diplomatic ties and policy coordination. Economic growth and trade opportunities were key topics during the discussions, with both countries exploring ways to expand investment, strengthen business links and improve economic cooperation in a changing global environment. Tourism collaboration was also identified as a major priority. Discussions focused on promoting Sri Lanka as a destination for Australian travellers while encouraging greater people-to-people connections through travel and cultural exchange. The Sri Lankan community in Australia was recognised for its role in strengthening social, cultural and economic links between the two countries. Officials also discussed the importance of deeper diaspora engagement in areas such as education, trade and community relations. The meetings further reinforced Sri Lanka’s broader Indo-Pacific diplomatic outreach, with both nations expressing interest in maintaining closer engagement across multiple sectors in the years ahead. The discussions reflected a shared commitment to building a stronger and forward-looking partnership between Sri Lanka and Australia through continued cooperation and regional collaboration. Source : Travelandtourworld News More updates to come on AusNewsLanka.

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Powerful winds reaching up to 100km/h are set to hit South Australia on Monday after severe weather caused widespread damage across Western Australia over the weekend. The storm system tore down trees and power lines in WA, triggered hundreds of emergency calls and left thousands of homes without electricity. The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather warning for South Australia, with damaging winds, heavy showers and possible flash flooding expected across several regions, including Adelaide, Port Lincoln, Whyalla, Ceduna and Mount Gambier. Residents are being urged to stay indoors during the worst conditions, avoid windows and move vehicles away from trees. Meteorologists say the same low-pressure system is now moving east and could bring severe weather to Victoria and NSW later this week. In WA, wind gusts reached as high as 135km/h in some coastal areas. Emergency crews responded to fallen trees, damaged roofs and washed-up boats, while thousands of properties remain without power. Forecasters also warned of dangerous surf and unusually high tides along parts of the WA coast. Sydney is expected to experience stronger winds from Tuesday as the weather system continues moving across the country. Source : Sky News 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 වරාය අධිකාරිය (SLPA) ඉදිරි වසර එක සිට තුන දක්වා කාලය තුළ ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් බිලියන 2 දක්වා ළඟා විය හැකි අභිලාෂකාමී ආයෝජන නල මාර්ගයක් එළිදක්වා ඇති අතර, එය රටේ සමුද්‍රීය හා සැපයුම් අංශය පරිවර්තනය කිරීම අරමුණු කර ගෙන ඇත. ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ජර්මානු කර්මාන්ත හා වාණිජ නියෝජිත කණ්ඩායම (AHK Sri Lanka) විසින් ඊයේ කොළඹ පැවති 2026 ශ්‍රී ලංකා-ජර්මානු ව්‍යාපාරික සංසදයේදී කතා කරමින්, ශ්‍රී ලංකා වරාය අධිකාරියේ සභාපති ආචාර්ය පරාක්‍රම දිසානායක මහතා, දිවයින අසමසම සැපයුම් මධ්‍යස්ථානයක් ලෙස ස්ථානගත කිරීම සඳහා නිර්මාණය කර ඇති සැලකිය යුතු යටිතල පහසුකම් පුළුල් කිරීම් ගෙනහැර දැක්වීය. ​"අපගේ සමුද්‍රීය හා සැපයුම් හැකියාවන් පරිවර්තනය කිරීම සඳහා ඉදිරි වසර එක සිට තුන දක්වා කාලය තුළ ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් බිලියන 2 දක්වා ළඟා විය හැකි ආයෝජන නල මාර්ගයක් අපි සොයමින් සිටින අතර, ශ්‍රී ලංකාව සාම්ප්‍රදායික ප්‍රතිනැව්ගත කිරීමේ වරායක සිට පුළුල්, ලෝක මට්ටමේ සැපයුම් මධ්‍යස්ථානයක් බවට පරිවර්තනය කිරීම," දිසානායක මහතා පැවසීය. මෙම නිවේදනය නිකුත් වන්නේ වඩ වඩාත් අස්ථාවර ගෝලීය වෙළඳ ගතිකතාවයන් මධ්‍යයේ ය. "මෑත කාලීනව තීරුබදු බාධා කිරීම් සහ සැපයුම් දාම බාධා කිරීම්, විශේෂයෙන් රතු මුහුදේ සහ සූවස් ඇළේ, ගෝලීය ආර්ථිකයට කෙටි කාලීනව ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් බිලියන 450 ක් පමණ අහිමි කර ඇත," ඔහු පැහැදිලි කළේය. මෙම බාධා කිරීම් හේතුවෙන් නැව් මාර්ග විකල්ප මාර්ග සොයා ගැනීමට සිදු වී ඇති අතර, මැදපෙරදිගට නියමිත තේ වැනි දේශීය අපනයන කෙරෙහි දැඩි ලෙස බලපා ඇත. එහි ප්‍රතිඵලයක් ලෙස, ප්‍රධාන නැව් මාර්ග පහක භාණ්ඩ ප්‍රවාහන ගාස්තු 2025 වසරේ එම කාලයට සාපේක්ෂව 2026 පළමු කාර්තුවේදී සියයට 25 කින් පහත වැටුණි. මෙම අභියෝගාත්මක පරිසරය නව්‍ය සැපයුම් දාම විසඳුම් අවශ්‍ය කරයි, විශේෂයෙන් ඉහළම ගෝලීය නැව් මාර්ග දහය දැනට ගෝලීය ධාරිතාවෙන් සියයට 84 ක් පාලනය කරන අතර එය අඩි විස්සකට සමාන ඒකක මිලියන 27.9 ක් (TEU) වේ. මෙම ව්‍යුහාත්මක අභියෝග ජය ගැනීමට සහ ක්‍රියාකරුවන් ආකර්ෂණය කර ගැනීමට, ශ්‍රී ලංකාව කොළඹ වරායේ එහි ධාරිතා අර්බුදයට කඩිනමින් මුහුණ දිය යුතුය. පසුගිය වසරේ, වරාය TEU මිලියන 8.3 ක් හසුරුවා ඇති අතර, එමඟින් ලොව ඉහළම බහාලුම් වරායන් 25 අතර සහ ගෝලීය සම්බන්ධතාවය සඳහා ඉහළම 15 අතර එහි ස්ථානය තහවුරු කර ඇත. "පසුගිය වසරේ අපි TEU මිලියන 8.3 ක් හැසිරවූ නමුත්, අපගේ වර්තමාන උපරිම ධාරිතාව TEU මිලියන 10 ක් වන අතර ඉල්ලුම TEU මිලියන 9.3 දක්වා ඉහළ යාමත් සමඟ, අපගේ ධාරිතා භාවිතය සියයට 70 ඉක්මවා ඇත," දිසානායක අවධාරණය කළේය. "මෙය අප වහාම විසඳිය යුතු යාත්‍රා සඳහා මිල අධික රැඳී සිටීමේ කාලයන්ට තුඩු දෙන බාධකයක් නිර්මාණය කරයි." 2026 අප්‍රේල් මාසයේදී වාර්තා වූ සියයට 22 ක වේගවත් වර්ධන වේගයකින් මෙම හදිසිභාවය තවදුරටත් අවධාරණය කෙරිණි. බාධකය සමනය කිරීම සඳහා, ලබන වසරේ නැගෙනහිර බහාලුම් පර්යන්තය ආරම්භ කිරීම මඟින් සමස්ත ධාරිතාව TEU මිලියන 10.5 ක ප්‍රක්ෂේපිත ඉල්ලුමට සාපේක්ෂව TEU මිලියන 14 දක්වා ඉහළ යනු ඇතැයි අපේක්ෂා කරන අතර, හම්බන්තොට වරායට අවශ්‍ය ධාරිතාවයෙන් තවත් TEU මිලියන 2 ක් එකතු වනු ඇත. ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් බිලියන 2 ක ආයෝජන උපාය මාර්ගය බිඳ දමමින්, දිසානායක වාණිජ ව්‍යාප්තිය සඳහා ක්ෂණික සැලසුම් තහවුරු කළේය. "මෙම වසර අවසන් වීමට පෙර කොළඹ වරාය තුළ පිහිටි අක්කර 14 ක භූමි ප්‍රමාණයක කැපවූ සැපයුම් මධ්‍යස්ථානයක් ස්ථාපිත කිරීම සඳහා අපි ඉක්මනින් කැමැත්ත ප්‍රකාශන කැඳවීමට සැලසුම් කරමු," ඔහු තහවුරු කළේය. මෙම සංවර්ධනය නව උස් අධිවේගී මාර්ගයක් හරහා ගුවන් තොටුපළට සම්බන්ධ කිරීමට නියමිත අතර, මුහුදු-ගුවන් භාණ්ඩ ප්‍රවාහනය සඳහා ගමන් කාලය මිනිත්තු 30 දක්වා බාධාවකින් තොරව අඩු කරයි. පර්යන්ත පුළුල් කිරීම සම්බන්ධයෙන්, බටහිර බහාලුම් පර්යන්තය 2 සඳහා සහාය වීම සඳහා කිලෝමීටර් 3.4 ක දියකඩනයක් සඳහා ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් මිලියන 600 ක දැවැන්ත ආයෝජනයක් දැනටමත් වෙන් කර ඇති අතර එමඟින් අවසානයේ අමතර TEU මිලියන 3.3 ක් ලැබෙනු ඇත. තවද, දිගුකාලීන ධාරිතාවයට TEU මිලියන 11 ක් එකතු කිරීම සඳහා නිර්මාණය කර ඇති යෝජිත කොළඹ උතුරු වරාය ව්‍යාපෘතිය සඳහා ආසියානු සංවර්ධන බැංකුවේ (ADB) සහාය ඇතිව ශක්‍යතා සහ ඉංජිනේරු අධ්‍යයනයන් ආරම්භ කර ඇත. ශ්‍රී ලංකාව අද්විතීය මෙහෙයුම් ආකෘතියක් ඇති බව දිසානායක පෙන්වා දුන්නේය, එහිදී SLPA කොළඹ, ගාල්ල, ත්‍රිකුණාමලය, කන්කසන්තුරේ (KKS) සහ හම්බන්තොට ඇතුළු සියලුම ප්‍රධාන වාණිජ වරායන් හරහා ඉඩම් හිමියා, නියාමන සහ ක්‍රියාකරු ලෙස කටයුතු කරයි. සංවර්ධනය ඒකාකාරව ඉදිරියට ගෙන යාම සඳහා, ගාල්ල සහ ත්‍රිකුණාමලය යන ප්‍රදේශවල යාත්‍රා මෙහෙයුම් සඳහා යෝජනා සඳහා ඉල්ලීම් (RFP) ඉක්මනින් නිකුත් කෙරේ. ලෝක බැංකුව සහ ආසියානු සංවර්ධන බැංකුව වැනි බහුපාර්ශ්වික ආයතනවල ශක්තිමත් සහාය ඇතිව, වරාය කාර්යක්ෂමතාව සහ ඵලදායිතා අධ්‍යයනයන් සඳහා දැනට පුළුල් ප්‍රදාන ලබා දෙන අතර, මෙම මහා පරිමාණ ව්‍යාප්ති මගින් කලාපීය වෙළඳ සම්බන්ධතාවයක් ලෙස ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ආධිපත්‍යය තහවුරු කරනු ඇතැයි SLPA අපේක්ෂා කරයි. Source : Daily Mirror More updates to come on AusNewsLanka.

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Heavy rain and storms impacting eastern Australia's coast are expected to ease by this afternoon, leading into a sunny weekend. The Queensland and NSW coasts, along with inland regions, have experienced significant rainfall this week due to a low-pressure system off the coast. Key rainfall amounts include up to 80mm in southeastern Queensland and 70mm in NSW's Central Coast. Weather forecasts indicate persistent wet and grey conditions throughout Friday, with improvements expected in the afternoon. Lightning activity was intense, with 460,000 strikes recorded within 800km of Dalby, Queensland, in the past 24 hours. A severe weather warning remains in effect for parts of the Mid North Coast, Hunter, North West Slopes and Plains, and Northern Tablelands, with expected rain totals of 40mm to 70mm, and isolated falls up to 80mm. Severe thunderstorms may hit the eastern Hunter and southeastern Mid North Coast this morning, with the threat diminishing by mid-afternoon. Flood warnings are also active for the Hunter and Mid North Coast regions. No severe weather warnings are currently issued for Queensland. Looking ahead, Brisbane and Sydney are forecast to enjoy sunny weekends with temperatures in the low 20s, as the low-pressure system moves away from the coast. Source : 9 News 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. The Albanese Government has introduced major tax reform legislation to parliament, combining changes to capital gains tax, negative gearing, worker tax relief and housing measures into a single bill. Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the package aims to reduce taxes for workers, support first-home buyers and reshape how income from assets is taxed. The bill includes the proposed capital gains tax and negative gearing reforms, a $250 Working Australians Tax Offset and Labor’s promised $1000 standard tax deduction. However, the changes have sparked strong criticism from the Coalition and sections of the small business and investment sectors. Concerns have also been raised about possible impacts on start-ups, mining investment and venture capital. The government says consultations are still continuing and confirmed further amendments or exemptions could be introduced later through additional legislation. The Coalition has vowed to oppose the bill, accusing Labor of combining popular tax measures with controversial property tax changes to pressure the opposition into supporting the package. Several state leaders, including WA Premier Roger Cook and NSW Premier Chris Minns, have also voiced concerns about the broader economic impact of the reforms. Federal ministers say discussions with industries and state governments are ongoing as the legislation moves through parliament. Source : News.com 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. The Sri Lanka High Commission in Canberra has officially launched the Sri Lanka–Australia Parliamentary Friendship Group, marking another step forward in strengthening ties between the two countries. More than 25 Australian Federal MPs and Senators from across the political spectrum attended the event on 26 May 2026, highlighting strong bipartisan support for Sri Lanka–Australia relations. Assistant Minister for Immigration and Foreign Affairs, Matt Thistlethwaite MP, attended as Chief Guest and praised the Sri Lankan community for its valuable contribution to Australia’s multicultural society through culture, skills and professional achievements. The Friendship Group is chaired by Sri Lankan-born MP Cassandra Fernando, with Senator Wendy Askew serving as Vice Chair. Sri Lankan heritage MP Ash Ambihaipahar also joined the gathering. Made up of 34 Members of Parliament, the group aims to strengthen cooperation between Sri Lanka and Australia while building closer engagement with the Sri Lankan Parliament and diplomatic representatives. Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to Australia, Yasoja Gunasekera, briefed members on Sri Lanka’s current economic, political and security developments, while Defence Counsellor Captain Sagara Udayanga presented on growing defence cooperation between the two nations. The event concluded with renewed commitments from both sides to further deepen the long-standing partnership between Sri Lanka and Australia. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑯𝒊𝒈𝒉 𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑺𝒓𝒊 𝑳𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒂 𝒕𝒐 𝑨𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒂 - 𝑪𝒂𝒏𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒂 More updates to come on AusNewsLanka.

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. A severe weather warning has been issued for parts of New South Wales as heavy rain and thunderstorms impact several regions across the state. The Bureau of Meteorology says the Hunter and Mid North Coast areas could see intense rainfall over the coming hours, with severe storms also possible across the north-east. Rainfall totals of 20mm to 40mm are expected in many areas, while slow-moving storms could bring isolated falls of up to 80mm. Some locations around Barrington Tops may record as much as 95mm today. Authorities have warned of possible minor flooding along the Paterson and Williams rivers from tonight, with other waterways including the Manning, Gloucester, Goulburn and Hunter rivers also being monitored. Large hail, damaging winds and flash flooding remain a risk as a developing low-pressure system moves across southern Queensland and northern inland NSW. The NSW SES is urging residents to avoid flooded roads and stay updated with the latest weather alerts and emergency warnings. Flood warnings are also active in parts of Tasmania, particularly along the South Esk River in the state’s north-east. Conditions are expected to gradually ease over the weekend as the weather system moves offshore. Source : 9 News 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’s inflation rate eased slightly in the year to April 2026, offering some positive signs for households and financial markets. New figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show annual inflation slowed to 4.2 per cent, down from 4.6 per cent in March. However, underlying inflation closely watched by the Reserve Bank of Australia edged up to 3.4 per cent from 3.3 per cent. The latest numbers were largely in line with expectations and have strengthened predictions that the RBA may keep interest rates unchanged at its June meeting. The update comes just days after Australia’s unemployment rate increased to 4.5 per cent, adding further pressure for rates to remain on hold. Economists say inflation is easing, but not as quickly as many Australians had hoped. Housing and transport costs continue to drive price increases, rising 6.3 per cent and 6.6 per cent respectively over the past year. Market analysts also noted that ongoing pressures from rent and wages are proving harder to reduce, making inflation more difficult to bring under control in the short term. Source : 9 News 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. ජාත්‍යන්තර මූල්‍ය අරමුදල අද, 2026 මැයි 27 වන දින, ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ විස්තීර්ණ අරමුදල් පහසුකම (EFF) වැඩසටහනේ පස්වන සහ හයවන සමාලෝචන පිළිබඳව තීරණය කිරීම සඳහා එහි විධායක මණ්ඩලයට නියම කර ඇත. මෙය ඉතා අවශ්‍ය මූල්‍යකරණයෙන් දළ වශයෙන් ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් මිලියන 700 ක් විවෘත කළ හැකි පියවරකි. මණ්ඩලය සමාලෝචන දෙකම අනුමත කළහොත්, ශ්‍රී ලංකාව IMF ගිවිසුම යටතේ හයවන සහ හත්වන වාරික ලබා ගැනීමට සුදුසුකම් ලබනු ඇත. ඊයේ, ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ මහ බැංකු අධිපති ආචාර්ය පී. නන්දලාල් වීරසිංහ මහතා ප්‍රකාශ කළේ, මිලකරණ ප්‍රතිපත්ති සහ සහනාධාර පිළිවෙත් පිළිබඳ වර්ධනය වන මහජන කනස්සල්ල මධ්‍යයේ, විශේෂයෙන් පිරිවැය පිළිබිඹු කරන ඉන්ධන මිලකරණය සම්බන්ධයෙන්, ජාත්‍යන්තර මූල්‍ය අරමුදලේ (IMF) වැඩසටහන් කොන්දේසිවලට රට අනුකූලව සිටින බවයි. පසුගිය සතියේ, IMF සන්නිවේදන දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජූලි කොසැක් මෑතකදී පැවසුවේ වැඩසටහන මණ්ඩලයට ඉදිරිපත් කිරීමට පෙර පූර්ව ක්‍රියාමාර්ග කිහිපයක් සම්පූර්ණ කළ යුතු බවයි. විදුලිය සහ ඉන්ධන සඳහා පිරිවැය-ප්‍රතිසාධන මිලකරණය ප්‍රතිස්ථාපනය කිරීම, අවදානමට ලක්විය හැකි කණ්ඩායම් සඳහා ආරක්ෂාව සහතික කිරීම මෙන්ම මූල්‍ය සහතික සමාලෝචනය සම්පූර්ණ කිරීම මෙයට ඇතුළත් විය. Source : News First More updates to come on AusNewsLanka.

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. A new university alliance has been launched in Australia with a major goal helping 80 per cent of working-age Australians gain a tertiary qualification by 2050. Known as the 2050 Alliance, the group brings together nine universities from metropolitan, regional and outer suburban areas across the country. It replaces the former Innovative Research Universities (IRU) network. The alliance was officially launched by Education Minister Jason Clare and aims to play a key role in shaping higher education reforms and improving access to university education, especially for students in regional and under-represented communities. The founding universities include Australian Catholic University, Flinders University, Griffith University, James Cook University, La Trobe University, Murdoch University, University of Canberra, Victoria University and Western Sydney University. Together, the institutions support more than 285,000 students across 65 campuses nationwide. The Federal Government’s Universities Accord has set a target for 80 per cent of Australia’s workforce to hold a university or tertiary qualification by 2050. The new alliance says reaching that goal could add an estimated $240 billion to the national economy. Education Minister Jason Clare said the alliance would help expand opportunities in areas where university participation remains low, particularly in regional Australia and outer suburbs. 2050 Alliance Chair Professor George Williams described the current period as one of the biggest transformations in Australia’s higher education sector in decades. He said universities must work together to support students, communities and future workforce needs. The alliance also plans to work closely with the new Australian Tertiary Education Commission to help build a more accessible and inclusive university system for future generations. Source : TheKoalaNews Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka – the leading platform for news for Australians.