MARK DREYFUS MP

Measures passed by Parliament this week will give the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse flexibility to receive information and evidence in private sessions from those affected by child abuse in institutions.

Attorney-General and Minister for Emergency Management Mark Dreyfus QC today thanked pilots and support crew and farewelled fire fighting helicopters that have fought major blazes across the country this summer.

Applications are now open for funding to support anthropologists interested in native title work.

Public sector whistleblowers will have greater protection under legislation introduced by the Government today.

New laws to improve the services that Australians receive from marriage celebrants through the Commonwealth Marriage Celebrants Program will be introduced into federal parliament today.

For the first time there will be a permanent solution to providing disaster assistance to workers, small business people and farmers experience a loss of income as a direct result of a disaster.

The Gillard Government will introduce legislation this week to protect Australians against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity and intersex status.

Australia and the United States have joined forces to co-host an international workshop in Washington DC today to tackle the emerging threat from online extremism.

The Disaster Income Recovery Subsidy (DIRS) has been made available to eligible residents in North East NSW whose income has been affected as a direct result of the severe storms and flooding in January and February this year.

The Australian Government will establish a Treasury-led working group to examine the tax treatment of native title payments and how they can better benefit Indigenous communities now and into the future.