National News

A father and son who travelled from Sydney's east to Byron Bay, sparking a lockdown in the region, have pleaded guilty to most of the charges they face.

Unions have warned COVID-19 deaths could rise unless more is done to beef up ventilation, testing and social distancing at Australian workplaces.

England have named a 17-man squad for the Ashes tour, with head coach Chris Silverwood leaning on familiar faces for the trip to Australia.

Fully vaccinated NSW residents have spent 106 days in COVID-19 lockdown but the era of "blood, sweat and no beers" will on Monday draw to a close, Premier Dominic Perrottet says.

NSW is among the highest COVID-19 vaccinated jurisdictions in the world as it reached another milestone with 90 per cent first dose coverage.

Facebook Inc has apologised to users for a two-hour disruption to its services and blamed another faulty configuration change for its second global outage this week.

Three people have been arrested and dozens fined after small numbers of protesters held anti-vaccination rallies in Melbourne.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has been fined $400 for breaching coronavirus restrictions after he failed to wear a mask as he arrived at parliament on two occasions this week.

NSW is trailblazing a path out of COVID-19 lockdowns but its premier accepts the course will be less than perfect just days out from reopening.

Australians with severely weakened immune systems will be offered a third coronavirus jab to maximise protection against the deadly disease.