Australia enters 2026 with a suite of landmark legal changes touching work, family life, the environment, digital platforms and foreign policy, reshaping daily life for millions and signalling a more interventionist role for the law in emerging social debates.

Australian authorities are warning young people that offers of “easy cash” to carry drugs in their luggage could cost them their freedom, after a global crackdown seized 280kg of illicit substances bound for Australia in just six months.

Queensland Police have issued more than 2,100 fines in a major statewide crackdown on unsafe and unlawful use of e-mobility devices, as the state government continues its push to improve community safety and road compliance.

Australia’s under-16 social media ban is disrupting how multicultural teens stay connected across borders, but evidence from psychology, public health and history suggests it may ultimately protect their mental health and open richer, more grounded ways of growing up and engaging with community.

Brisbane’s bin collection services have become the latest point of contention at City Hall, with the Opposition accusing Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner’s LNP administration of letting waste management standards slip over the busy summer period.

Former federal minister and long-serving South Australian Labor senator Nick Bolkus has died aged 75, with colleagues and community leaders paying tribute to a “giant” of the Labor movement and a tireless advocate for migrants, refugees and multicultural Australia.

Coca-Cola has helped turn this Christmas into a little less lonely for many overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Australia, launching a 24-hour “Sound O fHome.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has used a Christmas Day visit to the Reverend Bill Crews Foundation in Sydney to highlight both Australia’s compassion for vulnerable people and the nation’s resolve in the wake of the recent antisemitic terrorist attack at Bondi Beach.​

A Canberra teenager has been charged with multiple offences after allegedly performing Nazi salutes in public and distributing extremist propaganda at shopping centres and a university campus in the nation’s capital.

Woodford Folk Festival is set to return to Woodfordia from 27 December 2025 to 1 January 2026, transforming the 500-acre site north of Brisbane into Queensland’s biggest summer celebration of arts, music and culture.