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What women are talking about today, Friday September 2.

Updated 8:42pm 01 Sep 2022

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8:42pm 01 Sep, 2022

Chris Dawson receiving threats in prison, and all the news you need to know this morning.

By Brielle Burns

Morning everyone, 

Here are the top news stories you need to know today, Friday, September 2.

1. Chris Dawson receiving 'constant threats' in jail.

Chris Dawson has been threatened in prison and is seeking special protection after being found guilty of his wife Lyn's murder 40 years ago, his lawyer says.

The 74-year-old former rugby league player faced the NSW Supreme Court in his prison greens yesterday after a judge found he had killed his wife and disposed of her body in January 1982, because of an infatuation with the family babysitter.

Dawson had been taken to Silverwater prison after Tuesday's verdict and had suffered "constant threats" to his life while there, his lawyer Greg Walsh told Justice Ian Harrison.

While already under a strict protection regime in jail, the solicitor asked the judge to direct the authorities to look after his client's safety in all ways that they could.  

"He's been subject to serious death threats by a number of prisoners. It's not unusual in this circumstance having regards to his profile and the charge of which he was convicted," Walsh told reporters outside court.

Again flagging an appeal, the lawyer said he was still reviewing the 268-page judgment but said a possible challenge included whether the murder could be proved "beyond reasonable doubt".

There was no evidence of intention to kill, nor was there proof Dawson was a violent man, Walsh said. 

A bail application foreshadowed on Tuesday was not made. A sentence hearing will be held on November 11.

2. PM announces 180,000 new free TAFE positions.

An additional 180,000 fee-free TAFE places will be created by 2023 as part of a major training package launched at the government's jobs and skills summit.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told attendees at yesterday's summit the $1.1 billion package would be jointly funded by federal, state and territory governments.

He said Australians need to gain the skills required to get good jobs.

"I want this to be the beginning, not the end, of progress we see on skills over the next two days," he said.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions and the Business Council of Australia have already found common ground on several key issues, including lifting permanent migration numbers. They have also called for Commonwealth paid parental leave to be boosted to 26 weeks from 18 to help increase women's participation in the workforce.

Albanese will wrap up proceedings this afternoon, with second and final day of the jobs summit expected to focus on filling the skills and labour shortage dogging the economy. 

3. VIC lifts work from home recommendation as QLD moves away from COVID public health orders.

With COVID-19 cases falling after last month's Omicron peak, Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas said the time was right to scrap the work from home recommendation.

"Lifting the work from home recommendation is in line with current public health advice," she said in a statement yesterday. "We encourage employers and employees to have a conversation about what's right for their individual needs."

However, there are no plans to ditch the state's mask mandate on public transport, despite federal health advice they are no longer needed on planes. Victorians are recommended to wear masks indoors and in crowded outdoor settings.

Meanwhile, in Queensland, the government plans to move away from managing the pandemic through public health orders and will ditch COVID-19 vaccine mandates for private healthcare workers.

Health Minister Yvette D'Ath introduced a bill to parliament yesterday that will move the government away from relying on public health orders after October 31.

"It is clear that we are in a new stage of the pandemic," she told parliament.

The minister said the government will continue to stress the importance of getting vaccinated against the virus. However, a public health order requiring staff working in private healthcare settings to be up to date with their COVID-19 vaccinations will be scrapped from Friday.

D'Ath said the longstanding practice of publishing COVID-19 cases, hospitalisations and deaths daily will also be scrapped from next week, with health authorities only publish figures from Monday to Friday.

4. Australia and France patch up defence ties.

Australia and France are strengthening their diplomatic ties, officials say, as the two countries seek to heal wounds from a controversy over a secret submarine contract that infuriated France a year ago.

During his last stop on a European tour, Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles assured France that his country is trying to "turn the page" and "move on" from the breakdown in relations.

The controversy erupted after Australia cancelled a military contract with France that was worth billions of dollars and took its business instead to the United States and the United Kingdom as part of the AUKUS pact.

"It's critically important that our relationship moves forward with frankness, with respect and with honesty," Marles said in a joint statement with his French counterpart, Sébastien Lecornu, in the western French port city of Brest.

The two ministers said they were committed to projects that will strengthen their joint defence capabilities and protect their "shared interests in a prosperous, resilient and secure" Pacific region.

"Like all friendships, it has experienced ups and downs," Lecornu, the French defence minister, said of their bilateral relations.

5. Twitter offers edit button for paid users. 

In some welcome news for Twitter users, the social media company says it will finally launch a widely requested edit button for its paid subscribers in coming weeks. 

For years, Twitter users have been calling for the ability to edit their tweets after publishing.

Those requests have led to jokes online that Twitter would rather introduce any other product, such as newsletters, before giving users their top-requested feature.

Subscribers who pay $US4.99 ($A7.36) per month for Twitter Blue will soon be able to edit their tweets "a few times" within 30 minutes of publication, Twitter said in a blog post.

Asked if the edit button would eventually be available for all Twitter users, a spokeswoman said Twitter was testing the feature to "anticipate what might happen if we bring it to everyone".

That's it, you're all up to speed. 

- With AAP. 

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8:14pm 01 Sep, 2022

Four women on how to secure the jobs of the future.

By The Quicky

Recently, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese outlined the top ten professions with the more dire worker shortages. Calling them the 'jobs of the future' - areas we are struggling to find people to fill roles. 

Right now, in Australia, there are more job vacancies than there are people looking for work. This has left many industries struggling to find enough staff for their businesses to function. 

In today's episode of The Quicky, we take a look at some of those in demand professions, and speak to women who have already secured them about what the job actually entails. 

READ: 

Feautre Image: AAP/ Martin Ollman/Thiago Prudencio/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty.

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