Australia news LIVE: Former US vice president Dick Cheney dead at 84; Two more platforms included in government’s social media ban

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7.24am

NRL to introduce new anti-tampering laws

By Michael Chammas

The NRL will introduce new anti-tampering rules prohibiting club officials and player agents from making public or private remarks about the future of contracted players, and ban clubs from shopping players to rival outfits without their permission.

The NRL will this month inform clubs and agents of their new responsibilities and obligations as they prepare to enforce the game’s new rules from December 1.

When will clubs and agents face sanctions under new NRL rules?

Under the new rules drawn up by the NRL and the Rugby League Players’ Association, clubs and agents face sanctions if they either:

Contact an agent or player to discuss the future of a player if they are not a free agent.
Make public comment that is deemed to be enticing or inducing a player to break a contract.
Shop a contracted player from their own club to a rival club without prior permission from that player.

The NRL’s anti-tampering rules have long been a bugbear for fans who have become increasingly sceptical about whether clubs and player agents are observing the November 1 free agency date.

Players are only allowed to negotiate with rival clubs after November 1 in the year leading into their final contracted season, unless they have permission from their incumbent club.

7.05am

One in three Australian households struggle to put food on the table: Foodbank

By Emily Kaine

One in three Australian households are facing food insecurity, with numbers even higher among renters and single parent households, according to the 2025 Foodbank Hunger Report.

It found 3.5 million Australians experienced food insecurity in the last year.

Cost-of-living pressures hit renters hard this year, with one in two renting households struggling to put food on the table.

Some 3.5 million Australians struggled to put food on the table in the last year, Foodbank’s 2025 Hunger Report found.

People with disabilities were more likely to experience food insecurity – two-thirds of Australians with disabilities reported being unable to afford food or regularly skipping meals.

Sixty-one per cent of households experiencing food insecurity have been severely affected, meaning Aussies living in these households are regularly compromising their nutrition needs, actively skipping meals, or even going days without eating.

6.49am

Former US vice president Dick Cheney dies at 84

Dick Cheney, the hard-charging conservative who became one of the most powerful and polarising vice presidents in US history and a leading advocate for the invasion of Iraq, has died at age 84.

Cheney died last night due to complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease, according to a statement from his family.

“For decades, Dick Cheney served our nation, including as White House Chief of Staff, Wyoming’s Congressman, Secretary of Defence, and Vice President of the United States,” the statement said.

Then vice president Dick Cheney in 2006.

“Dick Cheney was a great and good man who taught his children and grandchildren to love our country, and to live lives of courage, honor, love, kindness, and fly-fishing. We are grateful beyond measure for all Dick Cheney did for our country. And we are blessed beyond measure to have loved and been loved by this noble giant of a man.”

The quietly forceful Cheney served father and son presidents, leading the armed forces as defence chief during the Persian Gulf War under president George H.W. Bush before returning to public life as vice president under Bush’s son, George W. Bush.

George W. Bush has led tributes for Cheney but President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance have yet to personally acknowledge the Republican statesman’s passing.

6.47am

Two more platforms included in social media ban

By Brittany Busch

Minister for Communications Anika Wells revealed yesterday that two more platforms, Reddit and livestreaming site Kick, will be forced to remove under-16s from their services from December 10 when the government’s social media ban for teens comes into effect.

Reddit and Kick join Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube and X, which the government had already indicated would be captured by the laws. The platforms will need to take reasonable steps to prevent teens from using their sites or risk fines of up to $49.5 million.

But others have been assessed as exempt from the ban for now. Gaming platforms popular with children, including Roblox and Lego Play, and messaging services such as Discord and WhatsApp have been ruled out, though they could be added in the future.

It answers some of the questions that have lingered over multipurpose platforms that have social media elements, but did not clearly meet the law’s threshold of being “solely or significantly” for the purpose of online social interaction.

Experts have called for sites such as Roblox to be banned, arguing the platforms have created loopholes by burying social media within games, and last week Australian Federal Police commissioner Krissy Barrett warned “crimefluencers” were using the platform to target vulnerable girls and manipulate them into hurting themselves.

6.47am

What’s making news today

By Emily Kaine

Good morning and welcome to our national news live blog for Wednesday, November 5. My name is Emily Kaine, and I’ll be helming our coverage for the first part of the day. Here’s what is making headlines this morning.

Dick Cheney, the hard-charging conservative who became one of the most powerful and polarising vice presidents in US history and a leading advocate for the invasion of Iraq, has died at age 84. Cheney died due to complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease, according to a statement from his family.
Minister for Communications Anika Wells revealed yesterday that two more platforms, Reddit and livestreaming site Kick, will be forced to remove under-16s from their services from December 10 when the government’s social media ban for teens comes into effect. Reddit and Kick join Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube and X, which the government had already indicated would be captured by the laws. The platforms will need to take reasonable steps to prevent teens from using their sites or risk fines of up to $49.5 million.
The NRL will introduce new anti-tampering rules prohibiting club officials and player agents from making public or private remarks about the future of contracted players, and ban clubs from shopping players to rival outfits without their permission. The NRL will this month inform clubs and agents of their new responsibilities and obligations as they prepare to enforce the game’s new rules from December 1.