Follow our live coverage here.
Follow our live coverage here.
Western Australia is leading the nation’s “baby recession” recovery, recording the highest growth in birth rates between 2023 and 2024 out of any capital city.
Nearly 27,000 babies were born in Perth 2024 – a 5.7 per cent increase on the number born in 2023 – according to new data from KPMG.
Across the rest of WA it was a similar story, with the regions recording an 8 per cent increase.
Perth’s fertility rate also rebounded to 1.63 in 2024 – up from 1.58 in 2023 – again breaking the trend of continued decline in other cities.
Perth was also the only capital city to record growth when compared to the number of babies born in 2019 – all other capitals still recorded a decline.
Western Australia’s unemployment rate has followed the national trend, lifting 0.2 percentage points to sit at 4.1 per cent.
New Australian Bureau of Statistics figures for June show the national unemployment rate lifted to 4.3 per cent, the highest rate since November 2021 at the tail end of the COVID pandemic, with an increase of 34,000 people out of work.
There were 1,655,600 employed people in WA in June, according to the ABS figures, with a participation rate of 69 per cent.
Across the nation, a 38,000 fall in full-time employment was, at least partially, offset by a 40,000 lift in part-time work.
Foster and family carers will be eligible for a free trip to Perth Zoo, the WA Museum Boola Bardip, and the WA Maritime Museum as part of a week-long celebration beginning on July 28.
The Foster and Family Carers Week is part of a state government bid to encourage more West Australians to become foster carers, including in temporary care, emergency care, short break care and long-term care scenarios.
More than 3300 households across the state are eligible for the free passes.
Child Protection Minister Jessica Stojkovski has just held a press conference to announce the initiative, and said the week-long celebrations were about “demystifying or myth busting some of the misconceptions around what it means to be a foster family”.
“Fostering doesn’t mean that you have to be somebody who takes somebody long term,” she said.
Nevaeh Pekan spoke alongside Stojkovski about the experience of being a foster sibling.
“I’ve always experienced kids coming in and out of the house and it’s such a rewarding experience to have,” she said.
“Seeing kids as young as newborns to older teenagers, and be able to help them thrive in the environment and help ease that transitional process in that incredibly hard time that it can be for them, and be able to bond with children, and being able to really be a sense of support for those who may be struggling in this time and can really be able to be helpful for them.
“It’s very important to us, and it’s an incredibly important thing to do in general.”
A sad update now on the Albany train crash we told you about in yesterday’s blog.
A woman aged in her 30s has died after the ute she was in with a man in his 30s and three young children collided with a grain train at a level crossing in Redmond, Albany around 2pm on Wednesday.
Emergency services worked to remove the woman from the ute but unfortunately, she could not be saved.
The other occupants of the vehicle suffered minor injuries.
Witnesses told the ABC the train sounded its horn for several seconds before it hit the ute, dragging it along the tracks for about 40 metres. The train drivers were treated for shock.
To overnight news now and a police incident has closed parts of Tonkin Highway this morning.
The highway is closed northbound near Noranda between Morley Drive and Reid Highway after a man, 25, was found dead on the road around 2.25am this morning. He had suffered serious injuries.
Drivers are advised to seek an alternative route as traffic is heavy on approach.
WA Police are also appealing for anyone with information or dashcam footage of the male to contact Crime Stoppers.
Here’s what is making news across the country and around the world today:
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog for Thursday, July 17.
Making headlines today, median house prices across Perth will likely grow by an average of 10 per cent between January and December, new data has revealed, while unit prices will spike 15 per cent over the same period.
The Real Estate Institute WA’s 2025 property market quarterly update revealed that under current market conditions, people would continue to favour units, priced out of buying a home.
Meanwhile, rescued backpacker Carolina Wilga was released from Fiona Stanley Hospital yesterday, six days on from spending 11 days lost in the WA outback. No word yet where she has gone, but it’s understood she is planning to fly back to Germany in the coming days to see family.
And Perth needs good neighbours, but is a beer a bridge too far these days? Columnist Brendan Foster explores whether the brouhaha occurring on his street is more than the norm, or just a natural outcome of our increasing density.
Stay with us as we bring you the local news of the day, as it happens.