Sydney Morning Herald Digest
Daily News • Tuesday, 27 January 2026
Victoria heatwave LIVE: State swelters through record-breaking heatwave as Otways fire grows
The last time Victoria experienced such a prolonged heatwave was 2009, when Black Saturday saw the Mallee record 12 days above 40 degrees. Follow our rolling coverage.
Teachers will fight to double the number of student-free days
The teachers’ union says more curriculum days are vital for educators to get on top of their workloads, but others say it will place an extra burden on families.
Baz Luhrmann gives Elvis ‘the world tour he never got to have’
Ahead of his new film on Joan of Arc, the Australian director is back in cinemas with EPIC: Elvis Presley in Concert and a double soundtrack album.
Why the backyard dunny is Australia’s most important literary setting
It turns out the Great Australian Novel was born in a corrugated iron shack where the flies are fast and the soul-searching is mandatory.
Do the Lions have unfair access to top talent? This is Fagan’s case against
Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan has given a detailed presentation to the AFL Commission and a key part of it was about his club’s access to father-son and academy talent.
Demon lost another major quarter-final. He’s already thinking of how to get better
Alex de Minaur played bigger and more fearlessly than ever before, and broke world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz’s serve twice in the opening set. Yet, the result was the same.
ASX set to rise as Wall Street advances; $A eyes US70c
Wall Street is flirting with a record, as stocks zigzag under the market’s surface following mixed profit reports from UnitedHealth, General Motors and other big companies.
School for my bright son has been heartbreaking. Too many teachers think kids need to ‘try harder’
I’ve been through 13 years of battles to help our son. The social challenges for autistic and anxious kids are big enough without teachers who fight against “special treatment”.
I’m 60 and retired. Should I start spending my super yet?
Moving your super from accumulation mode to pension mode has many benefits, and you can still add to it again later.
The seven biggest money worries for Australian retirees explained
Here’s what more than 3000 people say are their most pressing issues as they move from work to retirement, and some information to help put your mind at ease.
‘I don’t want to do the maths’: How single women are funding their fertility
There are no guarantees or refunds with fertility treatments, and the costs can stretch into the tens of thousands.
Adam Liaw reveals the one secret to a better Caprese salad
With so few ingredients, every element must work twice as hard. The key to this classic dish isn’t adding more – it’s better curation.
Chrissy Amphlett wrote a show in which she was a crow. Years after her death, her vision lives on
Sheridan Harbridge has created the show the late Divinyls legend never got to make.
Walking on this Sydney street felt like a ‘traffic sewer’. Not any more
Foot traffic has more than tripled in some areas on George Street while nosediving on Pitt Street – but there’s still a way to go.
My 17-year-old is trying to find a part-time job. Are ‘trial’ shifts legal?
Young workers are particularly vulnerable to this kind of exploitation because they’re keen, inexperienced and unlikely to push back.
Adult men’s faces can verify teen girls’ Snapchat accounts in major loophole
The tech giant has implemented its “reasonable steps” to prevent under-age users from having accounts. But an “intentional design choice” means banned users can continue accessing the app.
The paedophiles paying Aussie kids to produce abuse material
Financial data has been used to identify transactions by 10 suspected paedophiles, including a teacher, who have been paying children in Australia.
Attorney-general tells imams new hate speech laws won’t silence criticisms of foreign governments
Attorney-General Michelle Rowland has written to the Australian National Imams Council to tamp down concerns of unintended consequences of the federal government’s hate laws.
The high-stakes ‘game of chicken’ highlighted by a median-strip fire
A grass fire along Hoddle Street has exposed the danger of overgrown state-owned median strips and verges.
Eleven new CBD spots for lunch, treats and coffee (plus a bistro where everything is $14)
Beat the back-to-work blues with mid-morning breaks geared around cake and coffee, bargain lunch plates and iced matcha.