AAP

More COVID-19 cases are expected on a ship anchored off Western Australia's north-west coast after two crew members tested positive.

Traditional owners of the Juukan Gorge rock shelters destroyed by Rio Tinto have accused the mining giant of ignoring their significance so it could maximise its profits.

Banks have propelled Australia's share market more than one per cent higher on Friday and the bourse had its best week in the past six.

The owner of Just Jeans, Peter Alexander and Portmans has reported a 29 per cent rise in full-year profit, but says it may close more stores.

Customers will get faster access to bank loans under a Morrison government relaxation of responsible lending laws introduced after the global financial crisis.

The coronavirus pandemic and deepest recession since the 1930s has turned a forecast $5 billion federal budget surplus into an $85.3 billion deficit.

Welfare recipients will begin getting less money each fortnight as the JobSeeker coronavirus boost winds down.

More than one million unemployed Australians are about to take a $300 cut to their JobSeeker payments.

Business groups believe proposed changes to insolvency laws will be a lifeline for thousands of small businesses struggling through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Australia's share market has closed lower for the fifth time in six sessions, and the Aussie dollar continued falling towards 70 US cents.

There are almost 36,000 Australians stranded overseas trying to get home, an increase of more than 10,000 in less than a week.

Westpac has agreed to pay a record $1.3 billion fine for major breaches of money laundering and terror financing laws.

Josh Frydenberg has put forward a two-stage plan to lift the economy out of recession and then repair the budget.

There is growing speculation the Reserve Bank board will endorse a suite of measures to further boost the economic recovery from recession, including trimming the cash rate.

Australian shares have roared back strongly after four consecutive days of falls, but the Aussie dollar tumbled.

Qantas is ending a 30-year sponsorship with Rugby Australia as the airline continues to tighten its purse strings in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Retail spending fell across the nation in August, with Victoria recording a massive 12.6 per cent drop as the state's COVID-19 restrictions hit non-essential retail businesses.

Premier Mark McGowan has defended his taxpayer-funded defamation claim against Clive Palmer, saying any benefits will flow to the state.

Australia's energy minister is keeping coy on how much the nation's emissions will reduce by through his new technology plan.

Millions of homes and businesses will gain access to ultra-fast internet under a $4.5 billion upgrade to the national broadband network.

Australia has signed onto a global coronavirus agreement in the hope of gaining early access to dozens of potential vaccines.

Energy Minister Angus Taylor has dismissed concerns over whether the advisory panel who recommended a gas-fired economic recovery from the pandemic will personally benefit from the plan.

A Western Australian nurse who tested positive to COVID-19 while volunteering in Victoria has returned home with her six colleagues after making a full recovery

The Australian share market and the Aussie dollar took a hit as global markets fretted over a potential second coronavirus wave, particularly in Europe.

Premier Mark McGowan is maintaining his increasingly isolated hard border stance as the state recorded three new COVID-19 cases.

Thousands of millionaires have been claiming the dole throughout the coronavirus pandemic but are set to be kicked off later this week when the asset test returns.

More than $18 billion of taxpayer funds will go toward new energy technologies in a bid to lower Australia's emissions.

Lifting border restrictions means more jobs can be created and not have coronavirus dictate the way Australians live, Prime Minister Scott Morrison says.

Traditional owners in Western Australia's Pilbara region say they were rushed into signing a complex deal allowing Rio Tinto to mine on their land.

The Australian share market has ended lower for a third straight day and only just managed to claw its way back from earlier three-month lows.

Western Australian Liberal opposition leader Liza Harvey has promised $50 million for a Local Jobs First Commissioner to crack down on interstate companies winning government contracts.

Roughly 24,000 business owners have come forward to admit underpaying superannuation to their workers.