AAP

A Western Australian healthcare worker who approached COVID-infected ship crew without protective equipment has tested negative but been placed into quarantine.

Investors have made a spritely start to October and all ASX sectors finished higher following a good lead from Wall Street.

Western Australia’s job vacancies hit an eight-year high after soaring 91 per cent in recent months, as the state rebounds from COVID-induced restrictions.

Premier Mark McGowan has been accused of "protectionism" after he claimed reopening the borders to South Australia and the Northern Territory would provide no economic benefit.

Australian manufacturers across six priority areas will receive more help to expand in high-value areas through an almost $1.5 billion budget boost.

Flight Centre is closing 90 of its travel agencies across the world, having already cut about 4,000 jobs this year due to the pandemic ravaging the travel industry.

Australian Defence Force personnel are set to arrive in Port Hedland in Western Australia's north to help contain a COVID-19 outbreak linked to an offshore vessel.

Regional airline Rex has leased six Boeing 737 planes as it prepares to take on Qantas and Virgin with flights between capital cities next year.

The NSW premier insists the controversial Narrabri coal seam gas project went through a robust assessment before it was approved, sparking outrage from locals.

Investors on the ASX ramped up their sell-off after the first debate for the US presidency, and the market had its first monthly fall since the pandemic first gripped Australia.

Demand for new houses remained strong in August, particularly in Western Australia, following the relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions in most jurisdictions.

Universities hammered by coronavirus border closures will be thrown a lifeline in next week's federal budget.

Bushfire and coronavirus-ravaged parts of regional Australia will share in $100 million of Commonwealth cash over the next two years.

The risk of more COVID-19 outbreaks looms when ship crews are eventually granted long-overdue changeovers, the state government warns.

Anthony Albanese has outlined Labor's alternative plan to rebuild the Australian economy, pitching a vision with nobody left behind.

The global death toll from coronavirus has eclipsed one million people but Australia's new case numbers remain low.

Australia's three biggest brewers have come up with a crafty budget fix that could put a smile on people's lips: slashing the tax on tap beer.

Investors have traded cautiously and the ASX has finished flat ahead of a big risk event for financial markets - the first US presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

Western Australia will ease restrictions for people arriving from Victoria and NSW as the nation's COVID-19 case numbers continue to fall.

Australia's outlook for gold is glimmering, with the nation on track to be the world's number one producer of the precious metal.

Health Minister Roger Cook is confident a COVID-19 outbreak on a bulk carrier off Port Hedland will be resolved within a fortnight.

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.