ABC Canberra

11/09/2026

Canberra's month-long flower festival, Floriade, is back in bloom this year.

This year's festival, called Feast of Flowers, is inspired by the connections between flowers, food and harvests.

Floriade's head gardener Kiera Buckley said this year's weather has made it easier to grow the one million flowers planted for the event.

"The weather's been ideal, the conditions have brought the garden beds to life. We've seen vibrant colours, the designs [are] clearly visible from the Ferris wheel, so [I] encourage everyone to go up there," she said.

Ms Buckley said the displays are designed to change throughout the festival, as some flowers die and others bloom.

"Throughout the event, obviously, some of the colour will [be] removed, but then you've got the annuals below which continually give us the patterns," she said.

"So it is a continuously changing display. That's why we encourage people to come at the beginning, the middle and the end."

The ACT government hopes the event will break attendance records set at last year's festival.

"It's the most important time of the year for our visitor economy," ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said.

"[There were] more than half a million visitors through the gates. I think it ended up [being] about 519,000 [people] and an economic contribution to the territory economy of over $70 million."

"You see hotel occupancies really spike at this time of year. So it's a wonderful opportunity for our visitor and hospitality economy as well to leverage off the fantastic platform that Floriade provides every year."

The festival has been running in Canberra since 1988.

"We're now at the point that this event is a generational thing. There are people who came here as kids to Floriade who are now bringing their own kids to this event.

"It has such a wide appeal across all age groups and we think that's one of the reasons it is so successful and such an enduring event."

11/09/2026

Canberra women in construction say there are often no toilets at worksites, particularly on residential jobs.

They say having to leave to find toilets interrupts workflow, while authorities say providing basic facilities is a legal requirement.

Master Builders ACT says it is working to change site culture.

There are calls to make toilets and sanitary disposal bins a mandatory part of setting up a construction site in the ACT.

11/09/2026

A giant crab and ice cream cone are among the public artworks popping up across the city as part of the 6th Canberra Art Biennial.

The festival, starting today, features public artworks, installations, performances and exhibitions by more than 50 Australian and international artists.

It aims to explore Canberra’s history, stories and landscape, and is on display across 20 sites in the territory, including Reconciliation Place and the Australian National Botanic Gardens.

Among the artists involved is the late Andrew Sayers AM (1957-2015), the first director of the National Portrait Gallery.

11/09/2026

The ACT Coroner's Court has found the overdose death of a 42-year-old woman is the first in Canberra with an established link to a novel psychoactive substance.

The woman's body was found at her home in Ainslie in July 2022 by her housemate who called emergency services.

Post-mortem testing found quantities of a range of drugs in her blood including protonitazene.

Protonitazene is a highly potent synthetic opioid, or New Psychoactive Substance (NPS), and is estimated to be at least 100 times more potent than he**in.

Read more: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09-11/canberra-woman-death-drug-overdose-synthetic-opioid/107139786

10/09/2026

Rick McGary was last year found guilty of two counts of sexual assault over incidents against separate complainants in 2016 and 2020, but acquitted of a third count.

But the Court of Appeal has now set aside the convictions, ruling tendency evidence lacked probative value and had a prejudicial effect.

A former Australian National University academic successfully appeals against his convictions for the sexual assault of two people in separate incidents in 2016 and 2020.

10/09/2026

ACT police say they believe they have stopped the Bandidos outlaw motorcycle gang from operating in the territory, following a year-long investigation by ACT Policing's Criminal Investigations, Drug and Organised Crime Team.

"We believe we've cut this syndicate off at the knees. We believe we've cut the Bandidos motorcycle gang from operating in the ACT," Detective Acting Inspector Mark Battye said.

"For now, we've pretty much locked them up. They're done in Canberra at the moment. Whether or not someone else stands up and takes their place, or other groups take the place of that void — that's something that we'll want to stay on top of."

10/09/2026

A federally funded multimillion-dollar report on the future of a precinct housing the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra has been met with mixed reactions.

Independent ACT Senator David Pocock's concerns over the plan's price tag were swiftly rebuffed, as ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr defended the report.

10/09/2026

ACT police are seeking information about five people who allegedly stole about $2,400 worth of alcohol from a store in Sw***er Hill.

Police say that around 7:30pm on August 14, five young people entered the grocery store and took multiple bottles of alcohol before fleeing without paying.

Police say four of the individuals entered with black backpacks while the fifth stood as lookout at the front of the store.

All five wore black hoodies and black face masks.

ACT Policing is asking the public for assistance to identify the young people involved in this incident.

10/09/2026

ACT public servants have rejected the latest pay offer for their next enterprise agreement, which would have seen workers receive a 3 per cent increase each year for three years.

The public sector union is demanding the next offer have improved pay, superannuation and flexible work arrangements.

51 per cent of eligible territory public servants voted in the ballot on the government's offer.

The secretary of the union for ACT public servants, Maddy Northam, said the proportion of eligible workers voting was considerably higher than the previous time a vote was held.

"We're sitting at [a] 3.6 per cent cost of living increase at the moment. So going to 3 per cent would be a 0.6 per cent backward step for these workers. Their money would be worth less than this time last year," Ms Northam said.

But ACT Public Service Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said the offer was a genuine attempt to address cost-of-living concerns in a financially responsible way.

"We'll continue to negotiate in good faith with unions and employee representatives," she said.

09/09/2026

ACT Policing has arrested seven men it alleges are part of the Bandidos outlaw motorcycle gang involved in the illicit drugs trade in ACT.

ACT Policing arrests seven alleged members of the recently-formed chapter of the Bandidos outlaw motorcycle gang, believed to have aided the trafficking of millions of dollars worth of co***ne.