People with disabilities in remote and regional parts of the Northern Territory have opened up about their struggle to access support from the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
In an interview with ABC News, Helen Pachos detailed how her 30-year-old daughter Christina suffered a traumatic brain injury when she was 18 years old. Today, Christina can’t walk and uses subtle movements to communicate.
Helen spent the first five years looking after her daughter’s needs at home in Darwin, before she applied for the NDIS.
After a year-long wait for Christina to be assessed, she was given access to two full-time carers and a team of specialists. She can now eat, drink and stand, and has been weaned off antidepressants.
Last year, the Pachos family received a letter notifying them that Christina’s carer support would be reduced by half.
People with disabilities in remote and regional parts of the Northern Territory have opened up about their struggle to access support from the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
Helen said she spent hours on the phone to people interstate and after months of frustration, engaged an advocate who managed to have Christina’s funding restored.
Despite this, Helen is exhausted by navigating the bureaucracy of the NDIS, and worries about her daughter’s future.
“We were celebrating [Christina’s] improvements but, in some respects, we felt that was working against us,” she told ABC News.
Christina’s advocate and the founder of Focus-A-Bility, Robyne Burridge, said Christina’s experience wasn’t unique. She wants to see greater government investment in face-to-face services in remote and regional Australia.
Homegrown hero Thanasi Kokkinakis has today been announced as the first player confirmed for Adelaide International 2025.
From 6-11 January 2025, The Drive will host a WTA 500 and ATP 250 combined tournament with 148 of the world’s best tennis stars playing across the singles and doubles competition.
In 2024, Adelaide International ticket sales reached 30,000 across the tournament, as well as record numbers for Family Day.
After its success in 2024, the Pinky Flat experience on Adelaide’s Riverbank will be expanded offering live entertainment, a family zone, food trucks, and more.
Tickets to South Australia’s premier international tennis event are on sale now via Ticketmaster. Tickets start at $10 and kids go free for selected sessions, offering an all-access pass to the family zone, exclusive bars, entertainment, food, drinks, and elite tennis.
The tournament sets up an action-packed sporting lineup in 2025, including the Santos Tour Down Under’ s 25th anniversary, LIV Golf Adelaide’s new timeslot in February, and the third iteration of AFL Gather Round.
“South Australia’s busy 2025 events calendar kicks off once again with one of our city’s absolute favourites. The Adelaide International offers tennis fans and event goers not just epic tennis action, but a true demonstration of why South Australia is known for putting on world class events,” SA Minister for Tourism, Zoe Bettison, said.
“The lineup of star tennis players is off to a smashing start, with homegrown favourite Thanasi Kokkinakis locked in – and we know he’ll will bring the noise with his strong Aussie fan base.
“We continue to hear from players and fans alike that The Drive creates such a special atmosphere and experience, and I cannot wait to see the thousands of fans flock to the city for the tennis action again in January.”
Alicia Molik, Director Adelaide International Tournament, said “the Adelaide International is a world class event and we look forward to hosting another edition of international tennis at The Drive.”
“We are delighted to confirm Thanasi Kokkinakis as our first player for 2025. Thanasi is well loved by fans in South Australia and enjoys playing in his home tournament during the Australian summer,” Ms Molik added.
“Tickets are on sale today with prices starting at just $10 and kids’ free for selected sessions. The Adelaide International provides every young South Aussie the chance to see their world class tennis heroes at home and be inspired to pick up a racquet and play tennis.”
Australia’s top tennis players with an intellectual impairment (PWII) travel to France this week for the Virtus World Tennis Championships.
The event, which provides an opportunity for the world’s PWII best players to compete at the highest level, is held in Annecy from 7-15 September.
Queensland’s Archie Graham leads the 12-person Australian team.
The 31-year-old won four medals (one gold and three silver) last year at the Virtus Global Games and also claimed the men’s singles and doubles titles at the Australian Open 2024 PWII Championships.
Heading to France to represent the green and gold 🙌
Best of luck to our team of 12 Aussies set to compete in the 2024 Virtus World Tennis Championships.#GoAussieshttps://t.co/J6cQ2HzSGF
“Winning a gold medal means so much,” Graham, the world No.1 in the II-1 category, said.
“There’s nothing bigger than representing Australia, your country, that’s a massive achievement for me. My goal is to win four medals across all the four events I’ll be competing in.”
Graham will be joined by defending champions Timothy Gould (II-2) and Hunter Thompson (II-3), who are both ranked world No.1s in their respective categories. Proud Greek Australian Andriana Petrakis is also on the team.
Petrakis is on the autism spectrum and she has been playing tennis for more than ten years, competing in state tournaments and climbing the ranks to become part of the Australian national team.
After completing a training camp on the Gold Coast last week, Australian head coach Alison Scott is confident the team is going to be extremely competitive on the international stage.
South-west Sydney doctor Thrasivoulos Triantopoulos has been spared jail time on sentence after he confessed to watching sickening child porn on the internet during all-night binge-watching sessions.
According to The Daily Telegraph, the former Eagle Vale Medical Centre GP spent almost three months in custody following his arrest in September last year, before the NSW Supreme Court granted him strict bail, which included a ban from working in the medical profession.
Triantopoulos subsequently pleaded guilty to a charge of using a carriage service to access child abuse material, which carries a maximum jail sentence of 15 years.
The court heard detectives discovered 1,602 images and videos of child abuse material stored on Triantopoulos’ computer during a raid at his Rouse Hill home. The videos depicted children as young as three years old being sexually abused or posing in various states of undress.
The former Eagle Vale Medical Centre GP has been spared jail time on sentence.
When asked why he viewed the material, Triantopoulos said “because I’m a sick person.”
The court was informed that Triantopoulos had been struggling with excessive alcohol consumption during the time of the incident and was dealing with complex grief disorder following the loss of his 18-year-old son to a degenerative genetic condition in 2021.
Recently, Triantopoulos received a 14-month suspended prison sentence at Penrith District Court. Judge Gallagher ruled against a return to jail.
In her decision, Judge Gallagher determined that Triantopoulos posed a low risk of reoffending.
“I find he has very good prospects of rehabilitation given his prior good character, the time spent in custody and his loss of employment, which has had a salutary effect on him,” she said.
Australia’s most-wanted criminal and Hells Angels bikie boss Angelo Pandeli is back in the country and under arrest, after being deported from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
According to The Daily Telegraph, Pandeli landed in Sydney just before 6pm on Thursday, after being sent on his way by authorities in the UAE. He was put on Emirates flight UAE416.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Australian Federal Police confirmed Pandeli was back.
“An Australian man, 53, has been deported by Dubai authorities,” the spokesperson said. “No further comment will be made at this time.”
Pandeli has been on the radar of Australian law enforcement for many years. The 52-year-old has been a major player in Australia’s cocaine and methamphetamine smuggling operations and is accused of being an international drug kingpin. Since leaving Australia in 2018, he has been moving between the Middle East, Europe and Asia.
It is understood while Pandeli has been arrested, he has not been charged with any offences since landing back in Australia.
Proud Greek Australians Haris Strangas and Kyriakos Panayi, long-time locals of the Sutherland Shire in Sydney, New South Wales, are running for the upcoming council election on September 14.
The Sutherland Shire, in the south of Sydney, has a huge Greek influence, with its large number of Greek Australian residents, its local parish St Stylianos in Gymea, as well as many cafes, food stores and other businesses, which are owned by Greeks throughout the area. Greek is the second most language spoken at home in the Sutherland Shire Local Government Area (LGA) – after English.
Mr Strangas and Mr Panayi have a close affiliation with the Sutherland Shire, as both men have small businesses in the area.Mr Strangas’ family own the Sylvania-based seafood business Poseidon’s Harvest, and Mr Panayi owns the well-known Christopher’s Cake Shops, whose portfolio includes shops in Miranda and Kirrawee. Also, while Mr Strangas has grown up working in the Shire from a young age, Mr Panayi has lived in the Shire for over 25 years and is proudly raising his family in the region.
Both Liberal candidates in C Ward now plan on giving back to a vibrant community they both admire, by helping residents with lower rates and better services.
“We are passionate about small business and people enjoying what they really love about the Shire – its high quality of life,” Mr Strangas said.
“I am committed to creating a positive legacy for future generations and I want to contribute to the area, which has given my family and I so much,” Mr Panayi added.
Their aim is to see businesses supported by Council cutting red tape, and they also want to ensure sport fields are upgraded and to have the capital works program increased.
“In terms of delivery, there are a few major projects for C Ward that we would love to kick start this term of Council. These include the revitalisation of Oyster Bay and its surrounding waterways, the Gwawley Bay Oval masterplan, the Sylvania Waters Athletics Track masterplan, as well as a Jannali Town Centre upgrade,” Mr Strangas said.
“We want to be known as being accessible, hardworking, and dedicated councillors. Our doors will always be open to our community, and we will always strive to make the Shire an amazing place to live,” Mr Panayi concluded.
After landing back on home soil, the achievements of Canterbury-Bankstown’s local Olympians were recognised, joining other sporting legends to be inducted into the Bankstown Sporting Hall of Fame.
Jessica Hull, Tina Rahimi, Abbey Connor and Peter Boukouvalas, along with 24 other local sporting elite and administrators, were honoured during a special ceremony on Tuesday, September 3at the Centre of Excellence at Bankstown Memorial Park.
As a member of Australia’s Olympic team, the country’s first female Muslim boxer Tina Rahimi said her inclusion in the games sent a very clear message to all young women that they can reach their goals if they put their mind to it.
“I hope I’m an example for all Muslim women in our community, that they can achieve anything they want with their hijab,” Rahimi said.
“I want to pave the way so they can go out there and smash whatever they choose.”
The 28 new inductees join an elite group of athletes whose sporting legacy is featured on the walls of the Centre of Excellence, including the Waugh brothers, Steve Mortimer, Billy ‘The Kid’ Dib and more.
Memorial Oval was a second home for Australian cricketer Ashleigh Gardner, who said she was honoured to be inducted and represent her community.
“I grew up following the Waugh brothers and I feel really privileged to now be inducted myself,” Gardner said.
“It’s certainly something that I didn’t expect this early on in my career and it’s a pretty cool achievement.”
The group of athletes are the first to be inducted to the rejuvenated Bankstown Sporting Hall of Fame in over a decade, following a Council motion raised by Councillor Chris Cahill last November.
“You don’t get to where these people have got unless you put a lot of hard work in, and that deserves to be recognised,” Clr Cahill said.
“They have made a place in Bankstown’s history so they should be there for our kids and grandkids to read about.”
Canterbury-Bankstown Mayor Bilal El-Hayek said the Hall of Fame gives an incredible insight into the City’s greatest sporting icons.
“We must keep this tradition alive and continue to recognise those who have achieved great things in the sporting arena,” Mayor El-Hayek said.
“To be included in the hall of fame is an extremely fitting form of recognition.”
The Bankstown Sporting Hall of Fame acknowledges and honours members of the Bankstown community for their outstanding sporting achievements.
It was established at Bankstown Sports Club in 1988 and relocated to the Centre of Excellence at Bankstown Memorial Park in 2013.
Guided tours of the Bankstown Sporting Hall of Fame are available by appointment with the Bankstown District Cricket Club.
For more information and to view the online Hall of Fame, visit cb.city/HallOfFame
Full list of new inductees to the Bankstown Sporting Hall of Fame:
Antonis Sammoutis, the new High Commissioner of the Republic of Cyprus to Samoa presented his Letter of Credence to the Head of State, Afioga Tuimalealiifano Vaaletoa Sualauvi II, during a Credentials ceremony held at the Official Residence of the Head of State at Vailele recently. High Commissioner Sammoutis is accredited to Samoa with residence in Canberra, Australia.
Samoa and Cyprus established diplomatic relations on 24 May 2000. During the credential ceremony, the remarks by the Head of State and the High Commissioner reaffirmed Samoa and Cyprus’ continued collaboration at the multilateral fora including at the United Nations, the Commonwealth and the ACP-EU on issues of mutual interest including democracy, international law, peace and security, the promotion of human rights and sustainable development.
The High Commissioner of Cyprus indicated that he will further enhance the two countries’ cooperation and share experience in areas that can be mutually beneficial for young people such as education, vocational training, sports and other exchanges that will strengthen the two countries’ friendship.
The Head of State expressed his confidence in Saminoutis’ appointment as the High Commissioner of Cyprus to Samoa. He said it will further strengthen cooperation in areas of mutual interest for the benefit of both countries.
Samoa will host Cyprus and its Commonwealth family at the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in October of this year.
Mr Sammoutis holds a Bachelor of Arts in Classical Philology from the University of Cyprus and a Masters of Arts in Contemporary Diplomacy from the University in Malta.
He joined the Diplomatic Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cyprus in 2003 and held various positions in the Consular, Protocol, Middle East Department and the Department of Bilateral Relations with European countries. He was posted in the Cyprus diplomatic missions as Second Secretary — Consul in Berlin, Germany (2004-2007), as Consul General in Saint Petersburg, Russia (2007-2011), as Head of the Representative Office in Ramallah, Palestine (2011-2013), as Deputy Head of Mission in Moscow, Russia (2014-2016), as Consul General in Moscow, Russia (2018-2020) and then as Deputy Head of Mission in Moscow, Russia (2020-2022).
Mr Sammoutis was appointed High Commissioner of the Republic of Cyprus to Australia since 10 October 2022 with cross accreditation to New Zealand and Samoa. He is married to Elena Makhankova and they have two daughters.
For the first time in 30 years Adelaide’s largest hotel, Hilton Adelaide, has been put up for sale. The move follows the global hotel chain’s debates on its future at the iconic Victoria Square landmark.
The listing is managed by Sydney’s CBRE agents Michael Simpson, Vasso Zographou, Tom Gibson and Nick Hill.
“We expect this campaign to generate significant interest from a broad range of domestic and international investors given the hotel’s extensive size, value-add opportunities and its central CBD location,” Mr Zographou said.
Vasso Zographou. Photo: CBRE.
“From 1st July 2026, the hotel will be afforded with vacant possession, supporting a range of future ownership strategies including re-engagement with Hilton, self-management or engaging an alternative third party operator to drive performance,” he added.
The Hilton boasts 377 guest rooms, the largest number of any hotel in Adelaide, along with 20 conference and meeting rooms. Guests have access to a plethora of amenities including a business lounge, restaurants, bars, tennis court, gym and swimming pool.
