Novak Djokovic faces Federal Court in Melbourne on Monday in a bid to have the cancellation of his visa overturned ahead of the Australian Open. Djokovic’s lawyers will be up against the Department for Home Affairs in a fight to have the Serbian star remain in the country after having a medical exemption revoked by border authorities last week. The tennis …

Tennis Australia boss Craig Tiley reportedly told Australia’s advisory body on immunisation that the Australian Open’s “viability” could be decided on whether unvaccinated players would be granted exemptions to compete. A report by the Sydney Morning Herald has revealed Tiley’s letter to the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI), which was sent on November 10. The group was queried on whether a player …

Of all the people you would expect to leap to Novak Djokovic’s defence, Nick Kyrgios would be well down the list. The Australian tennis ace has long been a Djokovic critic, even calling him a “tool” last year after the Serbian superstar provided Australian Open organisers with a list of suggestions to improve quarantine conditions. But as Djokovic controversially remained “locked up” in a modest Melbourne hotel, …

Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews says border force made it clear Novak Djokovic had not met the entry requirements for Australia. Novak Djokovic will remain in Australia until at least Monday as his legal team launches a court challenge after his visa was cancelled.His Australian Open fate remains in limbo after border force officials denied him entry on the grounds …

The coronavirus pandemic is reaching new peaks in Australia this week off the back of a busy Christmas and New Year’s period, and governments are today starting to bring back restrictions. Before we whip around the new rules, here are the COVID numbers we have so far: New South Wales: 38,625 new cases, 11 deaths, 134 in ICU, 1738 in hospital. Victoria: 21,728 …

Serb politicians and celebrities have described the treatment of Novak Djokovic as shameful scapegoating, as the foreign ministry in Belgrade suggested the world tennis No 1 had been “lured to Australia … to be humiliated.” The 34-year-old champion, who was born in the Serb capital, is in detention in an immigration hotel in Melbourne pending a legal challenge to Australia’s decision on …

Here’s a quick wrap of what’s happening in COVID news across Australia. NSW records more than 20,000 COVID-19 cases for second-straight day New South Wales has recorded 22,577 COVID-19 cases, the second day in a row where more than 20,000 new cases were reported. There were also four deaths of people with COVID-19 reported. Hospitalisations rose to 901, up from 832 …

COVID-19 testing clinics and laboratories in NSW are being overwhelmed by demand, driving up the time taken to process tests and delaying diagnoses. Healthcare workers exposed to COVID-19 in New South Wales will be able to leave isolation and return to work after seven days instead of 14 under new guidelines. NSW Health has moved to reduce the time healthcare …

One good thing can be said about 2021: it wasn’t as tumultuous as 2020, which put in a claim to be the worst year ever. That, however, may be damning with faint praise. Yes, the past twelve months did bring some good news. Indeed, for a moment in early summer it seemed that COVID-19 was in the rearview mirror. However, it isn’t. And 2021 …

Australia’s Chief Medical Officer has warned the country can expect even more COVID-19 cases after the majority of the nation’s leaders broadly agreed to relax close contact definitions and isolation requirements. As the nation’s daily cases surpassed 21,000, Prime Minister Scott Morrison convened an emergency national cabinet meeting to recalibrate Australia’s response to the highly transmissible Omicron variant sweeping the …