Today’s riddle: There are two fathers and two sons. They walk into a candy store and each buys a candy bar for 50 cents. The total for all of the candy bars was $1.50. How is that possible?

Answer is in the tidbit!

The quote
"Texas will see you in court, Mr President." – Texas Governor Greg Abbott, after the U.S. Justice Department filed legal action against an anti-immigration barrier in a river between the U.S. and Mexican borders. The Biden administration says the 300m floating barrier presents several issues, including humanitarian concerns.

The stat
$1
The amount individual Spotify Premium subscriptions will increase per month, to $12.99. The increase from August will see duo and family plans increase by $2, to $17.99 and $20.99 per month respectively.

Today in history
2016: Hillary Clinton became the first woman ever to secure the backing of a major American political party to be the U.S. President. She was ultimately defeated at the election by the Republican candidate, Donald Trump.

Some headlines from this morning:

Record numbers of Australians have enrolled to vote ahead of the referendum later this year on an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.

97.5% of eligible Australians are now enrolled to vote.

First Nations enrolment and youth enrolment have also surged to record highs. Both are above 90% for the first time on record.

The numbers:
The total enrolment rate of 97.5% is up from 97.1% at the end of 2022.

Over the same period, First Nations enrolment has increased from 84.5% to 94.1% and enrolment of those aged 18-24 has increased from 87.6% to 90.3%.

Whilst enrolments for both groups are at a record-high, they remain under-enrolled compared to all Australians.

How enrolment works:
Once you enrol, you are ready to vote in any election or referendum. You do not need to enrol separately to vote in the referendum.

You can enrol or check your enrolment on the Australian Electoral Commission website, aec.gov.au.

Or copy & paste this link to a friend to get them to sign-up: {{rp_refer_url}}

Read the Terms & Conditions

TW: Sexual assault

A Senate Committee tasked with considering whether sexual consent laws should be consistent across the country held its first hearings on Tuesday.

The definition of consent currently varies significantly across states and territories.

The Federal Government has set up the Senate Committee to inform a national push to strengthen consent laws to address nationwide under-reporting of sexual assault.

Sexual assault laws
Like most criminal laws, sexual offence laws are the responsibility of state and territory governments. There are fundamental differences – for example, there is no uniform minimum age of sexual consent.

Despite differences, the common experience across jurisdictions is that sexual assault offences are under-reported and have low rates of prosecution and conviction.

Last year, federal, state and territory Attorneys-General agreed to work together to strengthen legal frameworks and deliver better outcomes for victim-survivors.

Affirmative consent
In the last few years, several jurisdictions have updated their legal definitions of consent to place greater emphasis on whether accused perpetrators took active steps to establish consent.

This approach is called 'affirmative consent' as it involves a legal requirement to specifically ascertain consent (as opposed to trying to establish whether consent was refused).

National consistency
NSW, Victoria, Tasmania and the ACT all now have affirmative consent laws. Queensland has promised them and WA and the NT are considering them.

For example, NSW laws now specifically clarify consent "should not be presumed", involves "ongoing" communication and can be withdrawn. An accused perpetrator cannot be deemed to have a "reasonable" belief of consent if they did not say or do anything to ascertain it.

In a joint submission, the National Women's Safety Alliance and advocacy group Teach Us Consent criticised the current "patchwork" approach to consent laws, which they said had allowed "unreasonable beliefs [about] sexuality and rape-myths" to persist across the country.

However, they warned national harmonisation was "not a panacea in and of itself and must be approached cautiously to avoid gaps, errors, or unforeseen outcomes".

1800RESPECT: 1800 737 732

Get all the news you need to know today in your ears on The Daily Aus podcast!

The Government has announced a $20 million boost for Olympic and Paralympic competitors ahead of Paris 2024.

Paralympics Australia President Jock O’Callaghan said the boost means Paralympic athletes can direct their focus to training and qualifying for the games, “knowing they have the backing of the nation behind them to get there."

Feeling the winter social slump? You're not alone. In a recent survey of young adults (18-25), 72% struggle to socially connect in winter. However, it's important to remember that staying socially active is just as crucial as being physically active for a healthy life.

With VicHealth's Reality Check initiative, we're here to remind you (and ourselves at TDA) to prioritise face-to-face moments. Joining a local sports team or scheduling regular dinners with your friends can break up the day-to-day routine and make a real difference. It may sound simple, but you might be surprised by the impact it can have on your overall well-being!

A French mayor has declared war on dog poo.

Robert Ménard told The Washington Post he sees dog poo every day on his way to work in the town of Béziers and he "can’t stand it anymore”. The mayor has introduced a policy where dog owners will have to submit their pet's DNA to the local government and carry a document of their dog’s DNA registration when walking in certain parts of the town.

If dog poo is discovered, the city will be authorised to find out which dog it belongs to by testing it against the DNA on file.

Owners who are caught will face a fine of €‎38 ($AU62).
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Answer: There was a grandfather, a father and a son.