Received

Brittany Higgins has directly addressed the man she accuses of raping her, telling him "nothing was fine" after the alleged assault.

"Nothing was fine after what you did to me, nothing," she said in court on Friday.

Ms Higgins has returned to the witness box after being unavailable earlier in the week.

Her former colleague Bruce Lehrmann is being tried by the ACT Supreme Court, charged with sexual intercourse without consent.

He has pleaded not guilty and denies having any sexual interaction with Ms Higgins.

Ms Higgins is facing continued cross-examination by Lehrmann's defence lawyer Steven Whybrow.

She had been due to return to court on Monday but was unavailable.

The trial continued this week with other witnesses but the court has prevented proceedings from being published until after Ms Higgins has completed her evidence.

Ms Higgins has previously told the court she and Lehrmann returned to Parliament House after a night out drinking with defence colleagues.

The former Liberal Party staffer said she fell asleep on the couch and woke up to Lehrmann having sex with her.

The trial was initially anticipated to run for between four and six weeks but could now be over in half that time.

Former coalition defence minister Linda Reynolds, Ms Higgins' boss at the time of the alleged assault, is due to give evidence in court on Tuesday.

Senator Michaelia Cash is also expected to be in the witness box early next week before the Crown closes its case.

Another former Liberal minister Steven Ciobo is no longer expected to give evidence, with the initial witness list of 52 now reduced to 32.

1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)

Lifeline 13 11 14

© AAP 2022

Australians who test positive to COVID-19 will no longer have to isolate, with mandatory stay-at-home orders officially scrapped.

The changes took effect on Friday.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet, who led the campaign to ditch isolation rules, believes people will continue to register their COVID-19 diagnoses.

"We're moving to a system of good faith where people are looking out for each other and caring for each other," he told reporters.

"I just want to make the point ... people should still test.

"We may have further waves of COVID in the future, in fact, we probably expect that. So by testing, you're looking after yourself, looking after your family."

Australia is set to move to a workplace health and safety regime, with the decision made off the back of lower case numbers, South Australian Health Minister Chris Picton said.

"However, the message is still the same in making sure you're staying home if you're sick, and being very conscious of people who are vulnerable in our communities," he told reporters.

The state's chief health officer said she had no doubt the community would be able to take individual responsibility.

"There's been such a fantastic response throughout the pandemic with people following health advice," Nicola Spurrier said.

"Quite often we didn't have things as legal directions and people still did them, I am very confident that will continue over the next month."

The Australian Medical Association wants the government consider bringing back COVID isolation requirements if cases spike during the holiday period.

President Steve Robson said information from the northern hemisphere showed the newer variants won't be affected by immunity from previous infection or from vaccinations.

Australia recorded 36,790 COVID cases and more than 270 deaths last week.

© AAP 2022

More than 400,000 low-paid Australian workers will see a boost to their pay slips after a major decision by the industrial umpire.

Affected full-time workers will receive an extra $40 a week after the Fair Work Commission increased the minimum wage and some associated industrial awards.

The cash is starting to hit bank accounts in the first pay cycle since the 4.6 per cent increase.

Workers in hospitality, tourism and aviation are among those who will benefit.

After forming government, Labor backed a pay increase for low-wage workers in a formal submission to the nation's wage authority.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the boost would help Australians tackle the rising costs of living.

"We must get wages rising again and make health care, child care and housing more affordable while we work to grow the economy," he said.

The minimum wage was bumped up 5.2 per cent in July, just above the inflation figure at the time.

Award pay rises were deferred until October.

More than 2.7 million Australians benefited from the minimum wage and award rises.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the upcoming budget would build on the government's jobs and skills summit to create more opportunities and boost workforce participation.

© AAP 2022