Daniel Andrews has made the state’s first formal pandemic declaration under Victoria’s new pandemic management laws.

Health Minister Greg Hunt has rejected bids from Australia’s health insurance funds to charge customers higher premiums.

Australians have been warned to get their Christmas orders in before strict cut off dates or they won’t receive their gifts in time.

And an album of tweets and chirps from 53 of Australia’s most threatened bird species is set to rattle the cages and pop chart dominance of superstars Abba, Taylor Swift and Michael Buble.