Wednesday afternoon's news in under 5 minutes.

We’ve rounded up all the latest stories from Australia and around the world – so you don’t have to go searching.

1. 2day FM found guilty of breaking the law.

By ABC.

The High Court has cleared the way for a Sydney radio station to face serious penalties over a prank call to a London hospital in which two presenters posed as the Queen and Prince Charles.

DJs Mel Greig and Michael Christian from 2Day FM rang the hospital treating the Duchess of Cambridge for morning sickness in December 2012, pretending to be the Queen and Prince Charles.

Nurse Jacintha Saldhana, 46, passed the call through to the ward and, following a storm of publicity about the fact the presenters had obtained personal details about the Duchess, she later took her own life.

A UK inquest into her death was later told she blamed herself for the incident.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) ruled the station had breached the law by broadcasting the call without the consent of the other party.

Related content: Why did Mel Greig go to the 2Day FM prank call inquest in London?

It considered the station had breached New South Wales surveillance laws with the prank call.

The radio station then successfully took legal action against the ACMA in the Federal Court, which found the authority had no power to determine matters of a criminal nature.

But this morning the High Court overturned that decision, finding the media watchdog did have the power to rule if a criminal offence had been committed.

It found the ACMA did have power to make an “administrative determination” that the station had committed a criminal offence, as a preliminary to taking enforcement action under the Broadcasting Services Act.

Related content: Radio star groped in a cab.

The court found that in making the determination, the authority was not exercising judicial power.

Mr Christian and Ms Greig both apologised for their actions in the wake of the scandal, saying they were devastated by Ms Saldanha’s death.

Ms Greig also voluntarily flew from Australia to London to attend the inquest into the nurse’s death, making a statement to the court and apologising personally to Ms Saldanha’s family.

This article was originally published by ABC and has been republished here with full permission.

2. Ministers pledge to address family violence.

The Assistant Minister for Women, Michaelia Cash today pledged $30 million to raise awareness of family violence.

In her address to the National Press Club, Ms Cash said gender equality means “women are free to make the choices in life that they want to make as opposed to the choices they have to make.”

Opposition Leader, Bill Shorten, also spoke at the International Women’s Day event, and has called on the Prime Minister to join him in a summit to address gender issues.

In his speech, the Labor leader recognised the need to protect women against family violence.

“Family violence is no respecter of background, faith or race – it fragments communities across Australia,” he said.

Yet the definitive risk factor for victims of family violence – is being a woman.”

Should Labor be elected, Mr Shorten pledged $70 million to address family violence.

“It is time for all men to admit it is men’s behaviour which is the problem and that men have to change their behaviour,” he told the National Press Club.

Read more: Bill Shorten says we need a national crisis summit to tackle family violence. 

3. NSW Government to bring in life sentencing for paedophiles.

By ABC.

The New South Wales Government says will bring in life sentences for people who have sexual intercourse with a child under 10 years of age.

Under current laws, people can only be jailed for a maximum of 25 years for such an offence.

The proposed change comes in the wake of ongoing evidence to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

The state’s Attorney-General, Brad Hazzard, said child protection measures needed strengthening to send a clear message to offenders.

“That means that if it (the offence) occurs when the person’s 20 or 30, they could well be looking at 40, 50, 60 years behind bars,” he said.

There will also be longer non-parole periods for a greater range of child sexual assault offences.

Related content: Government cuts millions from royal commission into child sex abuse.

Mr Hazzard said the current sentences for child abuse were too short.

“Instead of the relatively small periods that people tend to be put to jail for now, they will be increased,” he said.

“So where perhaps it’s now two years, there’ll be seven years. Where perhaps it’s over three years, it’s more likely to be nine years, because we’re going to impose standard non-parole periods.

“In other words: periods that you will simply not get parole, you will stay behind bars.”

The Government will also trial the appointment of specialist judges to deal with child sexual abuse cases across the state.

Mr Hazzard said qualified experts would be employed to help support children through the court process.

“We’re establishing a new group of people called children’s champions. These people will be designated with the task of making sure that young children can give evidence in a way that works for them and ensures that offenders are held to account,” he said.

This article was originally published by the ABC and was republished here with full permission.

4. Hillary Clinton under investigation for email blunder.

Hillary Clinton may have broken a US federal law by using a personal email account to conduct government business during her role as Secretary of State.

Ms Clinton is being investigated by a US Congressional Committee to discover if she broke any disclosure laws.

A New York Times report claimed she used her personal email account exclusively between 2009 and 2013, potentially violating the Federal Records Act.

This accusation may damage Ms Clinton’s chances to run for President, as the favourite for Democrat leadership in next year’s election.

5. Clive Palmer tells Tony Abbott to “commit suicide”.

Palmer United Party leader, Clive Palmer, told media this afternoon that Tony Abbott should “commit suicide”.

In a press conference about the government’s proposed education reforms, Mr Palmer said:

“There’s a million students going to tertiary education in this country. There’s a million more about to go, and a million more that’s just left.

“They’ve all got parents.

“So commit suicide Tony Abbott, you know.”

According to Channel Nine, he clarified his comments stating that to go against the people — the millions of students and their parents — would be to commit “political suicide.”

Mr Palmer has apologised for the inappropriate comments.

What’s news in your world today?