Girl who fell pregnant at 11 years old gives birth in Perth hospital, & more in News in 5.

-With AAP.

1. Girl who fell pregnant at 11 years old gives birth in Perth, sparking an investigation.

A 12-year-old girl gave birth to a baby boy at a Perth Hospital earlier this month, prompting a coordinated response from State Government and external support agencies.

Local newspaper the Midland Reporter reported the girl became pregnant when she was just 11.

The Department of Communities would not comment on individual cases, but assistant director of general service delivery Jackie Tang said multiple agencies worked closely together when a young mother gave birth to ensure the wellbeing of all involved.

“The Department of Communities, the WA Police and Department of Health work together intensively in the best interests of all concerned.

“If there are concerns that a child may have been sexually abused or is likely to be sexually abused, Communities undertakes a thorough assessment of the situation. Where necessary, the matter will be referred to the WA Police for further investigation and referrals to appropriate supports are provided.”

Western Australia’s Health Department statistics show there have been a dozen registered births to 12-year-old girls since 1980. This is the youngest registered age of a birth mother in WA.

In 2017 there were three registered births to girls aged 13 or younger.

2. Heroic divers among those predicted to be named Australian of the Year.

One of them will be named Australian of the Year tomorrow night and today the men and women in the running for honour got a chance to meet each other. The state and territory finalists had a get together in Canberra reflecting on what they’ve achieved. @ChrisReason7 #7News pic.twitter.com/Kb1allnAuC

— 7 News Sydney (@7NewsSydney) January 24, 2019

Heroic cave divers, champion athletes and selfless community advocates are among the exceptional finalists for this year’s Australian of the Year award.

A hot field of state and territory winners are in Canberra, with the national award to be revealed at a ceremony at the National Arboretum on Friday night.

South Australian anaesthetist Richard Harris and West Australian retired vet Craig Challen were given state honours for their role in the daring rescue of 12 young boys and their coach from a flooded cave in Thailand.

“For two good mates to share the award would be tremendous,” Dr Harris said.

Three-time Paralympic gold medallist Kurt Fearnley has been nominated for the national award after a glittering 20-year wheelchair racing career.

“The sport gave me life. The sport changed the way I saw myself in about 10 seconds,” Fearnley said.

The NSW Australian of the Year, who was born without part of his spine, has also been an advocate for people with disability, campaigning for greater access in communities and workplaces.

Victorian Australian of the Year Mark Sullivan, is the founder and managing director of not-for-profit Medicines Development for Global Health.

MDGH received a world-first approval for its new medicine, moxidectin, which treats river blindness, a debilitating disease endemic amongst the world’s poorest people.

Queensland’s finalist is Detective Inspector Jon Rouse, for his work with Australia’s first police operation proactively targeting online child sex predators.

Former Essendon AFL star Michael Long’s work in reconciliation, including his annual Long Walk which raises awareness of indigenous issues, earned him the nomination for Northern Territory.

Tasmanian Bernadette Black founded the BRAVE foundation, Australia’s only national organisation supporting and representing 8300 expectant and parenting teenagers a year.

She’s in the running for the national gong, along with ACT women’s advocate and journalist Virginia Haussegger for her work with a foundation striving for gender equality in public life.

3. How Aussies could pull off epic Australian Open win.

What a story! ????????

Wildcards @jpatsmith and @astrasharma def. Bruno Soares and Nicole Melichar 6-4 7-6(5) to advance to their first #AusOpen mixed doubles final. pic.twitter.com/C72P1F2Vwp

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 24, 2019

Mixed pair Astra Sharma and John-Patrick Smith have completed an Aussie doubles trifecta, winning through to the Australian Open final.

Sharma and Smith upset the second-seeded pairing of American Nicole Melichar and Brazilian Bruno Soares 6-4 7-6 (7-5) to reach their first major decider.

The duo join Samantha Stosur and John Peers in flying the flag for the locals, each reaching doubles finals of their own this weekend.

On Thursday night, Smith had even more reason to celebrate, triumphing on his 30th birthday.

After finishing the semi-final at 11:20pm, Smith was eager to spend the final minutes of the day in traditional fashion.

“Where are my beers? Who’s got my beers?” he asked the crowd in his on-court interview.

The larrikin Queenslander then backed down, citing the need for routine.

“I got to play on RLA so a pretty good day in the books I would have thought,” he beamed.

Sharma, a 23-year-old Western Australian, and Smith, a veteran from Townsville, had limited knowledge of each other before pairing together this fortnight.

They’ve clearly found a connection, defeating multiple-major winners Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Jamie Murray in the quarter final before Thursday night’s triumph.

As Smith acknowledged, Sharma was the star, continuing her fine form in singles at Melbourne Park.

“Ash was carrying me. She’s done really well and has been doing really well for me this tournament,” he said.

Sharma, the world No.232, qualified for her first major this month and won her first-round match to ensure a huge rankings drop.

She can toast a first taste of grand-slam tennis with a final against Czech Barbora Krejcikova and American Rajeev Ram on Saturday; the country’s national day.

“It’s all unreal,” she said, “I actually can’t think right now.

“Going out to the court, you see all those lighted-up panels and it’s intimidating. I was shaking in my boots.

“I’m speechless really. I can’t really believe the situation we’re in. Coming into this I had zero expectation and now I’m absolutely over the moon.”

Their triumph means the final three days of the tournament will all feature Australians.

Stosur won through to Friday’s women’s doubles final, where she’ll team with Zhang Shuai against reigning champions Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic.

Peers, a 2017 Australian Open champion with current partner Henri Kontinen, face formidable French duo Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut on Sunday.

4. A man, a woman and her daughter are fighting for life after NSW dog attack.

A girl and a woman have been rushed to hospital and a man is in cardiac arrest after they were attacked by two dogs in Sydney’s west | @rachelclun https://t.co/qXGxuw0yvB

— The Sydney Morning Herald (@smh) January 24, 2019

A 40-year-old man remains in a critical condition in hospital after he was mauled by two dogs at a home he was visiting in Sydney’s west.

The man, a 30-year-old woman and her 10-year-old daughter were all bitten by the animals in Tregear on Thursday afternoon.

The dogs – a male and a female – are described on their registration as American Staffordshire terriers, a spokesman for Blacktown City Council told AAP.

Emergency services say the man was mauled, had multiple lacerations to his body and went into cardiac arrest.

He was staying at the home and is not the dogs’ owner.

The man needed to be resuscitated, received a a blood transfusion and was then placed in an induced coma before being transported by road to Westmead Hospital, CareFlight said.

NSW Ambulance Inspector Phil Templeman said the victim had injuries to his ears, face, abdomen and chest.

A number of people in the street had blood on them after trying to help control the dogs at the “horrific” scene, he said.

The injured man remained in a critical condition in hospital on Thursday night.

The bitten girl was taken to the nearby children’s hospital, accompanied by her mother who was not admitted.

Animal welfare group RSPCA NSW was called in by police to tranquillise the medium-sized dogs at the property.

They were taken to a local veterinary clinic and spent Thursday night in the council’s animal holding facility.

The registered owner can decide to have the dogs euthanised before police and council become involved in discussions about their future.

5. Victoria braces for extreme heat, as temperatures predicted to reach levels not seen for 10 years.

Victoria is bracing for extreme heat today with temperatures predicted to reach levels not seen since Black Saturday. #9Today pic.twitter.com/C7yb0PLO2I

— The Today Show (@TheTodayShow) January 24, 2019

Thousands of Victorians spent the hottest night in a year without power, with temperatures expected to climb into the 40son Friday.

Many were without power as the temperature struggled to dip below 30C, with about 5800 properties affected by outages on Thursday night.

A spokesman for the State Control Centre said the cause of the outages was under investigation.

The blackouts came after Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio urged households to ration their non-essential electricity use.

While “absolutely confident” there was enough energy supply to get through the night, Ms D’Ambrosio suggested turning off dishwashers, kitchen appliances, washing machines and pool pumps.

“What we are asking Victorians to do is just be aware and be mindful that the activities we undertake when we’re home do put that further pressure on our energy system,” she told reporters on Thursday.

The Bureau of Meteorology has revised its Melbourne forecast to 44C for Friday – the hottest maximum temperature since it hit 46.4C on Black Saturday in 2009.

Authorities are urging people not to take risks during the hot weather, including leaving children in cars or swimming at unpatrolled beaches.

A cool change is expected about 3pm, with a temperature drop of 15C in just 20 minutes forecast for Melbourne.

The sharp change will bring gusts of up to 80km/h, thunderstorms and increased fire risk.

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