Here's what you need to know this morning.
Sydney gun violence
Following a spate of shootings across Sydney, NSW Police have charged 25 people as part of a crackdown on firearm-related violence.
Since the beginning of August, 12 shootings – including five in public places – were reported in the South West Metropolitan Region.
In the past fortnight, police searched 54 properties and located four firearms, an electronic stun device, knives, ammunition, a ballistic vest and 380 fake credit cards.
Hazard reduction burns scheduled
Smoke from hazard reduction burns over the next few days is expected to affect large parts of NSW including Sydney, the Central Coast, Illawarra, Armidale and Inverell.
In Sydney, if weather conditions are right, burns will be done at Sutherland, Liverpool, the Northern Beaches and Hornsby.
The NSW Rural Fire Service recommends residents with respiratory issues stay inside, close windows and doors ,and take other measures for pets and homes.
Family violence protections introduced
Rape and Domestic Violence Services Australia gets about 10,000 phone calls a year, and the most common surname in its database is "not my real name".
The organisation's Chief Executive Officer Karen Willis said this was partly because women cannot be sure who their stories will be shared with, including the justice system.
But legislation being introduced in the NSW Parliament aims to empower more women to come forward by protecting the people to whom they disclose information.
Under current law, counsellors, family and friends can be jailed for up to five years if they do not report serious offences like sexual and domestic violence.
The proposed amendment would scrap this clause and protect a victim's request for confidentiality.
Elective surgery waitlist blowout
The waiting list for elective surgery in NSW has blown out to more than 100,000 patients, with surgeons calling for operations to continue through the Christmas break to clear the backlog.
The NSW Bureau of Health Information's quarterly report showed 23,305 fewer elective surgeries were performed between April and June when compared with the same quarter last year — a fall of 40 per cent.
NSW hospitals suspended all non-urgent elective surgery on March 25 to free up resources to manage a predicted spike in patients with coronavirus.
That caused 16,895 patients to be added to the waiting list, a 20 per cent increase over the second quarter last year, and the largest jump in at least a decade.
