Premier Gladys Berejiklian's long-promised "treat" was to be doled out when the state reached six million COVID-19 vaccine doses. That happened on Tuesday.

The state's leaders are mulling whether to exclude those living in local government areas of concern until case numbers drop. Also looming is details of a plan to return students to school and how to conduct the HSC amidst the COVID-19 crisis.

The locked down ACT can expect to learn of changes soon too, although Chief Minister Andrew Barr has ruled out ending the lockdown before September 2.

A regional Victorian town is crying out for more help after a COVID-19 cluster forced local supermarket staff into isolation, limiting access to essential supplies.

The outbreak in Shepparton, about 180km north of Melbourne, has grown to 50 cases and forced an estimated 17,000 people to isolate. Many supermarkets have closed for cleaning after being listed as exposure sites, including a large IGA in the town's north.

Shepparton independent MP Suzanna Sheed appealed to Premier Daniel Andrews for help and dozens of 50 ADF personnel were sent to support Goulburn Valley Health with more promised.

As lockdown continue across the country, Finance Minister Simon Birmingham has insisted the federal government won't walk away from economic support when vaccine targets are met.

"But we also want the states and territories to uphold their end of the bargain ... that there is a dividend for being vaccinated."

Meanwhile Australia will rescue people from Afghanistan for as long as it can before the United States' deadline expires. More than 400 evacuees have made it to Australian soil since August 18, after being airlifted via Dubai.

A British Army surgeon has told of how he used his experience as a new father to settle a baby passed over a wall to troops in Kabul, amid an "unexpectedly high number" of children handed over to troops.

Viral images have shown babies and young children being handed over to troops, often over walls topped with barbed wire at Kabul airport.

Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Caesar, a trauma and orthopaedic surgeon from 16 Medical Regiment, Royal Army Medical Corps, detailed once such experience here.

After a stunning first day at the Paralympics, Lakeisha Patterson's last-gasp gold medal on the opening night of the Paralympics has left the Australian swimmer "more fried than a chook from KFC".

Here's a wrap from day 1.

One last one, the baby who featured on the famed cover of Nirvana's 1991 Nevermind album - who is now 30 - has sued the band for alleged child sexual exploitation.

Spencer Elden was four months old when he was pictured in a pool at a swimming centre in Pasadena, California.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in California on Wednesday, claims the defendants "failed to take reasonable steps to protect Spencer and prevent his widespread sexual exploitation and image trafficking".