Australia news live: man charged after two found dead in Sydney’s west yesterday

Key events

The endometriosis drug, Visanne, is about to become the first endo treatment to be subsidised by the federal government in 30 years.

The health minister, Mark Butler, will announce the listing of Visanne on the pharmaceutical benefits scheme (PBS) at St Andrews Hospital in Adelaide this morning.

The drug is taken daily and works to shrink and suppress the growth of abnormal tissue. Without a subsidy, it can cost Australians with endometriosis around $750 a year.

Butler said the PBS listing would be “a game changer” for the roughly one in seven Australian women who suffer from endometriosis:

For too long, women living with endometriosis have had to struggle in silence.

Women are suffering unnecessarily. They’re having their experiences dismissed, being called hysterical and accused of drug shopping. Women’s pain is real and it’s time we stop telling women to just suck it up.

Man charged after two found dead in Sydney’s west yesterday

A 31-year-old man has been charged for the alleged murder of a man and a woman at a shop in Western Sydney.

The bodies of the 69-year-old man and a 68-year-old woman were found with “significant injuries” on Saturday morning, with police describing the scene as “confronting”.

NSW police allege the man and woman were known to the accused, who was arrested at a home in Canley Heights, in the city’s west, in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The man was taken to Fairfield police station where he was charged with two counts of murder (DV). He was refused bail to appear at the Parramatta local court later on Sunday.

NSW police were called to the shop on Oxford Street in Cambridge Park around 9.40am on Saturday, following reports of an alleged assault. The bodies were first discovered by a family member, police have said.

Det Acting Supt Michael Cantrell told reporters on Saturday the family of the couple were “obviously devastated” and “assisting police”.

Major funds boost for mental health, addiction services

Children, pregnant women and people with mental health conditions will receive better support for alcohol and drug issues in a major funding boost, AAP reports.

The $235m package, expanding or establishing more than a dozen services, comes as policing, health and political leaders prepare to chart a new course for drug policy in NSW.

Some $6.4m across four years has been set aside to provide early intervention for 11 to 17-year-olds with moderate to severe substance use.

Funding will also be directed to programs targeting pregnant women, Aboriginal people, people with mental health conditions and people in the criminal justice system.

The NSW health minister, Ryan Park, said the funding would significantly boost the alcohol and other drug workforce including those with Indigenous or lived experience backgrounds:

The programs we are investing in will ensure that people with complex needs receive wrap-around support and care to help people recover and rebuild their lives in the community.