What is the Quick Exit feature?

Your safety and privacy is important to us. Some pages on our website include a Quick Exit feature that allows you to leave the page immediately and be redirected to Google News or the Bureau of Meteorology Weather Forecast website. This can be useful if you do not want others to see the information you are viewing.

What does the Quick Exit feature look like?

To help ensure the Quick Exit feature is always easy to find, it appears as a floating button near the bottom of each page where it is available. As you move through the page, the button remains visible so it can be accessed quickly whenever needed.

The feature includes a green button labelled "Exit this page", along with the message "or leave quickly by double tapping Shift" and a link to "About Quick Exit" for more information about how the feature works.

How do I use the Quick Exit feature?

The Quick Exit feature is designed to help you leave the page quickly and easily whenever you need to.

You can activate the feature at any time by:

  • Selecting the green "Exit this page" button, or
  • Pressing the Shift key twice in quick succession if you're using a computer.

To use the keyboard shortcut, press the Shift key twice without pressing any other keys in between. If another key is pressed after the first Shift, the shortcut will reset and you'll need to start again.

Once activated, you'll be immediately redirected away from the page.

What does the Quick Exit feature do?

Once activated, the Quick Exit feature will immediately redirect you away from the page you're viewing. 

Your current browser tab will be replaced with Google News, and the Bureau of Meteorology Weather Forecast will open in a new tab*.

To help protect your privacy, the Quick Exit feature will also:

  • Prevent you from returning to the previous page using your browser's back button.
  • Remove the page from your browsing history where supported by your browser.

    Please note: Some browsers may prevent a new tab from opening. If this occurs, your current tab will still be redirected and the other Quick Exit functions will continue to operate as intended.

*Important: Some browsers have limitations that may affect how these privacy features work. To further reduce the visibility of the page in your browser history, the page title is changed to "404 - Page Not Found" when the Quick Exit feature is used. For additional privacy measures, please refer to the section below on clearing your browsing history.

How do I clear my browsing data?

Clearing your browsing data is another way to help protect your privacy and keep yourself safe online. If you'd like to remove your browsing history, cookies or other website data, instructions for the most commonly used internet browsers are provided below.

Please note: The steps for clearing browsing data may vary depending on your browser and the device you’re using. If the instructions below don’t match what you see on your screen, try searching for: "How to clear browsing data in [your internet browser] for [your device]" in your browser.

Google Chrome

  1. On your computer, open Chrome.
  2. At the top right, select More ⋮ > Delete browsing data.
  3. Choose a time range, like Last hour or All time.
  4. Select the types of information you want to remove.
  5. Select Delete data.

Microsoft Edge

  1. Select Settings and more (denoted by the ellipses … in the top-right of your browser window) > Settings > Privacy, search, and services.
  2. Select Clear browsing data, then select the 'Choose what to clear' button next to Clear browsing data now.
  3. Under Time range, choose a time range from the drop-down menu.
  4. Choose the types of browsing data you want to clear.
  5. Select Clear now.

Mozilla Firefox

  1. Click the menu button ≡ to open the menu panel.
  2. Click History and select Clear Recent History…
  3. Select how much history you want to clear:
  4. Click the drop-down menu next to When: to choose how much of your history Firefox will clear (the last hour, the last two hours, the last four hours, the current day or everything).
  5. Use the check boxes to select what information you want to clear from your history.
  6. Click the Clear button. The window will close and the items you've selected will be cleared from your history.

Safari (for iPhone)

  1. Open the Safari app, then tap the More button ….
  2. Tap Bookmarks.
  3. Tap the History button, then tap the More button … again.
  4. Tap Select Websites, then select one or more websites to delete from your history.
  5. Tap the Bin button.
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