Canberra Now: News in 90 seconds for October 12, 2017

We're in for a top of 22 today, with a chance of early rain before a sunny afternoon. We've had an overnight low of 15 degrees.

Here's your morning news hit:

Private contractors will answer calls from Centrelink's welfare recipients after the Department of Human Services outsourced call centre work to multinational services company Serco.

In an unprecedented move for the welfare agency, 250 of the company's Australian subsidiary staff will take calls about payments in a three-year pilot program costing the government $51.7 million.

Doug Dingwall reports the main public sector union and Labor rounded on the Coalition move on Wednesday.

Canberra's property market continued to rise in the third quarter, with rental rates and median house prices growing faster than the Sydney and Melbourne markets.

The latest Domain State of the Market report, released on Thursday, showed house prices in the capital had reached a new high of $723,980, up 4.3 per cent over the quarter and 10.5 per cent annually.

Experts said under-supply in the market was helping drive growth.

Community groups are questioning whether the ACT government has the "political will" to establish an urgently needed cemetery in south Canberra.

Representatives from Woden Valley and Weston Creek community councils encouraged the government to take action on the issue during a meeting of the city services committee on Wednesday.

Steven Trask reports the talks focused on a contentious proposal to expand the existing Woden Cemetery.

Canberra developer Geocon is investigating new reports of disturbances in a Belconnen residential tower, described as sounding like a bag of concrete being dropped on an apartment roof.

Rental tenant Ian Walker said the loud noises could be heard around the clock in his top floor apartment, leading to nightly sleep interruptions and poor quality of life since February.

It comes after initial reports from other residents last week.

Every five years artist Marc Quinn takes 5.6 litres of his own blood and freezes it inside a life-size silicone mould of his own head.

"Just like a big ice cube," he says, "a big blood ice cube."

Since 1991, Quinn has made five of self portraits, using a hollow sculpture which he fills with his blood, extracted over the course of a year, a pint every six weeks.

Karen Hardy reports Quinn will deliver the National Gallery of Australia's birthday lecture on Thursday, ahead of the opening of the new Hyper Real exhibition on October 20.