Bye bye 2025: Melbourne begins ringing in the new year

Whether you’re planning to farewell the year with a toast by the Yarra with friends, or watch the early fireworks with the kids at Treasury Gardens, Melbourne is preparing to ring in 2026 with style. See how the night unfolds here.

Readers say the recent One Nation at a West Australian byelection is a signal for the Albanese government to act fast if it wants to win the next federal election.

Catholic schools have written to parents and employees warning of subject cuts and fee hikes due to the increased cost of wages.

Screens and social media have upended how our kids grow up, and how we raise them. They make parenting an often bewildering experience, even if the fundamentals haven’t changed.

The businessman’s efforts to resolve the defamation fight over his handling of an explicit photograph scandal have been rejected, with the divorced couple set to meet in court this Friday.

Paramedics’ fast actions saved Ben Turner’s life after he was hit by a tram and stopped breathing in South Melbourne in 2005.

While inspectors are doing their job, fines are disproportionate for the harm caused. Fines have jumped to $314, which is a hefty price to pay for an honest mistake.

While inspectors are doing their job, fines are disproportionate for the harm caused. Fines have jumped to $314, which is a hefty price to pay for an honest mistake.

While inspectors are doing their job, fines are disproportionate for the harm caused. Fines have jumped to $314, which is a hefty price to pay for an honest mistake.

Readers react to the challenges of AI and social media.

The week in photos from our award-winning staff photographers and regular contributors.

Katie Hall has personal experience of violence in Footscray’s Nicholson Street. A walk with the MP reveals her proposed solution has caused division in the suburb.

The men, three aged in their 20s and one aged 39, were booted from the MCG for a fight which required security and police officers to break up.

The Carroll government has abandoned its mid-rise vision for the Arden station precinct at the first hurdle, giving a fast-track tick to three tall towers.

Labor’s approach to open government that the “rail improvement charge” revealed could be just the tip of the iceberg.

Readers respond to the concept of decentralisation as an answer to Victoria’s growth problems.

In evidence to a parliamentary inquiry aimed at improving the Transport Accident Commission, Kerryn Airs said the TAC compounded her suffering.

The former AFL player has been freed on bail so he can appeal the jail term he was handed for a violent and unprovoked attack.

The 60-year-old was sentenced on Friday after attacking a woman in northern Victoria last year. He is expected to apply for bail.

A woman allegedly stabbed with scissors while protecting her son has called for a wider discussion about violent crime.

The business has been using two public laneways as part of its outdoor seating area for five decades. Now the council is pushing to reinstate its access.

The rising cost of restoring Melbourne’s damaged colonial monuments continues to rise despite extra security arrangements.

Test your knowledge of Melbourne and Victoria with Stephen Brook’s quiz.

Under-the-radar dinners and word the search for a Melbourne base is continuing show the private members’ club has not given up on the city.

The coronial finding into the death of a 33-year-old woman has reignited the injecting room debate, as Geelong is on track to overtake the City of Melbourne as Victoria’s fatal overdose hotspot.

Readers respond to the disclosure of a secret levy to fund infrastructure.

Lawyers for one of the ISIS brides say she initially believed in the terror group’s ideology, but after the birth of her daughter, everything changed.

Former policeman Thomas Horsburgh falsified the prosecution of an innocent man. But he won’t go to jail.

Fallen finance chief Stavro D’Amore agreed to help a Sydney-based drug trafficker launder $75 million, picking up cash in sports bags and claiming it was the funds of abalone fishing.

Use the interactive map to see how many more people could live in your suburb by 2101 as we explore the idea of redirecting the booming population to urban transport hubs and regional towns.