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Readers respond to floods and fires, hazard-reduction burns and turf wars.

Schools in Melbourne’s outer suburbs are recording disturbing numbers of assaults and sexual offences, according to new data.

The week in photos from our award-winning staff photographers and regular contributing photographers at The Age

Leongatha doctor Chris Webster, who first alerted authorities to mushroom murderer Erin Patterson, is “going it alone” after a tumultuous 2½ years.

Tidal River is busier than last year when holidaymakers were able to reserve sites but not turn up – at zero cost – leaving spots empty while others missed out.

Among the alleged offenders were two 13-year-old boys who have been charged with a range of offences.

The Longwood bushfire that tore through central Victoria last week was unstoppable at times and experts are warning of more to come.

Nurses, teachers and builders across Australia are gaining employment and side-stepping training requirements thanks to a back door agreement with New Zealand.

The arrest in Iraq of kingpin Kazem Hamad is positive news but law enforcement and governments will need to be constantly vigilant.

The fires that savaged the Victorian towns of Natimuk, Harcourt and Streatham were unlike any the town had seen before, victims and firefighters said.

Holidaymakers and local leaders have questioned why authorities did not do more to raise the alarm before a “wall of water” swept through the Surf Coast.

The senior constable who was working in Victoria’s western region will fight three sex-offence allegations at a contested hearing.

A sinkhole that appeared at a sports oval in Heidelberg last week was the result of an error by a North East Link Project tunnelling crew, and could have been avoided. 

The males, including a 13-year-old, allegedly used machetes in the pre-dawn attack at Hampton Park.

Victoria Police officers in the Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC) in Williamstown coordinated five aviation assets in the air at once in response to flash flooding along the Great Ocean Road on January 15, 2026.

Drought settled on Victoria during World War II. Then came calamitous fires and finally, the Big Flood, stranding a little family. No one was about to let them drown.

Three teenage boys, including a 13-year-old, have been arrested after allegedly using machetes in the attack.

The SES received dozens of calls for help from midday on Thursday, and people are waking up on Friday in relief centres.

The SES received dozens of calls for help from midday on Thursday, and following the bushfires across Victoria, people are again waking up in relief centres – this time due to floods.

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

There is a very fine line between the amount of GHB a user wants to take recreationally and a life-endangering amount.

A bushland camp in central Victoria where generations of young people explored their adventurous spirit has been destroyed by the giant Longwood bushfire.

The criminal syndicates running the multibillion-dollar illegal cigarette trade are hatching plans to avoid Victoria’s upcoming crackdown on tobacco shops.

A popular holiday park is underwater and sections of the Great Ocean Road are closed as flood warnings remain in place.

Readers respond to hate speech laws, bushfire policies, Iran protests and the cabana wars.

Victorian families have been warned to expect data stolen from Education Department files would likely remain for sale on the dark web.

A popular holiday park is underwater and sections of the Great Ocean Road are closed as flood warnings remain in place.

A popular holiday park is underwater and sections of the Great Ocean Road are closed as flood warnings remain in place.

Rover Scout Marcus Jones described the destruction of the Mafeking Rover Park in last Friday’s devastating Longwood bushfire.

With thousands of DVDs in his collection, Mark Bishop wants to recreate the rental stores of his childhood.