Sydney news

A controversial Perth highway extension project was initially knocked back by a committee set up to assess whether Aboriginal cultural sites would be disturbed, it is revealed.

Thieves use a bulldozer to demolish a wall and steal an automatic teller machine in Melbourne's north east, police say.

Tasmanian Beekeepers' Association president Lindsay Bourke, is a biosecurity winner in the 2015 Farmer of the Year Awards.

After a long, hard winter and welcoming 800 calves to their Meander district farm, Brian and Michele Lawrence are celebrating in Sydney.

Australian bamboo growers are hoping to attract investment in the local industry during the 10th World Bamboo Congress next week.

NRL players are considering boycotting the Dally M awards due to a row over cash with the code officials, according to a media report.

There are fears the Hunter's ability to cope with massive storm events in the future could be impacted by Ausgrid's latest job cuts.

Legal experts recommend that the Tasmanian Government beef up sentencing laws for child sex crimes and raise penalties for rape.

Environment groups renew calls for WA's Forest Products Commission to have its controlled wood accreditation withdrawn, saying karri logging is being wrongly endorsed.

While the number of initiatives aimed to increase suicide awareness is increasing, mental health professionals in the Hunter say more needs to be done.

A speed limit review of a major highway at Orange has been escalated because of feedback from the community and council.

Authorities are being asked to clarify whether a decommissioned dam in the central west could be used as a recreational precinct.

A 24-year-old mother dies in hospital after allegedly being run off the road and bashed by her former partner, an ex-member of the Bandidos bikie gang, on the Gold Coast.

A group pushing for a bicycle track in the Lithgow region says the sports facility will help address disadvantage in one of its small towns.

The Dubbo based owner of Australia's largest meat exporter says more refugees should be resettled in country towns.

The Planning Assessment will commence its second Upper Hunter hearing for this week in Denman today.

Glenn Stewart signs three-year deal with Super League side Catalans just hours after being granted an early release by South Sydney.

The ACT Opposition vows to remove a tax on multi-unit developments in Canberra's town centres if they are elected to Government next year.

A mobile counselling service on the South Coast of New South Wales has been set up to help young Indigenous students and is getting good results. The mini bus and a team of counsellors and elders from the local communities visits schools twice a week. AM's Lindy Kerin was at the program launch in Nowra.

Hunter Local Land Services says it is looking to develop a flood readiness plan for the Hunter's farmers, in the wake of the April super storm.

A 15-metre-deep construction pit excavated on a Mount Waverley building site is filled in, after a wall collapse which threatened houses bordering the site.

Melbourne's tram drivers are walking off the job in a four hour strike for a second time in a fortnight as contract talks with Yarra Trams drag on.

Ausgrid axes jobs

Dump denies EPA probe

A photographic project that combines health and the arts is helping people with disabilities to produce digitally altered self portraits that powerfully tell their stories

Fifth generation Tasmanian farmer Matt Dunbabin wins the 2015 Farmer of the Year title in the ABC Rural and Kondinin group annual awards.

The ACT Education Minister slams Canberra media organisations for publishing photos of the cage used to restrain a young boy with autism.

The deputy mayor of Auburn in Sydney's west, Salim Mehajer, rejects renewed calls for his resignation at an extraordinary meeting.

WA Attorney-General Michael Mischin all but rules out changing the law to allow the auditor-general to scrutinise Cabinet documents and articles protected by legal professional privilege.

South Sydney forward George Burgess fails in his bid to downgrade his grade two charge for throwing a water bottle, meaning he will miss the first two weeks of the NRL finals.

Lala Mardigan died 400 kilometres from home from severe infections despite warnings about her health. Her story highlights the fate of many people in remote Aboriginal communities falling through the gaps.

An international probe links South Australia to a billionaire Malaysian politician under investigation for corruption.

Western Australia's government agencies begin planning for the arrival of Syrian refugees, with Premier Colin Barnett saying they would be prepared to welcome up to 1,200.

Tasmanian republicans use a major milestone for Queen Elizabeth II to renew their push for Australia to become a republic.

Mourners gather in a haze of blue and purple to farewell Crystal Cartledge and her three-year-old son Baileigh who were killed in a unit fire in Beenleigh last week

The Northern Territory Opposition refers taxpayer-funded advertisements to the independent Auditor-General, saying they are Country Liberal party political advertisements.

An asylum seeker from Syria trying to bring his family to Australia fears his family back home will be murdered if he is identified while talking about their plight.

Australian developers at the University of Sydney Technology Lab create a brainwave-reading headset that allows people to move objects with their mind, and say it will soon be available for less than $200.

Former Bega Cheese chief executive Maurice Van Ryn is sentenced to 13 years in jail, with a non-parole period of seven years, for multiple child sex offences.

Port Adelaide forward coach Tyson Edwards is told his contract with the AFL club will not be renewed for a fifth season.

A melon farmer's efforts to prevent disease outbreak on his farm have earned him a nomination in the Farmer of the Year Awards.

Are you one of our regular students for Self Improvement Wednesday? Each week, you get to learn something new - that's our Self Improvement pledge.

WA Health Minister Kim Hames distances himself from comments by the Premier on a report which is critical of adult cancer services in the state, after Colin Barnett attacks the findings as "exaggerated".

After a long, hard winter and welcoming 800 calves to their Meander district farm, Brian and Michele Lawrence are celebrating in Sydney.

Former Bega Cheese chief executive Maurice Van Ryn is sentenced to 13 years in jail, with a non-parole period of seven years, for multiple child sex offences.

The record price for an Angus bull in Australia was absolutely smashed this week, when a bull from a stud in central west New South Wales sold on-farm for $150,000.

Amid 'terrible' fire conditions firefighters commit "all resources" to a fire that has destroyed two houses as well as several vehicles, plant and equipment.

Australian developers at the University of Sydney Technology Lab create a brainwave-reading headset that allows people to move objects with their mind, and say it will soon be available for less than $200.

The head of the Queensland Police Union admits striking people while on duty and defends the rights of officers to respond with force if provoked.

A Bendigo man's family connection to Victoria's First Avenue of Honour is the inspiration for his fight to save the historic trees despite council and Bendigo District RSL being united in their decision to not protect the trees from redevelopment opting for an alternative permanent memorial.