Sydney news

Premier Colin Barnett expresses deep concern about the impact of a national plebiscite on same-sex marriage as WA's Parliament calls for a conscience vote on the issue.

Jason Day says he once played eight hours of video games a day before finding the drive to become world number one.

There are concerns the dark times experienced in the wake of the BHP steelworks closure is again playing out across the Hunter region.

A survey of almost a thousand immigrants who have settled in regional Australia has found 95 per cent feel very welcome or somewhat welcome.

The royal commission into trade unions pushed Queensland authorities to bring criminal charges against Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union state secretary Michael Ravbar nine months ago but they are yet to act.

A man was killed when a truck hit a freight train on a railway crossing in the New South Wales Central West.

Police are looking for up to five motorcyclists involved in a hit-run collision at a shopping centre car park in Melbourne's south-east which leaves a woman fighting for life in hospital.

The organic industry says there is a 40 per cent deficit in supply, and they need more farmers to convert.

Apartment-dwelling Newcastle residents have had a win in their fight for better noise controls at a local hotel, with claims noisy DJs were affecting their mental health.

One person dies and another is left with serious injuries after a crash near Burnie last night.

The Hay Shire Council is seeking a meeting with the federal Environment Minister over ongoing degradation of the Murrumbidgee River, caused by fluctuations in flows.

Opal jewellery from the royal collection in London, some of it designed by Prince Albert for Queen Victoria, is about to go on display in Adelaide as part of an exhibition at the South Australian Museum.

After seven years of giving dilapidated inner-city buildings a new lease on life, Renew Newcastle has reached another milestone.

A man dies in Queensland's Wide Bay region after a property dispute gets out of hand, police say.

Separate shelves for eggs which are truly free-range would make shopping easier for consumers, the South Australian Greens say, as they launch a second private member's bill to legislate the standards.

There are no signs of the mining downturn easing in the Hunter, with the ANZ lowering its forecast coal price.

Former Upper Hunter MP George Souris says he's looking forward to his new role as chair of the Hunter's Wine and Tourism Alliance.

Motorists and skippers are being advised of changed conditions on the Swansea Bridge next month as it undergoes routine maintenance.

New details are revealed about ambulances being called to popular Sydney breast implant clinic The Cosmetic Institute to take young patients to hospital emergency departments.

Former UN secretary-general for the Fourth World Conference on Women, Gertrude Mongella, speaks at the Perth event marking 20 years since the Beijing conference.

Key female figures reflect on the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing and focus on the challenges that remain to achieving gender equality 20 years on.

One person dies in a house fire at Salisbury in northern Adelaide, with initial investigations suggesting no suspicious circumstances.

WA Labor MP Lisa Baker makes a passionate plea for the Turnbull Government to move decisively to implement same-sex marriage, saying a plebiscite could prove damagingly divisive.

Treatment options for kidney dialysis patients in the ACT are undergoing a major overhaul, following a spike in the number of people with high-level care needs, and there are more improvements in the pipeline.

A Dally M boycott appears to have been averted, with the NRL reportedly agreeing to give players a seat on the competition rules committee and an extra week of annual leave.

A crime analyst tells the coronial inquest into missing Tasmanian woman Lucille Butterworth that her review of the 46-year investigation suggests the part-time model was the victim of a sex attack gone wrong.

Sydney speedster Lewis Jetta has played his last game for the Swans, with the Western Australian requesting a trade back home to West Coast or Fremantle.

Back to only one book this month.

A long-serving WA police officer is fined $10,000 for repeatedly punching his estranged wife, who is also a senior police officer.

NSW Police charge a 31-year-old man with the murder of his 12-year-old stepdaughter in the Hunter Valley.

Huon Valley Council passes a motion to stop the mayor and councillors from talking publicly about an investigation into the council's behaviour.

AFL players, a migrant's story of survival and Fremantle musicians are among the inspiration for entries in this year's Black Swan prize for portraiture in Western Ausralia.

A group of Auburn councillors in Sydneyincluding high-profile deputy mayor Salim Mehajerare accused of a failure to address the appearance of conflicts of interest in council planning decisions.

More than 100,000 light bulbs will light up Commonwealth Park for the annual Floriade NightFest which begins tonight.

An elderly man charged over alleged threats against Victorian Government employees, who appeared to fall asleep as he faced Geelong Magistrates Court, is denied bail.

Myki tickets will go unchecked on AFL grand final day in Melbourne as part of a week of industrial action by Metro train staff that will also include a four-hour train stoppage on Thursday.

Businesses in southern Tasmania could soon have access to a new regular shipping service out of the Hobart port for the first time in at least eight years.

West Australian Liberal Cabinet members will be reminded of their obligations next week after details of a Cabinet discussion on a draft code of conduct were leaked to the media.

Premiership coach John Worsfold has confirmed he wants to coach Essendon in 2016, and is ready to prove he has the "energy, hunger and ability" for the job.

A firearms amnesty will run from December until next June in South Australia, with plans being made to legislate for its permanency, meaning people handing in weapons will be protected against prosecution.

Desperate patients waiting on organ donation are given a second chance at life thanks to Australia's paired kidney exchange program.

Police treat the death of a man in East Perth at the weekend as suspicious and urge witnesses to come forward as family members appeal for help.

A former Australian Army sniper turned bikie gang leader, who has pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and blackmail, used threats and violence to recover debts in north-west Victoria, a court is told.

A national study into whether vitamin B has the power to make dreams more vivid, colourful and emotionally compelling is carried out by experts at the University of Adelaide.

Thousands of birds begin arriving at the salt marshes, mangroves and mudflats along Adelaide's northern coast as part of their annual migration.

The Victorian Court of Appeal refuses to grant an injunction preventing any work on Bendigo's first mosque as opponents make a last-ditch attempt to reverse planning approval.

An Indonesian university student who set up a fake Facebook account pretending to be a woman to lure men for sex did so as an act of revenge, a court hears.

Commercially prepared dry and canned pet food might be convenient for pet owners, but likened to junk food for animals.

Posters advertising singer Chris Brown's Melbourne show are being vandalised by domestic violence activists.

Truck drivers who fail to engage low gear when descending the South Eastern Freeway in the Adelaide Hills could be jailed under legislation the South Australian Government is drafting.