Sydney news

Additional staff are expected to be rostered on in the Maternity Ward and Emergency Department of Tamworth Hospital following a meeting between nurses and the head of the Hunter New England Health District.

A man is arrested over the disappearance of his mother in Melbourne's east and is in hospital receiving medical treatment.

Mental health practitioners warn residents to be on the lookout for triggers as Victoria experiences an early start to the fire season.

South Australia's Premier says he hopes the Federal Government is getting its advice on the Future Submarine Project from someone other than the man formerly in charge of the project.

The final report from the Grantham Floods Commission of Inquiry is due be delivered to the Queensland Premier today.

Embarrassing Mums, You Must Stop Making Your Bed and A Rat with the Nose of a Pig.

The world's polo playing elite is gearing up for billionaire James Packer's polo pony sale in the Hunter Valley, sparked by his lack of time stemming from other business pursuits.

A Tasmanian mother who illegally uses medicinal cannabis to control her child's life-threatening seizures says it is too dangerous for her daughter to participate in the New South Wales trial of the drug.

Global mining giant Glencore says the Hunter Valley's coal mining industry has a very positive future, despite hinting at further cost cutting at its operations.

Victoria's multi-billion-dollar desalination plant could be used for the first time, as the Andrews Government confronts a looming water crisis in drought-hit country towns.

The Premier Mike Baird says a High Court ruling, rejecting former Newcastle lord mayor Jeff McCloy's attempt to overturn developer donation laws, opens the way for national reforms.

Approval to expand a privately owned piggery in Queensland's South Burnett expected to boost local economy.

A man who was arrested this week in relation to a fatal car crash near Newcastle 15 years ago has been granted conditional bail.

Changes to road funding have prompted a central west council to apply for a rate increase four-times above the pegging limit.

Patients in the western region have helped develop a pledge aimed at bolstering accountability and the quality of care being offered in the public health system.

A planning authority says it has heard a cross-section of views on a controversial proposal to rezone land in north Orange for a petrol station and fast food restaurant.

Significant upgrades to Broke Road at Pokolbin, considered the gateway to the Hunter Valley's wine country, will be officially opened this morning.

A website recruiting people to the western region is being touted as an unprecedented opportunity to address workforce shortages.

A new program is being launched in Newcastle today, supporting young people in the Hunter showing early signs of mental illness.

The Leigh Creek community is looking for answers about its future after it was announced the South Australian outback town's coal mine will close next month.

The Tasmania Fire Service says the permit system for fuel reduction burns does not need an overhaul, despite admitting many of this week's fires started with burn-offs on private land.

Bushfire emergency warnings remain in place for six areas in central Victoria as fire crews battle a huge blaze near Lancefield that has destroyed two homes.

Former Liberal Party treasurer Philip Higginson claims vindication for his criticism of federal director Brian Loughnane amid the latter's expected departure from the job.

What should you say to someone when they tell you they've been diagnosed with depression? Fearing awkward conversations or disapproving looks, sufferers often choose to hide their mental illness. But some are putting their depression on public display to get people talking. Maria Hatzakis spoke to Brisbane artist Joanne Braddy, who's doing just that.

A car mounted a kerb, knocked down a street sign and crashed into a library wall before the driver walked into a supermarket in Canberra's north, police allege.

Victoria's firefighting authorities say the bushfire emergency warnings in place for six towns in the state's centre will remain in place overnight.

Federal Labor vows to support a rail link to Sydney's new airport and Melbourne's Metro Rail, among other projects, if installed at the next election.

A Hilton home becomes the first in Perth to use the Sun to meet almost all of its power needs by storing the energy in batteries.

The state-owned Quadriplegic Centre in Perth needs to be demolished and rebuilt because its ageing infrastructure is failing to meet the needs of current residents, the facility's executive director says.

A mother of four who faces losing her family home to make way for a truck bypass wipes away tears as she tells a Senate inquiry she does not know if she will still have her home at Christmas.

A teenager suffers a deep laceration to his foot after being bitten by a shark at Pyramids Beach, south of Perth.

The president of a new political party in the Northern Territory says he has lots of information about the Country Liberals from his time as that party's president.

The Northern Territory's first commercial crop of opium poppies is ready for harvest on Tipperary Station.

Rail group Aurizon announces up to 74 jobs will be axed from its Queensland operations.

The dispute between taxis and ride-sharing has taken a violent turn with three Uber drivers in Brisbane ambushed by men police suspect are associated with the taxi industry. Hear the victims' accounts of what happened.

Groups on both sides of the GM fence say the fight over genetically modified crops won't end in the High Court, with an appeal pending.

Michael Clarke will become the latest high profile Australian sportsman to join Perpetual LOYAL owner Anthony Bell during the Sydney to Hobart yacht race.

The Tasmanian family behind casinos and high-end hotels in the state moves up one place on a list of rich Australian families.

A car mounted a curb, knocked down a street sign and crashed into a library wall before the driver walked into a supermarket in Canberra's north, police allege.

A car mounted a curb, knocked down a street sign and crashed into a library wall before the driver walked into a supermarket in Canberra's north, police allege.

Groups on both sides of the GM fence say the fight over genetically modified crops won't end in the High Court, with an appeal pending.

A one-year-old baby is in a serious condition after falling from a window south of Cairns in far north Queensland.

Lawyers for a Bangladeshi asylum seeker have told the High Court that the Australian government is controlling the offshore processing centre on Nauru in contravention of Australian laws. The Government argues the case should be rejected on the basis of changes announced by Nauru this week to give asylum seekers freedom of movement around the island.

FFA chairman Frank Lowy has revealed details of his stay in a French hospital weeks after his fall at the A-League grand final.

One of three Uber drivers assaulted by an angry mob of men in Brisbane on the long weekend claims his Punjabi-speaking attackers "were praised" by taxi drivers at a cab rank near where the violence unfolded.

A Christian music producer accused of murdering his girlfriend's son repeatedly hit and yelled at him, refused him food and forced him to run until exhausted, a court hears.

Steve Johnson could be handed a career lifeline by the Brisbane Lions, while Harley Bennell has reportedly nominated Fremantle as his preferred destination.

A 64-year-old Cairns man who shot his neighbour with a rifle for playing loud music is sentenced to three-and-a-half-years' jail.

Police commanders are now saying they believe the 'politically motivated' teenage gunman Farhad Jabar had begun associating with a group of other young Muslim men already under suspicion by security agencies before last week's shooting in Parramatta. Four men were held for questioning about their relationship with Jabar after they werre rounded up in lightning police raids by hundreds of officers across Sydney.

Queensland grandmother Yvonne D'Arcy has hailed a decision in the High Court as a win for anyone at risk of breast cancer. The Court ruled that the cancer gene BRCA-1 cannot be patented, ending a five year battle through the courts. Some have called it a victory for common sense, while others are questioning the broader ramifications for the biotechnology industry.