Sydney news

Two men have been arrested in counter-terrorism raids in Merrylands and Bankstown, with police foiling a "similar type of attack that happened at Parramatta police headquarters".

Allegations of sexual assault at St Patrick's Catholic Cathedral in East Melbourne between 1996 and 2001 are being investigated by Victorian detectives.

Eating only local food for one year is virtue people often aspire to, but rarely pull off. A group of dedicated families in South Australia give it a go.

Two children are in Princess Margaret Hospital after almost drowning in backyard swimming pools in Western Australia.

A 19-year-old Broken Hill man has pleaded guilty to stealing parcels while working at Australia Post.

Young surfer Mannix Squiers is one of a new breed from the Illawarra and South Coast

Allegations of sexual assault at St Patrick's Catholic Cathedral in East Melbourne between 1996 and 2001 are being investigated by Victorian police.

The 34 past and present Essendon players awaiting the results of WADA's appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) will have to endure an anxious Christmas, with the findings now to be handed down in January.

A Christmas message calls for AGL to stop its Gloucester GSG project

A maternity ward at a hospital in South Australia's Mid North is being closed over Christmas due to a shortage of midwives in the region, sparking concerns of a more permanent closure.

As shipments of livestock to and from Tasmania peak, a former ore carrier joins the Bass Strait fleet.

A Melbourne woman receives a life-saving kidney transplant after police who were sent to check on her welfare found her collapsed and rushed her to hospital.

A central Queensland father whose son was electrocuted in a workplace accident three years ago says his calls to change the legal system have gone unanswered.

Two men have been arrested in further Operation Appleby counter-terrorism raids in Merrylands and Bankstown in Sydney.

The ACT's Rural Fire Service chief Andrew Stark resigns to take up a job in South Australia.

A police officer is allegedly assaulted as a number of men being investigated over a brawl at a Melbourne railway station at the weekend are caught up in a second melee at a police station.

A military Orion plane and a civilian helicopter nearly collided near Edinburgh Airport in Adelaide's northern suburbs in August, a report by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau says.

The Worimi Local Aboriginal Land Council calls for urgent action to clear land claim backlog.

Work is set to begin to find out how much it will cost to lengthen Dubbo Airport's runway so it can withstand larger aircraft.

The use of Bathurst's treated effluent by a mining company in the Blayney district is being described as a critical part of its plans for a gold mine.

A two-year-old girl and her pet dog are found safe and well after almost seven hours lost on a property south-east of Melbourne.

A mayor in the south-west of New South Wales is concerned the state government will stack officials, charged with overseeing planned amalgamations of councils.

Homicide police are investigating the death of a man who was found critically injured at Riverwood, in Sydney's south-west.

Defence has admitted contaminated water is still running off Williamtown's Air Force base.

A Central Coast drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre says it is determined to establish a new facility for women in the Hunter region.

Many Australians head to the beach at summer, but the spectre of shark attack is never far away. The NSW Government announced a test of "smart" drum lines to reduce the risk of shark attacks. It has been claimed that the test will not the beach safer but will threaten other wildlife. ABC Fact Check takes a closer look.

Singleton Council has applied to IPART for a rate variation.

A learner driver is behind bars after allegedly leading police on a car chase through Lake Macquarie.

A head surgeon at Newcastle's John Hunter Children's Hospital is urging parents of young children to be wary of toys with magnets.

A man in his 70s dies in a house fire at Old Toongabbie, in Sydney's west.

Windscreen washers are legal in the ACT but banned across the rest of Australia.

Squeegees seized by WA Police after four window washers were charged over an alleged confrontation with a female motorist in February 2015.

People washing windscreens at an intersection in Canberra.

Road safety campaigners slam "absurd" legislation allowing window washers on Canberra roads.

The Sydney Fish Market is expecting more than 110,000 people to walk through its doors in the lead up to Christmas.

Great Lakes Council says it has no option but to close a wharf at Tea Gardens during the busy holiday period, after finding major damage.

A dashing knock by captain Tim Paine guides the Hobart Hurricanes to a 20-run win over the Brisbane Heat in their Big Bash League clash at Bellerive Oval.

Former HSU boss Kathy Jackson is ordered to pay around $910,000 in interest and costs, following court action taken against her for misappropriating union funds.

Five people are injured, two critically, in a crash near Port Arthur in Tasmania's south-east.

A Christmas Day cyclone in the Gulf of Carpentaria is looking less likely, the Bureau of Meteorology says.

A promising development in the treatment of pre-eclampsia is good news for a Melbourne woman who gave birth early because of the condition.

Grandstand's Steve Horvat looks back at round 11 of the 2015/16 A-League season.

A Perth man is given a nine-month suspended prison sentence after pleading guilty to the aggravated assault of a Darwin bouncer during a pub brawl.

Former HSU boss, Kathy Jackson, has been ordered to pay around $910,000 in interest and costs, following court action taken against her for misappropriating union funds.

Football Federation Australia reprimands Sydney FC coach Graham Arnold for saying his side's 2-1 loss to Adelaide United was "criminal".

A Perth coroner recommends better signage be erected at a fishing spot north of Carnarvon after a Malaysian national was swept off a cliff face by a freak wave while he was fishing and died.

Perth loses a "local treasure" after fire guts a landmark Floreat home designed by one of the city's most famous brutalist architects, Iwan Iwanoff.

Cattle producers have met with an investor representative in central Queensland to further talks of a new abattoir in the region.

Police in Tasmania warn it is only a matter of time before someone is killed or injured by a firebug in the seaside town of Primrose Sands.

The Adelaide City Council has been found guilty of failing to properly manage a landfill site at Wingfield Waste and Recycling Centre, where there have been a number of serious fires.