Sydney news

Summer in Australia is a fantastic time for children, on holidays, there are pools, backyards and the bush to explore!Santa has probably brought a new bike and there are gangs of children to play with on holidays but summer can be a dangerous time with sunburn, bites and accidents.

WIN television could lose most of its content from midnight tonight because of a stand-off in negotiations with Channel Nine.

The former NSW Premier Bob Carr has thrown his support behind a campaign to end dolphin captivity in Australia.

A policeman is taken to hospital with a suspected fractured jaw after being attacked during a random breath test in Sydney's west.

The death of a woman whose body was found by a member of the public at Smithfield Plains school in northern Adelaide is being treated as suspicious.

The career of basketball star Lauren Jackson could be over with reports the 34-year-old has been released from her lucrative WNBL deal with the Canberra Capitals.

A search is underway for Craig Jackson, Claude Cobbo and Jacob Allen who escaped from a Townsville prison farm overnight.

An investigation is set to be carried out to determine how much it will cost to reopen a rail line in the central west.

A target which was set to reduce emergency department waiting times for mental health patients by January 1 will not be met by the South Australian Government.

Shaun Marsh denies his record-breaking knock with the Perth Scorchers was a message to the Australian Test selectors, who dropped him for the Boxing Day Test.

A climatologist recounts 2015's record-breaking weather in South Australia, warning there is more to come with warming trends under climate change.

Residents on Victoria's Surf Coast are warned to evacuate their homes by 10:00am amid fears bushfires will flare again in hot and windy conditions later today.

An investigation is set to be carried out to determine how much it will cost to reopen a rail line in the central west.

The discovery of a woman's body found on the grounds of a Smithfield Plains primary school in northern Adelaide is being treated as suspicious.

Australian Wendy Tuck and her boat Da Nang win the Sydney to Hobart leg of the Clipper Round The World Race.

Police are unable to identify a man whose body was discovered in a creek in Clyde, in Sydney's west.

Upper Hunter MP Michael Johnsen says a police investigation into a fatal accident near Singleton needs to be completed before it can be determined if road safety improvements are needed.

A popular picnic races in the western region has prompted police reinforcements after thousands of people flooded the town centre.

The last remaining Newcastle registered boat in the Sydney to Hobart race has crossed the finish line in 61st place for line honours.

An Upper Hunter councillor has strong concerns for the local community if plans for an open cut mine near Aberdeen are successful.

Western communities are being assured local schools won't lose resources under a new funding agreement from 20-18.

The Hunter's gearing up for celebrations to help bring in the New Year.

The Hunter's pet owners are being urged to keep their animals indoors during tonight's New Year's Eve fireworks displays to ensure they do not end up at the RSPCA.

Perth Scorchers openers Michael Klinger and Shaun Marsh make Big Bash history, recording the first 10-wicket win and wicketless inning in the competition's history in their victory over the Melbourne Renegades.

More than a million litres of wine is drained from tanks at a winery in South Australia, sparking a plea for help from the public.

Sharks are spotted near popular swimming spots on the New South Wales coast, including more than 30 in the shallows at Jervis Bay.

Victorian Police prepare to door-knock residents of fire-affected communities on the state's Surf Coast, to warn of evacuations ahead of hot and windy conditions on New Year's Eve.

Falls Festival organisers raise $120,000 in 24 hours from ticket sales for communities affected by the Christmas Day bushfires.

Purported health benefits drive West Australian jarrah honey exports to China.

The price for iron ore has increased to more than $US42 a tonne.

A motorist in WA's Mid-West becomes the third person in the state in a week to record a blood alcohol level at least six times the legal limit.

Melbourne photographer James Smart wins National Geographic's 2015 Photo Contest with a shot of a tornado in Colorado, United States.

A body is found in Duck Creek at Silverwater in Sydney's west.

ABC Mid West and Wheatbelt highlights some of the top stories of 2015.

The operators of a sheep farm on Bruny Island in Tasmania run by a corporate Commonwealth body could have been taken to court for animal cruelty, departmental documents obtained by the ABC show.

Police break into a Darwin house and rescue a man in his 80s who fails to hear the smoke alarm sounding after a citronella candle starts a fire.

ABC Grandstand commentator Jim Maxwell delivers his player ratings for the Australian line-up after the second-Test win over the West Indies at the MCG.

Extasea wins line honours in the Melbourne to Hobart yacht race for a fourth time after the fleet was tormented by extremely calm conditions along Tasmania's west coast.

Six bushfires in just over a week have officials and locals in Western Australia's south-west fruit-growing region fearful a firebug is on the loose.

The ABC looks back on what made headlines in New South Wales in 2015.

A teenager is charged over an attack on a 60-year-old woman near the West Leederville train station earlier this month.

Etheridge Shire, in the Gulf of Carpentaria, celebrates some whopping rainfall totals.

World War II radio operator Robert Jenkins will receive a French Legion of Honour for his service in the Royal Australian Air Force.

Melburnians are being warned that bad behaviour will not be tolerated as hundreds of thousands of people descend on city for New Year's Eve celebrations.

Brisbane's Chad Nowak is chasing his dreams of professional drone racing all the way to the United States.

A fine day with light winds is forecast for Sydney on New Year's Eve, as hundreds of thousands of people are expected to flock to the Harbour for the annual fireworks show.

It is feared sulphuric acid has leaked from a derailed freight train near Julia Creek in north-west Queensland into a nearby waterway.

Internet service provider iiNet says it is confident it has fixed a fault that has impacted customers around Western Australia for four days.

Apple ciders, fruit ciders, perries...confused about what makes a cider?

Sitting behind a microphone and a panel full of buttons, Craig Widdowson looks back on his 25 years working for the ABC.