Sydney news

Tamworth Police say the behaviour of Country Music Festival attendees this year has greatly improved on previous years.

A man allegedly kicks and punches four random people in Sydney's south-west in one day.

Newcastle police have praised the behaviour of thousands of Australia Day revellers, saying they made only a handful of arrests.

A public meeting is being held in Port Stephens tonight against the NSW Government's proposed amalgamation with Newcastle Council.

The Western Australian Supreme Court orders an investigation into an Indigenous body in the Pilbara after allegations its directors have not been validly appointed.

Two men have died after a head-on collision between two cars at Gregadoo, east of Wagga Wagga in the New South Wales Riverina.

Leon Bignell will pay back money he claimed for a five-star hotel stay in Adelaide after a backlash from the Opposition.

An Australian researcher who has suggested aliens could be extinct says there is still merit in proceeding with a program in New South Wales to find extraterrestrial life.

Two people killed after their ute is driven off a bridge in Keilor East, in Melbourne's north-west, were drag racing an hour before the crash, police say.

More than 155 workers, including 15 permanent local employees, are expected to lose their jobs as JBS scales back operations at its Scone abattoir.

A dramatic video capturing a flash flood event on the Hunter River in New South Wales has gone viral on social media.

Questions have been raised about the New South Wales Government's commitment to tertiary education in the Upper Hunter and New England regions.

Home and shack owners at Arthur River, Temma and Nelson Bay in Tasmania's far north-west are evacuated to the beach as a bushfire is upgraded to emergency level.

A youth group operated by the Anglican Church will come under investigation during public hearings in Hobart by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

Roger Federer is a self-confessed Nick Kyrgios fan but has challenged the prodigious youngster to make good on his undeniable talent.

Families SA workers will meet to discuss industrial action over staff shortages and increasing workloads, with their union predicting work bans are likely to escalate this week.

Two people die after their car drives off the side of the E J Whitten Bridge in Keilor East, in Melbourne's north-west.

A 29-year-old man will face court after being charged following a six-hour siege at a public housing unit complex at Maroubra in Sydney's east.

A Sydney man who allegedly used his four-wheel drive to run over his neighbour, leaving him with serious injuries, is charged with attempted murder.

India's 37-run victory over Australia in the opening Twenty20 international featured several veterans, writes Grandstand's Geoff Lemon.

India romps to a 37-run victory over Australia in the first of a three-match T20 series at the Adelaide Oval.

The outstretched boot of Sydney FC's Matthew Jurman has given Melbourne Victory a barely deserved 1-0 Big Blue win at Docklands in their defence of the A-League championship.

Police arrest and question two men after a six hour siege at a public housing unit complex at Maroubra in Sydney's east.

The Southern Stars are thwarted by India in their Twenty20 encounter at Adelaide Oval, with Harmanpreet Kaur playing a decisive role with the bat for the visitors.

There is a renewed push for the Ulladulla Harbour on the New South Wales south coast to be heritage-listed, after a fossil was cut from rocks using an angle grinder.

Clive Palmer says he is not personally responsible for paying out the entitlements of Queensland Nickel workers made redundant before the company went into voluntary administration.

An Indonesian government agency is using a Sydney-based proxy server to run the notorious spyware FinFisher, according to technology researchers.

A cow is shot with an arrow in Western Australia's south west with the RSPCA currently investigating the incident.

Wyong councillors will receive a confidential briefing to outline where negotiations are at over land purchased for a proposed $500 million Chinese theme park.

WA's energy safety regulator and the owner of Perth's gas network have serious concerns about the safety of more than 750 gas installations in big apartment blocks, according to a new report.

Roger Federer set up a potential semi-final clash with world number one Novak Djokovic following a clinical straight-sets win over Tomas Berdych at the Australian Open.

Mount Gambier resident Eric Arthur is awarded an OAM for his many years of community service.

Police arrest two men after a suspected siege at a public housing unit complex at Maroubra in Sydney's east.

A body washes ashore on a Queensland's Sunshine Coast, not far from where a man disappeared in rough surf last Sunday.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk calls for calm as speculation mounts about the future of her Cairns MP, Rob Pyne.

Hundreds flock to Brisbane's Story Bridge Hotel for the 35th annual Australia Day cockroach race, won this year by an Irish newcomer.

A severe storm sweeps across the ACT, prompting hundreds of calls for help and putting a dampener on the Australian of the Year ceremony.

The first Syrian refugee family to be resettled in Australia as part of the Federal Government's additional 12,000 humanitarian intake tell of how grateful they are for a chance at a new life.

A teenager dies after the car he is travelling in crashes into a tree at Willaura in Victoria's west.

Australian of the YearDavid Morrison with members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association Australia ACT branch at Australia Day celebrations in Canberra.

Members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association Australia ACT branch pose with chairman of the National Australia Day Council, Ben Roberts-Smith. (26 January 2016)

Australia's flag assists the country in its "complacency" to redress the wrongs committed against Indigenous Australians and should be changed, activist Richard Frankland says.

Slow clothing ambassador Jane Milburn wants to turn the tide on fast, disposable fashion and spark a conversation about where clothes come from, by getting 40 people to create 40 garments in 40 weeks.

People with disabilities will now be able to reach the water's edge at Seacliff Beach thanks to a specially designed plastic mata first in South Australia.

A last-minute decision to plant mungbean crops is looking like paying off for growers in north-west NSW.

Business entrepreneur Dick Smith says the date of Australia Day should be changed to one agreed upon by both the Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations.

Almost 600 people are welcomed as Australian citizens at the state's largest citizenship ceremony in Brisbane.

When Paul and Maria Bidwell's children flew-the-coop from their WA avocado orchard, the couple decided to test a long-held theory.

Serena Williams will face Agnieszka Radwanska in the Australian Open semi-finals, after continuing her dominance over rival Maria Sharapova.

Bulk exporters of grain and mineral commodities benefiting from historically low freight rates as Baltic Dry Index bottoms out.