Sydney news

A Canadian man who fought alongside Kurdish forces against Islamic State is detained in Brisbane and is likely to be deported.

A world-first program using sniffer dogs to detect fire ant colonies has led to almost complete eradication of the species in central Queensland's Gladstone region.

A fire destroys a house in the Mandurah suburb of Halls Head in Western Australia, but no-one is injured.

Police make a fresh appeal for information about the shooting death of a man during a home invasion in Sunshine West, in Melbourne's west, last year.

More than 150 employees of Newcastle shipbuilder Forgacs are without a job, now that a takeover by a Western Australian company has been finalised.

The Greens say an agreement between the NSW Government and the North Western Grandmother's Against Removals group has inspired other aboriginal communities.

Residents impacted by contamination from an old lead smelter in Lake Macquarie say it is time to end the stigma hanging over their area.

The NSW town of Oberon has been named as the site for a multi-million-dollar glasshouse farm to grow tomatoes.

Residents in the southern New South Wales town of Gundagai are being told that expanding a local dump for waste from a nearby pulp and paper mill will not damage the environment.

Wayne Bennett accepts the role of England rugby league coach, which he will balance with his Broncos duties.

A company owned by controversial mining magnate Nathan Tinkler comes up with the money to buy a disused coal mine near Aberdeen in the NSW Upper Hunter.

A teenage driver is arrested by Adelaide police for allegedly leaving the scene of a fatal crash involving a pedestrian at Largs North.

A Hunter athlete hoping to compete at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics says she is not personally concerned about the Zika virus, but some of her teammates are.

A group of 45 young regional Australians have met the Governor-General in Canberra to discuss issues that matter to them.

One of the candidates vying to be Labor's pick for the federal seat of Wills in Melbourne calls on the party's national executive to intervene to ensure a woman is preselected.

It has been five years since Cyclone Yasi bore down on north Queensland, but locals are reeling in the aftermath amid skyrocketing insurance premiums.

A pub employee is threatened with an axe and a machete during an armed robbery in Sydney's inner west.

Aboriginal parents, students and educators fear students could go backwards if the Government does not fund the last two years of the Gonski model.

A tiny, rundown Melbourne cottage that famously featured in one of Beyonce's music videos is up for sale, but interest from buyers has been slow, the property's agent says.

Long-term closure orders are imposed on Sydney strip clubs Dreamgirls and Bada Bing after undercover police officers were allegedly sold cocaine by venue staff.

A truck jackknifes and bursts into flames on the M1 prompting the closure of southbound lanes and peak-hour traffic chaos.

Australian swimming star James Magnussen says he is not harbouring any concerns about the Zika virus with the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro just six months away.

A man is shot in the wrist and another stabbed in the leg and head during a dispute between neighbours in central west New South Wales.

A Melbourne man whose daughter was removed from him 11 days ago because police believed he was homeless will return to court on Wednesday.

Long-term closure orders are imposed on Sydney strip clubs Dreamgirls and Bada Bing after undercover police officers were allegedly sold cocaine by venue staff.

New South Wales Health confirms a woman and a man in Sydney were infected with Zika virus after travelling to Central America.

All-rounder Ellyse Perry and veteran batter Alex Blackwell lead the Southern Stars to a 101-run win over India in the first one-day international at Manuka Oval.

Emergency crews attend a serious crash at Largs North after receiving reports a man had been hit by a car.

Daniel Gaunt, the second Australian confirmed to have contracted Zika virus after he was bitten by a monkey and mosquitos in Bali, says he was hospitalised with felt fever and joint pain.

Schools in Sydney's western suburbs see a dramatic improvement in academic outcomes after overhauling an education system they say is missing the mark.

A woman who stabbed two of her daughters and herself to death made delusional statements about her former partner, including that he was involved in a paedophile ring with the WA Premier, a coronial inquest is told.

Organ builder John Larner lost almost half a lifetime of work in the conflagration that nearly destroyed the town.

Banned young guns Valentine Holmes and Cameron Munster clearly do not understand how a State of Origin jersey can benefit them, according to Queensland Rugby League chairman Peter Betros.

Adani's Carmichael coal mine receives its final environmental approval from the Queensland Government, but will still need a mining lease before it proceeds.

A Perth woman was more than two times over the legal alcohol limit and was trying to scare a moped driver when she crashed her car, killing her 15-year-old daughter, the district court is told.

A thief in Melbourne's inner east has been caught on camera targeting women's underwear left to dry on clotheshorses and using them to masturbate, police say.

A dispute about barking dogs preceded a shooting which left a man in a critical condition, in Moe in Victoria's east, a court hears.

An Anglican priest has told the Royal Commission that from 1999 he lobbied the then Archbishop of Adelaide Ian George to speak out about the abuse of boys by Bob Brandenburg and others involved with the Church of England Boys Society (CEBS). But it wasn't until 2003 that the Archbishop went public and then he misrepresented the church's handling of the allegations.

The Federal Government and Opposition have traded blows over personal and economic credibility on the first parliamentary sitting of 2016. The Government's reintroduced its bill for the Australian Building and Construction Commission, while the Opposition has focused on its school education policy.

A senior Families SA youth worker tells a royal commission he gave paedophile carer Shannon McCoole the benefit of the doubt when a girl accused him of barging in on her in the bathroom.

The detection of an oyster disease in Tasmania is expected to have a significant impact on farmers along the New South Wales south coast.

While February 2, 2011, may stick in the memory of many Queenslanders, it stands out as one of the best nights ever for the Crichton family.

A thief in Melbourne's inner east has been caught on camera targeting women's underwear left to dry on clotheshorses and using them to masturbate, police say.

Tania and Stuart Ablitt reflect on a charmed life in the saddle at Woolnorth as a Chinese bid to buy it is reviewed.

Public housing tenants in WA are shocked to learn that carers, veterans and people with disabilities will have their benefits treated as income in sweeping changes to the collection of rent in public housing.

A 30-year-old man used cigarettes and cannabis to groom then rape and sexually assault children at an Aboriginal community in the Western Australian Kimberley region, a court hears.

How long has icecream been part of our diet?how has it been manufactured and distributed in Australia?

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says the public, and all of her caucus, are in favour of earlier closing times for nightclubs to reduce alcohol-related violence.

Byron Bay is mourning the loss of its 'surfing lawyer' Lester Brien, who was famously jailed for refusing to give up his clients' files to the New South Wales Royal Commission into Drug Trafficking from 1977-1979.

Newcastle Knights winger James McManus will sit out the 2016 NRL season due to concussion.