Sydney news

The trial of a program where health workers are brought into Indigenous communities after a suicide is cautiously welcomed by the New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council.

The Queensland Resources Council wants mining companies to pay less royalties and laws to cap council rates following a new industry commissioned report, which shows a third of coal mines are losing money.

Judy's life with her son, artist Tim Sharp, is writing a new script for people with autism.

Figures show Victorian taxpayers were slugged with a significant advertising bill during the former Napthine government's final months in power.

The NSW Nurses and Midwives Association insists a public hydrotherapy pool must be built in the Riverina city of Wagga Wagga, as a cost-effective public health solution.

A group of visiting Chinese students will be part of this weekend's Lunar New Year celebrations in Bundaberg in southern Queensland.

Additional resources are brought in to fight a large bushfire, which has more than doubled in size and is threatening lives and homes in the Shire of Harvey south of Perth.

Horse owners are being urged to vaccinate, as notifiable disease strangles spreads across Victoria.

The pilot of a light plane that crashed in Coffs Harbour last year unsuccessfully tried to do an aerobatic manoeuvre, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) finds.

Environmental investigations are underway into plans for a large rail terminal and business park being planned for the NSW Hunter Valley.

There is mounting concern in the Manning about a spike in vandalism and associated costly repairs.

A 23-year-old man dies after falling off a rock ledge in the Brisbane Water National Park, about 11 kilometres north of Gosford on the New South Wales Central Coast.

Hundreds of past and present students and teachers spent the weekend in Newcastle remembering their time at Australia's oldest continuous-running school.

Head to the top of the concrete jungle with high-flying cleaner Caleb Wilkinson, who spends his days clambering off the edges of buildings to clean windows.

Changes to media laws could affect what regional Australians get to watch, listen to and read.

In the New South Wales Hunter Valley's thoroughbred heartland, a new riding competition is giving failed race horses a second chance.

A report is being prepared for the coroner after a man died and another was injured after being hit by a passenger train in the New South Wales Hunter Valley.

The New South Wales Government should be focusing on renewables instead of trying to re-boot the coal seam gas (CSG) industry, the state Opposition says.

A southern New South Wales council says a failure to attract Federal Government funding is behind the withdrawal of an application for a $90 million dollar solar farm in the region.

People are warned not to eat or take mussels and other shellfish from Victoria's Gippsland lakes region as health authorities test for a rare, potentially fatal toxin.

The Victorian Government is optimistic legislation to privatise the Port of Melbourne will finally pass State Parliament this week, after months of delays and negotiations.

The shark nets that sit in front of 51 beaches in New South Wales do nothing to reduce the chance of attacks, a statistical analysis finds.

A fire burning at Uduc, about 140km south of Perth, is a threat to lives and homes, and people should leave or get ready to actively defend their properties.

There are renewed calls for improved access to the site of Canberra's worst air disaster, which is only accessible by foot.

The sister of missing Australian sailor Andrew Witton, who vanished from the deck of his yacht in a remote part of the Pacific Ocean in 2007, believes there is sufficient new information for his case to be reconsidered by the Commonwealth DPP.

A bushfire emergency warning has been issued for the southern part of Uduc in the shire of Harvey in Western Australia.

Mystery at sea:Two men leave on the trip of a lifetime, but only one returns. What happened to Andrew Witton?

A 12-year-old girl reported missing north of Brisbane has turned up safe and well after an emotional appeal from her mother.

India beats the Southern Stars by five wickets in the third and final women's ODI in Hobart to avoid a series sweep.

Northern WA residents spend the weekend puzzling over peculiar sightings and photographs of what appeared to be a fireball hitting the Eartha mystery police believe they have now solved.

A late double from Rieko Ioane gives New Zealand a dramatic 27-24 win over Australia to win the inaugural Sydney 7s title.

The new Perth Children's Hospital is on track to open at the end of this year, with authorities giving a sneak peek of some of its facilities.

A double from Milos Trifunovic gives Newcastle Jets a 2-1 A-League win over Melbourne City on Sunday evening.

Swimming Australia president John Bertrand criticises previous administrators' response to the London 2012 scandals, saying too much pressure was put on the swimmers.

Chris Froome wins the Herald Sun Tour for the first time only a few weeks after also becoming a father for the first time.

Temperatures in Perth have hit a scorching 40 degrees Celsius on day one of a heatwave that is expected to last for at least five days, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

Brisbane Bandits win the Australian Baseball League with a 2-0 finals series victory over Adelaide Bite.

Two Timorese doctors working and training in Darwin will soon return home in a bid to help deliver better health outcomes for children in their country.

Perth Glory edge closer to an A-League top six spot with a fortuitous 1-0 win over a wasteful Wellington Phoenix.

A critically endangered tortoise, highly sought after by wildlife traffickers because of its unusual star-shaped shell, is returned to the Perth zoo after being dropped off at a police station.

The Parramatta Eels win the Auckland Nines title, defeating the New Zealand Warriors 22-4 in the final at Eden Park.

The new Perth Children's Hospital is on track to open at the end of this year, with authorities giving a sneak peak of some of its facilities.

A man is charged after allegedly ramming his car into a motorcyclist repeatedly in a drive-through bottle shop in Halls Head, in Perth's south.

The FFA is investigating flares being set off in the Western Sydney Wanderers fan section, disrupting their A-League clash with Melbourne Victory.

With the Zika virus declared a global public health emergency this week, there is a larger, more aggressive mosquito that is worrying authorities who are desperate to keep the disease from reaching Australia.

Queensland police appeal for help to find three teenagersa 12-year-old girl who went missing at Redcliffe, and a boy and girl missing in the Ipswich area.

Queensland Police say Matilda Grace White went missing from Redcliffe, north of Brisbane, on Thursday and another girl from Mackay.

Dietitians in WA's Kimberley are hoping the leaves of the boab tree will become a staple part of the Australian diet and provide a possible free treatment for health conditions like anaemia.

Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk hits out at the Opposition's "fare-free Friday" plan for council buses, ferries and city cats, as the two sides prepare for local government elections on March 19.

Violence is rising in Darwin as problem drinkers relocate there and become homeless because they cannot buy alcohol in their home towns, NT Police say.