Sydney news

A woman who died in Monday night's Appin Road fatality is named as popular high school teacher Melissa Bond.

The mayor of Broken Hill warns a major round of mining redundancies will cost the local economy millions of dollars.

A federal government committee assessing perflourinated chemicals at the centre of a water contamination incident near Newcastle, has recommended against blood tests.

An efficient way to clean clothes is being developed by RMIT University researchers that could soon allow people to replace their washing machine with a little bit of sunshine.

A 16-year-old Sydney schoolgirl arrested along with Milad Atai (pictured), was allegedly under the spell of a notorious Islamic State terror cell and an Australian fighter, whose growing profile in Syria is causing concern among Australian authorities.

Victoria Police are on the hunt for a fruit-napper who stole five tonnes of beurre bosc pears from a property near Portland, in the state's south-west, amid a string of thefts from farms in the area.

Two brands of clothes dryersIndesit and Aristonare recalled because of concerns lint could spark a fire.

Clive Palmer's Queensland Nickel Sales is given until next week to investigate the contamination of waterways near its north Queensland refinery, or risk hefty fines.

Smoking in Darwin's main mall will be outlawed after a vote of the city's council last night.

Police are hunting for a group of men after a woman was found in the boot of a car in Melbourne's south-east, two-and-a-half hours after she was abducted and sexually assaulted.

Newcastle's lord mayor is hoping a new agreement between council and the Newcastle Art Gallery Foundation will help restore the city's reputation in art circles.

American punk legends The Violent Femmes hook up with Northern Territory Indigenous group Rayella for a unique musical jam session in Perth.

A talent identification and development squad in Peth hopes to create Australia's first Indigenous cycling star.

Police say they are no longer treating the death of missing Geelong man Daniel O'Keeffe as suspicious, following the discovery of human remains at his family's home.

The founder of the fledgling Islamic Association of South Australia warns a lack of tolerance could spark violence that could "get very dirty", after a man who allegedly grabbed a woman's headscarf was released on bail.

The chemotherapy dosage scandal enveloping St Vincent's Hospital deepens, with revelations 82 patients, not 70 as the hospital previously declared, were given less than the recommended dose.

Australian companies part of the global graphite rush, but explorers and investors warned costs must stack up.

A prisoner on trial over the 1983 kidnapping and murder of Adelaide schoolgirl Louise Bell is in hospital with an undisclosed illness.

Dramatic footage from the Sydney siege is played at an inquest, showing Man Haron Monis firing at six escaping hostages, as well as the final moments of the standoff when police stormed the Lindt Cafe.

Commercial fishers who claim sharks are eating their catch have had their bid to use fish traps off the Gascoyne coast rejected by the State Government.

Artist Jeffrey Kelsey captures Melbourne's Holocaust survivors on canvas for an exhibition in Elsternwick before, as he says, it is too late.

Adelaide's Victoria Square turf is being replaced after damage from two big summer events.

Plans for a desalination plant in Esperance or tapping underground water supplies have been labelled "too expensive" by the Water Corporation.

Two men, aged 28 and 30, die after being pulled from the water off the NSW far north coast this afternoon.

The cultural make-up of Australia's youth is changing, and the AFL hopes its new academy zone system, announced weeks out from the start of the 2016 season, will encourage new talent.

Hotter and drier conditions mean South Australian irrigators are facing reduced allocations for the first time since 2011, but the State Government is considering ramping Adelaide's desalination operations.

A hospital delay that saw a 91-year-old Tasmanian man wait two days for surgery after a severe fall was due to a heavy workload, the Government says.

A powerful committee will investigate whether the actions of Troy Buswell's chief-of-staff and a senior Colin Barnett staffer, relating to a series of car crashes involving the ex-WA Treasurer, constituted contempt of State Parliament.

Senators are designing their strategies for handling next month's unscheduled three week sitting. The Prime Minister says they should pass two industrial relations bills or face a July double dissolution election. But the key players in the Senate are weighing up their options for those three weeks - including possibly refusing to sit.

The Lindt Cafe Inquest has heard that near the end of the siege, an increasingly agitated gunman Man Haron Monis was bothered by a blue light. He threatened to kill a hostage if it was not put out.

More medical staff at the Bacchus Marsh hospital where a cluster of preventable baby deaths were uncovered are being investigated, the national health regulator AHPRA reveals.

Driving enthusiasts are urging visitors to be cautious when taking their four wheels to the sand this weekend along the Sunshine Coast.

A former private school teacher charged with child sex offences regularly massaged students around the hips during class, Brisbane's District Court hears.

March rainfall signals a promising start to the growing season for cropping farmers in WA's Wheatbelt.

The first North Coast health expo for people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds has successfully launched in Coffs Harbour.

An economic report claims native forest logging loses millions but left standing they are worth millions in carbon credits.

Fourteen teams, crunching for 54 hours, make their final pitches to a panel of world-class judges at QUT's Startup Weekend Brisbane.

The New South Wales Government's Upper House whip Peter Phelps has quit the role and confirmed he will cross the floor to vote against the Government's biofuels amendment bill.

Free-flowing football with more goals have been promised by the SANFL at the launch of the 2016 season with a number of rule changes to come into play.

Forensic evidence used to convict a man of killing a schoolgirl in 1971 is tested in SA's appeal court following a landmark judgement that involved unreliable work by the same pathologist.

The Queensland Speaker is appealing to farm groups and environmentalists to find a compromise in the bitter debate on land clearing.

A woman accused of murdering her 16-month-old daughter, who went missing from the Hunter Valley 15 years ago, is granted conditional bail.

A Perth woman who snatched her two children away from welfare authorities avoids an immediate jail term but is ordered to undergo counselling as part of a suspended prison sentence.

Farm lobby groups from across Australia have asked the Federal Government to defer plans to tax backpackers.

A 16-year-old girl and a 20-year-old man are arrested in Sydney on suspicion of financing the Islamic State terror group.

The unique art of prosthetic eye-making is undergoing a digital revolution as specialists work towards what's believed to be Australia's first printed iris.

An 11-year-old boy charged over the stabbing murder of a man near Perth's Esplanade train station remains in detention after his bail hearing is adjourned for a third time.

Brumbies chief executive Michael Jones returns to work this afternoon after securing a temporary court injunction against the club board's decision to stand him down.

A former Adelaide aquarium business owner involved in an exotic fish smuggling operation avoids an immediate jail term.

The Kimberley region is struggling with multiple downturns in major industries, but improvements in pastoralism and future commodity price improvements are providing hope for the future.