Sydney news

Many Australians do their tax, submit Medicare claims and manage their Centrelink benefits via the internet, so why can't they cast their vote electronically?

Litigation surrounding the distribution of funds from the settlement of Alan Bond's Bell Group could drag on for another 15 years, the West Australian Government's principal legal adviser warns.

A man will spend at least 15 years in prison for committing "horrific" sex offences believed to involve role-play based on pornographic videos, the details of which a court ruled are too gruesome to publish.

Bernard Tomic exits French Open losing to teenager Borna Coric after suffering fatigue and nausea in a tough, second-round match.

Daniel Ricciardo stuns rivals with an electrifying practice session at Monaco Prix as Red Bull leaves Mercedes gasping.

The family of an Australian man fears for his safety after he disappeared while going to buy a coffee at the Rio de Janeiro International Airport in Brazil last Saturday.

A flood warning is issued for the Mount Lofty Ranges as emergency services departments offer empty sandbags to residents ahead of expected downpours.

Adrian Eagleton cannot string a sentence together after experiencing a stroke 18 years ago, but like many of the members in Stroke A Chord, he can sing beautifully.

A Sydney scientist discovers seven new species of incredible peacock spiders, and believes even the most extreme spider haters will find them cute.

An Aboriginal artist who pulled an ancient style of weaving back from the brink of extinction will be presented with a prestigious national arts award at a ceremony at the Sydney Opera House tonight.

Researchers with Melbourne's Burnet Institute trial the use of personalised mobile phone messages to help young Australians to curb their binge drinking.

Students at a Canberra primary school can no longer say they did nothing at school today, with parents and extended family using a new app to keep tabs on their progress.

Two Perth medical researchers are anxiously waiting for news that their ground-breaking drug to treat Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.

The Opposition announces that if a Labor Government is elected it will double the number of Indigenous rangers employed across the country.

The troubled community of Aurukun has been likened to Afghanistan by Cape York Indigenous leader Noel Pearson, who says he does not believe teachers wanted to flee recent unrest.

Two people are arrested after allegedly using flashing red and blue lights to speed through Adelaide traffic while transporting weapons and drugs in their car.

A woman is in a stable condition in hospital after being found with a gunshot wound to her leg in Melbourne's north.

Former NSW Labor general secretary Jamie Clements is charged by the New South Wales Electoral Commission with allegedly improperly accessing the electorate roll.

Politicians are failing to take advantage of social media opportunities to win over a new generation of voters, according to experts.

The cold, wet weather in Victoria today also brought some snow to the ski fields.

The Premier Colin Barnett plans to introduce laws to enforce a buffer zone around the Kwinana industrial area, saying "pregnant women, young children, babies" could be affected if homes are too close to industry.

Western Australia's Supreme Court increases the fine given to a police officer who unlawfully accessed information about her husband and his family.

The Opposition leader Bill Shorten was in Darwin today promising to fund Indigenous jobs training in partnership with former AFL star Michael Long. But Labor's announcements were largely overshadowed by another former elite athlete, Nova Peris. The Senator was in tears at a National Sorry Day event, speaking publicly for the first time about her decision to quit federal politics.

Australia's first piano, brought to Sydney in 1788 on board the First Fleet, has been donated to Edith Cowan University, which plans to restore the instrument so it can be played again.

A man accused of murdering his former fiance in her Central Coast home, harboured none of the "seething anger" and "hostility" needed to commit the crime, the New South Wales Supreme Court hears.

Opposition to the Federal Government's proposed nuclear waste facility in the Flinders Ranges is heating up, with traditional owners travelling to meet with Federal Resources Minister Josh Frydenberg to demand the Government shelve its plans.

A former Telstra worker will spend the next 12 months in prison after she was convicted of stealing more than $100,000 worth of mobile phones and selling them on eBay.

A Rebels Motorcycle Club bikie who raped a woman in the gang's North Hobart clubhouse is sentenced to three and a half years in prison.

WA Treasurer Mike Nahan accuses Labor of misrepresenting the ongoing cost of the Perth Stadium to taxpayers.

A special talkback forum on persistent pain and its treatment.

The Sydney Theatre Company in shock after the surprise resignation of its new artistic director, Jonathan Church.

Candidates and campaigners are warned not to use power poles to display political posters in the lead up to the federal election.

The custodians of Mutawintji National Park in far west New South Wales have recruited a tourism officer under a plan to ramp up cultural tourism programs.

The clean-up of fire-ravaged Yarloop is complicated by the discovery of decades-old asbestos and heavy metals including lead in parts of town.

Schoolchildren and medical students in far west New South Wales are set to benefit when "health hubs" open in Broken Hill primary schools next term.

A 26-year-old man is charged with the stabbing murder of his father in the south-east Perth suburb of Armadale.

Billy Slater might have provided a glimpse into his future after appearing at the Queensland State of Origin camp as a coaching consultant.

Chief Minister Adam Giles apologises to the head of the Chamber of Commerce after calling for her to be replaced, amid a dispute over funding allocated to a women's shelter in the NT budget.

The inquest into the Sydney siege hears that the lead police negotiator had four weeks of hostage negotiation training over three years.

Red tape and a lack of technical expertise are preventing community groups from setting up renewable energy projects, according to consumer advocates who have launched a new campaign to make it an election issue.

There is little doubt Karmichael Hunt would have wondered if Wallabies selection would ever come his way following a tumultuous start to his professional rugby union career in Australia.

The president of the peak body for rural Australian doctors says the health of rural Australians should be a key point for all parties in the election.

A 24-year-old Sydney man arrested on terrorism charges is understood to be linked to alleged plots targeting government buildings.

Some Indigenous people are living rough on Darwin's streets because they cannot get back home, according to the Northern Territory Government and an Aboriginal services provider.

One of Australia's biggest mango producers is about to start planting 17,000 mango trees near Darwin in the Northern Territory.

A 24-year-old Sydney man is arrested as part of Australia's biggest counter-terrorism investigation.

The inquest into the Sydney siege hears that the lead police negotiator had four weeks of hostage negotiation training over three years.

A man who applied a heat rub to a possum's shaved tail by trapping it in a window after the animal defecated in his bathroom avoids jail.

About 50 people are evacuated from the grounds of the Latrobe Regional Hospital at Traralgon, after fire breaks out in the roof of a consulting suite.

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