Sydney news

Police are expected to charge a man today after a traffic accident near a McDonald's restaurant escalated into the stabbing of four people south of Brisbane.

Three new 12-bed facilities built for vulnerable children against the recommendation of key agencies face potential closure after a scathing assessment of South Australia's child protection system.

Nearly 20 full-time jobs are being cut from the State Library of SA as part of a significant restructure to save $6 million over three years.

An 83-year-old man who suffered a fall had a reasonable chance of surviving a brain haemorrhage if it had been picked up in a scan at Launceston General Hospital, a Tasmanian coroner finds.

A man is charged with attempted murder and another remains on the run after a double stabbing on the Gold Coast.

An Australian judo competitor who failed to qualify for the Rio Olympics sets his sights on a career in professional wrestling.

The operator of the former Townsville youth boot camp says he would welcome the re-establishment of the program, ahead of a tour by government officials looking into ways to tackle high rates of youth crime.

Commuters on the Caboolture train line have called on the Government to scrap fares when the service is closed for six days next month.

The New South Wales Police Commissioner will visit the mid north coast town of Bowraville today to meet with the families of three murdered children, who disappeared over a five month period in the early 1990s. Nobody has been held responsible for the deaths after what many regard as a bungled initial investigation, and the police investigation is ongoing.

Police charge a man over a bashing death in Melbourne's west last month.

More than 60 firefighters contain a blaze at the mothballed Playford Power Station in South Australia's mid north.

New South Wales Police are investigating racist graffiti, including a number of swastikas, at Bondi Beach in Sydney's east.

An air and sea search for a man who failed to surface from a chartered dive off Moreton Island, near Brisbane, is expected to continue through the night.

Community legal centres facing funding cuts will need to "develop innovative means of service delivery", the WA Chief Justice says.

While the best of Australia's swimmers are battling it out in the pool in Rio, a quarter of swimmers in Sydney are hoping to create their own record - the fastest 4 x 25 metre rely for a team with an average age of 90.

The government is struggling to explain exactly what happened when the census website was shut down after being targeted by a denial of service attack.

Authorities are a step closer to a possible prosecution for the murder of Tasmanian model Lucille Butterworth almost 50 years ago.

A former Tasmanian youth detention centre manager joins Lara Giddings in calling for more help for troubled children, a day after a teenager is sentenced over the death of pregnant mother.

A Canberra man who assaulted and raped his wife while their three-year-old son slept nearby is sentenced to four years in jail.

The University of Sydney releases plans to move Sydney College of the Arts, with one student saying it reinforces the notion that "what we're learning and what we're contributing isn't valuable".

The mother of convicted killer Liam Humbles breaks down while giving evidence at a coronial inquest into Lewis McPherson's death, admitting to the court that she was scared of her own son.

Police charge 18 people after seizing 8.3 kilograms of psychoactive substances from retail stores across Perth.

An estimated 55,000 people turn out to make the most of the Ekka for the People's Day public holiday, marking the halfway point of the much-loved agricultural show.

Former Victorian education minister Martin Dixon announces he will not recontest his seat at the next state election.

Minister Steven Ciobo rejects suggestions that India trade talks have stalled, and mounts a vocal defence of the controversial Pacific trade deal, TPP.

A Canberra man tells the ACT Supreme Court he produced and supplied cannabis oil to terminally ill clients for medicinal purposes, and gave it to his daughter to help her sleep.

What can pull grain prices out of the doldrums?

A woman is arrested after a 17-year-old boy is critically injured in an alleged hit-and-run involving a four-wheel drive vehicle along on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula.

Seed bombs will be used to revegetate a barren landfill site in Mildura, thanks to the work of hundreds of school students.

How frogs could help save your life.

Gympie Police are using takeaway coffee cups to spread the message that domestic and family violence is unacceptable throughout the community.

A former removalist tells the child sexual abuse royal commission he felt "horrified" and "sick" when he found child pornography while packing the belongings of a Hunter Valley priest.

Children in state care are being pushed out of emergency accommodation during busy periods like the Adelaide Fringe Festival to make way for tourists, a royal commission finds.

How do you stay engaged, driven and creative after experiencing great success.Choreographer Sir Matthew Bourne and country music star Graeme Connors share their thoughts.

A Sydney mother who put her baby in danger of starvation by breastfeeding while on a raw food diet, which was allegedly organised by a naturopath, is handed a 14-month suspended sentence.

More than 200 people hit the road in themed cars for the Variety Bash, a 4,500-kilometre journey raising money for sick and disadvantaged children.

A woman in Kyneton starts a community project that enlists the help of retired farmers to assist tree changers on their land and help improve community connections.

Victoria Police's bikie taskforce is investigating a shooting in Melbourne's north-west that put two members of the Comancheros bikie gang in hospital.

Four men have been stabbed by a man involved in a car crash who then tried to steal vehicles from a carwash and a nearby McDonald's at Beenleigh.

Simon Walton with 'Dotty'.

A Queensland cattle IVF business attracts world attention in a bid to further Australian technology in the livestock industry.

Global mining report highlights a lack of understanding of Australia's role as an international mining leader.

Some foster carers in South Australia may take strike action after the release of royal commission findings into abuse of children in state care.

Michelle Payne will not be aboard Melbourne Cup winner Prince Of Penzance when he has his return run in the Memsie Stakes at Caulfield.

An examination of 350 food products with the words "nature" or "natural" on the label by the Heart Foundation and Cancer Council in WA finds half are essentially junk food.

Relatives of Tori Johnson lose their bid to scrutinise the NSW police officer in charge during the final hours of the Sydney siege over his handling of a bungled terror arrest in 2005.

Media veteran Bruce Mellett puts down the microphone after 29 years at the ABC Renmark studio.

Alex Sloan chatted with His Excellency the Irish Ambassador Noel White in today's Canberra Close Up. The Ambassador leaves his post at the end of the month.

The man accused of killing Carlie Sinclair in Darwin in 2013 buried her body in a pre-dug grave while their young son waited in the car, prosecutors allege.