Sydney news

A man is charged with sexual assaulting a five-year-old girl who allegedly went into a men's public toilet by mistake at Orange in central-western New South Wales.

A South Australian Department for Child Protection employee is arrested and charged with child sex offences.

Since being diagnosed with drug-induced bi-polar disorder, Lisa*, is among the hundreds of people forced to undergo Electro Convulsive Therapy by the Mental Health Tribunal in Victoria, but only one in five people have legal representation.

Every Sunday morning at Don Dale, one of Australia's most controversial prisons, a former chef holds cooking classes in a bid to teach troubled youth basic life skills and connect with them over bubbling vats of spaghetti Bolognese.

Punk fans from Canberra and beyond come together to celebrate the life of Nicholas Sofer Schreiber, who was violently killed in 2013.

A man is in a coma in hospital after being seriously injured in a suspected one-punch attack at Haymarket in central Sydney early this morning.

Police divers find the body of a nine-year-old boy who went missing after being hit by a jet ski yesterday at a lake near Mt Isa, in north-west Queensland.

After 10 days at sea and four attempts to be lifted, the MV Rushcutter, known during World War II as HDML 1321, is now on dry land to the east of Darwin Harbour.

Thirty years since he was first elected president of the Country Liberals, former Northern Territory chief minister and former federal Liberal Party president Shane Stone is back in the role.

Sydney FC remains unbeaten after a 1-1 draw with Brisbane Roar, with the two sides unable to be split in a controversial clash at Lang Park.

A 49-year-old man dies while diving near an island off the coast of Marion Bay in Tasmania.

With the official start of fire season less than two weeks away, volunteer firefighters around Waroona, south of Perth, are anxious to see if lessons from January's bushfire have really been learned.

A Brisbane woman's dies four days after her husband accidentally reversed into her and their son in the inner city suburb of Woolloongabba.

Geoff Ogilvy will carry a two-stroke lead heading into the final round of the Australian Open, but he has a raft of big names including American superstar Jordan Spieth on his tail.

An investigative feature into the struggle between commercial and recreational fishing near our major cities.

Authorities hold grave fears for a missing nine-year-old boy, after a jet ski accident near Mount Isa in north-west Queensland.

A 79-year-old woman who was in the queue for the ATM at the Springvale branch of the Commonwealth Bank when it was attacked says she is lucky to be alive.

Authorities search for a nine-year-old boy missing after a jet-ski accident near Mt Isa in outback Queensland.

Alex Doolan was forced to retire hurt on 202 after suffering late-onset concussion during Tasmania's Sheffield Shield match with Western Australia at the WACA ground in Perth.

The computing skills of 360 Queensland school children are put to the test at a Lego League robotics tournament in Brisbane.

A passenger is found dead in the wreckage of a helicopter which crashed yesterday in dense bushland near Mt Carbine in far north Queensland.

A kangaroo bone found in a rock shelter more than 20 years ago is now believed to be an ancient piece of nose jewellery, after a discovery which reshapes scientific understanding of Indigenous peoples' use of bone tools.

Thousands of people line the streets of Hobart's CBD for the annual Christmas pageant, featuring traditional and multicultural displays.

A police officer has been left with a broken arm and four men are charged with assault over an alleged violent home invasion at Petersham in Sydney's inner-west.

A South Australian minister is reminded to behave appropriately by the Premier, and has his actions condemned by the Deputy Prime Minister after an expletive-laden outburst in relation to the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.

Three men in their 20s and a teenage boy die in a road crash near Penola in South Australia's south-east after their car rolled early this morning.

Victoria's grain growers are frustrated by cool and unpredictable weather as they try to start what is shaping up to be an excellent season.

A dance program in Perth is helping people with disabilities to build physical and cognitive strength through movement, but for one young woman it is simply about doing what she loves.

Parts of the estate of Tatersalls heir John Flynn are auctioned off, but few people know he was suspected of being one of Australia's worst paedophiles despite never being charged.

Former Australian Test cricketers Simon Katich and Bryce McGain believe a push to promote younger players before they are ready is a big factor in the national side's recent poor form.

A new company in Perth hopes its unorthodox approach to performing opera will bring a new audience to the typically highbrow art form.

Western Sydney Wanderers coach Tony Popovic admits he has ambitions to be the best football coach in the world, but that does not mean he is ready to leave the A-League.

The NSW Government is putting the focus on housing affordability in a five-year construction bonanza that will deliver almost 200,000 new dwellings in established areas.

Catch up with the latest podcast of Saturday Talkback Gardening with Jon Lamb and Ashley Walsh.

The suspect in an explosion at a Commonwealth Bank branch in Melbourne's south-east is a member of the Burmese community who arrived by boat in Australia in 2013 and was seeking a temporary protection visa.

Queensland's only camp for sufferers of Tourette Syndrome helps them to dream big and overcome any misdiagnosis, depression or bullies.

It is time to ask whether homework is adding to a child's education, a special forum on education hosted by the ABC in Brisbane hears.

A ground and air search is underway for a man who may have been a passenger on a helicopter when it crashed into dense rainforest in far north Queensland yesterday.

Many schools in Adelaide's northern suburbs have reached capacity leaving families struggling to get into public schools, and prompting urgent calls from local councils for urgent new infrastructure

A dirt bike rider dies after losing consciousness while on the phone to a triple-0 operator, after coming off his motor bike at a reserve in Melbourne's south-east.

The Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party is on the brink of a historic victory, but its razor-thin lead in the Orange by-election will come under the microscope when votes are recounted on Monday.