Sydney news

Cattle farmer John Barnett says his family had the worst year of their lives in 2016, he lost his wife of four decades suddenly after their daughter appeared with unexplained injuries while living in a group home.

A Northern Territory cattle producer has purchased an aggregation of properties in South Australia.

A regional art gallery in the New South Wales Hunter Valley has been gifted dozens of works by noted Australian print maker Lionel Lindsay.

Waniwa Lester has drawn since she was a little girl at a mission school at remote Ernabella, the same place where Christianity came into her life. Now her art is part of a new book launched in Adelaide.

This weekend's by-elections in the seats of Gosford, Manly and North Shore come after a tumultuous 2016 for the Government and act as a popularity test for Premier Gladys Berejiklian.

Volkswagen's emissions cheating scandal takes another twist, with some drivers now saying the company's software upgrade designed to fix the problem is causing drops in fuel efficiency and performance with their cars.

NRL club Wests Tigers say re-signing captain Aaron Woods and full-back James Tedesco is their priority and they have withdrawn their offer to Mitchell Moses.

The Fitzroy River is expected to peak later today in Rockhampton, and the town's evacuation centre at the local showgrounds expecting a surge in residents seeking help. The river's expected to reach nine metres, affecting about 300 homes and businesses, and thousands of properties. Our reporter Nance Haxton joined local emergency services at the evacuation centre as they made preparations to welcome people fleeing their homes.

Thousands of volunteers ready to join the clean-up in central and northern Queensland are yet to be called in because councils and local organisations have not asked for help.

Flooding will inundate about 300 homes and businesses in the central Queensland city of Rockhampton when the Fitzroy River reaches its flood peak around midday, authorities say.

If Western Australia's new Government was under any doubt about the extent of the challenge it faces, the past 24 hours should have ended any uncertainty.

The lawyer for an Aboriginal man convicted over the bashing death of Josh Wearneke in Broome in 2010 felt he had to act fast on a plea deal.

A bushfire warning is downgraded for a fire burning in Pink Lake, just outside the West Australia town of Esperance.

An elite wheelchair athlete says he has been unfairly barred from competing in the half marathon event at a running festival to be held in Canberra this weekend, despite meeting the criteria on the event's website.

Paul Walker from Green Cross International is one of the world's leading experts in chemical weapons. He joins 7.30 to discuss the suspected chemical weapon attack in Syria.

The music of Carmen is being performed at primary schools across Australia in an original, kid-friendly version of the opera called El Kid.

The cause of a salmonella outbreak linked to The Food Republic cafe in Blackburn, in Melbourne's east, remains a mystery after more than 23 people fell ill after eating there last month.

Oakden nursing home in Adelaide should be closed down, senator Nick Xenophon says, as the Commonwealth reveals why it recently sanctioned the health facility.

Competing salmon producers come together with volunteer groups to reduce marine debris in Tasmania's Macquarie Harbour and Ocean Beach.

West Australian school children are learning about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics by building and racing miniature solar cars.

If a psychologist had asked patient James Stoneham a single question, Melbourne woman Adrian Donato may still be alive, a coroner says.

A huge effort begins to purge waterways in Canberra's south of European carpbut it's smelly, muddy work.

Premier Mark McGowan rebukes Corrective Services Minister Fran Logan after he said the WA Government would attempt to get large numbers of offenders out of jail.

Biosecurity changes in New South Wales and Victoria have destroyed markets for some West Australian horticulturalists.

SEQ Water is considering a massive upgrade of Wivenhoe Dam that could raise the dam wall by 4 metres in a bid to prevent a "rare" catastrophic flood event in Brisbane in the future.

Port Adelaide is closer to getting a permanent home for historic ships and replicas which reflect the area's rich maritime history.

Queensland Sugar Limited and Wilmar could be on the brink of a peace deal, but both agree it had nothing to do with a new federal code of conduct.

One of the all-time great AFL careers will hit another milestone on Friday, when Lance Franklin plays his 250th senior match.

Junior iron ore miners have been given a lifeline by surging prices and a weaker currency, but what happens if things roll over?

In Queensland, the damage from Cyclone Debbie now stretches from the state's north to the southern border. The slow-moving flood waters are now moving to the coast through Rockhampton which is waiting for the surging Fitzroy River to peak. Locals there hope that this, the fourth major flood since 2011, will finally convince the federal and state governments to fund a permanent levee to prevent further destruction.

Young homeless people in Canberra are being forced into trading sexual favours in exchange for accommodation, homelessness advocates say.

Family First's Lucy Gichuhi declares she is an Australian and is ready for the challenge after the High Court ruled Bob Day's election was invalid.

Rockhampton residents are facing a long week with floodwaters now due to peak at 9 metres about noon on Thursday, and likely to stay high into the weekend.

Drones could be a valuable tool in monitoring revegetation at an ambitious West Australian project.

A man who was affected by methylamphetamine when he crashed a van at Greenacres killing his toddler daughter was struggling to be both an addict and a father, the District Court hears.

Treasurer Scott Morrison has made a suggestion for Australian mortgagees, or people wishing to be: "Just because you can borrow, it doesn't mean you should." So who is to blame for burgeoning household debt?

Up to 45 children who live on a North Queensland mountain range face uncertainty over where they will attend school for the next 6-12 months, after Cyclone Debbie damage cuts off a major road.

Text messages between Auburn's former deputy mayor Salim Mehajer and his sister prove they plotted to rig the Auburn Council election in 2012, prosecutors tell a Sydney court.

Services are back up and running at Brisbane's Myer Centre bus station after flooding from a burst water main shut down the CBD public transport hub this morning.

A jury deliberating on whether a central Victorian man shook his 12-week-old daughter to death is discharged after being unable to reach a verdict.

A man who was on a two-week drinking binge admits to fatally bashing his ex-partner near Darwin's Nightcliff Beach.

The iconic ABC music show Rage turns 30 on April 17, so the ABC is throwing a ten-day party complete with collector's edition give aways on Breakfast with Craig Zonca, and TV programming capturing the history and highlights from the infamous red couch.

The "athleisure" fashion trend attracts new consumers who are demanding more of the wool industry.

The WA Country Health Service has been unable to find a permanent clinical director for mental health in the Goldfields for more than three years.

A jury deliberating on whether a central Victorian man shook his 12-week-old daughter to death is discharged after being unable to reach a verdict.

If you're a parent or grandparent looking for ways to keep your little loved ones entertained this school holidays, the Museum of Brisbane and Craig Zonca have got your back!

A former University of Canberra law lecturer is found guilty of raping one student and indecently assaulting others, under the pretence of plagiarism meetings.

The WA Liberals appoint the head of a government relations firm and former chief of staff to Jeff Kennett to conduct a comprehensive independent review of the party's "dysfunctional" state election campaign.

The police officer who named Lloyd Rayney as the prime and only suspect in his wife's death in 2007 says he "firmly" believed all other significant people of interest had been eliminated from the investigation.

One of the all-time great AFL careers will hit another milestone on Friday, when Lance Franklin plays his 250th game.