Sydney news

Is your rose garden in bloom now? Perhaps your fertilising and pruning routine needs a health check.

Some travellers want more from their public lavatories than running water and an ample supply of loo paper. It's part of a trend known as toilet tourism.

A Perth mother who has been fighting for braille lessons for her visually-impaired daughter emerges victorious from her battle with the West Australian education department.

Barely three months after campaigning for the election of the McGowan Government, WA's biggest public sector union has refused to sign its industrial agreement, citing a lack of trust.

If a person is near where a missing child was last seen, police can now push alerts with photos and details to that person's Facebook feed.

The Friday night game sees the Sydney Swans take on Essendon in an SCG clash. Follow all the action and our live commentary in our live AFL ScoreCentre.

The Federal Opposition says it will make school funding a key issue for the next election, if the Government doesn't increase the amount of money on offer for public and low-fee Catholic schools. The Government has got its plan through the Senate, although it will cost $5 billion more than originally planned. The Prime Minister says the Government will now focus on achieving better school results.

Catholic school principals are worried about a rise in school fees, and a lack of choice for parents under the latest education funding plan. While the Catholic Education office in Canberra is less concerned about fee pressure in the short-term, other states have a different view. One parent group in Victoria says Catholic families just want their voices heard in the political debate.

A crowd at a regular Thursday night pub comedy gig in North Perth gets more than they paid for when US actor and comedian Chris Rock grabs the microphone for a surprise stand-up performance.

The lack of winter rain over much of WA has left many crops to wither and pasture to dry out, with Wheatbelt farmers in particular being forced to sell their sheep.

A friend of Hobart woman Vanessa Hayward, who was killed in a two-car crash on Thursday night, calls for two people who fled the scene to come forward.

Discussion and awareness about dementia and the often confronting subjects of palliative care, terminal illness and death are being encouraged through theatrical performances and music.

A year's worth of accumulated wisdom rests easy on the shoulders of current World Surf League ratings leader, Matt Wilkinson.

A South Australian student charged with being a member of Islamic State is refused bail after the magistrate rules there is a risk she will undertake politically motivated attacks if released.

The Blackall Saleyards becomes one of only two saleyards in remote Australia to gain organic certification, opening the door for graziers to buy and sell certified organic cattle.

Advocates say new legislation to guarantee access to broadband services for all premises should not imperil fixed line services.

Outpatient medical scans at the new Royal Adelaide Hospital are to be outsourced to the private sector in a move that will hand over about a fifth of the hospital's imaging workload.

Cattle producers call for more clarity around biosecurity requirements under new processes for managing Bovine Johne's disease.

Concrete barricades are erected near the Lindt Cafe in Sydney's Martin Place, just after Melbourne also installed concrete bollards overnight to prevent vehicle-based attacks.

BankSA puts on ice plans to set up a new team in Adelaide, which would have created 150 jobs, in response to the South Australian Government's budget.

Two NSW Police officers declined to testify in court on Friday over accusations of leaving an eight-year-old in the back of a wagon.

After struggling in a new country on his own, African refugee Onyongo Agira uses his education and life experience to help other migrants.

CFMEU boss John Setka apologises for his public tirade against federal construction industry watchdog inspectors at a rally in Melbourne this week.

A dispute erupts over the design of a Perth building nominated in this year's West Australian Architecture Awards, after an unnamed French architect lodges and later withdraws a claim of copyright infringement.

American teenager Terrance Ferguson is chosen by Oklahoma City Thunder with the 21st pick in the NBA draft after playing for the Adelaide 36ers in last season's NBL.

Former AFL player Danny Noonan will spend at least three years in jail after stealing $2.5 million from financial planning clients to support a gambling addiction.

Set on a wheat station inside a century-old woolshed, a group of SA brewers is supporting local citrus with an orange juice beer.

A native legume recently declared extinct in Victoria could soon be thriving again in the state.

A heroin trafficker laughs and hugs his lawyer as he is freed by the ACT Supreme Court, after a judge found he had already served his time while awaiting his trial.

Dealing with your monthly period when you haven't got money is a harsh reality of life for homeless womenbut new vending machines being rolled out in capital are trying to change that.

The banks are threatening South Australia with investment doom as the Treasurer raids the vault with a bank levy similar to the Federal Government's.

Three ministers avoid charges after apologising for comments about "weak" terrorism sentencing in Victoria, as the state's appeals court increases the jail terms given to two would-be terrorists.

A new batch of concrete bollards appears around Melbourne's CBD overnight, as part of the State Government's efforts to prevent the type of vehicle-based attacks seen in Bourke St and, more recently, in London.

Environmentalist Steve Irwin will be honoured for his work on television with a star on the prestigious Hollywood Walk of Fame, joining the latest list of inductees featuring movie heavyweights such as Jack Black, Jennifer Lawrence and Mark Hamill.

A witness describes a "massive explosion" and seeing a suspect in a fatal crash eyeballing him before running away from the collision that left one woman dead and her passenger injured.

BankSA pull its sponsorship of a post-budget business lunch in protest against South Australian Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis' new banking levy.

More women are entering Australian prisons than ever before. When those women are also mothers, the consequences for families can be devastating.

It might look like fun, but irresponsible four-wheel drivers are causing headaches and safety issues in forestry plantations in south-east Queensland.

Farmers on the Liverpool Plains are sailing through harvest in more ways than one, after two major weather events dumped a huge amount of rain over Goran Lake.

Scientists from Australia and Switzerland have found that the shrinking size of whales was a key indicator that the species was about to collapse during commercial whaling. Sperm whales went from being about 18.5 metres down to 14.5 metres and even the biggest animal on earth the blue whale got smaller.

American teenager Terrance Ferguson is chosen by Oklahoma City Thunder with the 21st pick in the NBA draft after playing for the Adelaide 36ers in last season's NBL.

Mine rescue crews have a very tough job which relies on highly specialised training. Teams of these first responders from across northern Australia have been putting their skills to the test in a special time-trial competition.

A major political headache for the Federal Government has eased, after its school funding package passed through Parliament. The Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and his Education Minister Simon Birmingham have been hitting the airwaves to spruik the achievement, while saying the extra money that was promised to get the crossbenchers to approve it is simply the price of doing business.

Three Federal Government ministers have apologised unreservedly to Victoria's highest court in order to head off being charged with contempt. The court of appeal was considering whether to prosecute them following their criticism of how the Victorian judiciary has been handling sentencing for terrorism cases.

Greyhound racing will be banned in Canberra in just over 12 months, despite an independent report finding no evidence of live baiting in the ACT.

For the first time Opera Australia cracks open its wardrobe archives and will auction off costumes and memorabilia from productions staged in the past 60 years.

Adam Cranston, the son of former deputy tax commissioner Michael Cranston, talked of sending "gangsters" to protect luxury Porsches and other "toys", police allege.

Jill Saunders has been trying to pop consumers' plastic bubbles with all-natural bathroom products for 25 years and admits it hasn't been easy.

Jill Saunders

New details about why police opposed former Ipswich mayor Paul Pisasale's bail are revealed after a magistrate withdrew some reporting restrictions on the matter.