Sydney news

At 30 metres high and taking 500 litres of paint to create, this could be the largest landscape painting in Queensland.

Victoria's female prison population has grown by 70 per cent in the past 10 years and nearly 40 per cent of inmates will be back behind bars within two years of release - sometimes in order to avoid rape and assault on the outside. In an effort to stem the rise of reoffenders, Melbourne's maximum security women's prison is putting into place a day permit program to help inmates start the reintegration process into society.

Could you measure up if given the responsibility of restoring priceless items like a 1750s silk gown, Donald Bradman's jacket or Andy Thomas's spacesuit?

Outback Australia's renowned Daly Waters pub, known for its cheeky decor including walls adorned with bras and undies, has been sold, with the previous owners moving on after 18 years.

A 14-year-old boy is charged with two counts of recklessly causing injury in connection with an incident in which two children were pricked by a hidden syringe in a supermarket in Melbourne's north.

The Wolfe Brothers have spent years touring with their country rock band, but following the death of their father, Tom and Nick are taking on the new challenge of running the family berry farm.

Justine Damond's family wants to bring her home to Australia for a farewell among family and friends, as they try to come to terms with her death at the hands of a US police officer.

The Brisbane Broncos turn on the flair after half-time to wipe the Bulldogs off Lang Park and record a convincing 42-12 win.

Combat veteran Jesse Bird took his own life after losing a claim for permanent impairment he had been pursuing for almost two years. Now his family is accusing the Department of Veterans Affairs of pushing him to kill himself.

Treasurer Scott Morrison tells 7.30 it would be 'terribly disappointing' if it was Tony Abbott's intent to disrupt the Government and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's leadership.

When she isn't racing at hundreds of kilometres per hour, Kelly Bettes is a graphic designer, but this year she's using her annual leave to compete against the fastest dragsters in the country.

Canberra-born cyclist Michael Matthews is in the box seat to become the third Australian to win the Tour De France green jersey.

A false killer whale stranded on a remote Northern Territory sandbar is freed following a 12-hour rescue effort by volunteers and Indigenous rangers.

Kamran Tahir, Australia's youngest imam, is trying to tackle Islamophobia by inviting people to ask him questions about Islam over coffee.

After five years at the top of his game, 23-year-old Enduro GP World Champion Matt Phillips is retiring home to Tasmania.

We are really into the home stretch of the NRL season, as the Broncos and Bulldogs kick off round 20. Follow the Lang Park clash with our ScoreCentre.

Royal Hobart Hospital management tried to "hose down" concerns about the number of unexpected deaths, doctors say.

A Victorian council has moved a motion to support the re-introduction of conscription. Casey Council in Melbourne's deep south will now write to the Defence Minister asking her to consider national service for men and women.

It has been a messy, drawn-out process centred on a multi-billion-dollar mining hub which has divided the WA town of Roebourne and placed local Indigenous families at war.

Former Victorian police chief commissioner Simon Overlandwho resigned from the force in 2011 after the ombudsman found police released incomplete crime statistics in the lead-up to a state electionwill return to the state to lead Whittlesea City Council in Melbourne's outer north.

The nurses' union is worried reductions in nursing jobs at three Bundaberg aged care homes will present health risks for residents.

A businessman who got his start running ferries after the Tasman Bridge fell down says he can solve Hobart's long-running traffic issues. But others aren't so sure.

A court decision recognising a native title claim over land on which the Solomon Hub mine sits in WA's ore-rich Pilbara region opens the way for the Yindjibarndi people to sue Fortescue Metals Group for millions of dollars.

Newcastle Knight Trent Hodkinson escorts a sick teenager to her high school formal to raise cancer awareness.

Dead fish are being pulled out of waterways at a reserve in Broadmeadows, near a recycling plant in Coolaroo in Melbourne's north, as firefighters continue to battle the blaze.

People in regional areas looking to live and work on the land are being affected by high property prices, a survey reveals.

A new disease testing lab planned for Townsville will boost industry confidence following recent biosecurity threats.

Four-time Olympian Shane Heal, a former basketball champion, is ordered to stand trial after allegedly fraudulently using $750,000 lent to him by Australian Boomers ex-coach Brett Brown.

It's one of the great talking points in Australian Artwhat do you think of the Archibald Prize winner? Which painting would you have chosen? A diverse field of 43 finalists is now hanging on the walls of the Art Gallery of NSW.

Build it and they will come? That's the hope for Huntlee, the newest town in the New South Wales Hunter Valley, which is being built from scratchbut not without controversy.

A city slicker's coffee shop stop sparked the idea to grow saffron in the highly productive pastures of Gippsland, Victoria.

Parents who give their children alcohol in the hope that it encourages responsible consumption are being warned against the practice, following new research.

Tasmania's blueberry industry demands an urgent shift in the way the state deals with outbreaks of the blueberry rust fungus.

Australia's youngest imam doesn't see the need for Muslim schools and he'd rather shake a woman's hand than cause offence. He's even happy for cameras to be installed in his Perth mosque and has pledged to resign if there's any trace of extremism.

The public steps inside the doors of the new Royal Adelaide Hospital on booked-out tours, with one former nurse declaring it will attract staff from across Australia with its new technology, teaching facilities and modern design.

NT police investigate after former youth detainee Dylan Voller is photographed sitting in a car next to a replica handgun, but Mr Vollernow an aspiring politiciansays he didn't mean to scare anyone.

A cat missing for three months in outback Queensland is reunited with its family thanks to a local vet and travellers.

An Ipswich lawyer who worked with former Ipswich mayor Paul Pisasale is arrested after a Crime and Corruption Commission investigation, with the Labor Party set to expel him over extortion charges.

A bitter pay dispute between West Australian police officers and the WA Government escalates, with Premier Mark McGowan urging the union to back down amid the threat of ramped-up industrial action.

The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics figures reveal South Australia's unemployment rate remains the highest in the nation despite recording a 0.3 per cent fall.

Text messages between two men charged with torturing a 21-year-old woman are read out in court, while it is also revealed the victim has woken from an induced coma after suffering horrific injuries.

A wet season cotton trial may pave the way for a cotton industry to re-emerge in the Kimberley's Ord Valley.

The jury retires to consider its verdict in the trial of the man accused of unlawfully killing Kalgoorlie teenager Elijah Doughty, who was hit by a car while driving a stolen motorbike.

A man whose identity was used to set up a fraudulent mobile phone account is questioning why more stringent identity checks were not done.

As the NRL begins its investigation into allegations of salary cap breaches at Manly, club captain Daly Cherry-Evans says he is worried the Sea Eagles' reputation will be tarnished.

A curious young Australian fur seal trapped for weeks in a fishing net is rescued, prompting calls for more care with disposal of marine waste.

The Federal Court recognises an exclusive native title claim over land on which Fortescue Metals Group's $280 billion Solomon Hub mine sits in Western Australia's ore-rich Pilbara region.

A woman accused of murdering her infant child became obsessed with a "wolfman" to whom she believed she may have to make a sacrifice, a court hears.

The peak body for Australia's film and TV industry raises concerns about a $30 million taxpayer grant for the News Corporation-owned Fox Sports network, which the responsible department has not been able to find any documents to support.

Queensland anti-corruption boss Alan MacSporran says the decision by former minister Mark Bailey to delete emails with a union boss was "not a serious allegation" in the scheme of things.