Gay and lesbian culture has been long associated with the city, often to the detriment of LGBT people in rural Victoria who felt they could never be accepted.

The green hills of south-west Victoria couldn't be further from the latest outbreak of the highly contagious viral disease African swine fever (ASF) in Timor-Leste, but pork producer Xavier Meade isn't taking any chances.

A judge overturns the convictions of a bus driver who crashed into the Montague Street Bridge in South Melbourne, injuring six people. But Jack Aston will remain in prison while he is assessed for a community corrections order for lesser charges.

Police charge Melbourne Cup-winning horse trainer Darren Weir and two other men with animal cruelty offences following raids on Weir's stables near Ballarat and Warrnambool in January.

A bus driver jailed for seriously injuring six passengers when he crashed into South Melbourne's Montague Street Bridge in 2016 is released after an appeal.

Twelve years ago Paul Preusker was disqualified for possessing an electronic jigger. Now he's back, training the Melbourne Cup favourite and insisting he's a changed man.

A former private investigator is using her skills to try to crack a cold case murder in her own family.

A group of wool makers launches a new trademark to recognise textile producers whose homegrown fibre is 100 per cent Australian from the farm right through to the finished product.

Backyard beekeeping is abuzz with popularity with long waitlists to own a hive in some parts of Victoria.

The trial of Lorraine Nicholson, who is charged with culpable driving causing the death of four women in their 60s and 70s, begins in Ballarat.

After fracturing his pelvis and nearly bleeding out after last year's Cox Plate, Kings Will Dream is set to write another chapter in an unbelievable comeback story at Moonee Valley, during a fortnight of intense scrutiny over the treatment of horses within the racing industry.

A jury hears of the moment the woman accused of causing a crash that killed four people in western Victoria realised the deceased were "probably grandmothers" as well.

'You don't have to be a scientist to work on them': Vintage tractors, some more than 80-years-old go under the hammer, attracting buyers from around Australia.

The Storm hold on in a tight encounter against the Dragons to win 16-14 in Wollongong, as both sides struggle to cover for their missing State of Origin stars.

Alison Wylie spent her childhood summers at archaeological excavation sites. Today, she's redefining the scientific field to include Indigenous perspectives.

Paralysed from the neck down after a football tackle 26 years ago, Brett Morris finishes the Gold Coast Marathon Fun Run in a wheelchair in under an hour, and he's "very happy it's done".

This year's NAIDOC Week theme is Voice. Treaty. Truth. But the truth is that many Indigenous people feel voiceless when it comes to expressing where Australia stands on treaty today.

Tony Mulvihill has only one secret for training a good working dog, a lesson he learned 30 years ago from an Oregon buckaroo.

Disability advocates renew their push for local councils nationwide to ensure that new housing is universally accessible to address what they describe as a critical shortage of accommodation.

An educator on the New South Wales south coast hopes to have all the region's school children fluently speaking their local Dharawal language in the next 10 years.

Volunteers for Meals on Wheels say the charity is under threat with branches surviving on bequests as Federal Government funding for the service plateaus.

A former ABC journalist, who pressed assault charges after her elderly mother was allegedly hit by a carer, urges Australians with family members in aged-care to install personal surveillance equipment.

Purebred or mixed-breed Staffordshire terriers have killed at least four people in Australia in the past six months but the RSPCA says a dog's breed alone is not a reliable predictor of aggressive behaviour.

The dishevelled older man on a city street is no longer accurate as a homeless stereotype with women, youth and regional families falling below the poverty line.

A joint operation between the Australian Border Force, ACT and NSW police has discovered about 384kg of cocaine inside a second-hand excavator bound for a regional NSW business. (Supplied: Australian Border Force)

Police seize more than $140 million worth of cocaine stashed in the arm of an excavator that was destined for a business in a small NSW town.