Police oppose bail for an IT expert accused of directing the importation of more than a billion dollars' worth of drugs into Australia, after prosecutors alleged he was part of a sophisticated plan of cyber coverup and stolen identities.

Trevor Whybrow will spend a minimum of 17 years behind bars for the "extremely violent" assault which resulted in the death of his friend, Barry Moffat, after he "touched him up" in bed.

Australia is significantly expanding testing for COVID-19 across the country in order to stay on top of the virus and provide a path to re-open large portions of public life, but experts believe some tests are not up to scratch.

Residents against a controversial abattoir take their fight to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal in a final attempt to stop the plan going ahead.

Boxing enthusiasts know John Patten as the Bantamweight Champion of Australia that no-one would challenge, but there was much more to his life.

Victoria records 17 new coronavirus cases including 11 linked to a cluster at a Melbourne meat processing plant. It comes as Treasurer Tim Pallas announces $491 million in tax relief for Victorian businesses.

Victoria Police are treating the death of a South Melbourne woman as suspicious after officers found her body on Monday.

A man has been bailed to appear in court at a later date after police allege he made threats to kill and tried to run over a man in Nhill on Friday.

Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas says Victoria has recorded 17 new cases of coronavirus overnight with 11 of them linked to meat processing plant Cedar Meats in Broolyn, May 5, 2020.

We all want life to get back to normal. But do we really want to go back to the same traffic? The same working day? The same city? The same inequality? Or are there ideas we can talk about now to make life better for us all when it’s over?

After enduring isolation for almost five weeks, are cracks appearing in our ability to stay positive and connected? Joining Virginia is Professor Rob Gordon, clinical psychologist and consulting psychologist with the Red Cross, answering this question and providing some much needed advice on staying well mentally in the times of COVID-19.

New COVID-19 testing clinics have opened in Warrnambool and Ballarat as the Victorian Government continues its push to surpass 200,000 tests by May 11.

One of Australia's largest regional universities is set to axe jobs as a result of a multi-million-dollar drop in revenue following a decline in international students due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas also announced additional tax relief for families and businesses impacted by pandemic lockdown measures, May 5, 2020.

Victoria's health department counsels Annaliese van Diemen over her tweet comparing the impact of COVID-19 with Captain Cook's arrival in Australia, but clears her of breaching the Victorian public sector code of conduct.

A racehorse brought to Australia for the 2016 Spring Carnival has been euthanased after falling in a jumps race in south-west Victoria.

City of Yarra Mayor Misha Coleman defends parking inspectors who slapped "official warning" tickets onto the windscreens of cars belonging to St Vincent's Hospital staff, saying free parking offered to the staff during the coronavirus pandemic does not extend to cars parked in unsafe locations such as clearways.

Faruk Orman, who spent 12 years in prison for murder before being acquitted because of the Lawyer X scandal, is suing Victoria Police for unspecified damages.

Melbourne tea shop manager Jennifer Li recorded a stranger hurling racially charged taunts at her when she tried to defend herself and customers who were wearing facemasks.

With lines between school and home blurred, parents of students with disabilities are struggling with little or no extra support. Some have started dipping into their limited NDIS funds to get help.

After six weeks in lockdown and quarantine, a couple who contracted COVID-19 while on an Antarctic expedition have finally made it home.

The Royal Flying Doctor Service is helping launch a mobile testing clinic in a small agricultural town in Victoria to reach an "at risk" population of itinerant farm workers and migrants.

The busiest airport in regional Victoria has laid off more than half its workforce and has lost 95 per cent of its revenue — but says it isn't eligible for government programs like the JobKeeper allowance.

Colac Hospital prepares to return to business as usual after a predicted surge in coronavirus cases fails to eventuate.

Sam Bloomfield makes medieval-inspired armour and art in a process he says is a bit like dressmaking — only with metal, not cloth.

Police say there is "no reason" a man was shot as he was driving two women home from a church service, and they hope a $250,000 reward will help find answers for him.

A cluster of coronavirus cases at a Melbourne meatworks rises to 49, as two Victorian aged care homes go into lockdown after workers test positive to the virus.

Organisers of the national cattle industry expo say it's 'full steam ahead', despite not knowing when the ban on mass gatherings will be lifted

Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas says casual public sector workers who have lost their jobs due to coronavirus will receive fortnightly payments if $1500, May 6, 2020.

In 1979, the CSIRO imported a boutique wine grape from France. Since then the drop has been celebrated by growers and experts alike — but it turns out they've been enjoying a different variety all along.

Shadow Local Government Minister Tim Smith and Ratepayers Victoria president Dean Hurlston are calling for rates to be frozen and for the State Government to do more to help council staff, May 6, 2020.

Two brothers who beat up a police officer so hard they broke his ribs apologise to a court for their actions over what a judge describes as "a quantum leap in offending".

The findings are expected to reveal what the royal commission made of the evidence put before it about whether Cardinal Pell could or should have done more to prevent children from being abused by priests in the 1970s and 80s.

The new coronavirus has brought an increase in racism towards Australia's Asian community, but experts feel the current laws are not strong enough to deter offenders.

If you thought there were a lot more people around lately, you're not wrong. More and more people are out on the streets in Melbourne, anticipating an easing of coronavirus restrictions once the State of Emergency ends on May 11.

A big hemp haul in Victoria's north-west expects their first harvest of edible crop to be the largest in Australia.

Cardinal George Pell accuses the child sexual abuse royal commission of making findings "not supported by evidence" in its unredacted report, which found he was explicitly told in 1982 of the reason paedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale was being moved between parishes.

A Catholic order settles out of court paying $4 million to survivors of historic sex abuse and apologising to them, their families and the Latrobe Valley community.

Australia's largest sawmill has stood down 51 workers in the south west Victorian town of Colac, as it prepares for a slow down in demand for its products.

Scott Alan Murdoch, the man who stabbed Melbourne woman Kylie Blackwood and left her bleeding to death to be found by her 11-year-old twins, will have to serve at least 36 years before he is eligible for parole.

Joining Raf is Deputy Premier and Education Minister of Victoria James Merlino, giving us an update on schools, and the scores of new cases popping in abattoirs and nursing homes.

More than $15 million could have been lost from the Wimmera Southern Mallee economy as a result of events being cancelled because of the coronavirus.

Police investigating the death of 26-year-old Ellie Price in South Melbourne are calling for help from the public to find Ricardo Barbaro, who they want to speak with about the death.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says the state's total has been brought up to 1,454 confirmed cases of coronavirus with 106,000 tests conducted over the past week and a half.

Police are appealing for public assistance in the search for Ricardo Barbaro, who is wanted over the death of Ellie Price in South Melbourne.

An aged care facility says robotic pets are lighting up the lives of its residents and bringing comfort during isolation from the coronavirus pandemic.

The family of a man who went missing in Victoria's Latrobe Valley last month say they "fear the worst" and are urging anyone who has seen him to contact police.

It has been an exotic jujube harvest boom for a Victorian grower, but COVID-19 restrictions have slowed down sales and squashed market prices.

For more than 1,400 days, the victims waited to discover what a Prince of the Church knew about the paedophile priests who would ruin their young lives. Now the answer has finally been revealed, writes Louise Milligan.

With the COVID-19 pandemic, immunity has never been such a hot topic. It's meant a family-run dairy that produces colostrum is being overrun with enquiries.