Without anyone clicking on a link, a massive cyber attack of unprecedented sophistication gained access to private information of potentially high-ranking officials across the globe.

Viking claps, giant horns and nostalgic tales of the great 'Green Machine' must be ignored by the underdog Canberra Raiders if they are to have any chance of beating the heavily favoured Roosters in Sunday's NRL grand final, writes Richard Hinds.

The NRL has been revolutionised by an Englishman, his Canberra Raiders teammates and their secret code and it could hold the key to the NRL grand final.

The Green Machine has reached the NRL grand final for the first time in 25 years. Along the way, it raided a few ideas from overseas.

Peter Beattie is the latest NRL figure to back the controversial reversal of the "six again" call in the NRL grand final, but he promises an end-of-year review will consider the incident.

Sydney Roosters fans chant "back to back" as they focus on the positives of their team's controversial second NRL grand final victory in two years.

Claire Pearce wasn't aware of the ACT parliamentary inquiry into Canberra's maternity services until it was too late to make submissions. Now she is sharing her story. Warning: This story contains content some people could find distressing.

Victorian prosecutors say there is no justification for the High Court to grant special leave for Cardinal George Pell to appeal against his child sexual abuse convictions.

A Canberra man was told by a trio of kidnappers that his genitals would be cut off and that he would "die" for an alleged debt of $450 that he used to send to his family in Africa, a court has heard.

If Morrison had a message for farmers, announcing it on a Friday afternoon amid football finals, school holidays and long weekends is not how you'd typically deliver it, writes Kath Sullivan.

Quad bike manufacturer Honda has described the Government's new roll bar rules as a "ban by stealth" and says that today is a "disappointing day for farm safety".

A Federal Court judge finds the Registered Organisations Commission's investigation into donations made to the activist group in 2006 when former opposition leader Bill Shorten was leading the union was not politically motivated, but it was launched on a "flawed"basis.

A 27-year-old Canberra man is jailed for what is described in court as a "chilling" and "callous" attack on a Pekingese/Maltese cross that lasted 20 minutes.

Health Minister Greg Hunt says he has "serious concerns" and demands to see the "evidence" the ACT considered before deciding to legalise cannabis in Canberra from next year.

Several hundred online enthusiasts generate thousands of leads for investigators after a single day of competitive 'ethical hacking' across Australia.

Bradley Lester Grey, 54, pleads not guilty in the ACT Supreme Court to charges of allegedly telling prospective sex workers they would need to perform acts with him to prove they were right for the role.

Peter Forster-Jones is sentenced to jail over the 2016 murder of Eden Waugh at his home in Canberra's north, in what the judge called a "callous" act.

The Sydney and Melbourne buildings have served as the gateway to Canberra for decades. But time and neglect have taken their toll on the icons, which now form a crumbling entrance to the capital's lake and parliamentary precinct.

As it marks 90 years embedded in the Canberra community, the YWCA looks back on its role as an organisation aimed at empowering women, from early karate lessons that scandalised to advocating leadership roles for women today.

It's impossible to count the millions spent on Australia's biggest police hunt, two trials, two High Court challenges, a judicial inquiry and 19 years of imprisonment.

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young has used a senate estimates haring to grill Joe Evans, deputy secretary of the Department of Environment and Energy, about the effect of climate change.

A female driver dies in hospital after a collision between her car and a fire truck in an inner suburb of Canberra.

Sackings demanded and threats to withhold hundreds of thousands of dollars are at the centre of a clash between an outback community and a Commonwealth-owned business.

Celebrated children's writer and novelist Gail Jones takes out two of six Prime Minister's Literary Awards, worth a total of $480,000.

South Australia's capital records the highest methamphetamine use of all the cities in the world compared in a paper based on wastewater samples, but a researcher says initiatives to tackle this problem have had an effect.

Last year, Nigel Shedden got married to wife Belinda and together they moved into their dream home. Today, the couple are living with Mr Shedden's mother, and the home they spent 18 months building has been sold.

Despite his home being raided four years ago, Roger Uren has now been arrested and charged with breaching national secrecy rules.

Australia is set to become only the second country in the world to have a dedicated national women's baseball competition.

Sussan Ley says she believes only people who have a "connection to farming" should be allowed to own water in the Murray-Darling Basin.

Policeman-turned-lawyer David Healey's mental health was shattered by a rocket blast in Afghanistan. He now helps other traumatised cops fight for compensation.

A week ahead of the first hearings of the Disability Royal Commission in Townsville, a new survey of families of children with disability finds nearly no progress has been made on improving access to inclusive education.

Australian scientists have weighed Greenland's ice cap melt using satellite technology and their findings are not good.

Up to one in three Australian women have experienced birth trauma and one in 10 women emerge from childbirth with post-traumatic stress disorder, prompting calls for a major shake-up of the maternity system.

If you're a Canberra renter who loves pets and is fond of hanging art, there's good news. New laws coming into effect today will make it easier for renters, but there are fears it could lead to a downturn in rental properties.

More than a dozen live venues and nightclubs across Canberra shut down in the 2018 financial year, but the Government hopes a new plan to make a racket will turn that trend around.

Disability royal commission chair Ronald Sackville said commentators were discouraging people from telling their stories to the commission, but critics say the real discouragement is the absence of appropriate supports.

A man is arrested in Canberra's south, after a woman was shot in the head this morning as she sat in her parked car in a "random" and "untargeted" attack.

Lea Powell had to leave teaching after years working as a casual became too hard to manage but she was just one of more than 600 workers in the ACT's health and education systems who have been constant casual for more than five years.

Stagnant domestic production and a slump in global raw sugar prices require serious action to combat future declines in the $2 billion sugar industry, a report finds.

Florists say deceptive advertising is tricking customers into thinking they're buying local flowers when they're not. One businesswoman says the practice has cost her as much as $80,000.

The Queensland Government plans to crackdown on the illegal dumping of commercial fishing nets, known as ghost nets.

MP Warren Entsch says the Queensland Government failed to honour a deal to help fund a Cairns Indigenous boarding facility for girls following the state election.

A Cairns apprentice's charges are upgraded to unlawful striking causing death after a man he allegedly hit during a fight outside a bar on the weekend dies in hospital.

A remote Cape York community is in the fight of its life to save a unique rainforest that was devastated by a cyclone.

A leg wound that became infected after a fall eventually claimed the life of Bertha Aalberts, but her Melbourne nursing home had no record of the injury's severity, a Cairns hearing of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety is told.

Celebrity chef Maggie Beer says nothing can forgive the abysmal standard of meals given to some aged care residents as the royal commission into the sector hears people were served meals from trolleys near maggot-infested rubbish bins.