Gold Coast junior Riley Parsons shares his love of cricket, by refurbishing old gear to give to kids who need it.

MORNING BRIEFING: The father of missing Belgian backpacker Theo Hayez will front the media today as homicide detectives travel to Byron Bay to assist in the investigation, while some of the residents of Mascot Towers will be permitted to return to their homes to pick up belongings.

Elite women's tennis will return to WA at least one more time after Perth was chosen to host the final of the Fed Cup competition in November, beating bids from Melbourne and Brisbane.

MORNING BRIEFING: Many regional Tasmanian areas are in a population decline, and Hobart scores high on drug waste water testing.

The number of older women experiencing homelessness has surged in recent years, with divorce, pay disparity and a lack of superannuation culminating in a "perfect storm" of gender disadvantage.

The family of a Gold Coast man who died after being hit by a car on Sunday night say they're "absolutely devastated" that a fight between two friends led to him losing his life.

Chrys Barker has been confined to a wheelchair and is in need of 24-hour care since being critically injured in a car accident in 2014. He's now been awarded what is believed to be the biggest single personal injury settlement in Queensland.

Sex workers say they are being harassed and intimidated by South Australian police, as figures show charges for sex-work offences have spiked in the past two years.

The rise of home renovation shows has helped glamorise DIY but take the cameras and personalities away and the situation is quite different especially when it comes to tackling heritage buildings.

Coroner Barry King warns police of probable adverse findings against them for their incompetence during the initial investigation into the 1975 killing of Perth brothel madam Shirley Finn, as he closes an inquest into her murder which he says will likely remain unsolved.

Police charge two brothers, aged 18 and 20, over an unprovoked attack on an off-duty senior Victorian police officer near a Melbourne train station.

The AFL's supporter crackdown is being felt by those in the stands, but without confirmation one way or another from the AFL, the supporters are filling the void with questions of their own.

Mascot Towers building management tells residents who were evacuated on Friday night after cracks were found in the Sydney apartment building to seek help from the Salvation Army if they are facing financial hardship.

The 2016 killing of a Canberra man is portrayed as a "cold-blooded plan", designed to silence him over an earlier machete attack, on the first day of an ACT Supreme Court trial.

MORNING BRIEFING: Today's State Budget will include funding for extra teachers, health workers and police as well as a public transport boost, while the homicide squad is investigating the death of a woman who was found on a Sydney footpath.

The biggest league match of the year rolling into Perth this week will inevitably trigger discussions about whether WA should have its own NRL side, but that decision depends on something far more important than crowd sizes, writes Tom Wildie.

Book-loving Tasmanians are bucking the trend and turning to libraries in their thousands, less than a year after the state became the first in Australia to abolish fines and processing fees for overdue books.

It's the system they have in London and Chicago, it's being trialled in New York, and soon it will allow people in Cairns, Mackay and Townsville to pay for trains and buses with their credit cards and mobile phones.

Sydney property developers are pulling out all stops by offering special deals including to pay the buyer's mortgage for a year in a bid to lure customers and sell a glut of apartment stock in a downturned market.

MORNING BRIEFING: Housing Minister optimistic debt will be wiped, city demands urgent action on climate emergency and councils increase rates.

The NSW Treasurer delivers a surplus of around half that expected this time last year, but is forecasting blue skies ahead. He's optimistic despite doubts circulating about the domestic and global economies, Ian Verrender says.

More than two decades since Philip Nitschke set fire to the "disgusting, pathetic" bill overturning voluntary euthanasia in the Northern Territory, the region remains in a stranglehold, banned from even debating the issue.

Queensland Environment Minister Leeanne Enoch's comments at an Indigenous festival reveal Labor is divided on the Adani mine's recent approval, the State Opposition says.

A teenage basketball star from a celebrity family in California is set to move to Wollongong in New South Wales in one of the most intriguing signings in Australian basketball history.

Former drug squad detective Paul Dale wanted to speak to gangland bosses Tony Mokbel and Carl Williams nine days after he was arrested for the burglary of a drug house, the royal commission hears.

The Health Department confirms a massive spike in the number of influenza cases in Western Australia this year, with 3,000 extra notifications and 14 deaths in the past week alone.

Stunning footage of a security guard at Bellerive Oval attempting to enter the field of play to separate two tussling players has former players shaking their heads.

A 27-year-old Canberra man is found guilty of running a major drug operation to fuel a flamboyant lifestyle complete with expensive cars and inspirational quotes played out on Facebook and Instagram.

A female footballer who played in a men's South Australian country league has her suspension reduced to four weeks by an independent tribunal.

Canberra Grammar students discover the unexpected benefits of rebuilding damaged classrooms in Nepal, as they form special bonds with school hosts in the heart of the Himalayas.

There is a "crisis of confidence" in the NSW building industry following the second emergency evacuation of an apartment block in Sydney in six months, the Insurance Council of Australia and Federal Government warns.

Kelly says the way police handled the investigation into her alleged assault "has been the most devastating part of it" after she was told her rape kit was destroyed and then never existed at all.

Children as young as 10 have been kept in adult maximum-security watch houses in Queensland and now we know one of the main reasons why.

The Tasmanian dream of re-entering the National Basketball League could be about to become a reality after revelations NBL owner Larry Kestelman plans to purchase the Derwent Entertainment Centre.

Police release CCTV footage of a car believed to be linked to a drive-by shooting at Melbourne's Love Machine nightclub in April, which left two people dead and four others injured.

Consumers are pushing demand for alternative mushrooms to new highs as plant-based diets become increasingly popular and people seek nutritious meat substitutes.

MORNING BRIEFING: Michael Ferguson says union bosses have hit a 'new low' and a court hears that a Launceston man accused of murder said his alleged victim "is going to pay".

A man who donated his sperm to a lesbian friend with the belief he could play a role in the child's life wins a High Court fight to be named the girl's legal father, blocking her mother from moving overseas.

At age seven, Lisa Millar was singing the ABC News theme and practising her interview technique on her little sister. After 25 years of reporting in Australia and overseas, she's now looking forward to the challenge of co-hosting a daily morning television program.

Amid plans for a five-star hotel for Canberra's centre, some of the city's biggest music success stories plot to save its nightlife, claiming currently unenforced noise limits could kick into effect and threaten venues when the hotel starts hosting guests.

A strange ethnographic object and the mysterious Aboriginal man behind it.

Dashcam footage shows an out-of-control truck hurtling through a red light at the base of Adelaide's South Eastern Freeway, moments after the vehicle lost its brakes and was forced onto the wrong side of the road.

Dashcam footage shows the truck's brakes smoking, before it hurtles through a red light at a notorious intersection.

A man accused of indecently assaulting a child at a Rundle Mall shop is tracked using CCTV and arrested, after police allegedly uncover child exploitation material at his home.