The coronavirus pandemic has made life harder for most people, but spare a thought for 66-year-old Isabel McLeary, who is looking after three teenagers with disability who can now only access vital support online.

Bunnaloo is a long way from Tinseltown, but Nullaboo Hullabaloo — a children's book based around life in this small NSW town, written by former police officer Fleur Ferris — will be getting the movie studio treatment soon enough.

Internet search giant Google is ordered to pay $40,000 in damages to Melbourne lawyer George Defteros after a Supreme Court of Victoria ruling found the internet giant was a publisher, and had defamed the man.

Fire season is officially over in southern Australia, but the work is only just beginning for the royal commission into the deadly crisis.

There has been a significant decline in the number of Q fever cases reported so far this year compared to the same period last year.

While statistics suggest workforce participation in the 45–54 age group has been slowly climbing, employment industry experts warn too many mature-aged jobseekers are being shut out.

As the south and east remain gripped in a cold snap, it might be hard to believe that Australia just had its fifth warmest April on record.

A former Australia Zoo big cat keeper says an elusive population of wild pumas and panthers reportedly seen in the Australian wilderness could be long-escaped animals from travelling circuses, or former military mascots.

The Gippsland dairy farming town of Yarram has received a colourful makeover with the addition of 10 new public art murals by a celebrated street artist.

Shane Fitzsimmons was nicknamed the "nation's father" for his leadership during the catastrophic bushfire season. As he departs his post as NSW RFS chief, he explains how he went from a troubled teenager to a celebrated leader, earning respect and saving lives along the way.

The funeral for Josh Prestney today was small but full of grief as family and friends farewelled the young constable who was called a hero.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Police are still searching for a man after homicide squad detectives found the Mercedes-Benz belonging to Ellie Price in Diggers Rest, about 40 kilometres from her home, overnight.

Residents at a Victorian aged care facility where a staff member tested positive for coronavirus earlier this week have been given the all-clear.

A woman who suffered a miscarriage in mandatory COVID-19 quarantine was forced to stay in a hotel room for five days after the traumatic event because the Victorian Health Department failed to act on an order to release her.

A stranded green turtle with an old facial injury was luckily helped by a group of locals, some fortunately had training in marine rescues.

Another "quite fat" king penguin is spotted on the Tasmanian mainland, with one wildlife officer calling the sighting especially rare "unless you're on a tourist ship going to Antarctica", although no cause for concern.

It's been a huge week of news stories big and small. How many do you remember? Test that memory in our news quiz.

A self-styled daredevil who taught himself rocket science in a bid to prove the Earth is flat dies after crashing his homemade rocket in California.

A sighting of a sea creature not usually found in Tasmanian waters has surprised onlookers, but could become more frequent, experts say.

A snake catcher believes the 80-kilogram monster is likely to have been imported illegally and may be euthanased due to the threat it poses to native ecosystems.

The ewes, estimated to have been roaming free for years, are spotted on WA's south coast by a man who's had their monster fleeces removed.

Pastoralists are begrudgingly starting to buy fly nets for the first time, a bush fashion faux pas that is normally associated with overseas tourists visiting the outback.

The magpie and the kookaburra are two of Australia's favourite birds and, although they're not endangered yet, concerns for their wellbeing and survival are beginning to grow.

A man who assaulted a South Australian paramedic while she attempted to help him while he was having a mental episode has avoided jail time.

The Coalition's candidate for the marginal South Australian seat of Mayo moderates her previous position that the minimum wage and penalty rates should be abolished.

An Adelaide magistrate calls for police to allocate sufficient resources to a criminal neglect investigation into the mistreatment of a baby that left the infant "near death".

A man and woman are arrested after allegedly threatening a woman with a pocket knife and stealing her car before leading police on a chase in the Mid North of South Australia.

A world-leading agriculture business that uses sunlight and seawater to grow tomatoes has been sold but the final price is a closely-guarded secret.

Journalist Andrew McGarry covered the trial of one of Australia's most notorious serial killings. Two decades since police made the gruesome discovery in a disused bank vault, he looks at the similarities between the actions of ringleader, John Bunting, and George Orwell's novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four.

Bungala Aboriginal Corporation chief executive blames funding changes for Emeroo Indigenous station closure.

A man is charged with the murder of another man at a home in South Australia's Mid North region in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Two Labor MPs are still waiting to get offices within their electorates more than a year after the state election, with one labelling the delay as a "clamp down on democracy".

Having an amputation is a life-changing experience and rehabilitation a long process. This support group is helping injured people overcome trauma and feelings of isolation.

Australian creatives who have lived through devastating natural disasters turn their trauma into beautiful pieces of art.

As a child he showed sociopathic tendencies. By the time he was an adult he was a drug dealer with an extensive criminal record who would go on to kill six people.