As people look for new ways to cope with the isolation of the coronavirus lockdown, business is booming at adult retail stores around the country.

Creswick's famous woollen mills reopen to the public in time for winter after closing amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but they remain closed to tourism for now.

Researchers have identified all the immune reactive proteins, then mapped and identified the parts causing chronic wheat ailments, giving growers a path to develop new lines.

For the first time in its 24-year history, Koroit Irish Festival's search for the region's 'best flaming folk' is to take on a new life online.

The lawyer for asthmatic prisoner Mark Rowson tells a court his client should be immediately released from Port Phillip Prison, if authorities cannot mitigate the risk of a coronavirus outbreak in the prison system.

There are warnings Australia could experience a spike in drownings if swimming centres are forced to close because of the coronavirus shutdown, with predictions one in five swim schools around the country will close their doors for good.

For years, questions have been asked about what Cardinal George Pell might have known about clerical abuse within the Catholic Church. A report that could be released within days may give us the best answer we will ever get.

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.

A health industry expert is calling on federal authorities to oversee the return of windfall profits, as customers negotiate with insurers to save money.

Summer's bushfires have cast doubt on the sustainability of the critically endangered mountain pygmy-possum population in Victoria's High Country, with scientists unable to access research grounds after.

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

Across many states and territories, the coronavirus restrictions keeping people at home are finally being relaxed. Here are the things allowed as the country slowly opens back up.

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.

Supreme Court Justice Timothy Ginnane orders a COVID-19 risk assessment be undertaken at Port Phillip Prison after finding there was a prima facie case prison authorities breached their duty of care.

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.

Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos says eight employees have tested positive to coronavirus.

The number of coronavirus cases in Victoria continues to inch up as a paramedic tests positive to the virus and health authorities investigate a cluster at a meat processing plant.

Health Minister Jenny Mikakos announces that Epping's Meadowglen Primary School will be closed for three days as the state confirms 13 new coronavirus cases.

Tim Griffin, the Austin Hospital nurse who blew the whistle about what he believed was medical negligence, has died.

Six weeks into the biggest shakeup of the Australian workplace since World War II, one economist is warning the adjusted work arrangements could be widening inequalities among workers.

Victoria's COVID-19 tally continues on its steepest climb in a fortnight, as Premier Daniel Andrews reveals 13,000 people were screened for the virus in the state's testing blitz on Sunday.

There have been 22 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Victoria overnight bringing the states total to 1406

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Looking to replace the second oldest radar on its network at Mildura airport, the BOM marks a spot at Cullulleraine.

Two more Victorian police officers are suspended over the leak of unauthorised photos of former AFL coach and player Dean Laidley in a police station, as the state's corruption watchdog says it will oversee the investigation into the leak.

A prominent Indonesian university is investigating allegations of sexual harassment involving a former student who is currently studying in Melbourne on a prestigious scholarship.

Scientists say it is likely a fragile little penguin colony skipped a breeding season due to crucial ocean occurrence — called the Bonney upwelling — running late.

A Lifeline volunteer counts her work as a privilege and urges more people to volunteer, as calls to the support line jump to record highs.

The Victorian Government launches a new campaign against family violence, as St Vincent's Hospital records a doubling of family violence victims presenting to its emergency department during the coronavirus pandemic.

The campaign will launch in Victoria on Monday to remind victims help is available and to let bystanders know they can call out family violence even with physical restrictions in place.

There are plenty of ways to celebrate Mother's Day without even leaving the house, even if your family is spread across the country. Here's how some families are celebrating.

A sixth-generation farming family living on the urban fringes of Melbourne are watching farming properties around them disappear because of the urban sprawl.