A man who denied knowing anything about $245 million worth of drugs onboard a catamaran he skippered from Tahiti faces life in jail after being found guilty of the crime.

The Aboriginal language Gathang largely disappeared when its last fluent speaker died in the 1960s, and now the task of revitalising it has begun.

A monitoring program to survey bleaching is underway at Lord Howe Island Marine Park with researchers performing underwater assessments and aerial mapping.

A dairying heritage in northern NSW, dating back to 1863, is coming to an end as farmer Bert Bradford hangs up the cups.

Zohara and Celia wanted to give back to their community, but they found it hard to find the time around their studies. Until they found pop-in volunteering.

Port Macquarie resident Kim Dahler was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in her 40s and wants others to know life can still be fulfilling.

Have you ever wondered what happens to lost and stolen items when the police can't find the owner?

A food technology company has patented a process it claims can keep 100 per cent natural milk fresh for at least 60 days without additives or preservatives.

When Bennett Powell was a child, doctors thought he might never walk but now he's running, cycling and swimming as part of his third Ironman Australia race.

The forestry industry believes the Coalition's pledge of planting 1 billion trees by 2030 is unrealistic, unless it removes barriers preventing the sector's growth.

The free cuppa and bikkie offered at the once-popular Driver Reviver sites on the nation's major highways have been slowly losing their appeal to tired motorists.

Jigna Chauhan offers free henna crowns to women who have lost their hair during chemotherapy treatments, helping them feel more positive and confident.

Michael McCormack with Patrick Conaghan

During the final week of the Federal election campaign, National Party ads accuse Rob Oakeshott of having never "done a hard day's work in his life".

Three women, inspired by the revelations in The Teacher's Pet podcast, have come forward with allegations of sexual abuse by teachers at a NSW high school.

Australian artworks will feature in a new international art-science exhibition in Venice, which hopes to educate people and raise talk about climate change and deforestation, and possible solutions.

The Country Women's Association is set to take on Wicked Campers after one of its members took direct action and painted over of slogans on one of its vans.

He established some of Australia's best-known national parks and fought for World Heritage listings across the globe. But for the late Peter Hitchcock, conservation was no walk in the park.

More than 20 Pixie O'Harris artworks are being restored for an exhibition after the final paintings, which had been missing since the 1950s, mysteriously turn up without note or explanation.

Welcome to fire spotting the job where you get to look into the distance and get paid for it.

MORNING BRIEFING: Former Newcastle Knights star Jarrod Mullen is charged over his alleged role in a cocaine ring in the Hunter region and Australia's country music industry is in shock after singer and producer Glen Hannah dies.

A study reveals a visit from a rare bird to a tiny NSW town generated hundreds of thousands of dollars for the economy, highlighting the untapped potential of birdwatching tourism.

A koala joey, only months old, is defying the odds after being rescued when her mother was hit by a car in Port Macquarie on the NSW mid-north coast. Pixie is now in home care and being carried in a makeshift pouch 24 hours a day.

Nicknamed "The Missile", James Magnussen decides to call time on his decorated swimming career, which included world championship gold and Olympic silver.

Barrington Tops is receiving its first winter dusting as cold conditions hit the east coast of New South Wales.

Researchers monitoring the impact of climate change say golden bowerbirds and other highland rainforest species are being pushed to higher altitudes by temperature rises and fear they'll eventually have nowhere left to go.

People on Lord Howe Island are trying to save their slice of paradise from a rat infestation, but a controversial eradication program has divided families and friends on the tiny outpost 600km off the NSW coast.

Stories of struggle, the Stolen Generations, mission communities and the death of a traditional language: how would you vocalise three generations of Indigenous history?

As everyday Australians increasingly look for ways to reuse and recycle, government projects are following the same path, with glass, rubber and aggregate being used in roadworks.

A NSW court hears 81-year-old David Allen Esling, charged with the attempted stabbing murder of his wife of 54 years in April, had formed a suicide pact with her.

The Cancer Council uses new digital technology to transport more regional cancer patients to treatment.

Bound by tradition but using honey from stingless bees and Australian botanicals proves to be more than just a silver lining for a NSW distiller.

A treasured piece of rail history has been destroyed in a rural NSW town despite assurances from the national rail body it would be removed with the intent to preserve it.

Pixie weighed less than 200 grams when she was rescued after her mother was hit by a car. Carers thought she was too tiny to survive, but they were wrong.

Chef Julie-Anne Booth, after a lifetime sometimes cooking for royalty, is back home sharing her food experiences with regional food producers.

A NSW Mid North Council apologies for the grief it caused the community for knocking over headstones.

Emergency services are keeping a close watch on large blazes at Middle Creek Road, Kangaroo Creek north of Coffs Harbour, and at Verges Creek north of Crescent Head in northern NSW, after residents were warned to seek shelter.

A woman whose house burnt down in bushfires affecting the NSW North Coast said that she and her husband now plan on leaving the bush due to the hazard.

As debate continues over the best way to teach children to read, parents and experts say dyslexic students are falling through the cracks and struggling academically and emotionally.

Ross Miller has no intention of putting the rod into the rack. Instead, he is building another prawn trawler as a legacy to his son.

People in a packed gallery sit up when inconsistencies begin to appear in the testimony of "person of interest" Paul Savage, a neighbour who claimed he joined in the search for the missing three-year-old.

Police recapture prisoner Matthew Furner, who escaped from custody at Port Macquarie Base Hospital on the NSW Mid North Coast and fled into nearby bushland.

Whitegoods repairman Bill Spedding tells an inquest into the disappearance of William Tyrrell he was having coffee with his wife on the day the toddler vanished, before revealing the "devastating impact" of the police investigation on his life.

A Kendall resident says he is certain he saw William Tyrrell being driven away by a blonde woman in a car at high speed moments after the toddler vanished from the New South Wales mid-north coast almost five years ago.

The number of whale entanglements in ropes and floats has reached an unprecedented 35 incidents off NSW so far this year, so commercial fishers are meeting to discuss better practices.

Farmers along Australia's normally green east coast are reeling from the worst drought they have ever seen and face a tough summer if it doesn't rain in the next few months.