Researchers say there used to be an expectation that there was an urban/country divide in racist attitudes in Australia, but a recent study has challenged the assumption.

The story of a rare sapphire found in Queensland's Gemfields more than 80 years ago captures the hearts of enthusiasts at a nationally renowned gem festival.

A 76-year-old man has died in a hit-and-run accident in central Queensland overnight as police search for the driver after finding a car believed to have been involved in the crash.

With sales rising and participation in regional Queensland gel ball leagues doubling in some areas, advocates are campaigning to ensure newcomers participate safely.

As opportunities increase for women in contact sports, concerns about injury rates are also on the rise. But for some the health benefits outweigh the risk of injury.

The lawyer for a Tamil family facing deportation from Australia says she is deeply concerned about access to her clients now they have been relocated to Christmas Island.

The Tamil family facing deportation from Australia has been relocated to the Christmas Island detention centre, their lawyer says.

The mother from the Tamil family at the centre of an immigration row says her children are constantly crying and pleading to leave a Christmas Island facility, as hundreds of people rally around the country to urge the Government to let them stay in Australia.

Underwater statues and submerged hotels are some of the latest attractions on the Great Barrier Reef, concerning an old-school dive operator.

Scott Morrison steps in after former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce suggested the family facing deportation to Sri Lanka should be allowed to remain in the central Queensland town of Biloela.

A Tamil family facing deportation is given until Friday to consider a "surprise" development in their case, after the Immigration Minister said he would not exercise his discretion to allow the youngest daughter to stay in Australia.

Controversial changes enforcing quotas on Queensland fisheries have led to a critical breakdown in the relationship between industry and government.

Fire-weary residents at Sarabah in Queensland's Scenic Rim get a reprieve as authorities downgrade the bushfire warning level in the area, but conditions are expected to worsen in southern Queensland on Saturday.

A 39-year-old man from Emerald and a 59-year-old man from the Mackay area are found dead inside a twin-hulled power boat thought to have crashed at high speed off Central Queensland.

Sue*, a worker at a company bidding for an Adani contract, tells the ABC she is leaking information to environmental activists so they can target her employer, saying it's the "ethical, moral thing to do".

The Queensland Government is expected to pass a bill today to introduce new mandatory farm run-off regulations to protect the reef, despite opposition from agricultural groups.

Drum lines used to kill sharks in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park will be removed after the Queensland Government lost a challenge in the Federal Court to continue its culling program in the protectedarea.

A Tamil couple and their two children will remain on Christmas Island while a legal challenge to their deportation to Sri Lanka proceeds through the courts.

The rate of deliberately lit fires escalates rapidly during the school holiday period, according to an expert in arson investigations, as Queensland authorities reveal action has been taken against 21 juveniles and nine adults in recent weeks.

People living close to the beach admit to being a "little bit blas" about the threat of bushfires, but a forced evacuation during the recent Sunshine Coast emergency has changed their mindset.

Dog trackers, rangers, farmers and emergency services personnel band together in the search for Merlin, whose "best mate" and owner was killed in a car crash in rural Queensland last week. Searchers say the dog has been spotted a number of times in recent days.

Volunteer firefighters in central Queensland say the bureaucracy involved in fighting a bushfire has reached dangerous levels.

A company that provides frozen food to Meals on Wheels across four states, is recalling thousands of its products due to listeria contamination.

The United Nations Human Rights Committee asks Australia to end the "existing situation of detention" for the Sri Lankan Tamil family from Biloela being held on Christmas Island.

Farmers and local politicians voice their objections to plans to reduce the size of a proposed central Queensland weir as state and federal governments argue over how to deal with a cost blowout.

A wave of dangerous severe fire weather is about to hit southern Queensland with the Bureau of Meteorology forecasting heatwave conditions as temperatures soar up to 40 degrees Celsius in parts of the state.

A drenching is on its way for Queensland, with parts of the state set to receive their best rainfall in months today and on Saturday, with the potential for severe thunderstorms and damaging hail in some areas.

Teachers from Brisbane's Murri School say the annual educational bush camp provides social and emotional benefits for city students.

As the school year wraps up, staff, students, alumni, and rural industries are saying a final farewell to agricultural colleges in central Queensland.

The clean-up is underway after severe thunderstorms left a trail of damage but little precious rain in parts of South-East Queensland and the Darling Downs.

A world-first trial to grow Taiwanese lychee super varieties is underway in Central Queensland.