This year's flood event at Lake Eyre delivers a spectacular natural wonder, and brings new life to Central Australia and a crucial economic boost to remote businesses.

How do you police a dry community without a permanent police station? Locals have been left alone as alcohol abuse grows out of control.

The Lake Nash Young Guns Aussie Rules team often play on an empty stomach as they cannot afford to pay for both fuel and food.

What would it mean to live in "a story-less world where our rich literary traditions no longer existed, and have been excised from memory"?

Scones, tea, and craft are synonymous with the CWA, but the organisation also provides vital community support. In drought- and flood-ravaged Julia Creek, it's all about keeping things low-key.

Mary Kathleen's shuttered uranium mine is bright blue, incredibly Instagram-worthy, radioactive and Queensland's latest hotspot.

Bull riders will still tell you the Mount Isa Rodeo isn't a social event they go to win. But as conditions in country Australia worsen, they're not the only ones hanging on.

Australian researchers find a new species of pterosaur in outback Queensland. The apex aerial predator had a 4-metre wingspan and walked on all four limbs when on land.

Annastacia Palaszczuk is forced to apologise to Parliament over her threats to strip Katter's Australian Party MPs of resources when they refused to denounce former colleague Fraser Anning's speech calling for a Muslim immigration ban.

One high-tech regional library hosts a "zoom room" for video conferencing, an interactive jumping floor for kids, eBooks and eAudiobooks and yes, plenty of good, old-fashioned printed books.

Single Wire Earth Return (SWER) lines provide power to rural stations

Experts say the landmark High Court 'Crocodile case', which granted Indigenous Australians the right to fish and hunt for traditional foods, is still significant 20 years later.

Wildlife carers in Victoria say more native animals are being injured or killed as prolonged dry weather drives them to seek food and water closer to urban areas.

Rural Victorian voters are frustrated as the electoral commission decides to abolish more than 25 polling booths in the Mallee and Wannon electorates without consultation.

Despite Labor's belief in a "mood for change" in Victoria, the only seats in the state likely to switch parties are those where boundaries had been redrawn since the last election.

Newly-elected Labor MP Libby Coker says ensuring the Government delivers on their expensive election commitments in Corangamite even though they lost the seat will be her first priority after claiming victory in the Victorian electorate.

This used to be the quiet time of year on Victoria's famous stretch of coastline, but locals say that's changing.

UK-based charity the Eden Project has released its vision for a disused coal mine near Victoria's Great Ocean Road. They plan to transform it into a $150 million eco-tourism attraction a celebration of the natural environment on what is now a barren site.

It felt as if the winds of change were blowing through the Catholic Church after the royal commission. But a new defence has rejected some of its key findings in relation to one of its most notorious paedophile priests, writes Louise Milligan.

The Catholic Cardinal is using three reasons to appeal against his conviction for sexually abusing two choirboys when he was archbishop of Melbourne in the 1990s. We explain what they are, and what the court will have to consider.

A Ballarat magistrate dismisses an assault charge against a police sergeant, agreeing his use of force was "reasonable" during an altercation in which he punched his neighbour in the face.

The disgraced Cardinal faces claims he knew of child sex abuse by notorious paedophile Edward "Ted" Dowlan and was involved in moving him from school to school, allowing the abuse to continue.

Consumers are increasingly asking for it and Meat and Livestock Australia says it's achievable carbon neutrality by 2030.

Trading at around $2,500 per kilogram, more growers are entering the truffle industry as demand for the unique fungi remains high.

Jailed Cardinal George Pell will front Victoria's highest court today to appeal against his child sex abuse convictions, arguing proper process wasn't followed at trial and a reasonable jury could not have found him guilty of the crimes.

Hundreds of abuse survivors could benefit from reforms that will allow them to sue their abusers, even if they signed "unfair" agreements not to take legal action.

Two homicides in two months last year rocked Maryborough in regional Victoria, a town whose residents already felt they'd become too accustomed to putting themselves down over the years.

Budget cuts, funding freezes, and tight rental markets put pressure on homeless services as more people end up on the street.

A man has pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing the death of a former regional Victorian mayor near Ballarat in 2017.

A teenager molested by Christian Brother John Laidlaw in the 1980s tells a Melbourne court he thought he was being "punished by God" when he was sexually assaulted at his family home, as the former teacher pleads guilty to abusing six boys over two decades.

A rise in the number of assaults against local government employees prompts Victorian councils to call for a change in sentencing laws to better protect their staff.

A 21-year-old is flown to hospital after an axe hit his helmet while he was taking part in a mock medieval battle at Hawkesbury Showground in New South Wales.

When farmer Alistair Gabb fell into depression his doctor prescribed him medication and referred him to a psychiatrist for 10 free therapy sessions but it was far from enough.

Locals in the Victorian town of Daylesford say they are shocked and devastated by council's decision to remove an "aggressive" gaggle of geese from the area, describing them as "a bit of an icon" in the tourism hotspot.