After a US magazine visited the far-north NSW coast town, Byron Bay was abuzz. Dig a little deeper and the stories pour forth from angered locals.

Life for Busara O'Reilly in her Lismore cafe is a far cry from the day she fled gunfire on a beautiful Thai beach as a toddler, but it is that start to life that has made her take nothing for granted.

Too Much Lip is a raucous family yarn that explores intergenerational trauma, class and the lives of Aboriginal women, and it has just won its author a prestigious $60,000 prize.

There are fears important wildlife habitat is being destroyed as a developer tries to enact a 1984 site approval on the New South Wales north coast.

MORNING BRIEFING: A NSW police officer is left with bite marks after an attack by a man who also swallowed a balloon, while divers resume their search for a car that crashed into the Hawkesbury River last night.

Acting detective Eric Walsh sought advice from police colleagues on ways to silence online criticism of Universal Medicine, a group found by a jury to be a "dangerous cult", the ABC can reveal.

In 1979, protesters blocked the path of bulldozers to stop the logging of a rainforest on the New South Wales north coast, the first blockade of its kind in Australia.

A father who lost his son in a shocking crash 13 years ago channels his grief into a mission for better road safety with a driver-training centre that could save countless lives.

Dramatic footage from the NSW Rural Fire Service shows the treacherous conditions firefighters are dealing with at Shark Creek, which remains under emergency alert.

Flames fanned by strong winds caused extensive damage to the resort site, destroying the heritage-listed wooden lodge building that had stood since the 1930s.

A Brisbane multi-millionaire who donated $300,000 to a charity associated with a group later found in court to be an "exploitative cult" says he gave the money freely as a reward for treating his chronic pain.

Rappville residents share stories of survival after a bushfire swept through their small community in northern NSW, with one 82-year-old pensioner hiding in his shed in a bid to escape the inferno.

MORNING BRIEFING: A number of fish have died at a lake near Menindee as the Federal Government announces emergency funds to protect fish, while volunteers work to deliver supplies to farmers who are unwilling to leave their fire-ravaged properties.

Whale watchers off the north coast of New South Wales have held a front-row seat to the rarely witnessed and gruesome spectacle of a pod of killer whales devouring a juvenile humpback whale.

A 16-year-old girl tells an inquiry she can no longer trust police after she was subjected to a strip search at the Splendour in the Grass music festival when a sniffer dog falsely detected drugs on her.

Toowoomba Regional Council's motto is "Rich traditions, bold ambitions" — and it has boldly created a new tradition in choosing its deputy mayor.

Semi-retired Keith and Glenda Drake, both in their 80s, will donate the proceeds of their seaside penthouse to help researchers develop a treatment for coronavirus.

The lead-up to Anzac Day is usually a busy time for florists and volunteers, but this year is very different.

One of the only full Anzac Day services to be held in Queensland will honour the service of local soldiers through a series of videos filmed during isolation.

The SA Government is proposing new incentives for landholders to kill wild dogs on their properties, as well as allowing aerial baiting, but an ecologist says the new policy will inevitably target native dingoes.

The southern Queensland town of Yelarbon is the latest to put itself on the map with a large-scale silo mural, but visitors will have to wait until COVID-19 travel restrictions are lifted.

Unemployment in one Queensland region soars to more than double the state figure as an expert warns it's the 'calm before the storm'.

The shire's mayor says with more than 500,000 people from the Gold Coast having their beaches closed and all descending on the Tweed, it is a "pretty frightening prospect for our community".

Queenslanders find innovative ways to commemorate Anzac Day from home and online after coronavirus distancing restrictions forced the cancellation of gatherings.