As Queensland's Darling Downs continues to experience one of its worst droughts on record, a scientist and a horticulturalist have developed a recycled watering system to keep their garden alive.

Over half a century, the Roma Saleyards in southern Queensland have become more than just a place to sell and buy livestock. They're a meeting point, a social occasion and even an unlikely tourist destination.

In a small town in country Australia an elderly man is praying he won't live to 91, like his father. He doesn't have the money, and it feels like debt is closing in on him.

Some southern Queenslanders say they're watching Midsomer Murders just to get a glimpse of flowing water. Despite the "pathetically dry" conditions, they are finding much-needed solace in their gardens.

A combination of drought, disease and concerted eradication efforts have seen a huge drop in Queensland's feral rabbit population to their lowest levels in more than 30 years.

A company working on the Shell-owned Queensland Gas Corporation project tells job applicants they will not be accepted until they submit to blood tests to check if they are at risk of heart attack, high cholesterol and other conditions.

Like anyone at the end of their working life, when Matilda the Commonwealth Games mascot retired she had one thing in mind travel. Curious Brisbane tracks her adventures these past 36 years, and reveals where she can be found today.

It was the big idea that could have been a huge success or an expensive disaster, but more than 20 years later this little community is still reaping the benefits of a bold decision.

A Sunshine Coast woman is duped by an "online lover" into handing over her bank details, allowing scammers to deposit $6 million they had just swindled from a South Korean business, police say.

Authorities reveal the residents of a Sunshine Coast aged care facility were trapped inside as a dangerous bushfire approached this week, but they were kept safe by a protective ring of firefighters.

As urban density intensifies in Australia's major cities, renegades are fighting to replace the greenery that has been lost, writes Natalie Vella.

Residents in a small Queensland town are still counting their blessings 12 months after a bushfire destroyed more than 12,000 hectares of pasture, and now they are preparing to be in drought before the decade is out.

Mark Wadeson was sleeping rough and battling cancer and overzealous council workers now his life is looking up and he's keen to be a voice for the underdogs.

As water supplies run low for towns reliant on the Darling River in western NSW, the Government says it has drought-proofed Broken Hill with a 270-kilometre pipeline from the Murray River.

A grazier in the far west of New South Wales is up to the challenge of the drought, growing his beard till he beats the big dry.

Graziers have turned to the help of a landscape ecologist to battle severe drought in rain-starved areas of far western New South Wales.

As a federal election and what should be the southern wet season approach, attention is returning to the drought. So where are we at?

For the first time in 15 years, cattle are grazing the roadsides of the Moyne Shire, in Victoria's south-west.

A fourth-generation grazier, who is selling the family property, says it could take a decade of uncommonly good conditions for pastoralists to recover from the drought in far-west NSW.

Extreme drought conditions have all but dried up the Barwon River in western NSW, and now the unprecedented dry has exposed an extraordinary piece of maritime history.

NSW's water woes extend beyond the farm gate and its impact on the local environment water is intimately linked to the strength of regional economies. And many are struggling.

From 85 millimetres of rain in a year to more than 50mm in a day, widespread Easter rain raises spirits from Bourke to Menindee.

Heavy rainfall across south-west New South Wales has provided some farmers with much-needed relief, many measuring the best falls they have seen in over two years.

For keen rugby league player Owen Whyman, times are tough enough in the Darling River town of Wilcannia without losing the game he looks forward to each week.

In the shadow of mass fish kills at the start of the year, residents of Menindee in NSW are now worried for the rich and rare birdlife that relies on the area to breed.

Amid the mass fish kills and the ongoing drought, residents of Menindee in outback NSW hope a festival will be the first of many positives that draw tourists back to the region.

Wes Herring's family has farmed north-west of Broken Hill for 106 years. Deciding to sell after so long was a heartbreaking decision, but Mr Herring says he otherwise risked paying the ultimate price.

Flights resume arriving and departing from Adelaide Airport after delays and diversions this morning because of the heaviest fog since 2003.

In the old tin mosque in Broken Hill, Samia made a discovery that disproved what historians had thought for more than 40 years.

The drought takes its toll on organic farmers who say the big dry has ruined their ability to meet the conditions of their licences, so they cannot sell their livestock as organic.

Officials are hoping for a big turnout at the restart of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race in Albany today.

Real estate agents say Albany's rental market has tightened significantly in recent times.

An investor, who has been left waiting months for the return of rare bank notes he owned through a collapsed Albany dealer, says further delays to that process are distressing.

A campaign is being launched to improve public awareness of the dangers of rock fishing in an effort to substantially reduce the number of fatalities across Western Australia.

The Department of Fisheries has released the results of a survey of WA's recreational fishing take, which has found the blue swimmer crab is the most commonly caught species.

WA's District Court has confirmed Collingwood defender Marley Williams will face trial next month, accused of causing grievous bodily harm.

The developers of a proposed multi-million dollar shopping centre development in Denmark say they are appealing against a decision to refuse planning approval.

A prominent businessman on Western Australia's south coast has been sentenced to eight years and six months in jail for attempting to hire a hitman to murder his estranged daughter-in-law. Brian Vincent Attwell paid $10,000 to an undercover police officer who had posed as a hitman in September last year. The court heard the 74-year-old was angry over legal action after his son's divorce and he was motivated by "sheer hatred" of Michelle Attwell. The trial was played recordings of the businessman saying his daughter-in-law had cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars, and he wanted her "strangled and buried".

Police have charged an Albany man with lighting three fires last month.

Agricultural lobby group WA Farmers has urged the Federal Government not to forget struggling growers in parts of Western Australia, in talks over a drought assistance package.