A wooden cross marked "2014" the same year that William Tyrrell went missing was among several false leads found during a large police search for the toddler around Kendall on the NSW mid-north coast, an inquest hears.

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.

750-year-old Indigenous bones, discovered under a house on the New South Wales mid-north coast, are returned to the place where they were found.

Aboriginal native title holders in the Kimberley demand land clearing work stop on the Yakka Munga cattle station, claiming cultural sites are being damaged.

The WA Government has ordered Zenith Australia Investment Holding to stop clearing land at Yakka Munga station after a blockade by the area's native title holders.

Conservation groups want harsher penalties for illegal land clearing, as the WA Government investigates a Chinese-owned company over the mysterious clearing of 120 hectares at a cattle station.

The harvest is underway at one of Australia's most remote pearl farms and its new owners are excited by what they see.

Some Broome tourism businesses hope a parliamentary inquiry will lead to a crackdown on accommodation websites, while others say 'the sharing economy' needs support.

A day after Jody Gore was released from her murder sentence in an act of mercy by the WA Government, she says she hopes her case brings the "silent epidemic" of domestic violence into the open.

Lou Brown used meditation and shear effort to clip about one sheep a minute for eight hours and claim the new world record.

A respected marine scientist warns that seagrass beds in Queensland are being smothered by 'snotweed' algae. But there are ways to fight the foul gunk, and other states are starting to take notice of the method.

The owners of the mothballed Ravensthorpe nickel mine in WA's south-east, say they will move to re-open the site if surging demand for the metal continues.

One year after the worst disaster to hit Australia's strawberry sector, growers are optimistic about this year's harvest but say they are not out of the woods just yet.

Cold weather in Western Australia's south sees dozens flock up a mountain to carry out the winter tradition of building tiny, stunted but adorable snowmen.

A sea snake has washed up on a beach near Esperance on WA's southern coast, marking the region's first verified record of the typically tropical creature.

In West Cape Howe National Park on WA's rugged south coast, there is a narrow, twisting track with a fearsome reputation that has become a rite of passage for four-wheel drive enthusiasts.

In an six-hour police interview played to the jury, Ms Otto told detectives she and friend Bradley Purkiss had fantasised about living together and had often said things would be easier if her husband were dead.

DAILY BRIEFING: A Tasmanian shark attack victim commemorates a year since the incident, cattle deaths hearing delayed and basketball stars arrive in the state.

Companies impacted by the catastrophic 2016 Hobart Rivulet wall collapse which flooded Myer just months after it reopened after being destroyed by fire launch civil action in the Supreme Court.

Harry Copeland has a condition experienced by only a handful of other people globally and his parents used to have NDIS help. But then the family fell through the cracks.

A mansion in Melbourne's east, newly constructed units and more than 3,000 acres of Tasmanian farmland are among the assets seized by Australian Federal Police as part of a two-year investigation into alleged money laundering by Chinese nationals.

A high school PE teacher cuts his long hair in honour of his mum, as donations of human hair for medical wigs increases.

From growing agri-tourism to tackling racism, these Trailblazers are taking their big ideas to the country's corridors of power to revolutionise regional Australia.

Some posts and memes on social media want foreign aid cut until Australians get back on their feet after natural disasters. But is this too simplistic?

Lukina Lukin has fought her way to the top of Australia's lucrative southern bluefin tuna industry in a classic rags-to-riches tale of survival and success.

Charities are turning to technology as they struggle to source enough food to feed a growing number of people going hungry in rural and remote communities.

Beach wheelchairs and special matting are finally out of mothballs after two years, thanks to the Whyalla City Council's decision to cover public liability insurance.

In the mid-19th century two teenagers fled the brutal life of a SA whaling station. With the help of local Indigenous tribes they survived walking more than 500km through remote landscape to finally reach freedom.

Clean drinking water is essential for survival but one South Australian Aboriginal community has now been completely "bone dry" for days.

IBM is hiring 10 employees with autism at its Client Innovation Centre in Ballarat, joining the growing trend of neurodiversity programs in the workplace.

The Horn v Zerafa bout promoter brings in male "fight progress managers" to replace female ring card carriers, much to the Bendigo crowd's displeasure, as local councillors call the use of "ring girls" outdated and misogynist.

The councillor who spoke out against the use of ring girls at a council-sponsored boxing match resigns, saying she's been attacked by colleagues and members of the community.

A new willingness to open up about personal struggles and finding a rural sanctuary is empowering Richmond defender Dylan Grimes and his teammates.

For players of the Balloon Football League, or BFL, the passion and competitiveness is just as intense as AFL the only difference being the players are disabled.

Buried among the hundreds of witness statements submitted to the aged care royal commission is a table showing how one of the country's biggest for-profit chains employs just one registered nurse for 106 residents on the night shift.

Bev Hetherington and Sandra Kleinetzt

A new food truck is empowering disadvantaged Gippsland families to choose their own fresh produce and is also allowing for more efficient delivery.

German conglomerate thyssenkrupp will build an Additive Manufacturing TechCenter Hub in Singapore in 2019.