While the focus and support has been on the drought in Australia's east, farmers in WA have been hesitant to rock the boat over their own struggles.

"When it rains" may sound like the obvious answer, but nothing in the real world is that easy.

A 95-year-old celebrates a win after a decades-long fight for an apology from the Catholic Church in Melbourne for the abuse of her daughter by priest Gerard Mulvale.

Premier Daniel Andrews says 100,000 Victorians will be tested for coronavirus over 14 days before a decision is taken on whether physical-distancing restrictions should be lifted.

Coronavirus sees many housebound Australians revisit instruments they haven't played since they were kids — rediscovering the trials and tribulations of learning along the way.

It's been called a bribe and a wedge — a $3 billion cheque for Catholic and independent schools to ignore the edict from the Andrews Government to teach kids from home, writes Richard Willingham.

Fire season is officially over in southern Australia, but the work is only just beginning for the royal commission into the deadly crisis.

A former Australia Zoo big cat keeper says an elusive population of wild pumas and panthers reportedly seen in the Australian wilderness could be long-escaped animals from travelling circuses, or former military mascots.

Health Minister Jenny Mikakos announces that Epping's Meadowglen Primary School will be closed for three days as the state confirms 13 new coronavirus cases.

Parents and teachers may be finding isolation tedious, but Kurnai College's school captain finds ways to keep the student body engaged and amused.

There have been 22 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Victoria overnight bringing the states total to 1406

When a farmworker was convicted of poisoning hundreds of wedge-tailed eagles in Victoria, he told the court he was ordered to do it. But due to legal limitations, no further charges were laid against his boss.

Residents against a controversial abattoir take their fight to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal in a final attempt to stop the plan going ahead.

Melbourne tea shop manager Jennifer Li recorded a stranger hurling racially charged taunts at her when she tried to defend herself and customers who were wearing facemasks.

A man who raped a woman in his Melbourne apartment, which he described as "the perfect location", has been jailed for eight years for the "violent act" he inflicted on his victim.

A sighting of a sea creature not usually found in Tasmanian waters has surprised onlookers, but could become more frequent, experts say.

Fish have been found on the streets of Yowah, in outback Queensland, after record rainfall.

Floodwaters are swelling rivers in drought-ravaged outback Queensland and lifting the spirits of graziers.

The Coalition's candidate for the marginal South Australian seat of Mayo moderates her previous position that the minimum wage and penalty rates should be abolished.

Australia's livestock feed supplies are under threat due to the drought, which is putting pressure on both domestic customers and the export market.

A flight school is forced to improve its safety regime after a student pilot who was sleep deprived and sick flew into Adelaide's controlled airspace after falling unconscious at the controls.

Journalist Andrew McGarry covered the trial of one of Australia's most notorious serial killings. Two decades since police made the gruesome discovery in a disused bank vault, he looks at the similarities between the actions of ringleader, John Bunting, and George Orwell's novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four.

Australian creatives who have lived through devastating natural disasters turn their trauma into beautiful pieces of art.

A patient bringing a loaded gun into the Royal Adelaide Hospital and nurses being threatened with knives are just some of the concerning incidents plaguing staff at South Australian hospitals, the union for nurses says.

A contentious ecotourism project on Kangaroo Island has been approved and could lead the way for similar projects that will open up South Australian national parks currently "under lock and key".

As the drought drives Australia's sheep flock to historic lows, a South Australian sheep sale has been called off three times due to a lack of animals.

A former military pilot from WA is being praised after switching his light plane's engine off when it flipped during a landing on a remote SA airstrip. He and his wife are in a stable condition in hospital in Adelaide.

A pig farmer receives a barrage of abusive online comments after opening up on Facebook about the closure of her pig business.

A Flinders Ranges woman who killed a man after ramming him with her ute as part of a family dispute over a trailer is found guilty of manslaughter, not murder, with an Adelaide judge saying she "cannot be sure" the woman intended to kill.

A South Australian man killed his close friend when he landed on top of him during a drunken fight, causing an internal cyst to fatally rupture, a court hears.

After allegations of misconduct and violent behaviour at a South Australian fire station were revealed by the ABC, some staff are now facing fresh claims of a serious conflict of interest as calls for a public inquiry intensify.

A South Australian man has been jailed for killing his best friend at a remote camp site during a drunken fight after falling on him and rupturing an internal cyst.

Pelicans and other waterbirds are dying in the outback and disappearing from waterways, as the effects of drought compound an already-concerning long-term decline in populations.

Ecologists say kangaroos are eating the stomach contents of dead roos and toilet paper in national parks to survive the drought.

Birdwatchers are spotting crimson and rare orange chats in southern Australia, refugees of the drought in the inland.

The Knights smash the Roosters in Newcastle, and the Titans knock over the Sea Eagles at Brookvale. Follow all the live scores, stats and commentary with our NRL ScoreCentre.

A schoolgirl will bear the scars of a summer flu for life, after contracting the virus in March and spending weeks in intensive care.

Former Newcastle Knights player Jarrod Mullen has fronted court in Newcastle facing a series of drugs charges.

Former rugby league star Jarryd Hayne is committed to stand trial on charges of aggravated sexual assault of a woman in the NSW Hunter region.

The Warriors score a late try to clinch a 24-20 victory over a Knights outfit depleted by State of Origin duty and injury in Newcastle.

The former rugby league star pleads not guilty to two counts of aggravated sexual assault against a 26-year-old woman in the NSW Hunter Valley and tells reporters outside court it's been "a very hard time" for his family.

The second-placed Rabbitohs just get home against the Dragons 20-16 after the Tigers hold on in a thriller against the Knights, winning 28-26.

South Sydney misses its chance to jump into the top four, losing to the Bulldogs, after the Storm lost to the Raiders and the Knights broke their drought with a big win over North Queensland.

The drought is dragging on but this Walgett cafe is bucking the trend and expanding and is the shot in the arm this little town needs.

Newcastle Knights coach Nathan Brown to leave the NRL club after four seasons.

A 26-year-old woman is charged with 11 offences after allegedly stabbing members of the public, as well as her daughter, in Salamander Bay near Port Stephens.

The Sharks wrap up a spot in the finals with a 25-8 win over the Tigers as Robbie Farah's career comes to a close, while the Panthers end a disappointing season with a 54-10 thrashing of the Knights.

What would you do if you were told you had 16 months to live? That was the harsh reality for Jill Emberson when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. With the survival rate of the disease half that of the breast cancer survival rate, she's using her last moments to make a change.

A NSW firefighter who hatched a plan to start bushfires "so he could fight them" will serve more time in jail than the man who lit them his younger brother.