Paralysed from the neck down after a football tackle 26 years ago, Brett Morris finishes the Gold Coast Marathon Fun Run in a wheelchair in under an hour, and he's "very happy it's done".

This year's NAIDOC Week theme is Voice. Treaty. Truth. But the truth is that many Indigenous people feel voiceless when it comes to expressing where Australia stands on treaty today.

Tony Mulvihill has only one secret for training a good working dog, a lesson he learned 30 years ago from an Oregon buckaroo.

Disability advocates renew their push for local councils nationwide to ensure that new housing is universally accessible to address what they describe as a critical shortage of accommodation.

An educator on the New South Wales south coast hopes to have all the region's school children fluently speaking their local Dharawal language in the next 10 years.

Purebred or mixed-breed Staffordshire terriers have killed at least four people in Australia in the past six months but the RSPCA says a dog's breed alone is not a reliable predictor of aggressive behaviour.

A joint operation between the Australian Border Force, ACT and NSW police has discovered about 384kg of cocaine inside a second-hand excavator bound for a regional NSW business. (Supplied: Australian Border Force)

Police seize more than $140 million worth of cocaine stashed in the arm of an excavator that was destined for a business in a small NSW town.

Beekeepers in New South Wales are hand-feeding their hives as the drought cripples the bees' ability to make honey, with a shortage expected to sting consumers at the checkout.

A braille teacher says technology is causing a decline in literacy among people who are vision-impaired, prompting her to bring the tactile language into the mainstream.

MORNING BRIEFING: NSW police hunt for Sunjay Dayal, who escaped while undertaking maintenance work in Mount Kiera, while three cars set alight in a garage triggers the fire alarms inside a Liverpool unit block.

An inmate from a prison once touted as housing criminals with "no escape risk" is on the run after he fled into bushland while on a work assignment.

The Panthers thrash the Dragons 40-18 to stretch their winning streak to seven matches, while the Warriors enjoy a 19-18 victory over the Sharks in Wellington as the race for the NRL finals heats up.

A woman on trial accused of murdering her partner allegedly poisoned him with a "cocktail of dangerous medication" so she could benefit financially from his death, an Adelaide court is told.

The family of a grandmother killed when a minibus clipped a fuel tanker offers generous sympathy to the bus driver at his sentencing in Wollongong District Court today.

Jobs growth versus environmental concerns reignite with a coal company's proposed expansion under Sydney's water supply.

Fire crews have spent more than two weeks extinguishing a coal wash fire burning underground on a property in NSW.

St George Illawarra's season is all but over, but a sensational debut from young winger Jason Saab in the team's latest loss may be a sign of better things to come.

The NDIS cuts off at 65, so anyone who gets an acquired disability has to make do with an aged care supplement. This is not enough, according to a family caring for a quadriplegic.

A plan to shore up New South Wales's energy supply suffers a setback amid concerns about aircraft safety.

Cronulla moves into eighth place on the NRL ladder after a hard-fought win over the Dragons, after the Roosters made light work of the Warriors in an ominous performance ahead of finals.

It is 30 years since Qantas's bold, record-holding 747 jumbo's continuous flight from London to Sydney in what was a marathon journey featuring specially-made fuel and covert planning.

Rugby league player Jack de Belin will stand trial on sexual assault charges in March next year, just two weeks before the start of the 2020 NRL season.

Australia has an extensive list of previously banned books that were once considered "obscene" and a threat to the country's morals and literary standards.

A man has been sentenced to six months in prison after being found with an explosive device at Wollongong train station last Thursday during peak hour.

Mining company South32 removes hundreds of workers from its two Illawarra underground coal mines as it investigates an issue with an emergency breathing mask.

MORNING BRIEFING: Kaila Murnain is back in front of ICAC after telling the inquiry she was advised to "forget" about alleged illegal donations which led to her suspension yesterday.

A court hears a former NSW Northern Beaches baseball coach allegedly kept torture tallies, diaries naming victims, footage of alleged assaults and was in possession of child pornography.

Has an earworm crawled into your head and started gnawing on your brain, looping a specific song until you go crazy?

Winds of up to 90 kilometres per hour leave a trail of destruction across Sydney, with rescue crews pushed to their limits and warnings still in place for southern parts of NSW.

High-profile members of the surf lifesaving movement have described a continual wrestle for resources between spending on sport and spending on rescue equipment.

A cold front moving across NSW dumps snow around Goulburn and the Blue Mountains, while erratic winds and lightning may hamper firefighting efforts in the north of the state.

A major crime review into the suspected murder of three-year-old Cheryl Grimmer, who was taken from a Wollongong Beach almost 50 years ago will be conducted, as her family desperately pleads for the state coroner to hold a second inquest into her death.

A former Special Forces soldier says it's time for the ADF to "modernise" its internal legal system and start footing the bills for members who want to use civilian lawyers.

Lance Daly has been through a heroin addiction, multiple stints in jail and gang violence and now wants to help people remove the marks of the past that are stifling their futures.

MORNING BRIEFING: An independent panel gives a 30-storey tower and retail complex at Barangaroo the green light, while police are perplexed how an SUV ended up on top of a parked car.

Shopping these days is no private affair as shopper surveillance ramps up towards the Christmas period. What you might not be aware of is that traders and their employees are also being keenly observed.

Artist Tanya Stubbles created 22 artworks for a Chinese client six months after leaving a brain injury unit in Sydney.

The train Harris Cheung catches to work in Sydney each day takes an hour-and-a-half the same time it took to travel the route on a steam train in the 1930s.