Fewer than one in 10 pregnant women in Australia have access to what is considered to be the 'gold standard' of maternity care, but one outback Queensland town has adopted the model in a bold move to empower local women and midwives.

A national survey of more than 800 tradies shows for the second consecutive year that they are more likely to take better care of their tools than their physical or mental health.

A group of vintage tractor enthusiasts and restorers like nothing better than rummaging for old parts in the hope they can bring a machine back to life.

Sylvia Wilson and her now late husband wanted to prove a point when they decided to live off the grid and convert their property to solar power.

As Stanthorpe faces running dry within months the local council discusses its options with the Queensland Government and gets set to impose heavy water restrictions.

Researchers say there used to be an expectation that there was an urban/country divide in racist attitudes in Australia, but a recent study has challenged the assumption.

A 76-year-old man has died in a hit-and-run accident in central Queensland overnight as police search for the driver after finding a car believed to have been involved in the crash.

With sales rising and participation in regional Queensland gel ball leagues doubling in some areas, advocates are campaigning to ensure newcomers participate safely.

These police know bull sharks and crocodiles are around, and "you can't even see your hand in front of your face", but the challenge is the reward in a job that requires grit.

This year's Gulf Frontier Days Festival attracted Indigenous and non-Indigenous people from all over the world.

Drought conditions have revived the old practice of large cattle drives, but drovers face new challenges as competition for feed on previously abandoned stock routes heats up.

It's largely unknown what seabirds and marine mammals do when they are out in Australia's remote waters, but an ongoing project aboard at 94-metre floating laboratory is changing that.

Before the ambulance existed, if outback Queensland locals had an emergency, they had to drive to themselves to hospital.

Consumer groups are warning borrowers that two related short-term money-lending companies that have charged fees of up to almost 1,000 per cent of the initial loan, and are being investigated by ASIC, are now operating under a new name.

A Queensland coroner condemns the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for failing to share vessel monitoring data with police, in a string of safety recommendations over the death of six crewmen on the trawler Dianne.

After the Queensland Government extinguished native title over the Adani mine site this week, police are concerned a clash is likely between mine workers and traditional owners who have set up a protest camp.

The Tamil family facing deportation from Australia has been relocated to the Christmas Island detention centre, their lawyer says.

The mother from the Tamil family at the centre of an immigration row says her children are constantly crying and pleading to leave a Christmas Island facility, as hundreds of people rally around the country to urge the Government to let them stay in Australia.

Scott Morrison steps in after former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce suggested the family facing deportation to Sri Lanka should be allowed to remain in the central Queensland town of Biloela.

Pro-refugee activism and the travel history of a Tamil father could see a Biloela family at the centre of an immigration row deported, an experienced immigration lawyer says.

The Stroke Foundation says patients with brain clots and haemorrhages are being left for hours untreated in rural hospitals which do not have the equipment or expertise to support them.

Researchers at Australia's first 'body farm' have observed that dead bodies move significantly when they decompose and believe it could be important in investigations.

Fire conditions are forecast to worsen again on Friday and Saturday when a dry wind is expected to blow across parts of southern Queensland, raising the fire danger rating from "high" to "very high".

Sue*, a worker at a company bidding for an Adani contract, tells the ABC she is leaking information to environmental activists so they can target her employer, saying it's the "ethical, moral thing to do".

The NSW Swifts claim the Super Netball title with a perfectly executed 64-47 victory over the Sunshine Coast Lightning in Brisbane.

The Queensland Government is expected to pass a bill today to introduce new mandatory farm run-off regulations to protect the reef, despite opposition from agricultural groups.

Drum lines used to kill sharks in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park will be removed after the Queensland Government lost a challenge in the Federal Court to continue its culling program in the protectedarea.