Police have released CCTV footage of missing backpacker Theo Hayez at a convenience store the night he disappeared.

The father of a missing Belgian backpacker, Theo Hayez, has called on encrypted messaging service WhatsApp to release the messages his son sent and received the night he went missing.

Business is booming for the gold mining industry as the price of the precious metal sets new benchmarks almost every day, but not everyone in mining towns like Kalgoorlie is taking a shine to the recent "mini gold rush".

Hidden in outback scrubland lies a once legendary racetrack, where speed records were broken, sometimes even in the nude.

The Victorian County Court criticises Gippsland Grammar for not sacking a 21-year-old tutor months before he had sex with an underage student.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says plans are underway to test 100,000 people over the next fortnight for COVID-19 in order to make an informed decision on which restrictions could be rolled back after the state of emergency ends on May 11.

Zoo owners in Victoria have welcomed the Federal Government's assistance package, but some fear they will not be eligible for the emergency funding.

Meredith Thompson and Adrian Brown fight to see their beloved relative, after his nursing home denied visits even though he only has weeks to live.

Internet search giant Google is ordered to pay $40,000 in damages to Melbourne lawyer George Defteros after a Supreme Court of Victoria ruling found the internet giant was a publisher, and had defamed the man.

A north-east Victorian alpine village says it will welcome visitors when restrictions allow despite uncertainty whether the ski season will go ahead at all.

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

Advice on whether students should attend schools amid the ongoing coronavirus situation varies widely across Australia. Here's the latest on what schools are doing in your state or territory.

A cluster of coronavirus cases at a Melbourne meatworks rises to 49, as two Victorian aged care homes go into lockdown after workers test positive to the virus.

An aged care facility says robotic pets are lighting up the lives of its residents and bringing comfort during isolation from the coronavirus pandemic.

Australian scientists develop a tool that could help students learn better in the virtual classroom, as remote education during the coronavirus pandemic highlights issues with current methods.

Residents at a Victorian aged care facility where a staff member tested positive for coronavirus earlier this week have been given the all-clear.

A woman who suffered a miscarriage in mandatory COVID-19 quarantine was forced to stay in a hotel room for five days after the traumatic event because the Victorian Health Department failed to act on an order to release her.

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.

Horse sanctuaries close and horse owners are forced to consider putting their horses down amid an "unprecedented shortage of hay".

A country hospital in South Australia is offering free, local training in the hopes of raising the status and the quality of its aged care workforce.

Award-winning 'heritage hero' Roy Taplin breathes new life into a 1917 Commonwealth Railways dining car.

After undergoing a multi-million dollar development, the Port Pirie smelter is once again not producing anything.

The actor, who became an Australian household name through shows such as The Sullivans and Matlock Police, won five silver Logies and also helped set up Brisbane's first AFL team.

Footage emerges of an echidna cooling off in the warmer weather with a swim on South Australia's Kangaroo Island. One expert says it is not uncommon to see them in water on hot days.

The barriers to finding a rental home have become so taxing that some tenants are forced to enlist outside help.

Authorities are fed up with a Taiwanese shipping company's slow response to salvaging containers it lost at sea near Newcastle one year ago, with one commercial fisherman saying he is still catching up to 20 push bikes in nets.

While there is a push to close the gap on education, a NSW hostel for Indigenous boys has a waitlist that could take years to get through.

The 18-year-old mother of a newborn baby boy whose body was found in a backyard on Tuesday has been found in Penrith and taken to hospital.

A former police officer who suffered "horrific and graphic traumas" after being trapped in a crashed squad car has launched criminal action after being forced to wait more than a year for a workers' compensation payout.

Two grandparents and another sailor die after a catamaran capsizes off the coast of Newcastle in rough conditions, with the father and daughter surviving by clutching onto the overturned yacht.

A high school in the Hunter region is offering counselling for students and staff who saw a student fatally struck by a bus while riding his bike to school.

If you suffer from trypophobia, or an aversion to the sight of clusters of small holes, you might want to take a deep breath before laying your eyes on a Suriname toad.

The Aboriginal language Gathang largely disappeared when its last fluent speaker died in the 1960s, and now the task of revitalising it has begun.

A monitoring program to survey bleaching is underway at Lord Howe Island Marine Park with researchers performing underwater assessments and aerial mapping.

With a rapidly ageing population, few Australians have been left untouched from navigating the vast and often complicated aged-care system be it for a parent, partner or themselves.

The NSW regional electorate of Cowper has the largest number of voters in the country, the latest Australian Electoral Commission elector count reveals.

He established some of Australia's best-known national parks and fought for World Heritage listings across the globe. But for the late Peter Hitchcock, conservation was no walk in the park.

A University of Melbourne academic and a little school in NSW are stressing the importance of students learning a second language as the school hosts the Indonesian Consul General.

Residents at a retirement village in New South Wales say life is becoming more like science fiction as an automated vehicle changes the way they stay connected.

A treasured piece of rail history has been destroyed in a rural NSW town despite assurances from the national rail body it would be removed with the intent to preserve it.