Australia's first liquid natural gas import terminal will be built at Port Kembla, south of Sydney, with hopes it will secure thousands of jobs and meet the bulk of the state's gas needs.

Swimming in icy water is not something everyone aspires to do but it should be, according to an outdoor swimming enthusiast.

Near a small town in northern New South Wales horse blood is being harvested to aid researchers and diagnostics.

Matt Clifton grew up with a passion for music, but his small-town upbringing meant live music events were few and far between, so he brought one home.

A Tamworth teacher has developed the first Australian curriculum exploring regenerative agriculture.

Having retained all 16 of their seats, welcomed a record number of women to the party and consolidated under leader Michael McCormack, there could be a renewed sense of stability for the country-based party.

A report into hazing at the University of New England finds female students were pressured into sexual acts, "slapped on the arse" by a line of men before entering a party and told to lock their doors at night.

Australia's colonial banks are given new lives as bank branches close across regional Australia.

With towns across New South Wales at risk of running out of water within months, there are renewed calls for an urgent upgrade of water storage infrastructure.

Water stations reduce heat stress and other effects of drought and extreme weather events on koalas and other animals, new research finds.

Indigenous skydiver Marley Nolan-Duncan makes history by jumping out of a plane and into Gamilaraay country, the home of his ancestors.

Communities in the grip of drought are doing everything they can to keep their local kindergartens from shutting down, but they fear they're running out of options.

Police find four children under the age of 14 who took a Nissan Patrol from Gracemere in central Queensland and embarked on a joyride to Grafton in northern New South Wales.

Russ French's highly detailed military models have helped secure billion-dollar contracts, with one even landing at the Pentagon. These are no toys.

Margaret Fulton, who inspired generations of Australians to think beyond bangers and mash, leaves a legacy of culinary flair.

Five years after her partner was murdered at work, a New South Wales woman says she is shattered by an amnesty for those who broke the laws he was trying to enforce.

Three years ago Mingoola residents welcomed African refugee families with open arms as part of a settlement program hailed for invigorating a dying country town. Now the tiny NSW town has lost all of its newest members.

Australia's largest agricultural field day may not exactly be a spending spree this year, but it does provide farmers with a reprieve from drought.

A decision to prioritise a controversial coal project over the protection of Indigenous sacred sites has landed the Federal Environment Minister at the centre of a fierce legal battle.

The Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses has collated data from official stewards' documents and found 122 horses died in the past year.

Zahra Halo made the heartbreaking decision to flee Islamic State with most of her children while one of her sons had been missing for years. Now, she has found him and wants to bring him home.

With dams and creeks bone dry in drought-stricken towns, firefighters are being forced to find ways to combat blazes that are almost impossible to extinguish.

Weather conditions start to ease in northern New South Wales where firefighters continue to battle two fires that have burnt through nearly 60,000 hectares of bushland.

Ten years ago Chris Roby sought help from the Salvos for crippling alcoholism; he's now leading a group of men fighting addiction to help their local community's response to bushfires.

A bushfire threatening homes at Drake, near Tenterfield, is downgraded as the threat to houses eases.

Three young sisters work together to fulfil their dream of owning and operating their own Hereford stud and, despite drought and study, they are making a success of it.

An emergency warning has been issued for a blaze burning at Sandy Creek, east of Armidale, which has closed roads and is threatening several properties where residents have been told it is "too late to leave".

An emergency warning is downgraded in northern NSW after an "unpredictable and fast-moving" grass fire had threatened homes, with embers to blowing up to 4 kilometres ahead of the fire front.

Business owners in Tenterfield say tourists will be the key to the rural town's recovery, as bushfires and drought take their toll on the local economy.