James Gino Salerno, who was once based in the Adelaide Hills, is jailed for at least eight years for repeatedly sexually abusing a teenage member of the group. His victim says other girls still in the cult "can sleep easy now".

A network of oil wells that involve fracking in the Great Sandy Desert, connected by pipelines to new and existing ports, may become Australia's biggest oil-producing project, according to traditional owners negotiating with the private company.

In the dusty station country of northern Western Australia, a unique competition is highlighting the importance of animal welfare to cattle producers and attracting international attention.

An arrest warrant has been issued after a man who served 12 years in prison for bashing and raping two tourists in WA's far north breached his post-sentence supervision order and failed to appear in court.

Australia is home to some of the best dairy operations in the world, but an analyst has warned that without a drastic increase in production the country could soon become an "import nation".

Lou Brown used meditation and shear effort to clip about one sheep a minute for eight hours and claim the new world record.

The number of cattle allowed onboard live export ships is about to be reduced. Industry says the new rule makes no sense and will cause financial pain.

Australian companies are enjoying record high woodchip prices, with overseas demand especially form China pushing the price for premium chips beyond $260 per bone-dry tonne.

A Federal Government investigation has found no evidence a whistleblower onboard the livestock carrier Awassi Express fabricated conditions on the boat by switching off fans and ventilation.

Australia's $1.4-billion plantation woodchip industry is dragged into the US-China trade war, with a number of shipments to the Asian economic powerhouse cancelled in the fallout from the dispute.

The WA SES Volunteer Association hits out at department bureaucracy after a decade-long wait for equipment.

A dam project in a Tasmanian municipality has blown the local council's budget, with residents saying the salmon farming giant which is set to benefit most from the dam should pay for its completion.

Cruise ships bring in millions of dollars to Tasmania each year, but tourism operators say if their schedules are not better managed they will continue to be both a "blessing and a curse".

Ann Denham has outlived everyone in her life, but a friendship with her younger neighbour has brought her many joys including a ride in a helicopter and a race car.

A new survey of Tasmanian Newstart and Youth Allowance recipients finds poverty has forced more than a third to steal food, prompting renewed calls for the Federal Government to increase welfare payments.

With the imminent arrival of a new salmon processing ship in Tasmania, and another even larger ship next month, some in the local sailing community fear there is "an accident waiting to happen" on the already very busy waterways.

The daughter of a Tasmanian man shot dead in the Philippines says the family is shattered by the loss and having trouble repatriating his body due to "language barriers".

High speeds, low altitudes, and "crazy" games of chicken meet two of Australia's most elite pilots, including the first woman to become the national aerobatics champion in more than 20 years.

Have you ever seen the Great Australian Bight from the air? A truck driver with a passion for drone photography showcases some of Australia's most remote landscapes as he makes his weekly Nullarbor crossing.

The National commodity forecaster, ABARES, finds three quarters of dairy farmers and half of all broadacre farmers will receive a lower income than they did last year because of the drought.

Survivors of sexual assault in regional Australia are driving for hours to access forensic medical examinations, even though any GP or nurse can be trained to administer them.

Australian wool totals are forecast to be down by 12.7 per cent on last year a drop of 43 million kilograms, and the lowest yield since 1924, when the industry was much smaller.

More money has been pledged for more than 70 protected areas across the country, almost entirely in regional and remote Australia.

Many rural parents are facing increasing debt and overdrawing their accounts in a bid to pay for "exorbitant" boarding fees. There are calls for more financial help for those living in isolated parts of Australia.

A homeless man suffers a broken tooth and sore back after falling more than 2 metres when the skip bin he was sleeping in was tipped up and into the back of a garbage truck at Kerang, in northern Victoria.

The family of a woman who was sexually assaulted in aged care calls for better protection of vulnerable nursing home patients, as a former aged care worker is sentenced to one month in jail.

It's hoped a new house using a shared-ownership model will give people with disabilities a chance at home ownership and semi-independent living, but it comes with a $300,000 price tag per person.

World jousting champion Phillip Leitch of Kryal Castle, near Ballarat, defeats challengers from as far away as the Netherlands, Russia and Canada to claim the title for another year.

Energy Australia finds a unit controller at the Yallourn power station, Graeme Edwards, 54, was doing nothing wrong when he was fatally injured performing a routine task in November last year.

The Victorian Government said ongoing conflict between councillors had reduced the respect for, and standing of, the council in the community.

A pelican banded as part of a research project in Victoria last year, and last seen in March, is spotted more than 700 kilometres away in northern New South Wales.

A sergeant at a rural Victorian police station has been committed to stand trial over an alleged assault in an interview room.

The paddocks of Gippsland look green, but farmers are still in drought and have lost as much as 70 per cent of their regular income.

Gippsland green

Aviation authorities ground an Australian-made aircraft that Swedish investigators believe may have broken up mid-flight in Sweden, leading to the deaths of nine people.

The Victorian Government has announced it will protect 4,000 hectares of farm land from mining exploration in the state's east in an area near a controversial mining proposal.

Wellington Shire Council in Victoria's Gippsland region gives eligible farmers $700 pre-loaded debit cards to provide some financial relief and stimulate the local economy.

Lado Alphonse says he was a "reject in society" before being recruited by the Cora Lynn Cobras. Now, he is among several players bringing new life to the regional Victorian football community.

Emergency services are continuing to search for a young man and woman who went missing in eastern Victoria almost a week ago.

Gippsland police say they are investigating what led to a young Melbourne couple being found dead in their car near Thompson Dam in west Gippsland.