Bill Nighy says he's fallen in love with Australian outback skies and small-town charm while filming his new movie, Buckley's Chance, in Broken Hill.

Locals are worried for the future of the small NSW town of Ivanhoe, but a colourful truck and tractor show brought in crowds about three times the size of its population.

WA Police have charged a 45-year-old man with attempted murder after he allegedly shot at officers with a sawn off shotgun last week.

The Royal Life Saving Society says WA's latest drowning figures, which reveal a 50 per cent increase on the previous year, should serve as a warning ahead of the festive season. A new report shows 31 people drowned in the state in 2012. Children under the age of four were the highest risk group for drowning and near drowning. Older people over the age of 55 were also at risk.

Thieves have caused significant damage to a shopping centre while trying to steal an automatic teller machine in Albany.

Police in Albany suspect an attack on an automatic teller machine may be linked to a similar incident on the south coast a a few months earlier.

Wheatbelt nickel miner Western Areas says it is pleased with its quarterly results, despite seeing small drops in production and sales and higher costs.

An economic forecaster says WA mining companies operating in Africa are struggling with a range of cost and productivity issues. The Deloitte WA Index indicates the combined market capitalisation of WA companies with African assets, particularly gold producers, fell almost 45 per cent. That is compared to WA producers, as a whole, who rose nearly five per cent. The fall is bigger than expected.

Detectives have charged a man with procuring a child to perform a sexual act after an encounter on a street in the centre of Denmark in the South West. The man approached her on Mitchell Street on Friday night. The 34-year-old then allegedly kissed her on the neck and asked her to engage in sexual behaviour.

Two men have been charged with raping an Albany woman while she was asleep.

What does it take to prepare for a pandemic? Many hospitals around the world are already overwhelmed by patients infected with COVID-19. Australian doctors and nurses are bracing for something most of them have never faced before. In our country hospitals, resources are already stretched: beds are in short supply and there’s a greater proportion of older people. Preparation will, in many cases, be the difference between life and death.
 ABC National Regional Reporter Jess Davis takes us inside the Wimmera Base Hospital in Horsham, Victoria, as the team tries to prepare for the unimaginable.

How the Wiradjuri people, indigenous to the Central West of New South Wales, survived European settlement.

A peaceful paradise known for its iconic pine trees and spectacular coastline, Norfolk Island is riddled with political tension and simmering social unrest.

As the Cobar Endeavor Mine comes to the end of its lead and zinc reserves, CBH Resources announces it is cutting 130 jobs from the drought-stricken outback town.

City woman Uschi Rowlands did not expect to become a mushroom farmer, let alone discover that the fungi have a preference for rock music over classical.

The largest local council in New South Wales, whose patch includes the Darling River town that experienced mass fish kills, will spend another four years in administration.

NSW Police have extradited John Bowie to Sydney to face court over the murder of his wife Roxlyn, after an investigation into her disappearance in 1982.

Indigenous dancers from three states gather on the banks of the Darling River to honour a waterway that's underpinned their cultures for millennia.

PM Morrison says post pandemic it won't be "business as usual " but what should a reform agenda entail? Meanwhile restrictions in some states ease and the population downloads the COVID 19 tracing app. Laura Tingle assesses another viral week in national politics.

Katie Elphick took this video of a seven to ten metre whale shark pursuing a school of bait fish close to a beach north of Broome in Western Australia.

Western Australia reports no new cases of COVID-19 overnight, marking a full week since its last positive test, with the Premier calling it an "amazing and incredible and terrific" result.

Panic immediately set in at the sight of an injured Ellyse Perry limping from the field, but her limited role in the Australian T20 team might mean the side can cope better than expected, writes Geoff Lemon.

Despite not winning a match, Thailand proves to be the feel-good story of the Women's T20 World Cup, as Australian crowds warm to their positivity and sense of fun.

Australia is Women's T20 World Cup champion again after thumping India by 85 runs in front of a whopping 86,174 people at the MCG.

NRL fans will get to see games this weekend before the code heads behind closed doors and the AFL will not allow fans to games for the "foreseeable future".

A recent inquiry finds first responders have PTSD at a rate more than double that of the general population. So how are those who care for us caring for themselves?

After years of waiting for vital equipment, the family of a girl with a rare neurological condition says she has been given "a death sentence".

Police say a pipe bomb found in Mullumbimby on the NSW far north coast has been rendered safe and has been taken away for forensic examination.

The community of Rappville in northern NSW is banding together to make sure everyone gets back on their feet, but Allan Robertson is dreading having to tell his partner that their home is now just ashes.

Many parents across the country are helping their children learn from home for the first time ever, but one man who has been home educating for years warns some parents might not like what they see.

Like all zoos and wildlife parks around the country Townsville's Billabong Sanctuary is closed because of the coronavirus lockdown, but the important business of caring for the residents never stops.

As beaches reopen on the Gold Coast, mayor Tom Tate has called on the Federal Government to allow the "gradual" return of the city's crippled hospitality industry.

After handfeeding cattle through the drought, a Queensland grazier finds his cattle shot with a crossbow in two separate incidents.

With many people struggling to adapt to social isolation and other issues associated with coronavirus, a growing number are turning to mental health services to help them cope with anxiety.

Police say "no action" will be taken against 15 waterfront campers in Far North Queensland who say they have nowhere else to go during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A man accused of murdering his 45-year-old ex-partner at a home north of Brisbane, picked up a sledgehammer and hit her over the back of the head, police allege.

Queensland authorities question if the coastal city could return to its usual way of life too soon, after allowing beaches to open and people to picnic.

Queensland mother Nina Hensley says the jumping castle has helped her daughter with Angelman syndrome cope with coronavirus restrictions.

Some Queensland residents may find it too cold to enjoy the relaxed coronavirus restrictions that start today, as temperatures across in some areas in the state's south drop below zero.

A dog breeder on Queensland's Sunshine Coast accused of selling puppies with genetic conditions says dogs are living creatures and don't come with guarantees — and she's backed by the RSPCA.

What have flash floods, bushfires and a pandemic taught the Gold Coast about its relationship with its beaches?

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says her Government is developing a road map to reopen Queensland's tourist trade, first for domestic travellers and then as soon as possible to New Zealanders.

ABC North Coast resident arts reviewer, Jeanti St Clair looks at the latest music and theatre to hit the region.