A small town team harnesses sewing power to create more than 4,000 reusable alternatives to single-use plastic bags in a bid to save the planet.

Former rugby league star Jarryd Hayne is committed to stand trial on charges of aggravated sexual assault of a woman in the NSW Hunter region.

He has been the butt of jokes when it comes to State of Origin, but Mitchell Pearce has a chance of finally winning a series with New South Wales after Nathan Cleary is ruled out of game three because of injury.

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.

The second-placed Rabbitohs just get home against the Dragons 20-16 after the Tigers hold on in a thriller against the Knights, winning 28-26.

The Federal Government has applauded a decision by the energy giant, but environmental groups say the move is "risky and irresponsible."

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.

The Roosters make light work of the Dragons with a commanding 34-12 triumph, as the Sharks and Tigers enjoy their dominant victories in the race for the NRL finals.

A rugby league player is handed a jail term for a "ferocious" on-field assault that left an opponent with major facial injuries, but immediately appeals against the severity of the sentence.

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.

An inquest has heard that a New South Wales teen spent a week in agony after being diagnosed with gastroenteritis, rather than the ruptured appendix that led to his death.

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.

A joyride along a NSW beach in a stolen vehicle has ended in irreparable damage to a century-old shipwreck. As police search for the culprits, locals are fuming over the wanton destruction of the iconic relic.

Brenda Marney, 73, is charged with animal cruelty offences after a mutilated magpie is found at her home on the NSW mid-north coast police believe she lures animals with food before capturing and torturing them.

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

Patrick Conaghan

Michael McCormack with Patrick Conaghan

Patrick Conaghan and Scott Morrison

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.

Port Macquarie magistrate Dominique Burns, who was suspended in 2017 after being accused of misusing her powers, quits before facing a parliamentary conduct hearing that could have seen her sacked.

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.

Nicknamed "The Missile", James Magnussen decides to call time on his decorated swimming career, which included world championship gold and Olympic silver.

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.

Robert Donohoe interviewed in Wagga Wagga by NSW Police detectives

People in a packed gallery sit up when inconsistencies begin to appear in the testimony of "person of interest" Paul Savage, a neighbour who claimed he joined in the search for the missing three-year-old.

Three girls aged 12, 13 and 14, are before the courts over 13 grassfires police allege were deliberately lit on the New South Wales mid-north coast.

A common struggle for Aboriginal elders is how to make their language and culture appeal to young people in order for it to be carried on.

Members of a NSW rugby league club who were photographed at an airport wearing offensive t-shirts emblazoned with a topless mermaid look set to face the wrath of the sport's officials.

Wazza the koala has left carers astounded after she was collected by a car and endured a 10km trip down a major NSW roadway, only to bolt up a tree afterwards.

In today's busy and technology-driven world, children are increasingly suffering from anxiety, and there's often little time to reflect, or play outside. Two NSW women are hoping to change that.

Plastic packaging

They were Australia's worst bus-crash tragedies and they happened within weeks of each other on the Pacific Highway. Fifty-six people were killed and 63 injured and 30 years on the pain still lingers for many.

Emergency crews gain the upper hand in fighting 85 fires across NSW but two blazes near Forster-Tuncurry escalate again.

The honey industry is facing hard times along with other producers, having taken a battering over recent years from the drought and a string of natural disasters.

Maggots were found in the mouth of a patient with advanced dementia by visiting family members, the Royal Commission into Aged Care sitting in WA has been told.

Farmers who rely on the Ord River say big-city bureaucrats are getting in the way of progress in the WA region's landmark irrigation scheme.

Stories of families not being told when elderly relatives have died, old people found surrounded by food scraps and with maggots these are reasons why some people regard aged care in the regions a "death sentence".

Months after being given new powers, corporate watchdog ASIC is taking action against Gold Coast payday lender Cigno Loans, which is accused of exploiting vulnerable Australians.

The area off the north coast of Western Australia has been hit by more than 30 aftershocks following a magnitude 6.6 earthquake that struck off Broome and was felt as far away as Perth.