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".

The Prime Minister and NSW Premier announce a $1 billion joint investment to upgrade the Wyangala Dam and build a new one at Dungowan to help drought-devastated NSW regional communities.

Residents in the regional city of Armidale are using their own water to save trees in their heritage-listed park, as the drought continues to deplete the district's water supply.

Whitehaven's Maules Creek coal mine is being investigated for allegedly unlawfully taking water, after farmers say their groundwater is drying up. The company has already been found to have allegedly unlawfully taken surface water by the NSW regulator.

As Australians start to set up their home offices and practice social distancing, we've assembled 10 simple steps every Australian can take to keep safe amid the COVID-19 panic.

Australia won't run out of things to eat and drink, and shoppers have no reason to panic about any shortages as a result of coronavirus, food growers and manufacturers say.

Authorities say Tasmania is one of the last remaining jurisdictions in the country not to record any confirmed cases of coronavirus via community transmission. Has the state been spared and will it remain that way?

Small businesses are struggling across Australia as the coronavirus outbreak unfolds. But there are ways you can help keep them going — and stick to social isolation guidelines.

Tasmania confirms eight more cases of coronavirus, bringing the state's tally to 36, as another college ends classroom teaching, citing "mixed and uncertain medical health advice within the community and from various public health authorities".

At least 1 million Australians are facing unemployment as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, and those with a mortgage are particularly worried. Here's some information on what the big four banks are doing.

Tasmanian producer's market collapses from 6,000 carcasses a week at the start of this month to nothing.

Once a destination for grey nomads and bus tours, Australia's island state has built its brand into something clean, green and edgy. With 10 per cent of its economy hinging on tourism, Tasmania has a lot to lose.

A former shearer tells how he turned away from life as a wealthy businessman to find happiness.

Nursing homes have been locked down to protect vulnerable older people from the coronavirus but families who provide basic care, like feeding, say they need access because their loved ones may not survive without it.

A teenager pleads guilty to manslaughter, saying he is "honestly sorry for what I have put everyone through" and admitting he fatally punched a university academic at a Hobart nightclub in 2019.

Year 12 students are assured they will receive an ATAR university entrance rank and will not have to repeat the school year.

Hospitals across Tasmania have banned visitors, but one Hobart doctor is helping patients stay in touch with their loved ones during coronavirus pandemic by asking people to "donate" their iPads.

Social-distancing measures mean we haven't been able to celebrate Easter like we normally would, and many of us are feeling lonelier than ever. The good news is, there are things you can do to stay connected.

The Tasmanian Government to seek Federal Government and ADF assistance over coronavirus outbreak in the state's north-west.

A clampdown on foreign investment into Australia could cut-off vital funding for cash-strapped farmers and businesses during the COVID-19 crisis, industry figures say.

The chair of Australia's Bushfire Royal Commission says the evidence from those affected by the nation's catastrophic bushfire season will be critical in "applying the lessons learnt so that we can do things better in the future".

Warm oceans are encouraging wet conditions for Australia, with the hint of a negative IOD and even a potential La Nina on the horizon.

In 2000, Virgin Australia first entered the Australian aviation market with one route, two aircraft and 200 employees. Last month, it was flying to 56 destinations around the world.

Printmakers across the country are raising awareness of our most endangered group of birds and their non-stop, eight-and-a-half day journey home from their Artic breeding grounds.

The Ruby Princess leaves Australian waters today over a month after docking in Sydney. About one in 10 cases of coronavirus in Australia is linked to the cruise ship.

Jessica and James Brewer are volunteering in a Mozambican slum for the fourth year running, only this time they are expecting a child, parenting a toddler and dealing with the challenges of coronavirus.

Prickles the sheep disappeared when she was just a lamb when bushfires destroyed the boundary fences at her farm in 2013. Following her surprise return two weeks ago, she has finally been shorn for the first time in seven years.

Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie says it won't "go down well" for the Coalition if she has to beg for the release of the year-old report into whether Tasmanian war hero Teddy Sheean deserves a Victoria Cross.

With the olive harvest starting in some parts of South Australia, some farmers are now seeing fruit that has not developed or has shrivelled due to a lack of water.

Six regional aged care facilities in South Australia are failing to meet standards, a State Estimates committee hears, with three based in the same region.

Ryan Chambers went missing in India 14 years ago but his loved ones hope this artwork will get people talking again.

A Riverland family farm diversifies its cropping operation to take on crickets.

The lure of the outback beckons for young people with a taste for adventure and unique career opportunities.

When taxidermist Cassandra Hall was first asked by a New South Wales wildlife park to skin and stuff a 1.7-tonne American bison, she thought they were joking.

Sixty years ago it would have been difficult to find a home in Australia without a millet broom. Now, as an industry dies around them, two men are refusing to be brushed aside by the passage of time.

A coroner finds clear and ongoing inadequacies in the care of a pregnant Indigenous woman, who later died from sepsis, by doctors and staff at Tumut Hospital.

The family and friends of Naomi Williams, who died, along with her unborn son, after 20 attempts to get help, say the apology they have received via a statement from the health district is not good enough.

The NSW Government has announced a $10 million initiative to combat what the Agriculture Minister has described as a looming "fish Armageddon".

A group of southern New South Wales irrigators have pledged to give millions of litres of their own water to those who need it most, but they need help to deliver it.