A decade ago Canberra hosted the World Mountain Bike Championships on tracks considered "the standard and the best". But the quality of the city's trails has gone downhill, and millions of dollars need to be spent to keep up.

After 25 years as a sniper in war zones, Robert later went on to photograph road fatalities. After being plagued by anxiety, depression and flashbacks, he has finally found peace with the power of painting.

The ACT becomes the first Australian jurisdiction to legalise the possession, use and cultivation of small amounts of cannabis.

Twelve months ago, few would have heard of him. But now Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad's elusiveness is a prime reason the Raiders are in a semi-final on Friday night.

A judge has delivered a scathing assessment of two police officers who dragged a man from a car and threatened to arrest him "for being a smart-arse", saying their conduct was in "dramatic disproportion" to the situation.

Cooper Cronk has achieved everything in the game, but as he prepares to play his final NRL match in Sunday's grand final against the Canberra Raiders, he has one more accolade in his sights.

Canberra hasn't become an off-the-grid island in the middle of New South Wales. So why is the ACT Government now calling the capital 100 per cent renewable?

David Eastman spent 19 years in jail for the murder of senior Australian Federal Police officer Colin Winchester. He is now asking for almost $1 million for each year he was wrongfully imprisoned.

Viking claps, giant horns and nostalgic tales of the great 'Green Machine' must be ignored by the underdog Canberra Raiders if they are to have any chance of beating the heavily favoured Roosters in Sunday's NRL grand final, writes Richard Hinds.

A historic train carriage is destroyed in a suspicious fire at the Canberra Railway Museum, just hours before its reopening. The 1930s passenger carriage was gutted in the blaze and two adjacent cars were also damaged.

An early tackle by Cooper Cronk is deemed a professional foul, resulting in a penalty for the Raiders and a controversial sin bin for Cronk.

Firefighting experts and senior scientists tell Background Briefing they're concerned the Federal Government is refusing to guarantee funding for the only national research body for bushfires beyond 2021.

Peter Beattie is the latest NRL figure to back the controversial reversal of the "six again" call in the NRL grand final, but he promises an end-of-year review will consider the incident.

Victorian prosecutors say there is no justification for the High Court to grant special leave for Cardinal George Pell to appeal against his child sexual abuse convictions.

A Canberra man was told by a trio of kidnappers that his genitals would be cut off and that he would "die" for an alleged debt of $450 that he used to send to his family in Africa, a court has heard.

The Home Affairs Minister called the environmental activists "anti-establishment".

A 27-year-old Canberra man is jailed for what is described in court as a "chilling" and "callous" attack on a Pekingese/Maltese cross that lasted 20 minutes.

Several hundred online enthusiasts generate thousands of leads for investigators after a single day of competitive 'ethical hacking' across Australia.

Bradley Lester Grey, 54, pleads not guilty in the ACT Supreme Court to charges of allegedly telling prospective sex workers they would need to perform acts with him to prove they were right for the role.

Recommendations will be put to the Federal Government before Christmas over whether or not to release a herpes virus to control carp numbers, a potential move described as "reckless" by some commercial fishers.

It's impossible to count the millions spent on Australia's biggest police hunt, two trials, two High Court challenges, a judicial inquiry and 19 years of imprisonment.

The sexual assault, and her future brother-in-law's warning that she not tell anyone, left her with an eating disorder and post traumatic stress disorder.

Policeman-turned-lawyer David Healey's mental health was shattered by a rocket blast in Afghanistan. He now helps other traumatised cops fight for compensation.

The Australian Federal Police is assessing whether to suspend officer Ivan Kovacic after he allegedly committed an act of indecency on a woman he had invited to his apartment with her two friends to try some craft beer.

Disability royal commission chair Ronald Sackville said commentators were discouraging people from telling their stories to the commission, but critics say the real discouragement is the absence of appropriate supports.

The call comes as a probe into complaints handling and treatment of small business proposed better access to review schemes and beefed up compensation for taxpayers wrongly targeted by the ATO.

When Farishta Arzoo moved to Australia she had to overcome significant obstacles learning English, starting a TAFE course and setting up a new life. Now she's gearing up to face her greatest physical challenge yet running a marathon.

Three accused Rebels bikies who appealed to the High Court to overturn an order preventing them from associating with one another have lost their bid, clearing the way for the NSW Police Commissioner to impose strict restraints on them, including a curfew and restricted mobile phone possession.

Rape victims are being made to wait for hours in the clothes they were assaulted in before being examined, or sometimes not examined at all, a damning auditor-general report reveals, highlighting the lack of qualified staff.

A remote Cape York community is in the fight of its life to save a unique rainforest that was devastated by a cyclone.

New research finds each feral cat in Australia will kill 740 animals a year. Together with their domesticated cousins, cats are killing about three million animals a day.

Running or riding hundreds of kilometres for fun, sport, and a physical and mental challenge.

After pleading guilty to drug possession and admitting he uses steroids, Afghanistan veteran and former Invictus Games competitor Tyrone Gawthorne is handed a suspended sentence for steroid and cocaine possession.

A 21-year-old woman suffers serious leg injuries in an attack by what is believed to be two sharks in Great Barrier Reef waters off Cape York Peninsula.

On a remote stretch of beach on the west coast of Cape York, rangers were stunned to see the extent of the rubbish strewn across an area used by turtles during nesting season.

The 7-metre boat left Badu Island on Wednesday afternoon bound for Dauan island, just south of Papua New Guinea, with two men, two women and a nine-year-old boy on board, but it never arrived.

Police call off the search for five people missing in the Torres Strait since Wednesday after they set off by boat from Badu Island to Dauan Island, prompting a large-scale operation.

Ronald Shirley is jailed for ripping off an an intellectually impaired patient in north Queensland, leaving the client with so little money he can no longer go on a planned bucket-list trip.

People who experience homelessness are more likely to be exposed to trauma, but experts say creative therapies could help them heal.

State and territory leaders have agreed to establish a timetable to work towards a waste export ban.

The massive yacht crushed several smaller boats as it came to a juddering halt at the Cairns Marlin Marina in Queensland.

A luxury superyacht has crashed while attempting to moor at a Cairns marina, narrowly avoiding a potential disaster on the busy tourist strip.