The AFL has announced it will hold a number of community camps in regional Western Australia next year.

The new Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Development says he expects improving conditions for elderly residents in Western Australia's south-west and Great Southern will be a key focus.

The receivers of the collapsed Rare Coin Company say the return of stock, owned by customers caught up in the company's demise, will not begin until next year.

The president of Albany's biggest surfing club says the funds spent on the Western Australian Government's new shark strategy would be better used researching shark repellents.

Financial penalties have been imposed on Western Power for failing to meet its target for service performance to customers in regional areas.

A campaign is being launched to improve public awareness of the dangers of rock fishing in an effort to substantially reduce the number of fatalities across Western Australia.

The public will soon have an opportunity to comment on new guidelines being developed for companies who want to use fracking to access gas deposits in Western Australia.

The state Opposition Leader Mark McGowan has labelled as "out of control" fee increases for TAFE courses from next year. The Government flagged the increases months ago but the new fees were only published yesterday. Mr McGowan says the cost of a Diploma of Nursing will rise 390 per cent next year. He says the increases will result in fewer people enrolling and lead to skills shortages.

A storybook that celebrates and shares experiences from the Goldfields, Esperance and Great Southern regions was launched on Tuesday.

A hoax claiming the Church of Scientology was planning a nine-storey development at an iconic Albany site in WA's South Coast has infuriated local authorities.

Authorities are warning the Great Southern and lower Wheatbelt need to be on alert over the next few days, with sweltering conditions expected to create a serious fire danger.

Detectives have charged two people after discovering a clandestine drug laboratory in an Albany house.

Iron ore miner Grange Resources has launched an internal review of its proposed Southdown magnetite mine, near Albany, to see if the project start-up can be cheaper than the estimated multi-billion-dollar cost.

Local governments have expressed concern about a decision to kill off merger discussions between four Wheatbelt shires.

Analysts say it makes sense for Grange Resources to examine trying to get its Southdown project, near Albany, off the ground sooner by starting on a smaller scale.

The Town of Narrogin says the latest proposal to merge with the neighbouring Narrogin Shire is just weeks from being finalised.

Albany's resident snake catcher shares her passion for chasing reptiles.

Albany's peak business lobby is calling for closer cooperation between the city's businesses, in a bid to ensure the region capitalises on November's Anzac centenary commemorations.

Police say they are concerned about an incident where a man tried to lure a teenage girl to his car.

A prominent businessman on Western Australia's south coast has been sentenced to eight years and six months in jail for attempting to hire a hitman to murder his estranged daughter-in-law. Brian Vincent Attwell paid $10,000 to an undercover police officer who had posed as a hitman in September last year. The court heard the 74-year-old was angry over legal action after his son's divorce and he was motivated by "sheer hatred" of Michelle Attwell. The trial was played recordings of the businessman saying his daughter-in-law had cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars, and he wanted her "strangled and buried".

The Local Government Advisory Board says its decision to terminate the proposed merger of four Western Australian Wheatbelt shires was driven in part by financial concerns, a lack of common goals and the community's reaction.

Police have charged an Albany man who allegedly attempted to import hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of methylamphetamine from Mexico.

A watersport based around ancient tradition, dragon boating now spans many different cultures - but the legend behind it is never forgotten.

The Town and Shire of Narrogin have chosen to pursue an amalgamation option which would deny residents the opportunity to defeat it through a vote.

The City of Albany is launching a new tourism marketing campaign in Perth, aimed at attracting visitors in off-peak periods through the south coast's cooler climate.

The outgoing Mental Health Commissioner says the state's Indigenous population is over-represented in the suicide rate.

Agricultural lobby group WA Farmers has urged the Federal Government not to forget struggling growers in parts of Western Australia, in talks over a drought assistance package.

The Shire of Narrogin says its proposed amalgamation with the Town of Narrogin will require about $2 million of state funding if it is to go ahead.

Nigerian police have arrested a man after the death of a West Australian woman who was caught up in an online romance scam.

Regional local governments say the Western Australian Government's handling of council mergers in Perth is increasing their fears they will be forced into mergers they do not want.

Aboriginal teaching assistants whose jobs have been axed, have appealed directly to the Education Minister for their jobs to be reinstated.

Booker T Jones shares his stories from over fifty years of taking to the stage and collaborating with some of the biggest names in music.

Lawyers representing a West Australian farmer who is suing his neighbour over genetically modified canola which allegedly contaminated his property, say the court case will hinge on the principle of negligence. The landmark case has been taken by Kojonup organic farmer Steve Marsh. They say the neighbour Michael Baxter had a duty to contain his own crop of GM canola.

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.

Twenty eight Australian vessels and ten New Zealand ships left Western Australia in 1914, destined for war. These are their stories.

University of Western Australia (UWA) researchers have warned of the potential for "very large extinction rates" among marine life unique to southern WA due to climate change.

Mount Barker wine producers say they are not too concerned by the prospect of yield losses because they are expecting a high quality vintage this year.

A Collingwood footballer admitted to police hours after his arrest that he punched a man out of 'anger' following an earlier altercation outside a nightclub. The trial of Magpies defender Marley Williams in the District Court in his home town of Albany, on WA's South Coast, was this morning played the accused's initial interview with police. Williams is charged with grievous bodily harm, after punching then 29-year-old Matthew Robertson outside the Studio 146 nightclub in December 2012.

The Auditor General has found the Water Corporation is losing billions of litres of water more than it should each year, mainly due to leaking pipes. In his report, tabled in Parliament today, Colin Murphy says about 30 billion litres of water was lost each year, ten billion more than what is considered acceptable. The agency will also have to fork out tens of millions of dollars to replace ageing pipes in the network.

A Liberal MP has told State Parliament that council amalgamations should have started in regional Western Australia.

Police have charged three people with drug offences after raids on several properties across Albany.

A Denmark man has pleaded guilty to more than 50 charges relating to filming, or attempting to film, his teenage step-daughter.

Farmers in some of the driest parts of Western Australia are concerned they will miss out on funds from the Federal Government's drought assistance package because they will not meet the criteria.

Coronavirus is changing the way the entire human race lives. Emergency workers are scrambling together contingency plans, fearing hospitals could soon be overwhelmed. Scientists are racing to invent a faster, cheaper Covid-19 test kit available for us all. Restaurants are reinventing themselves as delivery services, artists are turning to live-streaming to make a living. This week, the entire Background Briefing team investigates how each of us are finding new ways to get by.

Residents have been left without water for a day after a breakdown at a local treatment plant and as western NSW sweated through a heatwave.

Walgett residents Roslyn Wallace and Di Denis receive dialysis in the rural town