We all want life to get back to normal. But do we really want to go back to the same traffic? The same working day? The same city? The same inequality? Or are there ideas we can talk about now to make life better for us all when it’s over?

New COVID-19 testing clinics have opened in Warrnambool and Ballarat as the Victorian Government continues its push to surpass 200,000 tests by May 11.

City of Yarra Mayor Misha Coleman defends parking inspectors who slapped "official warning" tickets onto the windscreens of cars belonging to St Vincent's Hospital staff, saying free parking offered to the staff during the coronavirus pandemic does not extend to cars parked in unsafe locations such as clearways.

Faruk Orman, who spent 12 years in prison for murder before being acquitted because of the Lawyer X scandal, is suing Victoria Police for unspecified damages.

Melbourne tea shop manager Jennifer Li recorded a stranger hurling racially charged taunts at her when she tried to defend herself and customers who were wearing facemasks.

With lines between school and home blurred, parents of students with disabilities are struggling with little or no extra support. Some have started dipping into their limited NDIS funds to get help.

The Royal Flying Doctor Service is helping launch a mobile testing clinic in a small agricultural town in Victoria to reach an "at risk" population of itinerant farm workers and migrants.

The busiest airport in regional Victoria has laid off more than half its workforce and has lost 95 per cent of its revenue — but says it isn't eligible for government programs like the JobKeeper allowance.

Police say there is "no reason" a man was shot as he was driving two women home from a church service, and they hope a $250,000 reward will help find answers for him.

Organisers of the national cattle industry expo say it's 'full steam ahead', despite not knowing when the ban on mass gatherings will be lifted

The findings are expected to reveal what the royal commission made of the evidence put before it about whether Cardinal Pell could or should have done more to prevent children from being abused by priests in the 1970s and 80s.

The new coronavirus has brought an increase in racism towards Australia's Asian community, but experts feel the current laws are not strong enough to deter offenders.

A big hemp haul in Victoria's north-west expects their first harvest of edible crop to be the largest in Australia.

Cardinal George Pell accuses the child sexual abuse royal commission of making findings "not supported by evidence" in its unredacted report, which found he was explicitly told in 1982 of the reason paedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale was being moved between parishes.

Australia's largest sawmill has stood down 51 workers in the south west Victorian town of Colac, as it prepares for a slow down in demand for its products.

Scott Alan Murdoch, the man who stabbed Melbourne woman Kylie Blackwood and left her bleeding to death to be found by her 11-year-old twins, will have to serve at least 36 years before he is eligible for parole.

An aged care facility says robotic pets are lighting up the lives of its residents and bringing comfort during isolation from the coronavirus pandemic.

The family of a man who went missing in Victoria's Latrobe Valley last month say they "fear the worst" and are urging anyone who has seen him to contact police.

It has been an exotic jujube harvest boom for a Victorian grower, but COVID-19 restrictions have slowed down sales and squashed market prices.

Doctors label medicinal cannabis prescriptions a "bureaucratic nightmare" requiring "a massive learning curve", as patients say people in pain cannot wait months for relief.

Australian scientists develop a tool that could help students learn better in the virtual classroom, as remote education during the coronavirus pandemic highlights issues with current methods.

A man who raped a woman in his Melbourne apartment, which he described as "the perfect location", has been jailed for eight years for the "violent act" he inflicted on his victim.

Looking to replace the second oldest radar on its network at Mildura airport, the BOM marks a spot at Cullulleraine.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the National Cabinet's plan to reopen Australia, but it will be up to each state and territory to decide how to roll it out. Here's what will change (or not) where you live.

There are plenty of ways to celebrate Mother's Day without even leaving the house, even if your family is spread across the country. Here's how some families are celebrating.

A sixth-generation farming family living on the urban fringes of Melbourne are watching farming properties around them disappear because of the urban sprawl.

A humble, but very big, brown boot is seen disappearing into the sky via a crane, prompting commuters to take to social media to ask the obvious question.

Buggerlugs the lost Bulwer's petrel is released from Darwin NT after he was found at a Cronulla RSL balcony in NSW.

He's worn many hats in his days, including that of world barefoot mud crab tying champion and Top End buffalo shooter. But Billy Lowery really just wishes he'd worn more hats more often.

It's been a huge week of news stories big and small. How many do you remember? Test that memory in our news quiz.

Sex, politics, and religion are traditionally avoided as dinner conversation, but in Queensland there's the emergence of 'rain guilt' — where you got some but your neighbours missed out.

Have you ever picked up a stick to walk with through a park or reserve? Well, here's why you shouldn't.

A self-styled daredevil who taught himself rocket science in a bid to prove the Earth is flat dies after crashing his homemade rocket in California.

Fish have been found on the streets of Yowah, in outback Queensland, after record rainfall.

It's been revealed a third of reported cane toads in NSW are misidentified and are in fact native — and even endangered — frogs.

Cryotherapy is used by pro athletes and "weekend warriors" alike. But are the benefits of subjecting your body to extreme cold really worth it? I jumped into the chamber to find out.

Inspired by Tourism Australia's Matesong video, locals in south-west Queensland write their own version with the banks of the Balonne River standing in for the beaches of Sydney.

Toilet paper is the butt of jokes in Australia but it has become currency for a desperate Far North Queensland cafe with dwindling supplies.

A snake catcher believes the 80-kilogram monster is likely to have been imported illegally and may be euthanased due to the threat it poses to native ecosystems.

Sorell farmer Shane Newitt put six months of love into his giant pumpkin to compete at the Bream Creek Show, but its cancellation hasn't stopped him showing it off.

The mundane task of putting the bins out just got interesting, as people around the world don fancy dress for their weekly walk to the kerb — all in the name of finding some fun during social isolation.

Live chicken sales are skyrocketing as people seek to rely on a more sustainable backyard to supply their pantries in lockdown. If you're embarking on life as chook owner, we have your big questions answered.

The ewes, estimated to have been roaming free for years, are spotted on WA's south coast by a man who's had their monster fleeces removed.

The Coalition's candidate for the marginal South Australian seat of Mayo moderates her previous position that the minimum wage and penalty rates should be abolished.

An Adelaide magistrate calls for police to allocate sufficient resources to a criminal neglect investigation into the mistreatment of a baby that left the infant "near death".

Australia's livestock feed supplies are under threat due to the drought, which is putting pressure on both domestic customers and the export market.

Bob the Railway Dog, an icon of Peterborough in South Australia's mid-north, is again being celebrated with a book detailing some of his many adventures.