The small SA town of Lucindale prepares to balloon to 40 times the size of its population as it hosts a free concert drawing in music-lovers and road-trippers from across the country.

With the help of 15,000 festival goers at the weekend's triple j One Night Stand donating more than $22,000, Lucindale's pool is now weeks away from opening.

Fantasy creatures are bringing life to one regional South Australian town, and the event's pirate zombies, zombie bridal party, and zombie apocalypse survivor have no plans to kill off the fun anytime soon.

A festival that started covering bare CBD trees in knitted jumpers has helped to lift spirits during the drought.

It was the big idea that could have been a huge success or an expensive disaster, but more than 20 years later this little community is still reaping the benefits of a bold decision.

At Eumundi, in Queensland's Sunshine Coast hinterland, 43 per cent of people identify as having no religion, and now the town's last church has called it a day.

Yet more rain in recent days in western Queensland has meant the rivers are flowing. But sadly the latest downpours, linked to the snow in Western Australia on Good Friday, hasn't been enough to get more than a dribble into the Darling.

When the daytime temperature gets above 50 degrees Celsius, living in the cool underground holds huge appeal.

The Shire of Manjimup's chief executive officer, Jeremy Hubble, has resigned from after eight years in the job.

A regional business lobby group says the Federal Government should recognise how important skilled foreign worker visas are in country areas.

Blowflies could hold the key to managing the most damaging pest to Australian agriculture and the country's biodiversity.

After a US magazine visited the far-north NSW coast town, Byron Bay was abuzz. Dig a little deeper and the stories pour forth from angered locals.

Unemployment in one Queensland region soars to more than double the state figure as an expert warns it's the 'calm before the storm'.

Fire pits are popping up in backyards across the country, but as one Brisbane mother found out maybe you're not allowed to actually light them.

International seafarers pose little risk to the public and port access restrictions imposed by some states are not in line with national recommendations, an industry lobby claims.

What have flash floods, bushfires and a pandemic taught the Gold Coast about its relationship with its beaches?

A Torres Strait art centre has come up with a way for people to get involved from home with its internationally renowned artworks, using DIY kits, after all its exhibitions were cancelled due to coronavirus restrictions

ABC North Coast resident arts reviewer, Jeanti St Clair looks at the latest music and theatre to hit the region.

A Mid North Coast school is bucking the state trend planning to have all its students on campus by May 11 and says a previous COVID-19 case has adequately prepared it for any future outbreaks.

Cressida Cains' industry innovation has been recognised at the 2020 New South Wales' Rural Women's Award.

MORNING BRIEFING: People in NSW are warned they should still practice social-distancing as coronavirus restrictions are eased from today, while two men are shot in Merrylands in what is believed to be a targeted attack.

Canada's prolific hit-writer opens his Australian tour in the Illawarra with a full house.

The Idea of North

An 11-bed regional aged care facility is about to celebrate its 10th anniversary as a community-owned organisation, which has kept jobs and residents in town while proving the viability of an innovative new model for aged care.

Matt Clifton grew up with a passion for music, but his small-town upbringing meant live music events were few and far between, so he brought one home.

Tasmania records six new cases of coronavirus, with four of those infected being passengers who returned to the state after disembarking the Ruby Princess cruise ship.

Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein has announced the state's first coronavirus related death.

If there is anything good to come out of the coronavirus pandemic, it could be that rural Australians end up better connected to essential and recreational services than ever before.

The Tasmanian Government bans visits to all of the state's hospitals, with some exceptions for parents and on compassionate grounds, under new social distancing measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Ian Pearce's resignation is the latest to plague a small east coast council, blaming his speedy exit on age, health concerns and union harassment.

Six new cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours are found in Tasmania, all of the them in the disease hotspot of the state's north-west, bringing the tally to 150.

A juvenile white-bellied sea eagle is back in the skies near Tasmania's Bruny Island after surviving being coated in fish oil and a enjoying a bubble bath spruce up.

AgQuip will not run in August, as it has done since 1973, due to the coronavirus pandemic, with organisers flagging November for the event which usually attracts about 100,000 people to north-west NSW.

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.

Rugby Australia's 25-year marriage to Fox Sports looks to be over, with the code's bosses going to the market as early as this week in the hunt for a new broadcast partner.

Outgoing Canberra United coach Heather Garriock admits coaching has taken a toll on her, as the trailblazer also opens up about the challenges for women and mothers in professional sport.

A senior Victorian Liberal Party figure admits in court that signs used in May's federal election in Josh Frydenberg and Gladys Liu's electorates were designed to "convey" the appearance of official electoral commission material.

A steam train puffing its way through regional New South Wales is delighting young and old and being used to educate schoolchildren about Australia's rail heritage and its role in their own history.

It's been a dry winter for south east wetland Bool Lagoon, which hasn't seen high water levels since January last year.

Pyramid Hill is home to a growing Filipino community, with many working at the nearby piggeries.

News Corp Australia claimed CSIRO's Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness in Geelong Victoria has been collaborating with the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Retailers have been at the economic epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic, with mass shutdowns in place for the past five weeks.

Budget cuts, funding freezes, and tight rental markets put pressure on homeless services as more people end up on the street.

The Catholic Church may have opened itself up to hundreds of potential damages claims from sexual abuse survivors after admitting liability in court documents.

The ARLC has suggested that Jack de Belin needs a "reality check" as it argues that the code's no fault stand-down policy is necessary because the sport has been "beset by a series of scandals."

Fine-dining chefs Tom Chiumento and Simon Evans usually serve seven-course degustations, but recently they've been using their talents to provide quality meals from food destined for the bin.

A plan to shore up New South Wales's energy supply suffers a setback amid concerns about aircraft safety.