Chinese interest returns to the Ballarat goldfields, which may provide job security for more than 200 people in the town, but there is concern about how new royalties will affect businesses.

A health industry expert is calling on federal authorities to oversee the return of windfall profits, as customers negotiate with insurers to save money.

Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas says casual public sector workers who have lost their jobs due to coronavirus will receive fortnightly payments if $1500, May 6, 2020.

For more than 1,400 days, the victims waited to discover what a Prince of the Church knew about the paedophile priests who would ruin their young lives. Now the answer has finally been revealed, writes Louise Milligan.

A Lifeline volunteer counts her work as a privilege and urges more people to volunteer, as calls to the support line jump to record highs.

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 South Australian woman who posted "vile, vicious and vitriolic" comments about sexual impropriety, incest and drunkenness that were directed at another user of an online political forum is convicted of stalking.

Former Anglican Dean of Newcastle Graeme Lawrence "avoided" answering questions when giving his evidence about allegations he sexually assaulted a teenager at his home in the early 1990s, a court has heard.

A man who had half his face shot off in a 2017 home invasion has fought back tears after a second man pleaded guilty in relation to his violent home invasion.

MORNING BRIEFING: NSW Police arrest a man in Guildford over the shooting murder of Parramatta FC soccer player John Odisho, while Barnaby Joyce leads an anti-abortion rally in Martin Place.

A University of Melbourne academic and a little school in NSW are stressing the importance of students learning a second language as the school hosts the Indonesian Consul General.

The suicides of two young Indigenous women in two months have sparked calls for immediate action.

At least 80 people were killed in a Japanese attack on Broome in 1942, and now the search is on for the wrecks of the flying boats where they died.

Residents of a heritage town in northern Tasmania accuse the Government of not consulting them over plans for a new prison nearby, and demand to know the location of other potential sites.

Researchers have used marsupial lion fossils discovered in Naracoorte and the Nullarbor to discover that the Thylacoleo was similar to a tree-climbing Tasmanian devil, ambushing its prey in forests.

Regional airports are deemed essential gateways between the city and country, but questions have been raised about how secure they are.

Researchers from the University of Melbourne find fruit flies in temperate areas of Australia are building a resistance to common insecticides.

Australia's largest integrated battery and solar farm in Victoria's north can power 16,000 homes. It was officially opened today.

Latrobe Regional Hospital in Victoria's Gippsland has been ordered to pay more than $31,000 to a former security guard who was sacked last year.

A pair of Australian families have bought the world's second-biggest farm, at more than 16,500 square kilometres in size and home to 18,000 cattle.

Minor premiers Melbourne finish on a high as they beat the Cowboys at AAMI Park, after the Eels down Manly to claim fifth.

A team of citizen scientists join in the effort to restore the balance in inshore reefs and save threatened corals by clearing them of choking algae and seeding them with coral larvae.

The records of children and teachers have been left vulnerable to cyber security attacks due to an oversight from the Northern Territory Government, a report from the auditor general's Office has revealed.

Volunteer detection dogs have been trained to find the endangered alpine stonefly at Falls Creek, an insect measuring just 50 millimetres in length.

A fortnightly welfare payment for farmers, considered to be the cornerstone of drought assistance, should be removed from social security legislation, an independent review recommends.

A coronial inquest finds found the death of Daniel Bleaney, who died by suicide after absconding from Darwin psychiatric facility, was entirely preventable.

Sniffer dogs are being urgently flown to northern Australia to try and stop a disease that has wiped out around 20 per cent of the world's pig population from coming onto Australian shores.

Just how easy is it for scammers to access your superannuation? Trevor Riessen is still waiting for answers after cyber criminals raided his savings through myGov.

Residents have been left vulnerable and fearing for their future water security as underground aquifers run critically low in rural Darwin and communities fear what a second poor wet season could mean for their future.

Edible insects are praised as a sustainable form of snack, but that is not their only drawcard, with some Territorians reporting that they are 'crunchy and full of flavour'.

Garry Marsh, 73, pleads guilty to indecently assaulting a student while he coached him in rugby union at Canberra's St Edmund's College in 1979, and will spend two years behind bars.

Australia's chief vet says a highly contagious disease that's led to millions of pig deaths is set to spread, but a new biosecurity levy is beset by costly delays.

Disability advocate Christina Ryan says she was subjected to a "dehumanising" and excessive security check at Parliament House, where she has been hundreds of times before.

The Sydney Roosters are the first team to win consecutive NRL premierships since 1993, beating the Canberra Raiders 14-8 in a gripping grand final. Look back at how the action unfolded in our live blog.

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.

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young has used a senate estimates haring to grill Joe Evans, deputy secretary of the Department of Environment and Energy, about the effect of climate change.

Despite his home being raided four years ago, Roger Uren has now been arrested and charged with breaching national secrecy rules.

Australia is set to become only the second country in the world to have a dedicated national women's baseball competition.

In the depths of rural Queensland is a fossil deposit so amazing that Sir David Attenborough regards it as one of the most important palaeontological sites in the world.

Two men are critically injured after a crane overturns near Mareeba in Far North Queensland this morning. The crash follows the death of a man in a separate crane incident on Sunday.

Australias largest barramundi farm is calling for a halt in whole-fish imports from Asia not because around 60 per cent is imported, but for biosecurity reasons.

An ominous drone photo of sharks circling a whale beached near Albany in WA snaps top prize at this year's Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year awards, with the photographer saying the scene was "unreal".

More dead wallabies have been found on a Cairns sporting field, taking the total number of carcasses in the past week to more than 30.

The Lions' resurgence continues as they edge out North and Freo pip the Swans after the Tigers beat the Power, the Giants thump the Pies and the Blues get the better of the Suns.

Fire ants are spreading into new areas across south-east Queensland according to a Biosecurity Queensland insider who says the war to eradicate the potential killers is all but lost, a claim vehemently denied by the man tasked with stopping the spread.