Australia's men's football head coach calls on the Prime Minister and the Australian Sports Commission to start funding the sport properly as the Olyroos prepare for their first Olympic campaign since 2008.

The former football megastar was detained in Paraguay on Wednesday after entering the country with an apparently adulterated Paraguayan passport.

Australia takes control of the Olympic football qualifier against Vietnam, as the Matildas cruise to a 5-0 win that puts them on the verge of qualification for Tokyo.

Brazilian football icon Ronaldinho and his brother are arrested in Paraguay, with authorities saying the pair entered the country with falsified documents.

The English Premier League postpones the Manchester City-Arsenal blockbuster "as a precautionary measure" due to the coronavirus outbreak, as Gunners players go into a fortnight of self-isolation.

Extinction Rebellion protesters say they will take on board concerns that their demonstrations are disproportionately affecting people with disabilities, as police use power tools to separate activists in Melbourne and Brisbane.

A 17-year-old is due to appear in a children's court today after he was charged with the murder of Maaka Hakiwai in Melbourne's west on AFL grand final day.

The NRL's integrity unit launches an investigation after a video posted on social media appears to show Melbourne Storm's Nelson Asofa-Solomona swinging punches during a brawl outside a nightclub.

Richard Tracey QC is remembered as wise, selfless and admired as the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety is told of the "complete shock" of his sudden death.

Submissions to the aged care royal commission called for better staffing and training in aged care facilities around the country.

Victorian Opposition Leader Michael O'Brien calls on the Office of Public Prosecutions to release its advice not to prosecute Labor figures over the misuse of taxpayer-funded electorate officers during the 2014 election campaign.

A Melbourne man on trial for planning terrorist acts allegedly told others he wanted to "go around cutting throats in the city centre", a court is told.

A Melbourne council will hold a "solemn" ceremony to acknowledge the impact of European settlement on Indigenous Australians before its usual Australia Day celebrations a move an Aboriginal group says could provide a national model for January 26.

Austin Health chief executive Sue Shilbury resigns after just three years in the role, telling staff of her "difficult decision" to leave after a series of negative reports involving the Austin Hospital.

A police car may have reached speeds of up to 154 kilometres per hour during a pursuit that ended in the death of Raymond Noel Thomas in Melbourne's inner north, a court hears.

Police say it is "extremely lucky" nobody was killed when an improvised explosive device launched from a vacant block of land tore through the roof of a nearby home in south-east Melbourne.

A former police officer critical of the force's response to the Bourke Street rampage is considering selling his home to afford independent legal representation at an inquest into the attack, a court hears.

The Melbourne Storm's Nelson Asofa-Solomona will be available to play in the opening round of the NRL next season, despite being handed a three-match suspension after a violent altercation while on holiday in Bali.

The NRL is accused of treating players like "products" rather than people over its decision to ban New Zealand prop Nelson Asofa-Solomona for three Tests despite acknowledging he was provoked.

A 21-year-old man of no fixed address is arrested by detectives over the alleged sexual assault of a woman in a park in Thornbury in Melbourne's north on Saturday night.

A man appears in a Melbourne court charged with raping a 32-year-old woman who was walking a dog in Thornbury on Saturday night.

Police arrest dozens of young suspects in crimes such as carjackings and aggravated burglaries as they admit street gangs have "absolutely" become a problem in Melbourne.

One of the leading holdouts against an AFLW collective bargaining agreement, Darcy Vescio, says a new season of 10 matches plus finals looks set to be part of a new deal.

Victoria's one-stop shop for all things to do with fines has been crippled by serious IT issues. So what's behind the multi-million-dollar problem, and what does it mean for people facing a payment deadline?

Prince of Arran came third in last year's Melbourne Cup, and now the English racehorse who loves Australia wins the Geelong Cup, but a Flemington start is still up in the air.

A man accused of threatening his former wife before allegedly shooting her in the head has been granted bail because it took more than a decade to charge him.

Airport authorities are calling for a crackdown on drivers touting their services at the the terminal but one driver says it is the only way he can earn enough money to pay his bills.

Controversial cartoonist Michael Leunig is accused of unfairly judging mothers in a cartoon that suggests some love their phones and Instagram more than their children.

An outreach worker linked to a medically supervised safe injecting room in Melbourne's inner east is among a group of people now charged with trafficking the drug heroin.

A woman who worked as a financial officer at the since-failed SKM Recycling has been sentenced to six months' jail after siphoning more than $168,000 from the business into her own accounts.

Plastic cutlery, paper bags and plates overflowing in bins have become a thing of the past for a Melbourne primary school with a tough stance on waste.

A man responsible for an "atrocious attack" on an off-duty paramedic during a crime spree on the Mornington Peninsula last year is sentenced to five years and nine months in jail.

A judge describes the attack on 21-year-old Aiia Maasarwe as "unsophisticated and opportunistic" in sentencing her killer to 36 years' prison, with a non-parole period of 30, as the victim's father and sister watch on in court.

Senior Victorian police defend their tactics, including the pushing of a journalist and the use of pepper spray, during protests outside a mining conference, saying officers are ready to respond the same way tomorrow.

Vision taken by a climate protester appears to show a demonstrator being hit in the head during the Blockade IMARC event in Melbourne on October 30, 2019.

A lewd sticker on a police body camera lands a Victoria Police officer in hot water, with the force launching an investigation into the "extremely disappointing" incident.

Some parent visas cost up to $40,000 while others have a 30-year waitlist, making them completely out of reach for many migrant families. But advocates say rather than being a drag on the system, elderly family members could actually boost the economy.

For the second time in two days, Victoria Police expresses "extreme disappointment" in one of its officers, this time after alt-right material shared on social media was connected to an officer accused of using a hand gesture associated with white power.

Benalla man Joseph McDonald is charged with one count of murder after handing himself into police on Saturday evening.

Whips will likely be banned from horseracing in the next 10 to 15 years, the CEO of Racing Victoria says, as rain and animal activists dampen the annual Melbourne Cup parade.

An 11-year-old boy who was missing since Sunday night on a 150-acre farm north-west of Melbourne returns home safe and well. Police say he was checked out by ambulance officers and was given the all clear.

Pastels and bold patterns are in this year, but is racing out? As the industry deals with issues around the treatment of horses, punters continue to embrace the Cup in dazzling style.

As Vow and Declare stormed to his thrilling Melbourne Cup victory, a group of novice part-owners in the Queensland town of Gympie were celebrating a dream come true.

The long-term boyfriend of a Dutch woman who died in Melbourne last year after a hit-and-run tells her killer's court hearing that he feels completely alone and mourns the children they would have had.

The Australian Electoral Commission's solicitor tells a court it's "hard to imagine any adult citizen being so naive and gullible" to be influenced by Chinese-language signs telling people to vote Liberal, simply because they used AEC colours.

The Bureau of Meteorology forecast the coldest morning of the year today, but that didn't stop Toowoomba exercisers from rugging up and getting on with it.

After a trip to Venice, West Gippsland artist Anita George was inspired to turn off her computer and write and draw with brush, pen and paper once again. Her passion has resulted in the exhibition Ink Talks, dissecting words, language and intent.

From its humble beginnings in the late 19th century, the Cairns Show has grown into a three day event that is one of the highlights on the social calendar for Cairns. The ABC Far North team ventured into the thick of the show this year to hear from the people who make it such an occasion.