Port Beach's Coast pub and surf life saving rooms should be moved and some Rottnest Island holiday bungalows should be pushed back from the beach in the long term, a report into WA coastal erosion hotspots says.

Two men are charged with trying to smuggle more than a tonne of cocaine and ecstasy into WA, after their yacht hit a reef and they were found on an island in the Houtman Abrolhos allegedly hiding the drugs with seaweed.

Leisl Born says she was shocked to realise several dozen dead birds sat among the ash and debris that washed up on her local beach following the Bribie Island bushfires.

A large bushfire is continuing to burn through swamp and bushland on North Stradbroke Island, off Brisbane, ahead of an expected influx of 8,000 school holiday visitors.

A peaceful paradise known for its iconic pine trees and spectacular coastline, Norfolk Island is riddled with political tension and simmering social unrest.

It's hard to imagine a subtropical island struggling with drought, but Norfolk Island has had only 12mm of rain all summer and dams and water tanks are running dry.

Perched 1,600 kilometres east of Brisbane, a tiny island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean hosts a landscape resembling a desert scene from the NT.

The Federal Government has handed Norfolk Island a lifeline to save its tourism industry, but locals have railed against their offering saying it could turn tourists away.

Recorded less than 60 times worldwide, much remains a mystery about the ornate eagle ray, which boasts leopard-like signature spots and thick black vein-like lines.

Hotel Bruny owner Dave Gunton is helping to feed the island's residents during the coronavirus crisis, as many welcome a return to quieter times of growing vegetables and producing salt from seawater.

Rachel and Daniel Weeks are living on a national park in the middle of Bass Strait, embracing their isolation. But they feel like they are missing out on nothing during the COVID-19 crisis thanks to the crowds now on popular apps.

Usually by this time of year, there'd be 40,000 mutton birds on south-west Victoria's Griffiths Island. So far, fewer than 100 of the birds have arrived from their 15,000km journey from the northern hemisphere.

An array of Pacific Island communities converged on the Mackay Botanical Gardens last weekend to take part in the region's first Pasifika Festival. The event highlighted Mackay's diverse cultures by showcasing traditional artwork, food and performances.

Katherine Comparti says "everything you could imagine" went through her mind when she became lost in thick jungle during a holiday to the remote island of Christmas Island off the West Australian coast.

A decision more than two decades ago to stop births at the hospital on Christmas Island has had significant financial and social effects on locals in the years since.

A tiny rainbow-hued lizard which all but disappeared from the wild 10 years ago has been given the run of a brand new home, its very own tropical island off the WA coast, to bring its population back from the brink.

Christmas Island tourists and locals can no longer call for a cab with its sole taxi operator, Chris Carr, saying he was forced to shut shop at the end of June because of a "logistical nightmare".

A tiny wasp enlisted to save Christmas Island's famous red crabs from extinction is showing promising results in the battle against the crustaceans' crazy ant foes.

The fossils of a giant new species of sea creature are discovered on South Australia's Kangaroo Island and with its formidable legs with spines used for crushing and shredding food, scientists are comparing it to Tyrannosaurus rex.

Koala chlamydia has had devastating effects in Queensland and New South Wales, but a population believed to entirely free of the disease on Kangaroo Island is being heralded as a potential lifeline.

A contentious ecotourism project on Kangaroo Island has been approved and could lead the way for similar projects that will open up South Australian national parks currently "under lock and key".

Isaac Doman could not talk until he was eight years old. Now he's directing his own short films for an award-winning company.

Footage emerges of an echidna cooling off in the warmer weather with a swim on South Australia's Kangaroo Island. One expert says it is not uncommon to see them in water on hot days.

A monitoring program to survey bleaching is underway at Lord Howe Island Marine Park with researchers performing underwater assessments and aerial mapping.

People on Lord Howe Island are trying to save their slice of paradise from a rat infestation, but a controversial eradication program has divided families and friends on the tiny outpost 600km off the NSW coast.

The discovery of endangered quolls, bilbies, and rock wallabies on islands of habitat in the Great Sandy Desert offers a rare glimmer of hope for wildlife managers.

This online community is reaching out to asylum seekers, providing friendship and support.

Until 2012, Maria Island's animal inhabitants were living without any major predators. But when devils were introduced they had to adapt or die.

Electricity giant AGL holds off plans to mothball parts of the gas-fired Torrens Island Power Station in Adelaide in a bid to prevent outages over summer caused by an ongoing outage at Victoria's Loy Yang Power Station.

With more than 8,200 islands sprawled around Australia, there's a good chance you can't name them all so we've listed some of them to inspire your next getaway.

More than 70 eastern barred bandicoots have travelled some 400 kilometres from Hamilton, on Victoria's mainland, to the safe haven of French Island in Western Port Bay.

In true Australian style a jubilant Jack Miller celebrates the first podium finish from a local rider on Phillip Island in seven years by performing a shoey.

Adrian Basham has been committed to stand trial over the death of his wife and mother of their three children, Samantha Fraser, found dead in her Phillip Island garage.

The Tiwi Island Sistagirls say the upcoming same-sex marriage postal vote could be a waste of time in their community because people there are not familiar with the process.

Australian-owned investment group Mayfair 101 has bought Queensland's Dunk Island for $31.5 million.

When Magnetic Island resident George Hirst saw piles of household items left on the side of the kerb for collection, he believed they were telling a story. So he turned it into art.

The High Court quashes the conviction of a man jailed for life over the murder of 85-year-old Liselotte Watson in 2012.

The Great Barrier Reef has already been devastated by climate change, but one southern island is showing signs of recovery after cyclone damage

David Glasheen was once a multi-millionaire living in Sydney. But that was a different life. For 22 years, the 76-year-old has been the sole resident of a remote Queensland island and he wouldn't have it any other way.

Polystyrene balls were strewn across three bays on a pristine north Queensland island after coming in with the tide from an unknown source, forcing locals into action with vacuums and dustpans.

The 7-metre boat left Badu Island on Wednesday afternoon bound for Dauan island, just south of Papua New Guinea, with two men, two women and a nine-year-old boy on board, but it never arrived.

A Far North Queensland tourist island, left lying in ruins for years, will undergo a multi-million-dollar redevelopment in an effort to create an international tourism drawcard.

The Mornington Island Raiders love their footy, but the remote community team are paying exorbitant costs in flights, fuel and accommodation just to attend their matches.

Two men are rescued after being stranded when their six-metre yacht crashed on the shore of a remote island off the Central Queensland coast.