Foster carers have historically been able to apply for house and car upgrades to enable them to care for extra children, but the ABC can reveal the category of support was suspended in September 2018.

A report finds Adelaide's drinking water could be under risk of contamination, leading to outbreaks of gastro, because of the State Government's plan to open up reservoirs to recreational activities.

Two Korean men who organised a cross-country road trip to transport 10 kilograms of ice across Australia are jailed for up to 12 years each, with a judge saying their crime had the potential to "massively harm the community".

Visitors are travelling to outback South Australia for tours of the former atomic testing site, but traditional owners want to see the narrative refocused to tell their story.

Regional Express Airlines says a video of what is claimed to be a rusty propeller shaft on one of its planes does not actually show corrosion, with CASA saying it had "no current issues" with the safety of Rex aircraft.

It took less than 48 hours for the author of a 50-year-old message in a bottle to be found on the other side of the world, after being discovered on a remote South Australian beach this week.

For 17 years Ray Cook, also known as 'Captain Cook', has built a livelihood around helping others to catch a prized snapper but a proposed ban in SA waters could force his business under.

The shrinking town of Poochera is pinning its hopes of survival on a big statue and a prehistoric ant, and locals say their plan may just be enough to save their home from dying out completely.

Magarey Medallist Luke Partington from Glenelg thanks volunteers for their tireless contribution to football, while SA football greats Peter Motley and Greg Anderson are inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Ghost netting in South Australia's pristine waters is causing a headache for the local council and the fishing, tourism, and recycling industries.

New South Wales specialist police dog Tilly has arrived in South Australia to help investigators find the remains of missing Manna Hill mother Tanja Ebert and Adelaide teenager Scott Redman.

South Australia Police are investigating a video that appears to show an off-duty officer badly injuring or killing a wombat by throwing rocks at it, but an Aboriginal elder says it is a local hunting practice.

Volunteer whale spotters believe they've photographed more than 50 whales at South Australia's Sleaford Bay this year, raising questions about how the marine mammals might be affected by a desalination plant proposed for the area.

Thousands of scientists and soldiers once lived at the Maralinga nuclear site, but now it's home to just three people who are in love with the country.

A woman has faced court charged with murder following the death of a man at Port Augusta in South Australia's north.

A Victorian water authority bows to pressure and abandons plans to pump more groundwater from an area where it caused major environmental degradation.

A man has been found not guilty of killing his 13-week-old son in regional Victoria, eight years after the baby died.

IBM is hiring 10 employees with autism at its Client Innovation Centre in Ballarat, joining the growing trend of neurodiversity programs in the workplace.

A GPS clock rollover, which experts predicted would have little impact because of years of advance notice, causes the grounding of the Bureau of Meteorology's weather balloons.

Some people collect cars, mugs or sports memorabilia. Hayden Peters collects jewellery made from the hair of dead people.

For residents living in the New South Wales village of Murrurundi in the Upper Hunter Valley, three minute showers and a limit of two loads of laundry a week have become the norm.

After 25 years without a hairdressing salon the locals of Wedderburn in central Victoria finally open their own community enterprise.

A company that teaches do-it-yourself builders to design and construct their own off-the-grid tiny homes is recognised for helping make cities safer, more resilient and sustainable.

On the outskirts of Bendigo in central Victoria, a farm run by a social worker is helping children and adults with behavioural and mental health issues.

Parishioners in rural communities are increasingly perform the role of priests, taking funerals and Sunday celebrations into their own hands.

A Victorian man is expected to be charged with the manslaughter of his 35-year-old partner Shae Francis, who was last seen when she visited her mother at the Hervey Bay Hospital in October.

Victorian agriculture authorities are investigating allegations of cruelty at the Bridgewater Poultry Farm, after footage released by Animal Liberation appeared to show workers mistreating chickens they were culling.

Footage from a Victorian poultry farm, released by animal activists, appears to show workers stretching the necks of chickens and throwing them onto a concrete floor.

Tanya Day died of traumatic brain injuries after she was arrested for public drunkenness in December, 2017. Lawyers for the Indigenous woman's family are now asking the Victorian coroner to consider whether systemic racism was a factor in her death.

Prison officers and nurses could have done more to prevent the death of underworld figure Hizir Ferman, who suffocated to death inside a Victorian prison after a stand-off with guards, a coroner finds.

Days before she was due to give birth, Krystal Fraser discharged herself from a country Victorian hospital and has not been seen since. Police believe a call she received from a public phone box is the key to finding her suspected killer.

At first he thought it was just a rusty bullet case, but further inspection showed it to be worth much, much more.

They are the lifeblood of Australia's smaller regional towns, selling everything from ammunition to bread, but what's it really like behind the counter at a country town's local store?

Balancing the scales of justice is an onerous responsibility for legal professionals when the freedom, futures, families, and finances of their clients are on the line.

Victoria moves to decriminalise public drunkenness on the eve of a coronial inquest into the death of Aboriginal woman Tanya Day, who suffered head injuries in a police cell in 2017.

A police officer involved in the arrest of Yorta Yorta woman Tanya Day defends taking her back to the police station where she later sustained a fatal head injury, saying officers had exhausted all other options.

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority is investigating footage of a man fishing from a chair that's being towed by a homemade drone in central Victoria.

A court releases vision of Aboriginal woman Tanya Day tearful at a Victorian police station on the day she suffered head injuries that led to her death.

While the Battle of Bendigo isn't quite as exotic sounding as The Rumble in the Jungle, it's still a bout you should care about, writes Alex McClintock.

The Horn v Zerafa bout promoter brings in male "fight progress managers" to replace female ring card carriers, much to the Bendigo crowd's displeasure, as local councillors call the use of "ring girls" outdated and misogynist.

The coroner conducting an inquest into the death of Yorta Yorta woman Tanya Day releases CCTV footage of her falling and hitting her head in a police cell, as her family says they want the world to see the distressing vision.

Hopeful prospectors flock to Victoria's goldfields in search of a lucky strike, but the region is also a hotbed of scientific discovery thanks to the number of meteorites found there.

The only nursing home in Pyramid Hill will close by the end of November, leaving 30 locals out of work.

The councillor who spoke out against the use of ring girls at a council-sponsored boxing match resigns, saying she's been attacked by colleagues and members of the community.

Family members of Aboriginal woman Tanya Day say they want their mother to be remembered for more than her death, describing her as a "loving, nurturing mother and she passed that love onto the community".

A local council warns Victoria's "culture of recycling" is at risk as the state's waste crisis deepens and an estimated 780 rubbish trucks' worth of recyclable material is sent to landfill in a week.