A specialist family drug court is set up for the first time in regional Victoria in a bid to address a horrific trend in parental drug abuse.

Fire-weary residents in Queensland's Scenic Rim are being told they need to prepare to leave again, as the Sarabah bushfire rears up for a second time. It's one of 55 fires burning across the state.

A 53-year-old man accused of lighting up to four bushfires in north Queensland will undergo a mental health assessment, after a dramatic arrest where he allegedly rammed a police car and officers fired shots at his vehicle.

North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un orders the removal of all "shabby" facilities at the Mount Kumgang tourist site the current resting place of Townsville's former Barrier Reef Floating Resort.

A self-funded entrepreneur has failed in his attempt to become the first Singaporean to reach the edge of space after launching his capsule from the Australian outback.

A homeowner says he will consider recommendations to install an alarm in the roof cavity of his house after a blaze caused extensive damage but did not set off ceiling alarms.

They are a lifeline for tourist towns, but locals in the nation's regional tourism drawcards say increasing numbers of older travellers are failing to show basic etiquette.

Christopher Malyschko was serving a life sentence for arranging the murder of his mother's partner in Katherine in 2011. On Tuesday morning he was found dead in his cell in Darwin's prison.

Victims of a bushfire almost a decade ago are set to receive millions of dollars in compensation following a ruling by the High Court.

Voting opens for Victorian Aboriginal communities to elect the people who will help make the rules for what are expected to be the first treaty negotiations in Australia.

Ahead of a fierce fire season, a cadet program for volunteer firefighting prompts school students to join their local Rural Fire Service brigade.

The Northern Territorys first known contract killer may have accidentally died in his prison cell after using drugs, investigators believe.

Emergency warnings for bushfires burning near Darwin have been downgraded as fire crews battle to prevent the further spread of fire.

Scorched earth and burned toys show just how close a family's home came to destruction during rural Darwin's bushfire emergency.

A mayor, an electrician and a prison manager will try to help the Country Liberal Party claw back some seats in next year's NT election.

Indigenous athlete Shericka Mahoney only received her running blade in June but has set records for long jump and the 100-metres at a national athletics event.

In the turbid waters of the Wessel Marine Park in the Gulf of Carpentaria, an underwater garden of sponges, corals and creatures is revealed.

An Aboriginal corporation in the Kimberley is set to become the first to commercialise the breeding of native freshwater prawns.

You'll need a week's worth of supplies, plenty of spare tyres, and a sturdy four-wheel drive would you take on this epic, ancient journey?

The first Territory patient to ever fill a script for medical cannabis in the NT has now been approved, NT Health has confirmed.

The country's top emergency officials today warned of the dangers of the impending bushfire season, but despite all the uniforms, the stern tone and sincerity of the warnings, many of us won't take action.

Instead of storing or throwing out the stationery bought for the last federal election, this time the Australian Electoral Commission is donating it to Indigenous health and education organisations.

A Victorian man who sent 52 packages filled with asbestos to embassies in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra has been sentenced to one year in prison.

Wang Yiwei says it's in Australia's national interest for the US-Chinese trade war to be de-escalated.

The ACT becomes the first Australian jurisdiction to legalise the possession, use and cultivation of small amounts of cannabis.

The ACT has passed historic legislation, changing the legal status of animals from property to beings with their own intrinsic value and that comes with consequences for pet owners.

The Raiders withstood a tremendous South Sydney Rabbitohs onslaught to reach its first grand final since 1994 with a 16-10 victory at a sold-out Canberra Stadium.

Canberra star Josh Papalii avoids suspension to be cleared for the NRL season decider, as the Raiders look to win their first premiership since their glory days 25 years ago.

More than 16 years on from the bushfires that killed four people and destroyed hundreds of homes, the ACT Rural Fire Service warns the community is becoming "complacent" as memories of the territory's darkest day fade.

A historic train carriage is destroyed in a suspicious fire at the Canberra Railway Museum, just hours before its reopening. The 1930s passenger carriage was gutted in the blaze and two adjacent cars were also damaged.

Firefighting experts and senior scientists tell Background Briefing they're concerned the Federal Government is refusing to guarantee funding for the only national research body for bushfires beyond 2021.

Several hundred online enthusiasts generate thousands of leads for investigators after a single day of competitive 'ethical hacking' across Australia.

A female driver dies in hospital after a collision between her car and a fire truck in an inner suburb of Canberra.

A decade of dry conditions and lower rainfall has left parts of northern Australia facing an early and "above normal" bushfire risk in parts of northern Queensland and the Northern Territory.

Florists say deceptive advertising is tricking customers into thinking they're buying local flowers when they're not. One businesswoman says the practice has cost her as much as $80,000.