As it hosts researchers and conservationists as part of the World Whale Conference, Hervey Bay's responsible and sustainable practices have been awarded.

Tourists are warned to check the credentials of whale-watching companies as the Maritime Safety Authority investigates reports a boat operated without a licence.

The former mayor of the Fraser Coast Regional Council has been found guilty of using his position to push for his former campaign manager to be appointed his chief-of-staff.

A regional Victorian town will soon house one of the world's largest medicinal cannabis production facilities, amid a push to drive patients away from the thriving black market.

Cannabis patients who ignore the standard medical advice to wait five days before driving are risking more than a fine or a suspended licence. If they are involved in an accident, their insurance will be voided.

A controversial study plays down the risk of heart disease and cancer from eating red meat, infuriating global health professionals.

The working conditions of teachers is the learning environment for students — so to improve outcomes for our kids, we need to first take a hard look at the growing pressures on our educators, writes Dan Hogan.

Chinese scientist He Jiankui, who claims he made the world's first "gene-edited" babies by altering human embryos in 2018, is convicted on charges of practising medicine illegally, according to Chinese state media.

In the late 19th and early 20th century, these pioneering scientists scaled mountains, hiked across glaciers and flew into storm clouds to unravel the mysteries of the Earth's global climate system.

A genus of Queensland marsupial lion that, in its heyday, would have had other animals "shaking in their boots", is reclassified to be entirely new.

They were on holidays on the other side of the world, or with their families, and living their lives. But when coronavirus called, they answered.

American band the Mountain Goats have released a new album recorded at home during isolation measures.

A charity in the Blue Mountains is feeding 18,000 people a week during the COVID 19 crisis.

A sick prisoner's push for early release in the midst of the COVID pandemic.

The ability to navigate through the physical world is an amazing feat of the brain that was developed by our ancient ancestors. We can walk through unfamiliar places while maintaining a sense of direction, take shortcuts and remember places we visited decades earlier. How do we do it and is this ability threatened by a reliance on GPS?

Would you be willing to be infected with coronavirus if there was a chance of speeding up a vaccine? Thousands of young health people have put their hand up.

After months of uncertainty for canegrowers, German-owned Nordzucker acquires a 70 per cent stake in Mackay Sugar.

A 64-year-old woman who allegedly purchased a yacht for her son to flee the country while he was on bail over a multi-million-dollar cocaine-smuggling operation is remanded in custody.

Residents of a Queensland beachside suburb are relieved a decision to bury a dead whale 40 metres from their backyards has been abandoned, but question why they were not consulted before a whale-sized burial plot was excavated.

Mackay teenager Brooke Anderson still vividly recalls the devastation at seeing her family's beloved Jack Russell terrier Jackie in terrible pain before he died in a suspected poison bait incident.

A second man is extradited to Queensland from New South Wales, charged with murder over the disappearance of Jay Brogden in north Queensland in 2007.

Adani is granted a Supreme Court order that could expose two traditional owners to possible jail time if they return to a ceremonial camp on the Queensland mine site, the men's lawyer says.

The West Coast Eagles will review the way they manage drug-testing procedures in the wake of the scandal engulfing forward Willie Rioli.

Researchers are reporting an "alarming" loss in the number of qualified teacher librarians in schools, and they warn student literacy will continue to suffer if the trend is not reversed.

As the voluntary assisted dying debate rages in Western Australia, David Goodall's family is still processing the 104-year-old's decision to travel to Switzerland to end his life.

A teenage driver is jailed for running a red light and fatally crashing her car at high speed into an elderly woman in the Perth suburb of Floreat.

A career criminal who was banned for life from driving is jailed for crashing a stolen car into a family's van, ploughing it into a Woolworths truck and claiming the life of a five-year-old boy and injuring six of his relatives.

The husband of a woman found dead at a Nollamara home by family members is charged with murdering his wife sometime between Wednesday and Saturday last week.

As the Cottesloe community remains split over the future of the Indiana tearooms, just down the road City Beach is reaping the rewards of a multi-million-dollar facelift.

Comedy legends Steve Martin and Martin Short discuss comedy and their 30-year friendship ahead of their Australian tour.

More than half a million dollars meant for a hospital cancer research unit was claimed in overtime and annual leave payments by an ex-manager despite records showing she was often not entitled to it, WA's corruption watchdog finds.

Suspended Lord Mayor of Perth Lisa Scaffidi tells an inquiry into the council that she supported a decision to activate a crisis management plan because an "extraordinary situation" had unfolded within the organisation.

A WA woman is caught up in an online investment scam that used a bogus endorsement by mining billionaire Andrew Forrest and created fake ABC News articles to publicise the scam on Facebook and LinkedIn.

A Perth man who viewed violence as an acceptable way to manage his relationships is jailed for life for killing his partner, who had a chronic heart condition, by bashing her to death with his fists and a metal pipe.

Arum lilies may be visually spectacular, but for more than 100 years they have been been suffocating the natural bush and backyards in the South West corner of WA.

WA Premier Mark McGowan never needs a second invitation to express his disdain for the Maritime Union of Australia and its leader Christy Cain, but they may just be stuck in a loveless marriage, writes Jacob Kagi.

A man who was taken to hospital for dog bite injuries received after allegedly punching a police dog in the head remains on the loose after escaping from custody on Saturday.

A second Brownlow Medal leaves Nat Fyfe in rare air among some of the AFL's all-time greats. But guiding the Fremantle Dockers back to the finals and to their first premiership would cement his legacy, writes Clint Thomas.

The AFL advises that West Coast Eagles player Willie Rioli tested positive in an in-competition drug test for "a metabolite of cannabis", having previously tampered with a sample in a separate test.

Western Australia moves significantly closer to legalising voluntary assisted dying with the State Government's euthanasia bill sailing through the Lower House of Parliament but it still faces a major hurdle.

A six-year-old boy dies after being struck by a car in the carpark of a popular sporting ground in Perth's south.

When Keennan Dickie contacted police for help after her rib was broken in a violent robbery, she was instead arrested and sent to jail for failing to pay traffic fines, a situation branded a "shame on WA".

Former Perth Wildcat Greg Hire had a difficult upbringing and says he does not know where he would be without basketball but now he is facing up to his sporting mortality.