Experts don't know what causes it or why, but a virus that spreads quickly in close contact is causing rainbow lorikeets to "drop out of the sky" across South-East Queensland.

Forty experts from the Asia-Pacific will train animal workers to spot virus outbreaks before they even begin, in a new government-funded scheme to reduce the risk of another virus crisis.

MORNING BRIEFING: Relatives are insisting they be allowed to see loved ones at an aged care home where 11 people have died of COVID-19, while the Waverley Council applauds people for abiding by rules at reopened beaches.

Transport NSW says the Metro West line take 20 minutes to travel from Parramatta to Sydney CBD.

Widespread soaking rain in the New South Wales Central West has upped farmers' confidence for a bumper winter cropping season.

It was the New South Wales rail disaster that killed six people and injured 100 more. Some of those on board share their recollections of that day.

A court hears the NSW Rural Fire Service may ask the state's Attorney-General to relax restrictions so it can distribute the $51.3 million raised by comedian Celeste Barber to help victims of the Black Summer bushfires.

It is not common place for students to be greeted at their school gate by their principal wearing fancy dress, but this is exactly what one school leader is doing each day to put his school community at ease and have a laugh.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian is grilled over the behaviour of ministers Andrew Constance and John Barilaro at an awkward press conference on May 7, 2020. Mr Constance and Mr Barilaro had been engaged in a public spat amid pre-selection for the federal seat of Eden-Monaro, in which there will be a by-election.

There's nothing quite like a portrait exhibition to bring the crowds in. A steady stream of visitors has been arriving at the Lismore Regional Gallery since the 2013 Northern Rivers Portrait Prize opened on June 8.

Abner Bradley, Alirio Zavarce, Ben Wishart, Damien Turbin, Duncan Luke, Kym Mackenzie, Ryan Rowland, Richard Samai

The water watchdog says it is investigating claims that irrigators in the Namoi Valley pumped water out of the river system during a recent embargo.

After more than two years without any decent rain, a community in the far north of New South Wales is been given a reprieve.

Who would have thought weather would be providing the good news a few months ago? The weekend's rainfall is a welcome relief after years of drought and there could be more on the way.

The number of coronavirus cases associated with an outbreak in Tasmania's north-west is "trailing off", the state's director of public health says, with additional retail restrictions in place in the region due to be lifted on Sunday night.

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.

The green vista that now stretches to the horizon is in stark contrast to the dust wall that shrouded paddocks not too long ago on this western NSW sheep station.

Drought-stricken farmers are calling for failing grain trader GrainPro to be wound up in a bid to receive some of the $6 million they are owed.

Melbourne footballer Hakeem al-Araibi should never have been locked up in a Thai jail instead of being on his honeymoon. Now, the ABC has documents that reveal the series of critical errors made by the Department of Home Affairs and AFP INTERPOL.

It's early morning and Ernie Poloni is lying in his nursing home bed. Two carers enter his room, unaware that the digital clock on the table holds a hidden camera, writes Anne Connolly

Climate protesters who brought the streets of Melbourne to a standstill are vowing to make a comeback in autumn as police reveal the cost of overtime for controlling the protests would be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Ciaron Maher and David Eustace are looking to turn their unorthodox training partnership into big success at Melbourne's Spring Carnival.

Hakeem al-Araibi's story is testament to the adage "the power of one". This is how former Socceroos captain Craig Foster led a global campaign to free the fellow footballer who was wrongfully imprisoned overseas and exposed bureaucratic slip-ups that landed him there.

It's the size of a tea bag and plays dead if you manage to catch it but this little crayfish is starting to get noticed.

Another international raider grabs the last automatic spot in the Melbourne Cup, with the Joseph O'Brien-trained Downdraft earning his spot with a win in the Hotham Handicap on Derby Day.

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.

Every fortnight, dozens on Indigenous students of all ages arrive at Noorla Heritage Resort in Ingham in north Queensland. They spend the week running the resort and working towards qualifications in small business, hospitality, management and tourism.

CEO of a Bunbury freight company, Mark Mazza wants to see a nationally accredited training scheme for truck drivers.

Working nine to five in a stable job as an information technology consultant would be enough to make some people very happy. For Vincent Brouillet it was not enough, he craved freedom, fresh air and the chance to fulfil a dream.

A steam train puffing its way through regional New South Wales is delighting young and old and being used to educate schoolchildren about Australia's rail heritage and its role in their own history.

It's been a dry winter for south east wetland Bool Lagoon, which hasn't seen high water levels since January last year.

A 5917 steam locomotive captivated onlookers as it rolled through the Clarence and Richmond valleys as part of Coffs Harbour's Centenary of Rail celebrations.

A photographic project that combines health and the arts is helping people with disabilities to produce digitally altered self portraits that powerfully tell their stories

Kimberley historian Dion Marinis has travelled to the US to meet the families of an air crew who died at Broome during the 1942 Japanese air raid on the remote town.

In Maffra's memorial hall almost a million Lego pieces are being constructed into dragons, landmarks and streetscapes in an exhibition to raise money for the Central Gippsland Health Service.

Coffs photographer Dan Stewart won the local Pic of the Week competition with this magnificent photo of a rainbow.

Erin Godecke says when speech is lost following brain injury, the language is still present in the brain, it is the pathways which have been damaged and need repair. She says treatment can be any activity that requires the brain to accesses words such as talking or word games.