An elderly man is badly injured after being attacked by a goanna in north Queensland, but his dog survives, which his wife says is "the best news I've heard all day".

Parents living in a mining town with one of the country's lowest unemployment rates are turning down jobs because there is no childcare available.

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.

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann says "school time is a time to go to school" ahead of thousands planning to leave the classroom for a global climate strike.

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.

As WA Premier Mark McGowan proudly announced direct flights from Perth to Shanghai this week, it flew in stark contrast to Scott Morrison's US visit that put several Chinese noses out of joint, writes Eliza Borrello.

Low-cost airline Jetstar announces it will start running three flights a week between Melbourne and Busselton in the south-west of WA.

One of Perth's busiest roads will close for up to 10 hours during the March long weekend for a marathon tribute to AC/DC lead singer Bon Scott on the 40th anniversary of his death.

A new tax on foreign property buyers was celebrated by WA Labor when introduced less than a year ago, but there was no fanfare when the policy was significantly watered down this week, writes Jacob Kagi.

The WA Government will ban students from using mobile phones, smart watches and tablets in all public schools from 2020 in a major push to reduce distraction and focus on learning.

A Vietnamese man is sentenced to seven years behind bars for growing one of the biggest marijuana crops ever discovered in Western Australia, with an estimated street value of more than $17 million.

School leavers celebrations have been canned on Western Australia's Rottnest Island this year, with thousands of graduates expected to flock to the state's South West instead.

Western Australia's second largest timber mill is stripped of a major native timber supply contract after being caught on-selling at least 165 tonnes of marri logs overseas.

When Australia's premier arts industry awards said they wanted to honour the lifetime achievement of this music legend, he had one condition.

Car and house washing are off limits in Queensland's Southern Downs as residents are urged to use no more than 100 litres a day.

It has been three weeks since the NT's last COVID-19 diagnosis and this weekend some Northern Territory parks will reopen.

Wilcannia locals worry their weir won't ever be built, despite State and Federal Government pre-election promises.

Western Australian gold explorer Ausgold is launching a capital raising effort, which it says will facilitate further expansion of its Katanning project.

Officials involved in the construction of Katanning's new sheep saleyards say the first sale at the facility will have to be pushed back to next autumn due to project delays.

The PGA says food security should not be the focus in the planned national review of agriculture with the country exporting surpluses every year.

The developers of a proposed multi-million dollar shopping centre development in Denmark say they are appealing against a decision to refuse planning approval.

"We'd rather be taken by a grey nurse than a nursing home."

The Katanning Shire says it still expects to be the first area in Western Australia's Great Southern to have fixed line access to the National Broadband Network (NBN), despite earlier work being carried out in Narrogin.

A 55-year-old man has been charged after police allegedly uncovered a hydroponic set-up being used to grow cannabis at an Albany house.

A parliamentary committee tasked with reviewing the Patient Assisted Travel Scheme wants to hear your experiences with the initiative.

Organisers of Murwillumbah's annual banana festival say national anti-terror rules have made it too expensive to hold a street parade.

On one part of the Sunshine Coast, up to 116mm of rain is still needed to saturate the soil to reduce the risk of bushfires flaring.

NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance is expected to announce he will contest the federal seat of Eden-Monaro after NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro decided not to run.

Sam Davis and Spencer Austad getting ready to motor down the Manning River.

Epidemiologist Kelly-Anne Ressler Ressler says her colleagues at NSW Health "were working very hard" and that if they could have their time over to deal with the Ruby Princess's arrival again "it would be very different" during evidence at the special commission of inquiry on May 6, 2020.

Anna Karenina is a visual feast, which pays tribute to the vast panorama that is Tolstoy's story.

This latest adaptation of Tolstoy's classic novel is a most stylish affair and presents the drama in an inventive fashion.

Australia's largest agricultural field day may not exactly be a spending spree this year, but it does provide farmers with a reprieve from drought.

The Prime Minister and NSW Premier announce a $1 billion joint investment to upgrade the Wyangala Dam and build a new one at Dungowan to help drought-devastated NSW regional communities.

Sex work, food vans at farmers' markets and race meetings are some of the latest activities banned by Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein, as part of the ongoing effort to slow the spread of coronavirus in the state.

Two more staff at the North West Regional Hospital test positive to coronavirus, taking the total to six, prompting a ban on visitors to the facility as well as the Mersey Community Hospital.

With helicopters in the air, police patrols of holiday destinations and numberplate scanning, leaders around the country warn there will be no tolerance for breaches of the strict self-isolation measures.

Kat Jackson does not play a brass instrument, and neither does her eight-year-old daughter, Neve, but they plan to sound the Last Post in their driveway this Anzac Day.

More cases of coronavirus are confirmed as being from Tasmania's north-west, on the day Premier Peter Gutwein urges residents with flu-like symptoms to get tested for the deadly disease.