Members of the NSW legal fraternity have spoken out against a bill to change the state's double jeopardy laws brought forward following the acquittal of the prime suspect in the Bowraville murders.

A prisoner recaptured after being on the run for nearly 12 hours on Sunday has been too injured to front court on the NSW mid-north coast.

They were Australia's worst bus-crash tragedies and they happened within weeks of each other on the Pacific Highway. Fifty-six people were killed and 63 injured and 30 years on the pain still lingers for many.

Student Liam Birrer was supposed to be sitting a HSC exam instead he was fighting a bushfire in his local community.

Injured koalas receive life-saving treatment after surviving devastating bushfires on the New South Wales mid-north coast.

A health facility able to meet the needs of acclaimed Aboriginal playwright Jimmy Chi was not available at the time of his death, a coronial inquest has heard.

An arrest warrant has been issued after a man who served 12 years in prison for bashing and raping two tourists in WA's far north breached his post-sentence supervision order and failed to appear in court.

The number of cattle allowed onboard live export ships is about to be reduced. Industry says the new rule makes no sense and will cause financial pain.

A finishing school for western ringtail possums is not about airs and graces it's about helping orphaned possums get used to fending for themselves.

A tax imposed on West Australian ratepayers 16 years ago to support the state's emergency services has raised more than $3 billion, but just $256 million of that has gone to bush fire brigades, and they say this is forcing them to rattle the tin for some essential equipment.

A severe weather warning for Tasmania's east coast is cancelled but heavy rain continues to fall in the region, with snow in the highlands.

Daniel Bradshaw experienced his first epileptic seizure aged 8 and was until recently enduring up to 50 seizures a day, until life-changing brain surgery. Now he has joined the push to change public perception of the disorder.

Photos and documents show nurses in the Roy Fagan Centre for aged psychiatric patients use old pagers and duress buttons held together with sticky tape.

With the September deadline for practical completion of the Royal Hobart Hospital's new K-block redevelopment expired, the Government "needs to be upfront with Tasmanians" as to when it will be operational, Labor says.

With the imminent arrival of a new salmon processing ship in Tasmania, and another even larger ship next month, some in the local sailing community fear there is "an accident waiting to happen" on the already very busy waterways.

International student associations call for more regulation of overseas migration agents as they reveal cheating on English tests required for Australian universities can be common practice.

Leonora, a small town in the West Australian Goldfields, is being touted as a suitable location for an underground, low and intermediate-level nuclear waste storage facility.

Survivors of sexual assault in regional Australia are driving for hours to access forensic medical examinations, even though any GP or nurse can be trained to administer them.

Swiss sailor Peter Baggenstos is repairing his boat in Port Lincoln nine days after it was badly damaged in a Southern Ocean storm he feared could have ended his life.

Landholders fight for independent review after the controversial Mining bill passes the Lower House.

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.

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.

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.

The family of a woman who was sexually assaulted in aged care calls for better protection of vulnerable nursing home patients, as a former aged care worker is sentenced to one month in jail.

Families of loved ones who live with epilepsy are now relying on trained dogs to detect their seizures, and one mother says their dog saved her son's life on multiple occasions.

A frustrated trainer, a battered boxer and angry family members while retirement is unlikely, there are huge cracks in Jeff Horn's camp after his loss to Michael Zerafa, writes Corbin Middlemas.

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 Victorian Government said ongoing conflict between councillors had reduced the respect for, and standing of, the council in the community.

The Victorian Opposition says the Government needs to release reports into how Steelvision got a grant to set up in the Latrobe Valley months before it went into administration, leaving millions in debt.

A pelican banded as part of a research project in Victoria last year, and last seen in March, is spotted more than 700 kilometres away in northern New South Wales.

A sergeant at a rural Victorian police station has been committed to stand trial over an alleged assault in an interview room.

The paddocks of Gippsland look green, but farmers are still in drought and have lost as much as 70 per cent of their regular income.

Gippsland green

Aviation authorities ground an Australian-made aircraft that Swedish investigators believe may have broken up mid-flight in Sweden, leading to the deaths of nine people.

The Victorian Government has announced it will protect 4,000 hectares of farm land from mining exploration in the state's east in an area near a controversial mining proposal.

Wellington Shire Council in Victoria's Gippsland region gives eligible farmers $700 pre-loaded debit cards to provide some financial relief and stimulate the local economy.

Lado Alphonse says he was a "reject in society" before being recruited by the Cora Lynn Cobras. Now, he is among several players bringing new life to the regional Victorian football community.

Emergency services are continuing to search for a young man and woman who went missing in eastern Victoria almost a week ago.

Gippsland police say they are investigating what led to a young Melbourne couple being found dead in their car near Thompson Dam in west Gippsland.

Police find the bodies of Caleb Forbes and Shannon Lowden in their car, almost a week after they went missing near the Baw Baw National Park in eastern Victoria.