The City of Melville, which includes some of Perth's most expensive riverside real estate, descends into chaos and claims of standover tactics as tensions boil over ahead of this month's local government election.

More than 60 West Australian homes and businesses are having their electricity cut off on an average day for failing to pay their bills, with the number more than doubling in just three years.

An inquest into the deaths of two children murdered by their father at their home has heard police took almost three-and-a-half hours to attend the house after their mother raised the alarm.

Perth Glory's Chris Harold is just one of a growing number of athletes using their profiles and huge social media followings to push the causes they believe in.

A team of WA Police officers will be deployed to Japan as part of a revived investigation into former trade commissioner Craig Peacock, accused of misusing his position to pocket $540,000 in taxpayer funds.

Find out how match fixing works. It's ubiquitous and now recognised as the biggest threat to sport integrity.

For many West Australians the beach forms the foundation of their lifestyle, but the oceanfront dream is under threat for many in Perth and towns up and down the coast.

Three more men from different countries are arrested as part of an international investigation into an attempted billion-dollar drug smuggling operation uncovered when a yacht ran aground off the WA coast.

Residents in a regional WA town are fighting against what they say is a life-threatening decline in healthcare services.

Australia's biggest grain handler and a global infrastructure giant reach agreement on the use of WA's rail freight network, but farmers' hopes this will lead to fewer trucks transporting grain may be dashed.

The Keith and District Hospital will receive $140,000 lifeline to keep operating until July under a new deal struck by the South Australian Government and Tatiara District Council.

Analysis by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) finds community service flights conducted by charity Angel Flight Australia have a fatal accident rate more than seven times higher than other private flights.

The Tantanoola community in South Australia has voted to keep their school open next year despite only three students being enrolled at the school.

A growing number of people with chronic diabetes are building their own artificial pancreas which has some health professionals seriously concerned.

Jacinta Foulds's husband shares his grief just hours after the 35-year-old's death to warn others how suddenly influenza A can kill, saying: "I've lost my soul mate and the mother of my children. If you're sick, go to the doctor".

A car carrying two adults and three children hit a tree and caught fire at Durong, about 90 kilometres north-west of Kingaroy this afternoon, with the driver believed to have swerved to avoid a kangaroo.

New Hope says the Queensland Government must approve its New Acland mine expansion by this weekend or redundancies will begin on Monday, in what is considered the state's longest-running mine dispute.

The threat of flooding to Australia's coastal areas due to climate change is very real for some with the luxury seaside shire of Noosa in Queensland formally declaring a "climate emergency".

A Sunshine Coast couple who launched an ambitious campaign to pay for their dream wedding using Queensland's container refund scheme lock in a venue, celebrant and catering all paid for by the initiative.

Severe bushfire conditions are expected later in the week as residents describe their terror at having to evacuate when a fast-moving bushfire threatened a township north of Noosa overnight.

Over the past seven weeks, ABC readers have been submitting questions about the NSW election in the process, you actually told us three things would decide your vote this Saturday. Here's a peek.

As a maintenance man, Peter Crawford knows better than most that one of the hazards of underground living is the question of who might drop in.

Consumer Protection is urging people to look beyond the price tag when shopping online this Christmas.

Did you know that the native Christmas Tree that is in prolific flower in Western Australia this month can produce a mildly alcoholic Christmas potion?

Police have charged an Albany man with lighting three fires last month.

The Auditor General has found the Water Corporation is losing billions of litres of water more than it should each year, mainly due to leaking pipes. In his report, tabled in Parliament today, Colin Murphy says about 30 billion litres of water was lost each year, ten billion more than what is considered acceptable. The agency will also have to fork out tens of millions of dollars to replace ageing pipes in the network.

Coronavirus is changing the way the entire human race lives. Emergency workers are scrambling together contingency plans, fearing hospitals could soon be overwhelmed. Scientists are racing to invent a faster, cheaper Covid-19 test kit available for us all. Restaurants are reinventing themselves as delivery services, artists are turning to live-streaming to make a living. This week, the entire Background Briefing team investigates how each of us are finding new ways to get by.

Uschi Rowlands grows gourmet mushrooms in Mudgee, NSW, August 2019.

City woman Uschi Rowlands did not expect to become a mushroom farmer, let alone discover that the fungi have a preference for rock music over classical.

Award-winning journalist Allan Clarke returns to his home town with his storytelling skills to help local youth capture the stories of their elders.

Regional Express threatens to scrap flights or reduce their frequency on its popular route from Sydney to Dubbo due to a dispute over increased airport fees.

In her new book, HRT, Kathy Lette ponders the choices on offer for a 50 year old facing a diagnosis of terminal cancer. Instead of accepting this quietly, she tells all her friends what she really thinks of them, accuses her husband of having an affair, and takes her two sisters on a cruise for a dose of Husband Replacement Therapy.

Who are the Christian nationalists? What do they stand for and how influential are they in American politics?

Bad weather in Sydney means India goes through to T20 World Cup final without a ball being bowled — and Australia will lose out if the second semi does not go ahead.

Strong winds and high temperatures fuelled bushfires that destroyed at least 30 homes in northern NSW on October 8, 2019.

After watching their home burn on the news, Tina Hag, Robert Collier and their four children return to Rappville, wondering about the future of their northern New South Wales town, which lost 15 homes and 20,000 hectares of grazing land to a bushfire.