Shadow Local Government Minister Tim Smith and Ratepayers Victoria president Dean Hurlston are calling for rates to be frozen and for the State Government to do more to help council staff, May 6, 2020.

A new respiratory clinic is expected to open in Wodonga next week to assess patients with fever and respiratory symptoms who meet the government criteria for COVID-19 testing.

A community weeks away from being evicted has launched legal action against the South Australian Government in a bid to stop their town's closure.

Two Labor MPs are still waiting to get offices within their electorates more than a year after the state election, with one labelling the delay as a "clamp down on democracy".

A contentious ecotourism project on Kangaroo Island has been approved and could lead the way for similar projects that will open up South Australian national parks currently "under lock and key".

Adelaide councils are considering a range of options to address the problem of abandoned shopping trolleys including GPS tracking, locking systems and a bounty for returned trolleys.

When new laws were introduced following the murder of remote area nurse Gayle Woodford in outback SA in 2016, her family and friends were strongly supportive but they now believe a crucial loophole remains.

The SA Government says a three-year statewide ban on snapper fishing will come into effect within weeks, despite a backlash from fishers and charter boat operators.

A controversial teddy bear fence, which stretches for more than a kilometre on South Australia's Copper Coast Highway, is being deliberately hacked apart by knife-wielding "haters", its creator claims.

The SA Government has ordered a review into the Environmental Protection Authority's policies over notification of environmental incidents, following an ABC investigation into two chemical spills at Port Pirie's Nyrstar smelter.

The National Party wants urgent changes to the NSW Independent Planning Commission, fearing there is little certainty for investors following the rejection of the proposed Bylong Valley coal mine.

A transport company seeking lucrative contracts to run Adelaide's public transport networks has shared fake quotes of former Labor ministers in an apparent bid to assist the South Australian Liberal Government press its case for rail privatisation.

The NSW Education Department investigates after a video emerges online of a teacher telling her class that if a woman is raped, her clothing should be held partly accountable.

NSW Deputy Premier says asking mining companies to consider greenhouse gas emissions from Australian coal exports "doesn't pass the pub test"

The WA Government has ordered Zenith Australia Investment Holding to stop clearing land at Yakka Munga station after a blockade by the area's native title holders.

Schools and remote communities across the north of Western Australia fear for their future as vital funding dries up, leaving highly-valued employees jobless.

Voting rights based on owning property were last seen in many democracies in the late 19th century, but they live on in most Australian local government elections.

WA's Child Protection Minister orders an urgent review into her department's management of five-year-old Symerien Brooking, who has one of the rarest medical conditions on the planet.

The Western Australia State Government will now supply water to affected farms where, in some cases, record-low rainfall has persisted, and damaging floods in early 2017 were the last significant rainfall event.

Dog owners whose animals kill sensitive wildlife, including penguins, now face fines of up to $5,040, after more than 170 little penguins die in dog attacks since June 2018.

Human rights advocates fear the Tasmanian Government's failure to make a submission against the Federal Government's religious freedom draft bill would severely undermine the state's anti-discrimination laws.

The 24-year-old believes a move to change laws in Tasmania allowing survivors of sexual crimes to share their stories will give greater insights into how perpetrators operate.

DAILY BRIEFING: The prisons watchdog says he was pressured to redact a report on the Ashley youth detention centre and he will strongly resist requests to do so in the future.

A public servant improperly awarded, or attempted to influence, millions of dollars' worth of government contracts for the benefit of a close friend, an inquiry finds.

South Australia's fishing industry is "banding together" to make sure the WA Government's plan to take control of a portion of the rock lobster catch does not also happen in its state.

The South Australian Government announces increases to a raft of fees, fines and charges ahead of next month's state budget.

Foster carers have historically been able to apply for house and car upgrades to enable them to care for extra children, but the ABC can reveal the category of support was suspended in September 2018.

After a furious backlash from supporters, donors and some of its own MPs, SA's Liberal Government could rethink aspects of its controversial land tax measures flagged in last month's budget but what is the dispute all about?

For 17 years Ray Cook, also known as 'Captain Cook', has built a livelihood around helping others to catch a prized snapper but a proposed ban in SA waters could force his business under.

Aboriginal children will be excluded from a plan to boost adoptions of children in state care in South Australia because of cultural sensitivities around the Stolen Generation, the State Government says.

South Australia's Treasurer announces the Government will lower the land tax rate by more than planned but will continue with its controversial plan to raise more money from large property owners.

A planned $17-million hi-tech education precinct in Victoria's Latrobe Valley, a centrepiece of the Hazelwood transition program, is in jeopardy after the project's major partner pulls out.

Whistleblower doctors in New South Wales say their pleas for a serious inquiry into regional healthcare by the NSW State Government are being ignored since a damning Four Corners expose last month.

The Victorian Government announces an immediate ban on all old growth logging and the phasing out of native timber logging in a transition plan that will cost $120 million over the next ten years.

The Federal Government has been rocked by revelations Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce may not have been validly elected. Barnaby Joyce is the latest to be caught by uncertainty over his citizenship - telling Parliament he may be a dual citizen of New Zealand because his father was born there. Mr Joyce is staying on as Deputy PM while the High Court determines his eligibility, but the Opposition believes he should stand aside immediately. The case could have huge implications for the Coalition, which holds the Lower House with a slim one seat majority.

Allegations of treachery and collusion have dominated Question Time in Parliament, as the Government's citizenship crisis deepens. Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce revealed yesterday he was a dual New Zealand citizen, but is arguing he should retain his ministerial duties and vote, while the High Court makes a ruling. Mr Joyce's citizenship status emerged in the same week a New Zealand Labour MP asked about the issue, and the Government is now accusing the Opposition of trying to use a foreign parliament to bring down the Government.

A fresh stoush has broken out between the Federal Government and a Melbourne council over its decision to cancel Australia Day celebrations. The Yarra Council in Melbourne's inner north last night became the first in the country to abandon Australia Day in solidarity with Indigenous people. The Prime Minister says he is deeply disappointed by the decision, and is accusing the council of breaching its duties.

Dot paintings swapped for a government four-wheel drive in 1986 are now prized in a Canberra collection.

A Townsville woman says she was hit with a $2,000 "robodebt" notice despite a Federal Minister's claim the debt recovery program was suspended in the wake of February's floods.

For the first time, the long-term outlook for the Great Barrier Reef is downgraded to "very poor", with the impacts of climate change, including coral bleaching and record-breaking warm water, deteriorating its overall health.

Time has run out for the owners of 14 holiday shacks near Ingham in north Queensland with the State Government ordering their removal by the end of the month.

A key element of the NT Government's budget repair plan is in limbo, with a union saying it has received legal advice that public service executives cannot be forced to sign pay freeze agreements.

One of Australia's biggest table grape companies is threatening to rip up vines and scrap its million-dollar plan to expand in the Northern Territory.

The NT Government gives the green light for famers to grow industrial hemp, with an outback cattle station expected to be the first one to start planting.

Once touted as Australia's next great cultural precinct, the National Indigenous Art Gallery planned for Alice Springs has hit another hurdle with the town's council rejecting the NT Government's $20-million land-swap deal.

The family of brutally murdered woman Karen Chetcuti, whose killer was a rapist on parole, is suing the Victorian Government for her wrongful death.