Part of the Port Augusta Prison has been evacuated after a letter containing a mystery white powder was opened by staff.

Drugs including ice are readily available and "coming through the front door" of a South Australian jail, an inquest into a fatal overdose of a prisoner finds.

Autistic students have long needed two separate diagnoses before receiving extra help at school, but from October that will no longer be the case.

After undergoing a multi-million dollar development, the Port Pirie smelter is once again not producing anything.

A South Australian man is reported for allegedly selling alcohol without a licence after police uncovered about 800 litres of homemade alcohol at his property.

Allegations a female firefighter was grabbed by the neck by a male colleague, and another suffered burns after being "blocked" from leaving a house fire, spark an investigation at a regional SA fire station but the findings will not be made public.

A couple charged with the criminal neglect of their baby boy fails to explain what happened to the child who was taken to hospital "close to death", a court hears.

The voices of young country women and their experiences of intimate partner violence are being heard, but wider campaigns to address the crisis may not be.

Two chemical leaks from metals processor Nyrstar have made their way into Port Pirie's groundwater and a waterway over the past two years, the ABC can reveal.

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.

A young child has been transferred to hospital in Adelaide with serious burns from a house fire that has also injured two other children and several adults at Port Augusta in South Australia's north.

A toddler has died in an Adelaide hospital after suffering horrific burns in a house fire in Port Augusta in South Australia's Mid-North last week.

While there is a push to close the gap on education, a NSW hostel for Indigenous boys has a waitlist that could take years to get through.

One phone call closed a popular waterfront camp that has hosted thousands of children over 75 years but documents obtained by the ABC show that a NSW Government office went against the advice of experts.

A State Government-commissioned review finds the risk of a NSW coal ash dam wall collapsing in an earthquake is "reasonable", but more work is needed to determine the level of risk.

A north Queensland mother is worried for the health of her children after PFAS was found in fish and water samples taken near their Mackay property.

The United Wambo coal mine in the NSW Hunter Valley gets the go-ahead, but on the condition that its coal can only be exported to countries that have ratified the Paris climate agreement.

Homicide detectives say 29-year-old Danielle Easey, whose body was discovered wrapped in plastic in a creek near Lake Macquarie at the weekend, had become involved in drugs and was likely killed in mid-August.

The NSW Government admits "safety risks" exist at a light rail intersection in Newcastle where a cyclist died earlier this year, while also raising questions about tram projects in Sydney's CBD and Parramatta.

A leading surgeon fears a gravely-ill convicted murderer could die within a year if he is deported to Papua New Guinea.

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.

People living with disabilities in regional Australia say having their own cars would make a huge difference to their lives but access to a vehicle is simply too expensive.

When Bennett Powell was a child, doctors thought he might never walk but now he's running, cycling and swimming as part of his third Ironman Australia race.

Barrington Tops is receiving its first winter dusting as cold conditions hit the east coast of New South Wales.

What drives people to spend their weekends suffering as they attempt to run 50, 100, or even 200 kilometres through the bush and over mountains?

The Cancer Council uses new digital technology to transport more regional cancer patients to treatment.

MORNING BRIEFING: Police investigate what is believed to be a human bone discovered by passers-by at a Port Macquarie beach, while a Sydney northern beach road is closed after a pedestrian was killed by a car overnight.

A failure to look upward when parking by the river at a favourite roost for local pelicans has left a Port Macquarie man red-faced and his car disgraced.

Early morning walkers in Port Macquarie received a surprise when a koala came walking down the middle of a popular breakwall path. The sighting has sparked renewed concerns about habitat loss and declining koala numbers.

Police recapture prisoner Matthew Furner, who escaped from custody at Port Macquarie Base Hospital on the NSW Mid North Coast and fled into nearby bushland.

Young, adventurous and enterprising couple Jess Davidson and Andy Hoffman quit their jobs to follow a dream more than a year ago.

The Port Macquarie koala hospital fears more than 350 koalas may have died in a bushfire south of the town, with staff frustrated they cannot yet access the site.

Months after being given new powers, corporate watchdog ASIC is taking action against Gold Coast payday lender Cigno Loans, which is accused of exploiting vulnerable Australians.

A network of oil wells that involve fracking in the Great Sandy Desert, connected by pipelines to new and existing ports, may become Australia's biggest oil-producing project, according to traditional owners negotiating with the private company.

Some WA sheep breeders are worried a ban could damage the industry, but Labor says the science is clear and if they win government they'll end the live export trade.

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.

Thirty per cent of the Shire of Westonia is owned by corporate agricultural companies and locals say they are worried it is ruining the "sense of community" in the shire's small rural towns.

A Federal Government investigation has found no evidence a whistleblower onboard the livestock carrier Awassi Express fabricated conditions on the boat by switching off fans and ventilation.