Australia's largest renewable biodiesel producer restarts operations at Barnawartha, in north-east Victoria, just three years after it was driven to closure.

As the northern hemisphere sweats through deadly heatwaves, experts warn Australia is unprepared to deal with soaring temperatures.

The late deputy PM's fascination with trains was a lifelong obsession. So of course, his final public appearance had to include a rail journey. After profiling Tim Fischer four times over the past 27 years, Australian Story producer Ben Cheshire says his final goodbye.

A significant move by the Anglican Church to bless the marriage of two gay priests at a ceremony this week has been postponed due to a legal challenge.

Alpine real estate is getting more expensive at Australia's ski resorts, seemingly shrugging off concerns about the impact of climate change on natural snowfall.

A $30 million proposal for a sheep abattoir that would employ 150 full-time workers is opposed by a group of residents, who are concerned about potential health impacts and devaluation of their properties.

A cow has amazed a pair of cattle farmers and fascinated a veterinarian after giving birth to rare quadruplets.

Beloved Australian songwriter Garry Koehler, who rose to fame with his band The Bobkatz after penning The Man in the Picture, has died in his Queensland home.

A man collapses and dies while hiking with a family member on a remote bush trail near Mount Sonder in Central Australia. It is the second death on the trail in 18 months.

Pregnant Aboriginal women in the Northern Territory are three times less likely to go to a clinic for their first antenatal visit, and the consequences can be devastating. But these healthcare workers are making a difference.

Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show almost 78 per cent of Katherine residents are now either overweight or obese, the highest proportion in the country. But the town's Mayor is not quite convinced.

Authorities are warning WA residents to prepare emergency kits for up to five days and to avoid "last minute" preparations, despite below-average cyclone predictions for the 201920 season.

Aboriginal people who bury their loved ones in traditional ceremonies without bureaucratic approval could end up facing fines of up to $31,000 or two years' imprisonment.

The Territory Families Department finalised half the number of child-protection investigations it planned to last financial year, but child welfare advocates say the figure is a result of longer-term reforms.

A tourist dies after being bitten by a venomous snake while camping in the Northern Territory's Garig Gunak Barlu National Park.

The 66-year-old man is the latest person to die at a worksite in the Northern Territory, which has the highest rates of workplace deaths per capita.

Emma Sharp had already used up 14 weeks of leave before her newborn son was healthy enough to come home. Now, she's calling on the Commonwealth to allow mums with premature babies to delay when their leave starts.

Telstra admits to selling "phones to customers who ultimately could not afford them", with an executive addressing the Aboriginal Economic Development Forum at the Darwin Convention Centre.

An inquest into the death of murdered child Bradyn Dillon hears his father lied to school authorities in a deliberate attempt to hide his son from the public.

A Victorian man who sent 52 packages filled with asbestos to embassies in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra has been sentenced to one year in prison.

The new energy storage will help the ACT avoid blackouts and meet its commitment to renewable electricity.

Victorian Greens Senator Janet Rice announces her wife, renowned climate scientist and transgender woman Penny Whetton, has died suddenly at their home in northern Tasmania.

Already waiting for two previous inquiries to be acted upon, support agencies say the new family law inquiry announced last week will require they take resources away from frontline services in order to participate.

Foreign officials are immune from local prosecution, but collectively they owe the ACT Government almost $60,000 in fines for breaching parking laws and Russia is responsible for more than $20,000 of them.

Of the almost 3,000 magpie attacks reported in Australia this year, only one was in Tasmania. So why are these notoriously angry birds so much more relaxed on the Apple Isle?

Claire Pearce wasn't aware of the ACT parliamentary inquiry into Canberra's maternity services until it was too late to make submissions. Now she is sharing her story. Warning: This story contains content some people could find distressing.

The Home Affairs Minister called the environmental activists "anti-establishment".

This startled eastern grey kangaroo was a bit miffed when two police officers on a jetski tried to haul it back on to the shore of Lake Burley Griffin.

A female driver dies in hospital after a collision between her car and a fire truck in an inner suburb of Canberra.

Three accused Rebels bikies who appealed to the High Court to overturn an order preventing them from associating with one another have lost their bid, clearing the way for the NSW Police Commissioner to impose strict restraints on them, including a curfew and restricted mobile phone possession.

MP Warren Entsch says the Queensland Government failed to honour a deal to help fund a Cairns Indigenous boarding facility for girls following the state election.

A Cairns apprentice's charges are upgraded to unlawful striking causing death after a man he allegedly hit during a fight outside a bar on the weekend dies in hospital.

A 21-year-old woman suffers serious leg injuries in an attack by what is believed to be two sharks in Great Barrier Reef waters off Cape York Peninsula.

Health authorities urge more than 500 patients of a dental clinic in Far North Queensland to be tested for HIV and hepatitis as the clinic is investigated over its infection control practices.

Lego is being used in both informal and clinical sessions to improve the communication and cooperation skills of children with autism.

State and territory leaders have agreed to establish a timetable to work towards a waste export ban.

Witnesses say neighbours tried in vain to rescue a man from a burning vehicle after the ute exploded on a Cairns street, describing the scene as "horrific".

Cardwell residents band together to save a large tree that arborists have declared unsafe due to beach erosion during the recent heavy wet season.

What's driving Australian families overseas to gamble on "magical" stem cell treatments at sky-high prices?

A Cape York mayor says a perpetual cycle of death is ripping his community apart and more can be done to detect chronic diseases earlier.

This self-employed labourer was doing casual work earning a couple of hundred dollars a week. Then he received a letter from his super fund saying his retirement savings had shrunk.

Driven out of society by the cost of living and life-changing events, a growing number of people are going bush on the NSW coast but their presence is drawing the ire of traditional owners and authorities.

The woman, 32, and man, 24, were reported missing in the Cairns area yesterday after they both failed to show up for work.