MORNING BRIEFING: Many regional Tasmanian areas are in a population decline, and Hobart scores high on drug waste water testing.

MORNING BRIEFING: Today's State Budget will include funding for extra teachers, health workers and police as well as a public transport boost, while the homicide squad is investigating the death of a woman who was found on a Sydney footpath.

People undergoing genetic testing will have more certainty about whether the variants in their genes risk causing cancer or are completely harmless, after a new international study.

MORNING BRIEFING: Housing Minister optimistic debt will be wiped, city demands urgent action on climate emergency and councils increase rates.

WA Liberal MPs distance themselves from their new leader's policy direction, including contentious moves to abandon the Western Power sale and steer away from supporting deregulated trading hours, after strong criticism from the business lobby.

The Health Department confirms a massive spike in the number of influenza cases in Western Australia this year, with 3,000 extra notifications and 14 deaths in the past week alone.

My advice to my kids and anyone who'll listen is this: do not buy a new apartment, especially if it is over three storeys high, writes Philip Gall.

MORNING BRIEFING: Michael Ferguson says union bosses have hit a 'new low' and a court hears that a Launceston man accused of murder said his alleged victim "is going to pay".

MORNING BRIEFING: The ex-girlfriend of a woman who fell to her death from a Sydney apartment block is expected to be charged with her murder, while a backpacker says the alarm about Theo Hayez's disappearance should have been raised much earlier.

At age seven, Lisa Millar was singing the ABC News theme and practising her interview technique on her little sister. After 25 years of reporting in Australia and overseas, she's now looking forward to the challenge of co-hosting a daily morning television program.

An Australian designer has accused Port Adelaide of ripping off a design he posted online four years ago following the football club's release of its new logo.

Former Sydney Swans player and GWS senior assistant coach Matthew Nicks says he's ready to embrace the challenge as Adelaide Football Club's new senior coach.

Federal Minister Bridget McKenzie rejected advice in choosing grants for the scheme made famous by Georgina Downer's novelty cheque.

South Australia's Chief Justice accuses the Attorney-General of undermining the administration of justice by failing to appoint two replacement judges to the Supreme Court.

ABC News reporter James Hancock reports from the scene of a fatal stabbing on the Mornington Peninsula, south-east of Melbourne.

A new-look federal Labor has taken shape with the ALP caucus endorsing its leadership for the next three years of parliament.

The Victorian Parliament will debate a bill which would allow people to change their gender on their birth certificate without needing to undergo surgery.

Finally, the secret's out! Former foreign correspondent Lisa Millar will be joining Michael on the couch permanently from August, replacing Virginia when she moves to ABC Radio Melbourne.

Three remote Western Australian Indigenous communities say they have been disadvantaged because their homes lie within national park and reserve areas and they want out.

Australia's biggest new gold mine, the $621 million Gruyere project in WA's Great Victoria Desert, pours its first gold bar as the precious metal continues to trade near record highs but the mood in the industry is not all good.

A cold case investigation into the death of a baby in a caravan park in WA's Goldfields 24 years ago takes another twist, with a 55-year-old Queensland man charged with historic child sex offences.

The Pyrenees Advocate will release a new weekly paper from May 1 to fill the void left in Ararat by the closure of the 163-year-old Advertiser.

There's growing consensus among weather forecasting models that Australia could be in for a wet winter. But what do farmers think?

While war veterans around the country are disappointed Anzac Day services have taken a different form, one woman in Melbourne is grateful for a connection.

The warm weather is about to end in Victoria, with the state set to be hit by a deluge of rain, hail and snow from today and temperatures set to hang around the low teens all weekend.

A former Australia Zoo big cat keeper says an elusive population of wild pumas and panthers reportedly seen in the Australian wilderness could be long-escaped animals from travelling circuses, or former military mascots.

Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos says eight employees have tested positive to coronavirus.

There have been 22 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Victoria overnight bringing the states total to 1406

Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas says Victoria has recorded 17 new cases of coronavirus overnight with 11 of them linked to meat processing plant Cedar Meats in Broolyn, May 5, 2020.

Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas also announced additional tax relief for families and businesses impacted by pandemic lockdown measures, May 5, 2020.

A racehorse brought to Australia for the 2016 Spring Carnival has been euthanased after falling in a jumps race in south-west Victoria.

For more than 1,400 days, the victims waited to discover what a Prince of the Church knew about the paedophile priests who would ruin their young lives. Now the answer has finally been revealed, writes Louise Milligan.

With the COVID-19 pandemic, immunity has never been such a hot topic. It's meant a family-run dairy that produces colostrum is being overrun with enquiries.

Looking to replace the second oldest radar on its network at Mildura airport, the BOM marks a spot at Cullulleraine.

The Victorian Government launches a new campaign against family violence, as St Vincent's Hospital records a doubling of family violence victims presenting to its emergency department during the coronavirus pandemic.

Transforming a hearse into something resembling a Transylvanian castle on wheels is not something you can Google for instructions, but artist Karl Claydon made it work.

It's been a huge week of news stories big and small. How many do you remember? Test that memory in our news quiz.

There's been big news from all around the world this week — reckon you've kept up with it all? Test yourself with our news quiz.