The COVID-19 death toll at the Newmarch nursing home rose to 14 over the weekend, while a further 63 infections have been linked to staff and other residents.

Two reviews are already underway but the tragedy has led to calls for the Aged Care Royal Commission to investigate.

There are questions around Indonesia's coronavirus death toll following reports thousands of people have died with COVID-19 symptoms but not recorded as victims of the disease.

A remote Central Australian community will trial a technology that boosts supplies of drinking water using solar power and air, after battling water security issues for several years.

Erika Freingruber was stuck on the floor of her Beaudesert home, south of Brisbane, for up to five days with a broken hip before police rescue her after a tip-off from the state's newly-formed coronavirus Care Army.

The prosecution in the Claremont serial killings trial withdraws its case that Bradley Edwards was so emotionally upset about the breakdown of his relationship with his wife that he murdered three young women.

Chris Buckley spent 76 days in Wuhan during the coronavirus crisis reporting for the New York Times. He now joins an increasingly large group of foreign journalists asked to leave the country he's spent years covering.

The father of missing Belgian backpacker Theo Hayez says unlocking his son's last WhatAsapp messages could be key to find him alive. But a leading expert says the tech giant is incapable of unjumbling the "garbled" encrypted messages.

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.

A sustained gastro outbreak on the Indian Pacific train from Sydney to Perth has left more than 100 passengers sick over the past month, including two who had to be hospitalised.

Two years after Troy McLean was fatally stabbed in a road rage incident, his family tells an Adelaide court of its heartbreak, with his son hoping his father's killer goes to jail forever.

An influenza outbreak among newborn babies at Adelaide's Women's and Children's Hospital results in dozens being given antiviral medication and isolated in closed cots.

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.

Victorian health authorities are investigating a coronavirus outbreak at a private psychiatric facility which has resulted in at least 14 confirmed cases of the virus so far.

Victoria as recorded six new cases of coronavirus overnight, with a new cluster at a psychiatric facility.

Researchers have identified all the immune reactive proteins, then mapped and identified the parts causing chronic wheat ailments, giving growers a path to develop new lines.

Fire-affected communities in eastern Victoria are calling for a permanent firebreak to be built along both sides of the Princes Highway into New South Wales.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says the state's total has been brought up to 1,454 confirmed cases of coronavirus with 106,000 tests conducted over the past week and a half.

A woman who says she has only been a fan of the iconic rock band Queen for about a year sets the Guinness World Record for clocking up approximately 240 hours, or 10 consecutive days, watching Bohemian Rhapsody in cinemas.

A food technology company has patented a process it claims can keep 100 per cent natural milk fresh for at least 60 days without additives or preservatives.

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.

As the Coronial inquest into William Tyrrell's disappearance had a special sitting in Taree just 40 kilometres from where the toddler was last seen family members have been left frustrated by delays and disappointed by its failure so far to turn up any substantial new leads.

African swine fever has depleted China's pig herd, creating a protein shortage that is benefitting Australian sheep farmers.

A severe weather warning for Tasmania's east coast is cancelled but heavy rain continues to fall in the region, with snow in the highlands.

An iceberg 1,636 square kilometres in size, or about the size of urban Sydney or Scotland's Isle of Skye, breaks off Antarctica.

David Warner's much-queried spot in the Test side looks a little more secure after the Australian opener makes a Shield century for NSW against Queensland.

Onlookers at the Royal Hobart Show are left in shock when a rodeo bull breaks its hind leg and begins limping in the arena. WARNING: This story includes distressing images.

A five-member fishing crew is relieved to be back on land after enduring 12 days adrift off South Australia's coast, coming up against personal tragedy, a failed rescue attempt and a shortage of food.

Australian woolgrowers are set to benefit from the suspension of wool exports from South Africa to China due to an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.

A report finds Adelaide's drinking water could be under risk of contamination, leading to outbreaks of gastro, because of the State Government's plan to open up reservoirs to recreational activities.

SA's tuna industry is a lucrative one, but its potential has been limited by its seasonal nature. A new freezing technique, however, could help to change that.

James Day died from complications caused by influenza eight days after he was admitted to hospital in eastern Victoria. He is one of 37 people killed so far this year.

In true Australian style a jubilant Jack Miller celebrates the first podium finish from a local rider on Phillip Island in seven years by performing a shoey.

Swedish metal giant Sandvik has unveiled what was described as “the world’s first smash-proof 3D printed guitar.”

Cronulla snaps a five-match losing streak with a 16-14 win over an injury-hit North Queensland to remain in the hunt for the NRL finals.

A man is airlifted to Townsville Hospital with wounds to his hand and abdomen after being shot by officers while trying to break into Bowen Police Station in north Queensland.

Thousands of Townsville locals have gathered to break the world record for 'the most people wearing high-visibility vests at a single venue'.

Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park's overflow campground, nearby roadhouses, and the resort at Yulara are at capacity as tourists flood the area to climb the rock before its permanent closure in October, reportedly forcing tourists to camp illegally on the side of the road.

In a ground-breaking collaboration, Melbourne fashion label Gorman teams up with Indigenous artists whose work depicts places where sacred cultural knowledge has been passed down for thousands of years.

In the 12 months to June this year, there were 2,472 residential break-ins reported to police across the Northern Territory the highest annual figure since 2008.

Rain, and lots of it, has fallen across the south-east and is expected to continue for the next few days but what will it mean for the southern cropping season and the drought?

Tenancy advocates say tenancy act reform in the Northern Territory has fallen behind the rest of the country but a real estate peak body says proposed "socialist" legislation could drive out property investors.

The ACT's WorkSafe commissioner says a fine of $180,000, delivered to a developer responsible for safety breaches that saw a 16-year-old student break his neck on a construction site, is inadequate.

Canberra's very woolly sheep Chris made famous by his record-breaking 41.1-kilogram coat dies four years after he made headlines around the world.

It's estimated that African swine fever has killed 25 per cent of the world's pig population. The deadly disease has now reached Timor-Leste, about 650 kilometres from Darwin.

The pair continued south on the M1 before again confronting a driver of a vehicle near the Palm Beach exit.

Whether it's poor merging or illegally remaining in the overtaking lane, drivers who break the law and behave badly are contributing to road congestion in Queensland, experts say.

Firefighters from South Australia arrive in Queensland to give local crews a rest from battling bushfires, but the break may be short-lived with conditions forecast to get worse in the state later in the week.