The Tweed Valley Banana Festival will crown its 60th queen this year.

Merryn Apma is an Aboriginal artist who has been a major force in Aboriginal issues since the famous Long Walk led by former AFL footballer Michael Long from Melbourne to Canberra in 2004. She's made the move to Tilba to return to art practise and to open a gallery for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal artists. She brings a powerful creativity and sense of spirit to a welcoming community.

At the far end of the campsite and caravan city in the Amamoor State forest at the Great Australian Music Hall, ABC Local Radio helped to kick off the 2015 Gympie Muster with the inaugural Muster Showcase. Eight different musical acts took to the stage giving gathered crowds a taste of what is to come at the four day music festival.

Ex-dance cast member from the film Strictly Ballroom, Dede Williams, takes the locals through not only new dance steps, but the psychology and communication required when mastering the art of dancing.

Graffiti artists in Tamworth are now able to legally paint on two walls at the skate park after talks with Tamworth Regional Council deliver 6 month trial.

The Nurses Union is putting pressure on the health board to act on IRC recommendations

Cowboys fever is ramping up in Townsville in north Queensland in anticipation of Saturday night's elimination final against the Cronulla Sharks. Meet some of the fans who will be cheering the Cowboys to victory.

The Mallee Park Peckers have taken out the 2015 A Grade football premiership in Port Lincoln, getting up over the Boston Tigers by 7 goals at Centenary oval.

Sixth generation dairy farmers in Yandoit in central Victoria's bushland stick to what they know and love.

Australia and New Zealand share a long history of sporting rivalry. Last weekend both nations' competitive sides were brought to light in a basketball game between Indigenous Australian and Maori players.

A tribute to the hundreds of jockeys who have been killed during races in Australia since European settlement is being created by a stonemason in the heart of inland New South Wales.

Finding the point of tension in the 'contour' of the landscape

Bonalbo Memorial Hall, Broadwater Riley's Hill Community Hall, Eatonsville Hall, Eureka Hall, Meerschaum Vale Hall, The Channon Hall and Tumbulgum Hall have all been announced as the lucky winners of the Arts Northern Rivers project called 'If These Halls Could Talk'.

Townsville children can get a head start ahead of school, with a new mobile playgroup.

Day two of the 2015 Great Victorian Bike Ride was also our first official day of riding, and it was a near perfect day.

Minister for Population Alan Tudge said "the temporary migrant system is an important part of our economy".

Over the next couple of days we'll pass through the densest part of the long trail of ancient dust left by Halley's comet.

Labor's Home Affairs spokesperson Kristina Keneally has sparked controversy after declaring the COVID-19 crisis should force a revamp of the temporary migration program.

With Australia's music festivals cancelled one after another as the coronavirus crisis unfolded, there was finally some good news yesterday for local music lovers.

A former deputy mayor could face trials in two states for shooting his mother and brother on either side of the NSW-Victoria border, after police in NSW issued a warrant for his arrest.

How can Jane Goodall have hope for the future, especially for the animals she loves, when the news about extinctions is so bleak? As The Hope, a 2-hour film about Jane and her life, is launched this week by National Geographic Jane joins Robyn on The Science Show to discuss the film, her work and her hope.

Alison Whitehead finishing one of her many extreme sport challenges

Ultra athletes like Kym Lynch push their body and mind for a challenge

The price of Australian minerals used in batteries and electronic components is falling, despite rising local and international demand for the renewable energy projects that rely on them.

George Pell's lawyer tells an appeals court there are "questions of probability" over whether the child sex abuse offences the Cardinal is convicted of occurred, and a jury should have found him not guilty even if they believed his victim.

The trial of a man accused of murdering a Victorian grandmother is aborted after a local TV news bulletin broadcast inaccurate information, and details that had not been heard by the jury.

A Ballarat magistrate dismisses an assault charge against a police sergeant, agreeing his use of force was "reasonable" during an altercation in which he punched his neighbour in the face.

The disgraced Cardinal faces claims he knew of child sex abuse by notorious paedophile Edward "Ted" Dowlan and was involved in moving him from school to school, allowing the abuse to continue.

A tight rental market and rising cost of living is stretching homelessness services beyond their budgeted capacity.

A teenager molested by Christian Brother John Laidlaw in the 1980s tells a Melbourne court he thought he was being "punished by God" when he was sexually assaulted at his family home, as the former teacher pleads guilty to abusing six boys over two decades.

A rise in the number of assaults against local government employees prompts Victorian councils to call for a change in sentencing laws to better protect their staff.

A Christian Brother who sexually assaulted boys at some of Victoria's most prestigious Catholic schools is sentenced to four and a half years in prison.

A prominent urban researcher warns that Ballarat is heading towards a "social disaster" unless it can curb urban sprawl.

School principal Michelle Wilson spent a stressful two hours on the phone, convinced she owed $8,000 and could soon be arrested if she didn't pay up. Then she realised the whole thing was an elaborate hoax.

A scoreline of 79.41 (515) to 1.0 (6) has reversed a country AFL team's own, regular weekly triple-figure defeats. But is this just another tally of country footy's troubles?

Every night Allanah Morel packs her daughter's school bag ahead of time because she knows that by the next morning she could be in too much pain to get out of bed.

A cold snap has washed across Victoria, plunging temperatures below zero in many places and drenching others in rain.

In August 1978, someone entered Ballarat's art gallery, grabbed a 92-year-old painting off the wall, and walked out the front door. Now, the once cash-strapped gallery hosts international artists.

Once touted as a $300 million solution to regional Victoria's waste woes, plans to build a waste-to-energy facility have stalled, with some in the industry left scratching their heads.