The Masters Builders Association (MBA) says it is highly encouraged by improving demand for commercial and housing developments in Albany.

Farmers are gathering in Merredin this weekend to give thanks for what they believe was 'divine intervention' in the last cropping season.

The chairman of Australia's first parliamentary inquiry into 'fracking' says the investigation is entering a significant new chapter.

A man has been charged with committing an indecent act while he was sitting near a children's playground in Albany.

Cuban doctors and nurses have been working in some of the most challenging emergencies around the globe for many years including the Ebola crisis in West Africa and the aftermath of Chernobyl. Now they are working to treat patients with COVID-19 in 22 countries including Italy.

Most every society has fermented alcoholic beverages - Mexican pulque, Peruvian chicha, Japanese sake, Indian palm toddy, African sorghum beer. But the German lager beer has largely displaced these local brewing traditions over the last 200 years to become a global consumer icon. That has many reasons—trade, migration, colonialism—but the success of lager lies also in the fact that it's so bland.

NRL fans will get to see games this weekend before the code heads behind closed doors and the AFL will not allow fans to games for the "foreseeable future".

A popular beach in Byron Bay has been washed away by the worst erosion in at least 30 years.

Queensland students won't return to school yet, despite calls for Year 11 and 12 classes to resume, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says as some coronavirus restrictions ease on Saturday.

Rowing machines and online coaching are keeping these teenage rowers motivated amid the coronavirus shutdown, and their coaches say many are even achieving personal best times.

Zulya is a singing, guitar playing, native of Tartazan in Russia

As bushfire victims work to rebuild their lives after the devastating Australian summer, a group of quilters is stitching together beautiful handmade squares from around the world to offer a gift that is like a "nice warm hug".

I really love the small wooden halls that dot each village in our north coast region. The halls have been social hubs for our rural communities for decades. They have seen bush dances, card nights, trivia fundraisers, 21st birthday parties, garage sales, weekly yoga classes and many other social events.

Hiking huts are Australia's answer to Scotland's famed bothies and New Zealand's backcountry shacks and stand as a testament of a national identity that has long been intertwined with survival in isolation.

For the first time in Australia, a farmer is taking legal action against Monsanto the manufacturer of Roundup claiming it caused his cancer.

Formed millions of years ago and hidden from sight, Australia's precious underground water reserves are becoming a new battleground in the fight for water.

Melbourne City beats Western United 2-1 in the season's second Victorian derby, while Perth Glory enjoy a win over Phoenix by the same scoreline in Wellington.

These fairground ponies have seen brighter days. They wait in the dry grass for a new generation of children to climb aboard and giggle with delight.

Copier Jam is a new exhibition at the Childers Art Space. It brings the underground world of self-published zines out of the bedroom and into the light.

What would it mean to live in "a story-less world where our rich literary traditions no longer existed, and have been excised from memory"?

Kym Lynch from Mount Isa trains for extreme sports events around work

This used to be the quiet time of year on Victoria's famous stretch of coastline, but locals say that's changing.

The Lions miss out on the AFL minor premiership to the Cats following their loss to the third-placed Tigers, the Bulldogs earn a return to finals action, while the Power defeat the Dockers to end their season on a winning note.

The Panthers thrash the Dragons 40-18 to stretch their winning streak to seven matches, while the Warriors enjoy a 19-18 victory over the Sharks in Wellington as the race for the NRL finals heats up.

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.

With any overseas adventures off the table for a while, Australians will be dreaming of escaping the shutdown and heading out for a holiday. Here's how every state and territory plans to get people travelling again.

The tiny WA town of Wiluna has long struggled with disadvantage. But a couple years after opening, an unorthodox training centre is showing remarkable results.

Christmas Island tourists and locals can no longer call for a cab with its sole taxi operator, Chris Carr, saying he was forced to shut shop at the end of June because of a "logistical nightmare".

Critics say that the proliferation of modern, wafer-thin skyscrapers are symbols of rising urban inequality. Also: Are levels of density in our cities making us ill? And what's the impact of short-term letting on urban affordability? 

Star gazers are marvelling at Jupiter

Meet the determined young women who are working to break down barriers in the community and workforce, refusing to be defined by a stereotype.

Background checks on people suspected of having a history of domestic violence introduced in South Australia last year are already helping to save lives, a domestic violence support service says.

Analysts are calling for calm as a series of false starts, delays and lay-offs look set to destabilise Western Australia's burgeoning multi-billion-dollar lithium industry.

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.

A controversial underground coal gasification project could tender for an SA Government electricity supply contract formerly held by a renewable energy project.

Outback drillers find water 90 metres below the surface of SA's APY Lands in an underground valley millions of years old and remote communities are hoping it will provide a much-needed economic boost.

The Warriors score a late try to clinch a 24-20 victory over a Knights outfit depleted by State of Origin duty and injury in Newcastle.

The second-placed Rabbitohs just get home against the Dragons 20-16 after the Tigers hold on in a thriller against the Knights, winning 28-26.

Ian Rowland finds nearly sinking the triumphant Australia II on a 1980s advertising shoot is a far cry from marketing organically grown garlic.