Despite objections from Aboriginal traditional owners, thousands of Australians have flocked to Uluru to climb the rock before it officially closes this week. We travelled to Uluru to ask a few of them why they decided to make the journey.

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.

Hundreds of visitors have ascended Uluru today and there is now less than an hour before the iconic landmark is closed to climbers permanently, at the request of local traditional owners.

Nearly 34 years to the day since Uluru was handed back to the Anangu traditional owners, their wishes will now be enforced by law, and anyone caught ascending the culturally significant site will face thousands in fines.

Uluru custodian Sammy Wilson says the closure of the climb has been a long time coming and wants to honour the Anangu who did not live to see it.

There had been hopes of recovery at the site of Australia's worst recorded mangrove dieback in the Gulf of Carpentaria. But during a recent visit to the area, traditional owner Patsy Evans said she was devastated by the scene.

One person is dead and another injured after a crash between a truck and a car, which will see the Monaro Highway closed for the rest of the day.

A jury finds a former Canberra police officer who improperly used police data to impersonate his neighbour, in order to call authorities about a suburban dispute, acted reasonably and did not commit a crime.

On the eve of their first finals campaign in three seasons, the Canberra Raiders have received a massive boost with coach Ricky Stuart extending his deal with the club for another three years.

A deadly pig disease that has decimated herds across Asia has spread closer to Australia with the Philippines confirming it has tested positive to African swine fever.

The High Court quashes the conviction of a man jailed for life over the murder of 85-year-old Liselotte Watson in 2012.

Leaked forms show the besieged Liberal MP did not disclose her membership of organisations linked to the Chinese Government's foreign interference operations when she ran for preselection for her federal seat.

A case worker responsible for murdered Canberra boy Bradyn Dillon admits she was overwhelmed by her job, and felt child protection services did not support her in dealing with the boy's abusive father.

An advertisement about the ACT Climate Change Strategy 2019-2025, dubs Canberra "so freakin' liveable".

The ACT Government unashamedly asks the community to do more to help it reach the ambitious target of net zero carbon emissions by 2045, with transport and natural gas top of the list of targets.

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.

In a bid to bring down costs and ease the burden during an already difficult time, the ACT Government may establish a dedicated fertility-preservation clinic for women undergoing cancer treatment.

The Canberra Press Gallery's Midwinter Ball is the political affair that would make headlines every year if it wasn't kept off the record. But this year the cone of silence has been lifted and the speeches are in the open for all to see.

Siobhan Sutton is an academically talented student but is proudly choosing to fail a test today, and she is not alone as thousands of students across the country take part in the the global School Strike for Climate.

The Green Machine has reached the NRL grand final for the first time in 25 years. Along the way, it raided a few ideas from overseas.

The Sydney Roosters are the first team to win consecutive NRL premierships since 1993, beating the Canberra Raiders 14-8 in a gripping grand final. Look back at how the action unfolded in our live blog.

Jamie Maclaren of Australia celebrates after scoring his third goal during the FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifiers match between the Australian Socceroos and Nepal at GIO Stadium in Canberra, Thursday, October 10, 2019.

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young has used a senate estimates haring to grill Joe Evans, deputy secretary of the Department of Environment and Energy, about the effect of climate change.

The Opposition Leader acknowledges the mountain his party must climb if it hopes to end 19 years of Labor government.

A week ahead of the first hearings of the Disability Royal Commission in Townsville, a new survey of families of children with disability finds nearly no progress has been made on improving access to inclusive education.

Murray River water destined for Adelaide will be reallocated to farmers upstream so they can grow feed for their livestock, as part of a federal drought stimulus package announced today.

The Great Barrier Reef has already been devastated by climate change, but one southern island is showing signs of recovery after cyclone damage

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 remote Cape York community is in the fight of its life to save a unique rainforest that was devastated by a cyclone.

The NBL grapples with the challenge of keeping an equal playing field between the haves and the 'have-lots', as professional basketball undergoes a lucrative renaissance in Australia.

In the depths of rural Queensland is a fossil deposit so amazing that Sir David Attenborough regards it as one of the most important palaeontological sites in the world.

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.

An ominous drone photo of sharks circling a whale beached near Albany in WA snaps top prize at this year's Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year awards, with the photographer saying the scene was "unreal".

A potential vaccine for streptococcal infections is being tipped as a game changer in remote communities after a recent outbreak was detected in Cape York.

The manager of Australia's best-known locally produced tea brand says there is a real shift in the climate on its plantations in Queensland's far north.

Environmental groups say plans to save marine animals from harm and drowning in discarded fishing nets are not being implemented where it is needed the most.

A research trip to far north Queensland was supposed to find dozens of Australia's endangered sawfish but they didn't find a single one.

Astronaut screening programs have inspired a group of Australian scientists to study the individual personalities of 50 native rats and how they cope with environmental stresses.

Robyn Hausler continued paying her mortgage and rates for six years, not realising the house she'd lived in for 20 years wasn't hers anymore. Now a court has ruled she can have her property back.

An innocuous Facebook post has spurred about 40 people to carry a north Queensland grandmother with multiple sclerosis up a steep mountain so she could fulfil a childhood wish.

Police are called after medical equipment is stripped from the walls of the Earle Haven Retirement Village, where 70 elderly people some bedridden and living with dementia reside.

Witnesses say it was "pandemonium" when a Gold Coast nursing home shut down yesterday after paramedics attended the village to help find emergency accommodation for 70 residents. The closure is believed to be over a contract dispute.

A club linked to a long-term business partner of the Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate may escape paying a $137,000 debt owed to the council.

Half of the residents of troubled Gold Coast nursing home Earle Haven were being physically restrained, and 71 per cent received medical restraint, in the weeks before it abruptly closed its doors last month, the aged care Royal Commission hears.