Despite battling cool wintery winds and the rushing splashes of waves, workers have begun the process of giving Newcastle's Ocean Baths their annual 'spring' clean.

Celebrities like Pink and touring shows like Cirque du Soleil are motivating people to take up the art of aerial acrobatics. Kayleigh McMullen has opened up her own school in Coolum on the Sunshine Coast and says it is attracting people of all ages.

An innovative baiting method being trialled on Queensland's Cape York Peninsula could be used on a larger scale to reduce the impact feral pigs have on Australia's marine turtle populations.

Batemans Bay was once an isolated coastal frontier settlement that grew on the back of oyster farming, timber cutting, and as a port servicing nearby goldfields. As the closest coastal town to Canberra it's now dominated by large shopping malls servicing surrounding suburbs of retirees and holiday homes. The architecture of its heritage has been lost, but two of its earliest and most significant buildings remain hidden and unknown behind 1960s shopfront facades. Will they be saved and restored?

Bats have been migrating earlier than usual this year due to inland drought and a lack of food in Queensland's south-east, with red flying foxes seen covering Mount Isa's sky.

The Central Victorian community of Baringhup finally sees the end to a seven-year battle to stop the development of major chicken farm.

A 21-year-old is flown to hospital after an axe hit his helmet while he was taking part in a mock medieval battle at Hawkesbury Showground in New South Wales.

Rob Minshull produces Weekends with Warren and is an avid reader.

Rob Minshull is an avid reader, and the producer of Weekends with Warren Boland.

Winds of up to 90 kilometres per hour leave a trail of destruction across Sydney, with rescue crews pushed to their limits and warnings still in place for southern parts of NSW.

MORNING BRIEFING: The NSW Transport Minister will no longer serve as Leader of the House, the latest episode in a tumultuous week for Mr Constance in which he announced his bid for the federal seat of Eden-Monaro before withdrawing from the race 24 hours later.

Sex workers say they are being harassed and intimidated by South Australian police, as figures show charges for sex-work offences have spiked in the past two years.

In recent years, SA has developed a reputation for blackouts and energy instability, but uptake of a home battery scheme spruiked as a potential solution remains sluggish.

NSW Police stated the man was refusing to comply with "seating protocols".

NSW Police stated the man was refusing to comply with "seating protocols".

Bald Archy Prize founder Peter Batey talks about the different entries the competition has seen over the years.

A police investigation is underway in a quiet corner of WA's south-west, after more than 150 people brawled with baseball bats and poles near a local football club's post-grand final celebration.

The number of coronavirus cases in Victoria continues to inch up as a paramedic tests positive to the virus and health authorities investigate a cluster at a meat processing plant.

Health Minister Jenny Mikakos announces that Epping's Meadowglen Primary School will be closed for three days as the state confirms 13 new coronavirus cases.

Victoria's COVID-19 tally continues on its steepest climb in a fortnight, as Premier Daniel Andrews reveals 13,000 people were screened for the virus in the state's testing blitz on Sunday.

Residents against a controversial abattoir take their fight to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal in a final attempt to stop the plan going ahead.

Victoria records 17 new coronavirus cases including 11 linked to a cluster at a Melbourne meat processing plant. It comes as Treasurer Tim Pallas announces $491 million in tax relief for Victorian businesses.

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.

The upcoming cinema blockbuster Mortal Kombat is only a small part of South Australia's booming entertainment sector, and many people say the jobs are starting to flow.

In early convict settlements swimming was a functional way to bathe and cool off, and Chain Baths offered a women-only space to remove restrictive corsets and petticoats.

Following the recent Hendra virus outbreak, an equine vet is encouraging horse owners to vaccinate their animals against the deadly bat-borne disease.

The winds are not giving firefighters any breaks as a fire in the Clarence Valley moves in on properties and blazes near Armidale and Tenterfield remain "absolutely enormous", according to the Rural Fire Service.

The number of homes lost to three fires in northern NSW rises to nine as strong winds continue to hamper the efforts of firefighters to bring them under control.

Aboriginal native title holders in the Kimberley demand land clearing work stop on the Yakka Munga cattle station, claiming cultural sites are being damaged.

WA and NSW cane toads are bigger, stronger and can travel further, but they lag behind Queensland toads in one significant feature testicle size.

One of the Top End's only female bull riders has taken on the US rodeo circuit despite suffering a serious shoulder injury just days from leaving.

A power company is remotely turning home air conditioners off in a trial to manage peak electricity demand, but will consumers hand over the remote control?

The "extinction pit" is the name used by scientists for a place no animal wants to go, and just five years ago the numbat Western Australia's animal emblem found itself on the edge thanks to the rise of a new predator.

With WA moving closer to legalising voluntary assisted dying, the debate is shining a light on the desperate need for better palliative care, particularly in regional areas.

Among the old-growth gums and wildlife of Milford Forest are two critically endangered orchids that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. But their habitat could be at risk due to a planned highway upgrade.