The Independent Planning Commission will be reviewed after a 21-year mining lease near Singleton was approved before public submissions closed a blunder the Opposition says will call the system's integrity into question.

Nicknamed "The Missile", James Magnussen decides to call time on his decorated swimming career, which included world championship gold and Olympic silver.

Maggots were found in the mouth of a patient with advanced dementia by visiting family members, the Royal Commission into Aged Care sitting in WA has been told.

Stories of families not being told when elderly relatives have died, old people found surrounded by food scraps and with maggots these are reasons why some people regard aged care in the regions a "death sentence".

WA's Child Protection Minister orders an urgent review into her department's management of five-year-old Symerien Brooking, who has one of the rarest medical conditions on the planet.

DAILY BRIEFING: The majority shareholders of Hobart Airport have sold a 70 per cent stake in the facility, and concerns surround the rejection of the Constitution Dock extension.

A public servant improperly awarded, or attempted to influence, millions of dollars' worth of government contracts for the benefit of a close friend, an inquiry finds.

More money has been pledged for more than 70 protected areas across the country, almost entirely in regional and remote Australia.

South Australia Police are investigating a video that appears to show an off-duty officer badly injuring or killing a wombat by throwing rocks at it, but an Aboriginal elder says it is a local hunting practice.

The You Ask, We Answer election project has received dozens of questions about immigration with many concerned about how Australia can care for new migrants.

Buried among the hundreds of witness statements submitted to the aged care royal commission is a table showing how one of the country's biggest for-profit chains employs just one registered nurse for 106 residents on the night shift.

Markforged, a Watertown, MA-based manufacturer of industrial 3D printers, closed an $82m Series D round of funding.

The Western-style wedding dress worn by a Japanese war bride in 1956 is on display at the National Museum as part of a wider exhibit about immigration.

Witness AAA tells the disability royal commission her daughter was "screamed at" by teachers in Year 1, not given access to the curriculum and did not receive permission forms for excursions and other activities.

Witness AAC says five of her children with disability have had negative experiences with the education system, with problems ranging from verbal abuse to denial of access to bathroom facilities and other restrictive practices.

A lack of aged care facilities has been badly impacting on the remote Northern Territory's elderly, but many of their stories will not reach the ears of royal commissioners.

A group of volunteers from Melbourne and Wodonga are back home after spending a week in the Philippines teaching children how to swim. They say the trip will save lives.

Woolworths' bid to set up a Dan Murphy's liquor store in Darwin is rejected by the Northern Territory Liquor Commission on the basis it would increase the risk of alcohol-related harm in nearby Aboriginal communities.

An advocate and author whose work was pivotal in exposing the history of the removal of Aboriginal children in the Northern Territory has been remembered for her strength and fierce commitment to social justice.

As tourists flock to Uluru ahead of the October 26 climb closure, a young South Australian girl has fallen at least 20 metres while descending from the summit.

The Northern Territory's incoming police commissioner, Jamie Chalker, wants more officers to work in remote communities and develop respectful relationships with elders.

The Coalition's cashless welfare card is compared to the intervention and "mission" times by Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory

A Canberra brothel owner who was charged with allowing an unlawful citizen to work and gain entry to Australia will spend no further time behind bars after the court found she did not underpay or exploit her employees.

Peter Beattie is the latest NRL figure to back the controversial reversal of the "six again" call in the NRL grand final, but he promises an end-of-year review will consider the incident.

Disability royal commission chair Ronald Sackville said commentators were discouraging people from telling their stories to the commission, but critics say the real discouragement is the absence of appropriate supports.

Celebrity chef Maggie Beer says nothing can forgive the abysmal standard of meals given to some aged care residents as the royal commission into the sector hears people were served meals from trolleys near maggot-infested rubbish bins.

The standard of care provided to an elderly man, often found in soiled pants, at a regional Queensland aged care facility was so appalling even his own granddaughter was too distressed to visit, the royal commission into aged care hears.

Grant 'Scooter' Patterson may be half as tall as most people but he does not do things by halves. He works hard, plays hard and pushes himself in the pool, chasing his dream of winning a Paralympic medal.

The swimming pool is more than just a place to take a quick dip, as these seven watering holes around the country celebrate.

People still living at a Gold Coast nursing home that was partially evacuated last Thursday are told the facility will be referred to the aged care royal commission, a move backed by operator HelpStreet.

Arthur Miller faced a demand for almost $4 million for breach of contract the day before his Gold Coast retirement village Earle Haven was abruptly shut, prompting the evacuation of 68 elderly residents, the aged care royal commission is told.

A large bushfire that has claimed 11 properties in the Gold Coast hinterland as well as historic Binna Burra Lodge could have been deliberately lit, Queensland's Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll says.

Pro-refugee activism and the travel history of a Tamil father could see a Biloela family at the centre of an immigration row deported, an experienced immigration lawyer says.

We take a trip down memory lane with a 'now and then' look at pools and baths all around Australia, contributed by the ABC audience.

The sale of government land on the New South Wales central coast waterfront for the bargain price of $38,000 has locals up in arms and prompted Greens MP David Shoebridge to refer the matter to the Independent Commission Against Corruption.

A motion calling for a royal commission into the MDBP narrowly passes on the final day of the NSW Farmers Conference.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull once described Australia as an 'immigration nation'. What do you think he meant by that? Do you agree?

Watch four very different people speak about their experiences as first- and second-generation migrants. What were some reasons they or their parents migrated to Australia?

Professor Deborah Jones Merritt has been asked to lead an advisory subcommittee in the search for the next president of The Ohio State University.