Residents have been left without water for a day after a breakdown at a local treatment plant and as western NSW sweated through a heatwave.

Authorities in a 'dry' Queensland community say illegal alcohol poses one of the biggest health threats to its people during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Several major Queensland tourism operators say talk of a 'trans-Tasman bubble' has given a rare glimmer of hope that they will be able to bounce back following the devastating impacts of coronavirus.

Ms Berejiklian says there needs to be better communication between aged care facilities and relatives after a 13th person has died from coronavirus at the Newmarch House.

MORNING BRIEFING: The multi-arts venue hosts Vivid, Sydney Writers' Festival and Fashion Week, but a new proposal would see the Sydney Opera House take control.

Those who find opera difficult to get their head around may be pleasantly surprised by WA Opera's latest offering.

Two South Australian Government-run aged care facilities each have a year stripped off their accreditation periods after failing 21 of 44 operating requirements during an audit.

Rampant vandalism, stress on social housing, and a dairy farming family at the end of their resources SBS's Struggle Street spotlights the Riverina in its latest look at poverty.

The Norfolk Pines along Albany's Ellen Cove are looking snug this winter, thanks to the antics of local yarn bombers, the Purly Queens. The fuzzy activists are encouraging locals to hug a pine for the 20th anniversary of National Tree Day.

CEO of a Bunbury freight company, Mark Mazza wants to see a nationally accredited training scheme for truck drivers.

Citrus growers on the lower Darling River stare down an unprecedented disaster, with some being forced to abandon their crops as they wait for the Federal Government to agree to a water buyback.

The Australian Tax Office reports a "small amount of fraudulent activity" related to its early superannuation access scheme, which was designed to provide financial relief to people left without income due to coronavirus.

Nineteen people are facing charges after firewood worth $1 million was allegedly harvested as part of what police are calling a "large-scale wood theft" operation in southern Tasmania.

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".

Laurent Hayez, father of missing Belgian backpacker Theo Hayez, supported by his sons Godfather JP Hayez and cousin Lisa Hayez.

Unperturbed by the region's infamous sharks and 13-degree Celsius sea temperature, Lisa Julian is among a group that swims off the state's south coast each week without wearing a wetsuit.

An unusually early cold snap is delivering snow, frost and strong winds, and while temperatures will increase back towards average for a few days as the system moves out to sea, another bout of bad weather will soon move east from WA.

Colac Hospital prepares to return to business as usual after a predicted surge in coronavirus cases fails to eventuate.

Heavy rain has fallen over parts of South Australia, providing desperately-needed relief for some of the state's farmers but unfortunately some areas have missed out.

Ecologists say kangaroos are eating the stomach contents of dead roos and toilet paper in national parks to survive the drought.

Authorities are fed up with a Taiwanese shipping company's slow response to salvaging containers it lost at sea near Newcastle one year ago, with one commercial fisherman saying he is still catching up to 20 push bikes in nets.

The Jessop family liken their small parcel of land in central western New South Wales to a fortress, protecting their sons and daughter from, what are to them, potentially deadly substances.

A controversial plan to reopen a 'mothballed' coal mine in the New South Wales Upper Hunter Valley is approved, but a five-year extension on the mine's life is denied.

A French agriculture student wants her family to consider introducing buffalo on their Charolais operation after a stint on a NSW dairy.

Emergency services rescue an eight-year-old boy after he climbed into a chimney at his home in the town of Katanning in WA's Great Southern and became stuck.

A few years ago Bill Huxtable was given three months to live, now his biggest concern is the three-hour round trip to the nearest hospital for regular, routine surgeries.

Eighty-two per cent of tourists to WA want an Aboriginal cultural experience when they visit, but only 26 per cent get what they want.

A sea snake has washed up on a beach near Esperance on WA's southern coast, marking the region's first verified record of the typically tropical creature.

As Tasmania lures more tourists with its wilderness charms, there are fears the method of holding tour operators accountable for licence breaches in precious wilderness areas is not up to the task.

DAILY BRIEFING: Almost 30 tourism operators have received breach notices for missing parks passes, and a Tasmanian Senator acknowledges "shocking" aged care findings.

A severe heatwave threatens to break all-time records in South Australia and Victoria today including the maximum of 46.1C in Adelaide set in 1939 as experts warn that "nowhere is going to escape the heat".

Many rural parents are facing increasing debt and overdrawing their accounts in a bid to pay for "exorbitant" boarding fees. There are calls for more financial help for those living in isolated parts of Australia.

For 17 years Ray Cook, also known as 'Captain Cook', has built a livelihood around helping others to catch a prized snapper but a proposed ban in SA waters could force his business under.

Mental illnesses don't switch off after business hours, and a new program in outback New South Wales aims to cater for just that. 'Connections' is the name of a new initiative at Broken Hill in far west New South Wales where people who have experience of a mental illness socialise and support others struggling with mental health problems.

The Northern Territory's citrus industry takes a leap forward, with thousands of lemon trees planted on iconic cattle property Tipperary Station.

Just how easy is it for scammers to access your superannuation? Trevor Riessen is still waiting for answers after cyber criminals raided his savings through myGov.

One week after the end of the Uluru climb, Parks Australia has flagged the first fee increase at the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park in more than a decade and tourism operators could be the big losers.