Natalie Holt has built a 'she shed' in the backyard of her Bangalow home.

The athletes do get a little competitive with each other from time to time but at the Barcaldine Elder Olympics the main aim of the game is socialising. The small outback Queensland town has held the event for 21 years with dozens of older residents travelling from nearby towns to compete.

The shearers' quarters on Barenya Station, between Hughenden and Muttaburra in north west Queensland, was filled with talk and laughter recently, when local grazing families took some time out to have health checks, de-stress and socialise for a Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) field day.

Scones, tea, and craft are synonymous with the CWA, but the organisation also provides vital community support. In drought- and flood-ravaged Julia Creek, it's all about keeping things low-key.

Twenty years ago, cats and dogs in RSPCA animal shelters had a good chance of being put down. Today, it's a different story.

The daughter of 1993 Adelaide murder victim Suzanne Poll has thanked police for their efforts in investigating her mother's death. A Victorian man has been extradited to South Australia charged with Ms Poll's murder.

Police seize more than $140 million worth of cocaine stashed in the arm of an excavator that was destined for a business in a small NSW town.

The family of a grandmother killed when a minibus clipped a fuel tanker offers generous sympathy to the bus driver at his sentencing in Wollongong District Court today.

Illawarra is not a hotbed of top NBA talent, but LaMelo Ball has already done enough in the NBL preseason to rocket to the top of NBA mock drafts.

The number of Australians to have recovered from COVID-19 has surpassed 6,000, Health Minister Greg Hunt has announced, leaving fewer than 800 active cases of the virus around the country.

A former finance officer for the Summernats car festival, who stole thousands of dollars from the business to fuel a drug habit, avoids prison time.

More than two decades since Philip Nitschke set fire to the "disgusting, pathetic" bill overturning voluntary euthanasia in the Northern Territory, the region remains in a stranglehold, banned from even debating the issue.

Christina Vithoulkas always had a positive outlook on life, but when she crashed her motorbike and broke her spine her positivity only increased.

When it comes to selecting a coach, there are a range of factors to consider: experience, originality, personality, track record and fresh ideas. But one expert says more emphasis should be placed on skills away from the game.

A recently released rapist and murderer was among a "conga line" of people who offered to testify for the prosecution in another long-running murder case, a court hears.

Al Hassan Toure only made his senior debut for Adelaide United in August, but scores one goal and set up another as the Reds thumped Melbourne City to claim a third FFA Cup title in six years.

Police are investigating whether there are links between a neighbourhood fight and damage caused to more than 50 cars in two streets in Adelaide's inner-south.

The future of one of Australia's most profitable gold mines appears to be on shaky ground after more than 100 seismic events were recorded in a single day.

A 95-year-old celebrates a win after a decades-long fight for an apology from the Catholic Church in Melbourne for the abuse of her daughter by priest Gerard Mulvale.

The Federal Government is ordered to pay $206,000 in legal fees for a two-year-old Tamil girl who has been embroiled in a high-profile legal battle to stay in Australia with her family.

Zoo owners in Victoria have welcomed the Federal Government's assistance package, but some fear they will not be eligible for the emergency funding.

The Gold Coast property market may avoid a significant downturn amid the coronavirus pandemic, with predictions of an increase in the number of interstate buyers chasing a sea change.

The SA Government says a three-year statewide ban on snapper fishing will come into effect within weeks, despite a backlash from fishers and charter boat operators.

Newcastle Knights coach Nathan Brown to leave the NRL club after four seasons.

The Aboriginal language Gathang largely disappeared when its last fluent speaker died in the 1960s, and now the task of revitalising it has begun.

Farmers in the NSW Great Lakes area band together to titillate taste buds.

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.

More than 40 sawfish die in the Fitzroy River catchment, known to be the world's last stronghold for the species.

A review of WA's cattle stations finds at least a dozen are at risk of animal welfare issues in coming months because of a lack of food and water.

The 6.6 magnitude earthquake that rattled Broome was 100 times more powerful than the one which claimed 13 lives in Newcastle in 1989 but there were no deaths and very little damage.

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

Schools and remote communities across the north of Western Australia fear for their future as vital funding dries up, leaving highly-valued employees jobless.

Australian companies are enjoying record high woodchip prices, with overseas demand especially form China pushing the price for premium chips beyond $260 per bone-dry tonne.

Micheal McRae is accused of bashing his baby son Nathaniel, leaving him with severe brain injuries, but the charge is upgraded after the boy spent a year fighting for life in hospital.

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.

Rob Dickson has gone from looking after 100 expeditioners in Antarctica to being a GP for the 1,755 people who live in the remote town of Queenstown on Tasmania's west coast. He says regional Australia can be more isolating.

Despite a bid to move Tasmania's time zone 30 minutes earlier than eastern standard time failing to win support, Prime Minister Scott Morrison tells Liberal Party faithful their future remains bright thanks to the revived fortunes for the island state.

A tent in his sister-in-law's back yard has been Paul's home for the past year, and despite government plans to build hundreds of affordable homes he is not optimistic of getting a roof over his head.

DAILY BRIEFING: A trio of women calling themselves the 'knitting nannas' are arrested for staging a climate change protest, and Hobart rent outpaces Melbourne for unaffordability.

Onlookers at the Royal Hobart Show are left in shock when a rodeo bull breaks its hind leg and begins limping in the arena. WARNING: This story includes distressing images.

The head of the Royal Hobart Hospital's emergency department tells an inquest of a large increase in the number of mental health patients trying to access care, and of more suicide attempts at the facility.

The operators of a fast-food pizza shop in Hobart are fined $104,000 after a court finds they "deliberately" adopted a different payment system for foreign employees that saw the workers earn significantly less than their Australian counterparts.

Inmates at four South Australian prisons will be confronted with the faces of cold case murder victims in what authorities hope will be a "conscious jogger" for people to come forward with information.

Tuna spotters, flying above the Bight to tell fishers where to steer their boats, have started working with whale researchers to help them take stock of populations.

The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting floodwaters will reach Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre in South Australia's outback within weeks, but the lake is unlikely to fill.

Olympic gold medallist Kyle Chalmers is cautiously optimistic another round of surgery has fixed an ongoing heart condition "once and for all", with less than a year to go before the 2020 Olympic Games.

Outreach workers across Australia say that the survival of farming communities will depend on support and understanding from the Australian community.