Police say they've found a man reported missing on Sunday morning after launching a search and public appeal for him at Illawong Beach, South Mackay.

Residents of a Queensland beachside suburb are relieved a decision to bury a dead whale 40 metres from their backyards has been abandoned, but question why they were not consulted before a whale-sized burial plot was excavated.

An English tourist has his foot bitten off and his friend suffers serious injuries when they are attacked by a shark while snorkelling in the Whitsundays.

As the Cottesloe community remains split over the future of the Indiana tearooms, just down the road City Beach is reaping the rewards of a multi-million-dollar facelift.

For many West Australians the beach forms the foundation of their lifestyle, but the oceanfront dream is under threat for many in Perth and towns up and down the coast.

Port Beach's Coast pub and surf life saving rooms should be moved and some Rottnest Island holiday bungalows should be pushed back from the beach in the long term, a report into WA coastal erosion hotspots says.

Red-and-yellow flags are now planted on beaches up and down the coast, but surf lifesaving in Queensland originated from a need to watch over people in the Brisbane River.

Leisl Born says she was shocked to realise several dozen dead birds sat among the ash and debris that washed up on her local beach following the Bribie Island bushfires.

A Sunshine Coast business defends its decision to dump concrete on a beach north of Noosa, as the Department of Environment launches an investigation into the matter.

Police allege two teenagers gathered in bushland on Monday afternoon and deliberately lit the blaze, which gutted one home and tore through Sunshine Coast bushland.

The dramatic rescue of 94-year-old Andrew Michael from the Peregian Beach firestorm on Monday was captured on video. He's now returned home and says his rescuers did "a very good job".

Building an artificial reef could be the key to stabilising a popular beach at Queensland's Inskip Point that suffers from repeated landslips, a geotechnical expert says.

Police urge beachgoers and motorists to be considerate of each other after video emerges of a confrontation between a driver and holidaymakers who had set up camp along Rainbow Beach.

The fast-moving bushfire is travelling north and is burning in inaccessible bushland.

A bushfire that was threatening homes at Peregian on Queensland's Sunshine Coast is brought under control, with firefighters surrounding the blaze to keep it contained.

Parents are seeking answers after buses dropped off school children at a road block during the height of the Peregian Beach bushfire emergency, on Queensland's Sunshine Coast yesterday.

Residents were forced to evacuate the Teewah township last night, but have now been allowed to return.

A new strategy to reduce fatal shark attacks is being implemented with baited drum lines to be set along popular beaches in Perth and the South West. Sharks will also be caught and killed if they enter zones near those beaches because they will be considered an imminent threat. The measures follow six fatal attacks by sharks in WA in two years. Opponents say sharks deserve respect and protection.

The State Government says it has sent a serious warning to the owners of one of Albany's prime vacant lots, by signing off on a plan that would allow it to forcibly reclaim the site.

A popular beach in Byron Bay has been washed away by the worst erosion in at least 30 years.

Some historians believe the White Australia policy played a part in covering over the early history of Chinese miners in Australia.

A pod of humpback dolphins in the Fitzroy River in central Queensland are using rare and risky behaviour to catch their prey.

As beaches reopen on the Gold Coast, mayor Tom Tate has called on the Federal Government to allow the "gradual" return of the city's crippled hospitality industry.

What have flash floods, bushfires and a pandemic taught the Gold Coast about its relationship with its beaches?

MORNING BRIEFING: Relatives are insisting they be allowed to see loved ones at an aged care home where 11 people have died of COVID-19, while the Waverley Council applauds people for abiding by rules at reopened beaches.

Emergency services workers scale down a steep cliff on Victoria's Great Ocean Road to rescue a stranded dog named Jimmy.

More than 20 volunteers will give their time every fortnight to monitor western hooded plovers on Busselton Shire beaches. Numbers may be declining but not enough is known about the birds to be sure.

The Swell Sculpture Festival is on again and Currumbin Beach is coming alive with colour, movement and thought-provoking works of art.

Officials are searching for a man in his 20s believed to have fallen from rocks into the ocean at Western Australia's Warrenup Beach.

Police divers join the search for missing 25-year-old Thomas Rae who disappeared while rock fishing in a remote corner of WA.

Alan Clarke thought completing a 500km run across some of Australia's roughest terrain would be his biggest challenge. But that all changed when he spotted something in the shallows.

A South Australian man killed his close friend when he landed on top of him during a drunken fight, causing an internal cyst to fatally rupture, a court hears.

New data shows dolphins, turtles and stingrays made up 94 per cent of the marine life caught by shark nets on some of New South Wales's most popular beaches.