Veronica Coen and Ruth Haggar make one final sift through the ruins of their Quaama homes before the first stage of the bushfire clean-up begins.

Two dangerous fires near Tenterfield and Armidale are downgraded as firefighters keep properties out of danger, but the dwindling water supply and expected strong winds will make today challenging.

Residents in the regional city of Armidale are using their own water to save trees in their heritage-listed park, as the drought continues to deplete the district's water supply.

Residents are finding ways to cope as a full lockdown looms over the region, with one woman banging pots and pans in support of essential workers, while another considers whether to shut up shop.

This week the royal commission in to Australia's aged care system has heard stories of residents left to soil themselves and elderly war veterans heavily sedated to treat their PTSD. It's left some questioning whether the sector's myriad failings can be fixed.

The aged care royal commission hears chronic short-staffing is compromising the care of nursing home residents, leaving some workers to question whether they want to stay in the sector.

The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission is so concerned about the handling of the coronavirus outbreak at Sydney's Newmarch House, it is considering revoking its licence.

Environmental groups have called for greater transparency about the potential health impacts of Australia's largest onshore liquified natural gas plant as residents say their complaints are ignored.

A WA community is up in arms after a decision shut down a retirement village. The building has been deemed unsafe, but locals say their rights are being trampled on in favour of mining companies.

Mascot Towers building management tells residents who were evacuated on Friday night after cracks were found in the Sydney apartment building to seek help from the Salvation Army if they are facing financial hardship.

There is a "crisis of confidence" in the NSW building industry following the second emergency evacuation of an apartment block in Sydney in six months, the Insurance Council of Australia and Federal Government warns.

More than 12 tonnes of dead fish have been buried after a council on the New South Wales north coast bowed to public pressure and opened a lagoon.

An Adelaide business owner says buildings residents are not being informed about dangers posed by potentially flammable aluminium cladding, as an audit reveals dozens of structures are at risk.

A high-rise in the Sydney suburb of Mascot was evacuated overnight after residents spotted cracks in building.

People are living in squalor right next to the richest mines in the country, and no-one's prepared to take responsibility for maintenance.

Only a few weeks ago Karon Baker was in tears when her local Anzac Day service was called off, but by 6:30am this morning, she couldn't wipe a proud smile off her face.

An aged care facility says robotic pets are lighting up the lives of its residents and bringing comfort during isolation from the coronavirus pandemic.

Residents at a Victorian aged care facility where a staff member tested positive for coronavirus earlier this week have been given the all-clear.

Up to 100,000 litres of water is being used each weekday by a regional New South Wales council to keep drivers safe on its gravel roads all 954 kilometres of them.

For residents in the Upper Hunter, keeping an eye on air quality alerts from the Office of Environment and Heritage is a daily ritual.

Today the Macleay Valley is suffering unprecedented drought, but 70 years ago it was inundated with "mighty waves as high as telegraph poles" that flooded the region and left 2,000 people homeless.

Emergency crews gain the upper hand in fighting 85 fires across NSW but two blazes near Forster-Tuncurry escalate again.

As bushfire conditions ease around Tasmania this weekend, the firefighter's union wants laws to back volunteers leaving work in an emergency as the bushfire season extends to as long as six months.

DAILY BRIEFING: TasWater has issued a temporary boil water alert after E.coli bacteria was found after routine testing.

Victorian public housing tenants say residents could forgo medication or heating because of higher rental prices after the State Government's market review.

An offshore wind farm proposed for regional Victoria will power almost a fifth of the state's electrical needs, but coastal residents says they are concerned about rising costs and fishing exclusion zones.

You might expect to see wheelchairs and walking frames in the corridors of an aged care facility, but you might not expect to see a 850-kilogram horse.

Thread Together, a charity committed to reducing waste in the era of fast fashion, joins forces with a rabbi to help an Indigenous community stay warm over the cold desert winter.

With groundwater levels critically low and the wet season yet to begin, some rural Northern Territory residents fear they may have to pay thousands of dollars to truck in water for their homes.

Residents in Mount Isa, Cloncurry, Longreach, Barcaldine, Blackall, Karratha and Kalgoorlie can expect to benefit from the new scheme, pricing airfares to the nearest capital city at a maximum of $800.

A random survey of people living in the Murray-Darling Basin shows support for reallocating water from irrigators to Indigenous communities.

Emergency services are warning Victorians to brace for a cold snap and wind gusts of up to 130kph in parts of the south-east, while alpine areas may enjoy heavier snowfall.

A $30 million proposal for a sheep abattoir that would employ 150 full-time workers is opposed by a group of residents, who are concerned about potential health impacts and devaluation of their properties.

Authorities are warning WA residents to prepare emergency kits for up to five days and to avoid "last minute" preparations, despite below-average cyclone predictions for the 201920 season.

Michael Gunner says a nine-hour blackout which left thousands of residents across Central Australia without power during the heat of the day on Sunday is "unacceptable" and calls for a review into the region's power supply.

Almost five years after the Arnhem Land community of Galiwin'ku was battered by Cyclone Lam, the NT Government is yet to spend $20.3 million of disaster relief funding for rebuilding housing.

Residents have been left vulnerable and fearing for their future water security as underground aquifers run critically low in rural Darwin and communities fear what a second poor wet season could mean for their future.

Australian National University students slam staff over on-campus accommodation support, which they say is structured in a way that the first port of call for a student to report sexual violence is to talk to another student.

A service available to many Australians will finally be provided to Canberrans, with the ACT Government hoping a kerbside collection service starting next year will help to curb illegal dumping in the territory's national parks.

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.

Cardwell residents band together to save a large tree that arborists have declared unsafe due to beach erosion during the recent heavy wet season.

Police are called after medical equipment is stripped from the walls of the Earle Haven Retirement Village, where 70 elderly people some bedridden and living with dementia reside.

Witnesses say it was "pandemonium" when a Gold Coast nursing home shut down yesterday after paramedics attended the village to help find emergency accommodation for 70 residents. The closure is believed to be over a contract dispute.

The operator of a Gold Coast aged care facility is accused of taking money from the bank accounts of residents at the same time they were being evacuated because the centre was closing.

Half of the residents of troubled Gold Coast nursing home Earle Haven were being physically restrained, and 71 per cent received medical restraint, in the weeks before it abruptly closed its doors last month, the aged care Royal Commission hears.

More than 50 bushfires are burning in Queensland amid potentially catastrophic, hot and windy conditions. Emergency warnings are in place for fires near Stanthorpe in the state's south.