Residents in far west New South Wales are calling for a more consistent use of police body cameras following reports from witnesses about the way officers allegedly responded to a teenager who was self-harming.

A 36-year-old man is arrested and charged for illegally taking and selling 12 tonnes of golden perch from the Darling River over a 20-month period.

Extreme drought conditions have all but dried up the Barwon River in western NSW, and now the unprecedented dry has exposed an extraordinary piece of maritime history.

The driver appeared nervous, police say, triggering a search of his car and allegedly revealing almost $1 million in cash stuffed in the bottom of a fuel tank in outback New South Wales.

Once an outback oasis, Copi Hollow is now almost all that's left of the Menindee lakes system, but its future is uncertain.

New aerial footage appears to show thousands of dead fish at Lake Pamamaroo in the Menindee Lakes System, near Broken Hill, nine months after a mass fish kill event on the nearby banks of the Darling River.

The Royal Life Saving Society says WA's latest drowning figures, which reveal a 50 per cent increase on the previous year, should serve as a warning ahead of the festive season. A new report shows 31 people drowned in the state in 2012. Children under the age of four were the highest risk group for drowning and near drowning. Older people over the age of 55 were also at risk.

Detectives have charged a man with procuring a child to perform a sexual act after an encounter on a street in the centre of Denmark in the South West. The man approached her on Mitchell Street on Friday night. The 34-year-old then allegedly kissed her on the neck and asked her to engage in sexual behaviour.

The Shire of Plantagenet is facing a shortfall of nearly $1 million in its funding for a major sporting precinct upgrade, after receiving a smaller than hoped for Western Australian Government grant.

Indigenous dancers from three states gather on the banks of the Darling River to honour a waterway that's underpinned their cultures for millennia.

Conservationists are hoping the coronavirus pandemic will force governments to take action against the wildlife trade. But will stricter legislation push wildlife traffickers deeper underground?

The accused triple-murderer tells police "you gotta be joking" during previously unseen footage of his arrest at his Perth home back in 2016 for the Claremont serial killings.

Wildlife parks have a long road back to financial buoyancy after coronavirus restrictions stripped them of their sole source of income; visitors, and some operators are dipping into personal savings just to keep their animals fed.

Accused Claremont serial killer Bradley Edwards is at the centre of the longest and most expensive criminal trial in Western Australia's history and yesterday was the first time the public heard from him.

Bradley Edwards elects not to offer a detailed defence to three charges of murdering Sarah Spiers, Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon — crimes that became known as the Claremont serial killings.

A father who lost his son in a shocking crash 13 years ago channels his grief into a mission for better road safety with a driver-training centre that could save countless lives.

Like all zoos and wildlife parks around the country Townsville's Billabong Sanctuary is closed because of the coronavirus lockdown, but the important business of caring for the residents never stops.

A man accused of murdering his 45-year-old ex-partner at a home north of Brisbane, picked up a sledgehammer and hit her over the back of the head, police allege.

Experts don't know what causes it or why, but a virus that spreads quickly in close contact is causing rainbow lorikeets to "drop out of the sky" across South-East Queensland.

Falling temperatures on the Sunshine Coast may be leading to an increase in false fire alarms, experts say.

New funding will help a Nerang-based conservation group to build a 'fodder farm' for recovering wildlife.

MORNING BRIEFING: Photos shared on social media appear to show two NRL players defying coronavirus restrictions on a camping trip on the NSW Mid-North Coast, while aged care homes say the PM's advice on visitors is "cavalier and careless".

Forty experts from the Asia-Pacific will train animal workers to spot virus outbreaks before they even begin, in a new government-funded scheme to reduce the risk of another virus crisis.

Metadata has not provided any evidence the allegedly falsified annual report was downloaded from the City of Sydney website by anyone in Energy Minister Angus Taylor's office, NSW police confirm.

People are being urged to batten down the hatches as the cold weather hits, including sheep graziers who could lose animals to the potentially deadly chill.

Police search a Mooball property as they investigate the disappearance of 42-year-old Thea Liddle who has been missing since October.

Police search for woman missing from Mooball in northern New South Wales.

Solar-powered vibrators, vegan condoms and organic lubricants: Sex therapists share tips for going green between the sheets.

Canada's prolific hit-writer opens his Australian tour in the Illawarra with a full house.

There are now 22 people in Tasmania who have tested positive for coronavirus, with five people being diagnosed today, the director of public health says.

Tasmanian producer's market collapses from 6,000 carcasses a week at the start of this month to nothing.

The lure of the outback beckons for young people with a taste for adventure and unique career opportunities.

Sonny Bill Williams reportedly signs a $10m deal with the Toronto Wolfpack. Here's what you need to know about rugby league's "wild and wacky" upstarts.

Rugby Australia boss Raelene Castle dismisses reports that the organisation paid $8 million to Israel Folau to settle a lawsuit over the former Wallaby's dismissal.

It's the size of a tea bag and plays dead if you manage to catch it but this little crayfish is starting to get noticed.

On any given day in the small rural New South Wales town of Trundle, up to a dozen men can be found in an historic garage, tinkering on cars, passing on skills to younger men and taking turns pumping fuel. It's an interesting set up, but it works.

A candlelight vigil has been held in central Newcastle aiming to raise awareness of the plight of refugees around the world.

France has accused Beijing of concealing facts, while Germany has suggested it could demand compensation.

Humans get exercise in many ways, including training and competing with their dogs in agility trials. So is it time the competition is officially recognised as a sport?

Wildlife carers in Victoria say more native animals are being injured or killed as prolonged dry weather drives them to seek food and water closer to urban areas.

An Australian fiddlemaker is helping to spice up the dying craft by creating Hardanger fiddles, a Norwegian instrument that gained international fame in The Lord of the Rings soundtracks.

A teenager molested by Christian Brother John Laidlaw in the 1980s tells a Melbourne court he thought he was being "punished by God" when he was sexually assaulted at his family home, as the former teacher pleads guilty to abusing six boys over two decades.

A Christian Brother who sexually assaulted boys at some of Victoria's most prestigious Catholic schools is sentenced to four and a half years in prison.