A court has heard the most senior Australian Anglican clergyman to be charged with child sexual abuse used his power and influence to dissuade his alleged victim from disclosing the abuse.

A former police officer who suffered "horrific and graphic traumas" after being trapped in a crashed squad car has launched criminal action after being forced to wait more than a year for a workers' compensation payout.

A Newcastle tennis club is resisting calls for it to allow female members to join, despite a backlash from the local community as well as a former tennis professional.

Former Anglican Dean of Newcastle Graeme Lawrence "avoided" answering questions when giving his evidence about allegations he sexually assaulted a teenager at his home in the early 1990s, a court has heard.

The defence for former Anglican dean Graeme Lawrence has told a court the case against him has not been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

Former Dean of Newcastle Graeme Lawrence is convicted over the aggravated sexual assault of a 15-year-old boy, after a judge found his evidence was not credible.

Senior members of the Nomads bikie gang are sentenced over their participation in a criminal group, during a period of what the prosecutor described as "extreme" and "unpredictable" violence across the Hunter region.

What would you do if you were told you had 16 months to live? That was the harsh reality for Jill Emberson when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. With the survival rate of the disease half that of the breast cancer survival rate, she's using her last moments to make a change.

A court has heard Border Force and NSW and federal police officers formed a human chain to unload hundreds of bricks of cocaine from a catamaran linked to an international drug syndicate.

Australian Jock Palfreeman is a step closer to returning home after being granted parole by a panel of three judges at the Sofia Appellate Court in Bulgaria.

The parents of an Australian man detained in Bulgaria are calling on Prime Minister Scott Morrison to intervene and help secure his release.

The Independent Planning Commission will be reviewed after a 21-year mining lease near Singleton was approved before public submissions closed a blunder the Opposition says will call the system's integrity into question.

Oliver Scales-Copeland, who is accused of stabbing two police officers at a service station north of Sydney yesterday, represents himself in court and becomes emotional when his bail application is refused.

The former Anglican Dean of Newcastle Graeme Lawrence is sentenced to a maximum of eight years over the rape of a 15-year-old boy in 1991.

When Bennett Powell was a child, doctors thought he might never walk but now he's running, cycling and swimming as part of his third Ironman Australia race.

Brenda Marney, 73, is charged with animal cruelty offences after a mutilated magpie is found at her home on the NSW mid-north coast police believe she lures animals with food before capturing and torturing them.

Five men are charged over the murder of a Queensland man who was beaten to death with a steel bar before his mutilated body was dumped, set alight and eventually found by firefighters near Taree.

Jigna Chauhan offers free henna crowns to women who have lost their hair during chemotherapy treatments, helping them feel more positive and confident.

A police taskforce is set up to investigate the alleged misconduct of gynaecologist Emil Gayed, following complaints made by almost 200 women to a NSW public inquiry about health care including the unnecessary removal of organs.

Barrington Tops is receiving its first winter dusting as cold conditions hit the east coast of New South Wales.

People on Lord Howe Island are trying to save their slice of paradise from a rat infestation, but a controversial eradication program has divided families and friends on the tiny outpost 600km off the NSW coast.

Free martial arts classes being offered to victims of bullying could have a major impact on the mental health of young people, experts say.

A NSW court hears 81-year-old David Allen Esling, charged with the attempted stabbing murder of his wife of 54 years in April, had formed a suicide pact with her.

Recent whale entanglements on the NSW coast highlight the man-made threats marine life face at an increasing rate, and experts say we can expect to see more.

The Cancer Council uses new digital technology to transport more regional cancer patients to treatment.

Residents at a retirement village in New South Wales say life is becoming more like science fiction as an automated vehicle changes the way they stay connected.

A NSW Mid North Council apologies for the grief it caused the community for knocking over headstones.

Crescent Head is currently experiencing wind gusts of up to 40kph.

Emergency services are keeping a close watch on large blazes at Middle Creek Road, Kangaroo Creek north of Coffs Harbour, and at Verges Creek north of Crescent Head in northern NSW, after residents were warned to seek shelter.

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.

The number of whale entanglements in ropes and floats has reached an unprecedented 35 incidents off NSW so far this year, so commercial fishers are meeting to discuss better practices.

They were Australia's worst bus-crash tragedies and they happened within weeks of each other on the Pacific Highway. Fifty-six people were killed and 63 injured and 30 years on the pain still lingers for many.

NSW Deputy Premier says asking mining companies to consider greenhouse gas emissions from Australian coal exports "doesn't pass the pub test"

Student Liam Birrer was supposed to be sitting a HSC exam instead he was fighting a bushfire in his local community.

The suicides of two young Indigenous women in two months have sparked calls for immediate action.

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.

There are calls for clearer emergency information after residents fled their homes during the Kimberley earthquake.

Two pilots have pulled off a risky retrieval operation in remote WA, dangling a 1-tonne aeroplane beneath their chopper and flying it almost 100 kilometres to the nearest town.

A remote WA distillery has teamed up with a brewery 4,000 kilometres away to create the state's first corn beer, direct from paddock to keg.

Where some people have seen wrecked cars in the desert, artists in a remote WA community saw a blank canvas. Rocked by two deaths, the people of Balgo have set about doing something special.

Survivor is a word thrown around fairly lightly, but in the case of German migrant Frauke Bolten-Boshammer, you can't help but feel she's earned the title 10 times over.