The only unburnt area of bushland around the Conjola National Park, on the South Coast, is set to be cleared this week for a new housing development.

Sydney arts centre Carriageworks says the coronavirus pandemic has caused an "irreparable loss of income" after six months of events were cancelled or postponed.

In the five months since her house was destroyed, Tod Adams has been at war with government agencies because the Fires Near Me app suggests her home was not affected.

A court hears the NSW Rural Fire Service may ask the state's Attorney-General to relax restrictions so it can distribute the $51.3 million raised by comedian Celeste Barber to help victims of the Black Summer bushfires.

Over $340,000 raised by celebrity bushfire relief concert Fire Aid 2020 is being pre-loaded onto EFTPOS cards linked to local businesses, tackling two disasters with one innovative idea.

The NSW Rural Fire Service says there are 65 bush and grass fires burning across the state, but no emergency warnings are in place. Six fires have been downgraded to watch and act or advice status after spending much of the day as emergencies due to dry and windy conditions.

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.

With dams and creeks bone dry in drought-stricken towns, firefighters are being forced to find ways to combat blazes that are almost impossible to extinguish.

Ten years ago Chris Roby sought help from the Salvos for crippling alcoholism; he's now leading a group of men fighting addiction to help their local community's response to bushfires.

A bushfire threatening homes at Drake, near Tenterfield, is downgraded as the threat to houses eases.

An emergency warning has been issued for a blaze burning at Sandy Creek, east of Armidale, which has closed roads and is threatening several properties where residents have been told it is "too late to leave".

An emergency warning is downgraded in northern NSW after an "unpredictable and fast-moving" grass fire had threatened homes, with embers to blowing up to 4 kilometres ahead of the fire front.

Business owners in Tenterfield say tourists will be the key to the rural town's recovery, as bushfires and drought take their toll on the local economy.

MORNING BRIEFING: The Rural Fire Service says it will begin assessing the full extent of the bushfire damage in northern New South Wales today, and a man is charged after a robbery in 2003.

The remains of a 77-year-old man and a 68-year-old woman are found on a property destroyed in the bushfires which ripped through northern NSW earlier this week.

Free sheds are being built for those with nothing, in a creative approach to disaster recovery that is changing lives and putting a smile back on faces of despair.

Small businesses are struggling across Australia as the coronavirus outbreak unfolds. But there are ways you can help keep them going — and stick to social isolation guidelines.

Tasmania's economy was just picking up as coronavirus restrictions sent thousands of people out of work — but some help is out there.

Owners of a Tasmanian equestrian facility say they may have no other option as business evaporates, leaving it with dwindling resources to feed and keep 46 horses.

If there is anything good to come out of the coronavirus pandemic, it could be that rural Australians end up better connected to essential and recreational services than ever before.

Tasmanian companies keen to keep staff employed are adapting and shifting their business focus by making face shields, hand sanitiser and other products in high demand during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hiking huts are Australia's answer to Scotland's famed bothies and New Zealand's backcountry shacks and stand as a testament of a national identity that has long been intertwined with survival in isolation.

A woman who says she was raped and left pregnant and another whose head was flushed in the toilet while vomiting after physical abuse are among allegations in civil claims against the state of Tasmania by former residents of children's homes.

A three-car crash on one of Adelaide's busiest roads leaves a driver in hospital with critical head injuries, with the manager of a nearby business likening the scene to the aftermath of a tornado.

Police investigate the cause of a bushfire that came dangerously close to a Loxton aged care facility in South Australia's Riverland, prompting an evacuation overnight.

A woman is in a serious condition with head injuries, while NSW Ambulance is treating dozens of other patients after a bus crashes near Harden, 125 kilometres north west of Canberra.

Despite the heat, hail and fires, the Brumbies are planning to kick off their Super Rugby 2020 season tonight at Canberra Stadium, bringing some short-term relief to local fans.

With teams refused entry to this year's soccer competition in the Northern Territory for referee abuse and spectators' unruly behaviour, the experts look at why we do it.

The only sexual health clinic that is free for all Victorians is under enormous strain. Consultations have doubled in the past decade and sometimes the Carlton clinic is so busy, it has to turn people away.

A decade after they lost everything in Black Saturday, one Victorian family is learning just how difficult it is to declutter.

A senior manager of a Melbourne aged care home initially refused to act on video footage of elder abuse for a month due to the Christmas break, the aged care royal commission hears.

Liberal backbencher Dave Sharma and Labor MP Josh Burns join forces with alleged victims to seek Malka Leifer's extradition to Australia to face child sexual abuse charges.

Airport authorities are calling for a crackdown on drivers touting their services at the the terminal but one driver says it is the only way he can earn enough money to pay his bills.

The artist sister of cartoonist Michael Leunig says she does not believe her brother understands how hard mothers work and that many are also juggling careers, after his controversial cartoon appeared to critique heavy use of social media by mothers.

Hundreds of residents from three Victorian towns are told to evacuate from their homes as part of one of the state's biggest-ever fire drills, in preparation for what could be a devastating fire season.

Over four years, Bobby Singh made more than $2 million in subsidies for students enrolled at this Melbourne training college. It never taught a single class. But it all came undone in one phone call.

These fairground ponies have seen brighter days. They wait in the dry grass for a new generation of children to climb aboard and giggle with delight.

A number of businesses in Mackay's city heart are struggling to keep afloat since the Mackay Regional Council's City Centre Revitalisation Project commenced in August last year. The project aims to give the CBD an $18.6 million makeover by revitalising footpaths, street furniture and underground storm water drains, and is due to be completed by the end of 2015.

While clothing manufacturing has declined in Australia, one factory in Dimboola is still going strong after 38 years.

The idea was simple; find a spot in Australia with some of the best weather in the world, move there, and start brewing German beer.

The latest tool in weed eradication in New South Wales and possibly Australia has a wet nose, a wagging tail and is called Sally.

The Prime Minister is laying the groundwork for Australia to re-open for business and wants what he calls a "COVID-19 safe economy" by July.

Cardinal Pell said in a statement yesterday that he was "surprised" by some of the views of the royal commission about his actions, and that "these views are not supported by evidence".

An 85-year-old woman in rural Victoria campaigns for a bus stop outside her retirement village.

This year's flood event at Lake Eyre delivers a spectacular natural wonder, and brings new life to Central Australia and a crucial economic boost to remote businesses.

George Pell's lawyer tells an appeals court there are "questions of probability" over whether the child sex abuse offences the Cardinal is convicted of occurred, and a jury should have found him not guilty even if they believed his victim.

Prosecutors argue George Pell's victim was a "witness of truth" as they contend the disgraced Cardinal's child sex abuse convictions are "unimpeachable" and should be upheld.