The price of water increases to $980 a megalitre for South Australia, as industry bodies expect prices to reach Millennium Drought levels.

Are dogs and cats conscious? In his book The Feeling of Life Itself – Why Consciousness is Widespread But Can’t be Computed Christof Koch offers a straightforward definition of consciousness as any subjective experience, from the most mundane to the most exalted - the feeling of being alive!

The Climate Clever app helps you measure, monitor, compare and reduce your consumption of energy and your production on waste.

Simon DeDeo looks at the evolution of culture and institutions and uses his findings to predict our species’ future. He describes his work to Pauline Newman.

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.

Scones, tea, and craft are synonymous with the CWA, but the organisation also provides vital community support. In drought- and flood-ravaged Julia Creek, it's all about keeping things low-key.

Burketown, a town in north-west Queensland, can be cut off from the world for months at a time during the wet season, but it's got better internet than in Sydney according to a textile designer.

The price of Australian minerals used in batteries and electronic components is falling, despite rising local and international demand for the renewable energy projects that rely on them.

In many small rural towns nurse practitioners are sole practice managers, writing prescriptions, billing through Medicare, and referring to specialists. Are they supported enough?

Australian researchers find a new species of pterosaur in outback Queensland. The apex aerial predator had a 4-metre wingspan and walked on all four limbs when on land.

Annastacia Palaszczuk is forced to apologise to Parliament over her threats to strip Katter's Australian Party MPs of resources when they refused to denounce former colleague Fraser Anning's speech calling for a Muslim immigration ban.

Single Wire Earth Return (SWER) lines provide power to rural stations

Digital disruption has changed the craft of writing, and crime writing in particular, according to those in the industry, but has not caused the death of print books.

UK-based charity the Eden Project has released its vision for a disused coal mine near Victoria's Great Ocean Road. They plan to transform it into a $150 million eco-tourism attraction a celebration of the natural environment on what is now a barren site.

It felt as if the winds of change were blowing through the Catholic Church after the royal commission. But a new defence has rejected some of its key findings in relation to one of its most notorious paedophile priests, writes Louise Milligan.

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.

The disgraced Cardinal faces claims he knew of child sex abuse by notorious paedophile Edward "Ted" Dowlan and was involved in moving him from school to school, allowing the abuse to continue.

Consumers are increasingly asking for it and Meat and Livestock Australia says it's achievable carbon neutrality by 2030.

Trading at around $2,500 per kilogram, more growers are entering the truffle industry as demand for the unique fungi remains high.

Jailed Cardinal George Pell will front Victoria's highest court today to appeal against his child sex abuse convictions, arguing proper process wasn't followed at trial and a reasonable jury could not have found him guilty of the crimes.

Lawyers warn child sexual abuse victims to be mindful of legal reforms before signing away their right to sue, as redress scheme marks its first anniversary.

A rise in the number of assaults against local government employees prompts Victorian councils to call for a change in sentencing laws to better protect their staff.

A judge says Victorian paedophile priest Robert Claffey "mocked" his priestly authority to access and abuse children, while sentencing him to more jail time.

A prominent urban researcher warns that Ballarat is heading towards a "social disaster" unless it can curb urban sprawl.

School principal Michelle Wilson spent a stressful two hours on the phone, convinced she owed $8,000 and could soon be arrested if she didn't pay up. Then she realised the whole thing was an elaborate hoax.

Once the staple of regional travel, motels are facing an increasingly uncertain future as online alternatives bite away at revenue.

A former Catholic priest who showed pornographic images to children and assaulted a teenager while he slept is jailed for two years and two months.

Research into a mysterious substance that makes up 85 per cent of the universe, along with good old-fashioned gold and a new hydroponic farm, are driving a jobs boom in the small Victorian town of Stawell, but there's a problem.

Thermostats and saunas become secret weapons as Australian athletes brace themselves for the unusual conditions of a midnight marathon at the World Athletics Championships in Doha next month.

The ABC understands the Victorian Department of Corrections considers the Hopkins Correctional Centre in Ararat, 200 kilometres west of Melbourne, to be the most appropriate place to send the high-profile cleric.

Ararat parish priest Father Andrew Hayes says the church should accept a court's decision to dismiss George Pell's appeal against his convictions, but the Melbourne Bishop is standing by the disgraced Cardinal.

Around one person dies on Victoria's rail lines every week, with most long-term train drivers experiencing at least one fatality in their career.

Once touted as a $300 million solution to regional Victoria's waste woes, plans to build a waste-to-energy facility have stalled, with some in the industry left scratching their heads.

Making good on an election promise, the NSW Government has named its first dairy advocate, who is vowing to highlight the pressures faced by farmers at both ends of the supply chain.

As urban sprawl puts pressure on the food bowl on Melbourne's fringes, and as water becomes increasingly scarce, one council has a bold idea that might just catch on.

Working 7 days a week, juggling multiple gigs, all for $28,000 a year this is the life of an Australian artist in 2019.

More than 500 protesters stop traffic outside the Victorian Parliament to rail against the planned destruction of trees sacred to Aboriginal people in Victoria's west.

This specialist nurse teaches thousands of prostate cancer survivors how to revitalise their sex life after diagnosis, but she is the only one of her kind in an area spanning 48,000 square kilometres.

A child abuse survivor says the priest who assaulted him did so in the 'welcoming' home of another clergyman. His claim comes amid new allegations that paedophiles acted in concert within the Catholic Church.

The green hills of south-west Victoria couldn't be further from the latest outbreak of the highly contagious viral disease African swine fever (ASF) in Timor-Leste, but pork producer Xavier Meade isn't taking any chances.

Twelve years ago Paul Preusker was disqualified for possessing an electronic jigger. Now he's back, training the Melbourne Cup favourite and insisting he's a changed man.

A group of wool makers launches a new trademark to recognise textile producers whose homegrown fibre is 100 per cent Australian from the farm right through to the finished product.

A jury hears of the moment the woman accused of causing a crash that killed four people in western Victoria realised the deceased were "probably grandmothers" as well.

Alais, Princess of France, is back for another intriguing historical adventure in Healey's latest publication. Set during the early 13th century, at a time when the Catholic Church was actively campaigning against the Cathar sect in the Languedoc region, the author brings history to life on the page.