The findings are expected to reveal what the royal commission made of the evidence put before it about whether Cardinal Pell could or should have done more to prevent children from being abused by priests in the 1970s and 80s.

A Catholic order settles out of court paying $4 million to survivors of historic sex abuse and apologising to them, their families and the Latrobe Valley community.

Buskers are being accused of antisocial behaviour in Darwin's CBD and the council has responded by revoking licenses for two months.

Erin Hext is an experienced bushwalker, who set out on a day hike near Hobart well prepared. She didn't expect to make the return journey in a rescue helicopter.

Inspired by Tourism Australia's Matesong video, locals in south-west Queensland write their own version with the banks of the Balonne River standing in for the beaches of Sydney.

A world-leading agriculture business that uses sunlight and seawater to grow tomatoes has been sold but the final price is a closely-guarded secret.

A pig farmer receives a barrage of abusive online comments after opening up on Facebook about the closure of her pig business.

A former priest who has served jail time for sexually abusing more than 30 boys will return to prison after being found guilty of abusing two altar boys in the Hunter region.

A post-prison release service in far-western NSW blames delays at the Newcastle morgue for a spike in ice benders by some of its grief-stricken Aboriginal clients waiting up to six weeks to bury loved ones.

A high school in the Hunter region is offering counselling for students and staff who saw a student fatally struck by a bus while riding his bike to school.

Firefighters are protecting properties in Belmont, south of Newcastle, as a bushfire fanned by strong winds continues to burn near homes.

Findings from a probe into alleged cover-ups of child abuse within the Catholic Church in NSW have identified credibility issues among members of its upper echelons.

A NSW firefighter who hatched a plan to start bushfires "so he could fight them" will serve more time in jail than the man who lit them his younger brother.

Bush schools which harness outdoor exploration and play are increasing, and teachers say they are improving engagement, reducing anxiety and building resilience.

Three women, inspired by the revelations in The Teacher's Pet podcast, have come forward with allegations of sexual abuse by teachers at a NSW high school.

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

A woman whose house burnt down in bushfires affecting the NSW North Coast said that she and her husband now plan on leaving the bush due to the hazard.

Experts say bushfires coupled with decreasing habitat in an urbanised landscape is taking its toll on wildlife and improved land management is crucial.

The winds are not giving firefighters any breaks as a fire in the Clarence Valley moves in on properties and blazes near Armidale and Tenterfield remain "absolutely enormous", according to the Rural Fire Service.

The number of homes lost to three fires in northern NSW rises to nine as strong winds continue to hamper the efforts of firefighters to bring them under control.

MORNING BRIEFING: A woman has been charged with murder after a man was found with multiple stab wounds in a Sydney apartment complex, while easing weather conditions have helped firefighters in Tenterfield gain the upper hand on a bushfire.

The NSW Rural Fire Service downgrades an emergency warning for a fire at Backwater near Armidale, as hot and dry conditions continue to fuel bushfires in the area.

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.

There are reports of property damage in the town of Darawank, north of Forster-Tuncurry on the NSW north coast where a bushfire is burning at emergency level.

Social media vision of three bushfires burning on the NSW north coast. An emergency declaration has been issued by the NSW RFS with homes under threat.

The Port Macquarie koala hospital fears more than 350 koalas may have died in a bushfire south of the town, with staff frustrated they cannot yet access the site.

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

The honey industry is facing hard times along with other producers, having taken a battering over recent years from the drought and a string of natural disasters.

Injured koalas receive life-saving treatment after surviving devastating bushfires on the New South Wales mid-north coast.

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.

James Gino Salerno, who was once based in the Adelaide Hills, is jailed for at least eight years for repeatedly sexually abusing a teenage member of the group. His victim says other girls still in the cult "can sleep easy now".

Some Broome tourism businesses hope a parliamentary inquiry will lead to a crackdown on accommodation websites, while others say 'the sharing economy' needs support.

Brewing biofuel at a unique international school in Indonesia was just one of the projects taken on by students Britt and Marein Koens in the pursuit of sustainability.

Modern consumers want to know more about the story of their food where it came from, how it was produced and farmers in WA are taking advantage of the trend.

It is now decades since Todd Jefferis first raised the alarm about the sexual abuse atrocities carried out at Katanning's St Andrew's Hostel in Western Australia, but his fight for justice might finally be nearing an end.

Tasmanian police release photos of a number of household items and non-perishable foods found in bushland near where a prison escapee was found.

When there's a smell of smoke in the air, bushfire survivor Michael King still feels jittery. He describes it as similar to "how a Vietnam veteran might feel if he hears the sound of a chopper overhead".

DAILY BRIEFING: Bushwalkers are rescued in two separate incidents in Tasmania's national parks, while road spikes are deployed after a driver evades police.

DAILY BRIEFING: An elderly female driver has a fright after her car swerves off a road and over a cliff, and the Tasmanian Government holds off formally asking the Commonwealth to help pay for firefighting in the Wilderness World Heritage Area last summer.

The 24-year-old believes a move to change laws in Tasmania allowing survivors of sexual crimes to share their stories will give greater insights into how perpetrators operate.

A draft report has found a $260 million development of Glenorchy's Wilkinson's Point would great 1,100 jobs and inject millions into Hobart, but it could come at a cost to locals.

DAILY BRIEFING: Two bushfires are burning near the small communities of Glen Huon and Miena, but authorities say there is no immediate threat to people and property, and seven little penguins injured in a dog attack have been released into the wild.

DAILY BRIEFING: The Royal Hobart Show reopens after damaging winds, and police are using the rescue helicopter to search for a man at Roaring Beach.

The Tasmanian Fire Service downgrades the threat from a bushfire in the Derwent Valley where a lack of fresh water had earlier made firefighting "a challenge".

A public servant improperly awarded, or attempted to influence, millions of dollars' worth of government contracts for the benefit of a close friend, an inquiry finds.

FOI documents also reveal the Federal Government knows the process is creating division in small towns and causing some businesses to be boycotted.