The lawyer for asthmatic prisoner Mark Rowson tells a court his client should be immediately released from Port Phillip Prison, if authorities cannot mitigate the risk of a coronavirus outbreak in the prison system.

The Royal Melbourne Show is cancelled this year for only the third time in its 165-year history, but what does this mean for regional shows and trials?

A health industry expert is calling on federal authorities to oversee the return of windfall profits, as customers negotiate with insurers to save money.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews responds to the state's Deputy Chief Health Officer's tweet comparing coronavirus to Captain Cook's arrival in Australia at a press conference on May 1, 2020.

Supreme Court Justice Timothy Ginnane orders a COVID-19 risk assessment be undertaken at Port Phillip Prison after finding there was a prima facie case prison authorities breached their duty of care.

As the south and east remain gripped in a cold snap, it might be hard to believe that Australia just had its fifth warmest April on record.

Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos says eight employees have tested positive to coronavirus.

The federal Education Minister accused Daniel Andrews of "taking a sledgehammer" to schooling over his reluctance to reopen classrooms.

Victoria Police has suspended a senior constable over what Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton calls one of the most appalling breaches of privacy he's ever seen.

Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas also announced additional tax relief for families and businesses impacted by pandemic lockdown measures, May 5, 2020.

Faruk Orman, who spent 12 years in prison for murder before being acquitted because of the Lawyer X scandal, is suing Victoria Police for unspecified damages.

Colac Hospital prepares to return to business as usual after a predicted surge in coronavirus cases fails to eventuate.

The family of a man who went missing in Victoria's Latrobe Valley last month say they "fear the worst" and are urging anyone who has seen him to contact police.

Two more Victorian police officers are suspended over the leak of unauthorised photos of former AFL coach and player Dean Laidley in a police station, as the state's corruption watchdog says it will oversee the investigation into the leak.

A Lifeline volunteer counts her work as a privilege and urges more people to volunteer, as calls to the support line jump to record highs.

A sixth-generation farming family living on the urban fringes of Melbourne are watching farming properties around them disappear because of the urban sprawl.

Prickles the merino sheep has been on the run from her Dunalley farm since the 2013 Tasmanian bushfires, but now she's out of self-isolation and ready for a trim.

A war veteran in outback South Australia is saving war memorabilia from being discarded, sold online, and hidden away in storage.

Australia's livestock feed supplies are under threat due to the drought, which is putting pressure on both domestic customers and the export market.

Bob the Railway Dog, an icon of Peterborough in South Australia's mid-north, is again being celebrated with a book detailing some of his many adventures.

Bungala Aboriginal Corporation chief executive blames funding changes for Emeroo Indigenous station closure.

Part of the Port Augusta Prison has been evacuated after a letter containing a mystery white powder was opened by staff.

Drugs including ice are readily available and "coming through the front door" of a South Australian jail, an inquest into a fatal overdose of a prisoner finds.

Horse sanctuaries close and horse owners are forced to consider putting their horses down amid an "unprecedented shortage of hay".

The husband of murdered outback nurse Gayle Woodford says new protections for nurses named in her honour are necessary, but is worried healthcare workers could still be at risk.

A contentious ecotourism project on Kangaroo Island has been approved and could lead the way for similar projects that will open up South Australian national parks currently "under lock and key".

A former military pilot from WA is being praised after switching his light plane's engine off when it flipped during a landing on a remote SA airstrip. He and his wife are in a stable condition in hospital in Adelaide.

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

A South Australian man is reported for allegedly selling alcohol without a licence after police uncovered about 800 litres of homemade alcohol at his property.

Dairy farmers say they are devastated a 10-cents-a-litre increase in the retail price of milk in July has not been passed on to them.

A South Australian woman, who killed a man by hitting him with her ute amid a dispute over the use of a trailer, is sentenced to nine years in jail.

The death of a frail and immobile prisoner at an Adelaide hospital in 2015 was not because he was shackled to his bed for three weeks, but due to natural causes, SA's deputy coroner finds.

A man who was a teenager when he murdered his relative whose bones were later found in rural SA receives a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment, but his non-parole period has not yet been set.

Two chemical leaks from metals processor Nyrstar have made their way into Port Pirie's groundwater and a waterway over the past two years, the ABC can reveal.

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.

More than 3,000 World War II wrecks lie in the Pacific Ocean of which around 300 are oil tankers. There are fears of environmental devastation as they begin to rust and leak oil.

A stalwart of rock band Rose Tattoo retrains for a role that will help him give back to the community.

NSW identity fraud victims want more done to stop imposters from using drivers licences to lodge bogus loan, credit and debit card applications.

Health authorities in Newcastle, NSW, have developed a vaccine safety tracking system, now a world-leader in monitoring the rollout of vaccines in Australia.

MORNING BRIEFING: Police release an image of a man they are seeking after a young woman was allegedly knocked to the ground during an attempted robbery, while a new health campaign recommends introducing nuts to babies before they turn one.

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 death in custody of Wiradjuri woman Rebecca Maher is ruled accidental but the inquest finds police failed to conduct a proper body search over unfounded concerns of HIV.

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 controversial plan to reopen a 'mothballed' coal mine in the New South Wales Upper Hunter Valley is approved, but a five-year extension on the mine's life is denied.