A District Court judge warns jurors deliberating in the trial of a Newcastle doctor not to bully each other as they deliberate on dozens of sexual abuse allegations.

The former superstar sprinter is set to undertake a trial with the Mariners ahead of a possible shock A-League move.

Football loves a sugar hit and the tabloid frenzy created by images of Usain Bolt in a Mariners shirt had the capacity to give the entire A-League Type 2 diabetes. But the FFA was right not to fund his Central Coast trial, Richard Hinds writes.

Usain Bolt has taken part in his first training session with the Central Coast Mariners, in a trial period seeking an A-League contract.

The eight-time Olympic gold medallist did not set the world alight at his first training session, but will be given all the time he needs to prove himself from Mariners coach Mike Mulvey.

The union between a struggling football club and one of the world's greatest Olympic athletes comes from way outside the box, but each party brings to the table what the other desperately desires, writes Tracey Holmes.

It was plain to see Usain Bolt's second training session with the Central Coast Mariners was gruelling and that he was giving it his all but believe it or not, coach Mike Mulvey is asking him for more speed.

The former fastest-man-in-the-world makes his professional football debut for the Central Coast, but in 19 minutes he wasn't able to make much of an impact.

Clown doctors in Outback Australia medicate paediatric patients with a regular dose of humour.

The eight-time Olympic champion has a two-year contract offer on the table from Maltese champions Valletta FC, increasing the pressure on Central Coast Mariners and the FFA to lock in a deal.

Usain Bolt has turned down a two-year deal to play in Europe, but that won't make Mike Mulvey and the Central Coast Mariners rush into offering the eight-time Olympic champion a deal.

The A-League confirms Usain Bolt has been offered a contract with the Central Coast Mariners, but it'sfor "much, much less" than what the Olympic great's camp has requested.

Usain Bolt's time with the Central Coast Mariners could soon be coming to an end, with the A-League club revealing any potential deal will need to include "financial contribution" from a third party.

Usain Bolt leaves the Central Coast Mariners after a trial, with the A-League club and Olympic sprint legend unable to come to a deal that would have extended the sporting experiment.

Eve van Grafhorst was almost three when she was diagnosed with HIV in 1985. Then she was banned from childcare, and eventually her family was hounded to New Zealand where they started a new life.

A NSW woman has started an anti-discrimination campaign demanding changes to the way people in wheelchairs can buy tickets to major events and access good seating.

NSW Police say they had worked extensively with the organisers of Lost Paradise to ensure the festival was drug-free. They say they're frustrated that drugs were still able to be taken into the event where a 22-year-old man has died.

A 22-year-old Queensland man dies after attending the Lost Paradise music festival on the NSW Central Coast as police reveal the sophisticated and bizarre ways revellers attempt to smuggle drugs in including inside a barbecue chicken.

Low pay, long hours and a cashless society threaten the viability of making music, as musicians are forced to look for new ways of marketing their bands.

Dissatisfaction with the major parties and the Murray-Darling fish kill could tip the scales in favour of the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party at the state election.

Central coast residents have launched a scathing attack on the NSW Government after recent works let tonnes of silt, clay and rocks wash into Bangalow Creek, renowned for its wildlife.

Betty, the piglet born with just two hind hooves, is saved from slaughter just in time for the Lunar Year of the Pig.

A disease that could potentially wipe out Australia's multi-billion-dollar livestock industry has been detected at Australian airports.

ABC Rural asks a group of industry leaders at this year's NT Cattlemen's Association conference to share their views on challenges and opportunities in 2019.

He dominated the world on the track and now Usain Bolt is determined to prove his worth on the football field as he begins life with the A-League's Central Coast Mariners.

In 2009 we were promised a fast National Broadband Network with optical fibre cables direct to most homes and businesses. Instead, we've ended up with a mix of technologies including optical fibre, copper wires, Hybrid Fibre Coaxial, fixed wireless and satellite.

The former operators of three sushi outlets in regional New South Wales are fined more than $380,000 for ripping off workers including junior employees and vulnerable visa holders.

A New South Wales community has a new plan for addressing the region's skyrocketing homelessness especially for vulnerable women.

After two serious assaults in the past two days, one in which an officer was punched eight times by an offender, staff from most NSW juvenile justice centres stop work to demand action for their safety.

Felicity Urquhart was meant to be celebrating her first solo album Frozen Rabbit with her husband Glen Hannah, but a month after its release, he took his own life.

Children as young as 10 years old are being routinely strip searched in juvenile detention in NSW with minimal or no contraband found, according to new data, and former inmates claim the searches trigger mental illness issues.

MORNING BRIEFING: A bushfire that threatened homes near Newcastle last night is brought under control, and nine detainees at a juvenile detention centre are charged over a June riot.

The father of murder victim Danielle Easey says he is waiting to come face-to-face with the man accused of the violent death of his daughter whose body was found wrapped in plastic and dumped in a Newcastle creek.

MORNING BRIEFING: The serial sex offender who raped and killed Sydney woman Janine Balding will not be released for another two years, while the North Ryde RSL club cancels a conservative event on abortion over security fears.

A Gosford judge describes Troy Johnson, a father of three who stalked and sexually assaulted a 12-year-old girl as she walked to school, as "hideous" and "depraved" before jailing him for almost 30 years.

MORNING BRIEFING: The average petrol price in Sydney is expected to jump to $1.66 by Thursday the highest level in more than a decade while a man dies in a house fire in Sydney's west.

MORNING BRIEFING: Dozens of firefighters from South Australia head to New South Wales as back-up for weary RFS workers, and two people are fined after a banner is hung from the Harbour Bridge.

A major overhaul of all New South Wales juvenile correction facilities is underway, with an independent review into a riot at Central Coast facility exposing systemic failures and consistent violence.

A ride-share driver is charged with dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm after he allegedly ran down a group of teenagers while under the influence of alcohol on the central coast in the early hours of the morning.

Although the State Government is investigating the pollution as an issue of "grave concern", Terrigal Beach will not be fixed before summer.

A judge denies bail to an 18-year-old ride-share driver accused of getting into an argument with a group of passengers before ramming his car into two of them.

Private collectors snap up dozens of artefacts from the Third Reich at an auction, showing the popularity and value of Nazi military memorabilia is on the rise.

An 18-year-old Parkes man is charged with murder and firearms offences police allege he shot his neighbour after a dispute over barking dogs and said the two men "were not great friends".