Australia

A media war is set to break out between the union movement and employer groups in the wake of last week's decision to lower Sunday penalty rates for some workers.

Greater Western Sydney's Jonathon Patton will remain at the club until at least the 2020 AFL season.

Steven Freeman took part in a practice in which prisoners in a methadone program at the jail where he died would swallow the drug, then later vomit it up to share with other inmates, a coronial inquest hears.

Nationals MP Andrew Broad and Labor MP Pat Conroy are launching a new inquiry into modernising the power grid.

The Government's privacy watchdog wants answers from Centrelink staff who leaked a client's personal details.

A host of Australian sports stars throw their voices behind a new campaign to stamp out poor sideline behaviour.

The Catholic Church confirms it removed a NSW parish priest for inappropriate conduct towards children, but continues to house him on property neighbouring two Canberra schools.

Steven Freeman took part in a practice in which prisoners in a methadone program at the jail where he died would swallow the drug, then later vomit it up to share with other inmates, a coronial inquest hears.

George Christensen has resigned as the Nationals chief whip, reasoning he cannot be both a rebel and an enforcer of party discipline.

The Catholic Church confirms it removed a NSW parish priest for inappropriate conduct towards children, but continues to house him on property neighbouring two Canberra schools.

Greater Western Sydney's Jonathon Patton will remain at the club until at least the 2020 AFL season.

A new strategy for school canteens in NSW will ensure fruits, vegetables and other healthy options make up at least 75 per cent of menus, with "occasional foods" limited.

The number of syphilis cases reported in the NT jumps from 14 in 2012 to 229 last year.

Parks Australia is accused of burying its head in the sand regarding the management of a buffalo farm in the World Heritage-listed Kakadu National Park.

A senior territory lawyer urges the Government to take a proactive approach to helping children.

A failure of the National Broadband Network's Sky Muster satellite leaves about 65,000 consumers across regional and remote Australia without internet access for several hours.

The Queensland Government scraps its appeal against a Federal Court ruling that police were racist in their response to riots on Palm Island in 2004.

Many Australians suffering from lung cancer are wrongfully accused of being long-term smokers and are afraid of being judged.

A drug trafficker is awarded $100,000 in compensation after he says his diabetes worsened while in prison, but crime victims and lawyers might get all of that money.

Nick Percat will attempt to match his Supercars heroics from last year by defending his Clipsal 500 title on home soil.

A 19-year-old Burnie man who is charged over a crash that killed his teenage girlfriend and their baby faces the Magistrates Court.

Mange is not the only threat facing Tasmania's wombats, as more than 50 culling permits are issued in the past year.

A tourism project on the Tasman Peninsula is on again almost a decade after its developer, entrepreneur Dick Smith, shelved the proposal due to local opposition.

The Victorian Government announces plans to rezone 100,000 housing blocks and create 17 new suburbs in Melbourne's key growth zones in an effort to tackle housing affordability.

Australian politics has low levels of female participation compared to other developed democracies, but one program is aiming to change this.

A man who murdered his friend's mother in her family home is sentenced to 22 years' jail with a non-parole period of 17 years.

A WA police officer convicted of unlawfully using a tracking device to monitor a mate's girlfriend successfully appeals against the decision.

Federal Attorney-General George Brandis is asked to again explain to a Senate Estimates committee his involvement in litigation to claw back nearly $1 billion from Alan Bond's failed Bell Group.

A woman who killed her abusive husband in WA's Mid West is set to be released from prison within days after her parole was approved.