Gyms, hospitality venues and retail shops in NSW will reopen under a roadmap released today as the state records 1,405 new cases and five deaths.

Fresh off a massive surplus, WA's budget could not stand in starker contrast to the rest of Australia. But with GST revenue boosting the bottom line, the Premier knows the fight now begins to keep it, writes Jacob Kagi.

Fully vaccinated NSW residents will get more freedoms soon. These are the ways you can prove you're protected against COVID-19.

This weekend it will be 20 years since Craig McMurtrie was the ABC's North America correspondent who had the "surreal" experience of reporting on the September 11, 2001 terror attacks from New York's Ground Zero.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says it's important for state premiers "to be determined and push through" until the country is living with COVID-19. Follow live.

NSW Cross-Border Commissioner James McTavish says he's optimistic Queensland will make rapid changes to its border policy after discussions this afternoon.

Australia's economy rebounded very strongly from last year's national lockdown and other localised ones, but there are reasons to fear the recovery from the latest NSW, Victorian and ACT lockdowns could be much weaker.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Defence Minister Peter Dutton have held high-level bilateral talks in Jakarta at the start of a two-week trip that will also include India, South Korea and the US.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian says it's not a "freedom day", but for lockdown-weary people in NSW, it's the date they've been waiting for. These are the COVID-19 restrictions that will be easing next month.

A group of Labor party faithful say parachuting Kristina Keneally into a Western Sydney seat is a snub to the community.

Three former Apple Daily reporters are taking the risk of speaking out to 7.30, saying they fear more media outlets could be targeted next. 

Just 107 of the new cases have so far been linked to existing outbreaks by contact tracers. The Delta variant is rapidly spreading in Melbourne's northern suburbs, including areas with some of the lowest vaccination rates in the state. ...

An ACT coronial report finds two children found dead after a house fire in Canberra's north had been killed before the blaze was lit.

Australia's COVID property boom is pushing more people into paying for costly mortgage insurance that protects their bank, while only adding to the borrower's mounting pile of debt.

The Prime Minister denies the government was slow to act on a Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine deal, and says the country's rollout is further ahead because the government prioritised its AstraZeneca deal.

While the ICC continues to discuss and deliberate, Cricket Australia has made its own views on the Taliban's treatment of women in the game perfectly clear, writes Tracey Holmes.

Lawyers say NSW's mandatory COVID-19 vaccines order or frontline workers breaches the right to privacy, as the Supreme Court hears four separate cases against the rules.

Two rising stars of women's tennis have plotted a path to the semi-finals of the US Open. Now, Emma Raducanu and Leylah Fernandez are ready to shock the world.

Novak Djokovic fights back from a set down against Matteo Berrettini to move through to the last four, as his Grand Slam goal stays on track.

The Ashley Youth Detention Centre in Tasmania's north will close within three years and be replaced by two new facilities, Premier Peter Gutwein announces, saying he is looking at "a new way forward".

Hundreds of thousands of NSW residents are set to come out of lockdown this weekend, but they'll go straight back into it again if residents don't abide by certain rules. 

Australia managed to evacuate a total of 4,100 people from Kabul after it fell to the Taliban, including hundreds destined for other nations. 

During its time as a colonial power, France took tens of thousands of objects from Africa. Now, one man says he's taking them back.

Several families that fled Afghanistan two weeks ago have been released from hotel quarantine in Adelaide and will now be given support to settle into Australian life.

Il Divo was no champion on the track, but that meant little to his trainer when it came time to save the life of a quirky stable favourite.