The outbreak of the Delta variant in NSW has put a major hole in the economy, as state governments look to the future beyond the COVID-19 crisis.

The former prime minister has been fined $500 for allegedly failing to wear a mask as required by public health orders.

Sydneysiders flocked to beaches on Saturday as temperatures soared well above average.

The delays are so bad that renters and landlords haven’t been able to get a hearing date for their disputes to be resolved, leaving them out-of-pocket by thousands.

The Angair Nature Show will move online for the second year to share the wonder of the Surf Coast bushland’s stunning array of plant life.

Health Minister Martin Foley says there is no plan to lockdown sections of country Victoria after eight of the state’s 450 new cases were detected in regional centres.

The week in photos from the award winning Sydney Morning Herald and Financial review photographers.

Nikki didn’t inspect her Fitzroy North home before she purchased it. She’s among a growing group of homeowners who are buying sight unseen

The best photos from the international wire agencies as chosen by our picture editors.

Two men - one from Beenleigh and one from Tamborine - have died in separate traffic accidents in south-east Queensland overnight.

The owners of several of Melbourne’s iconic heritage theatres are threatening court action to recover tens of millions of dollars after high-profile shows like Harry Potter and Moulin Rouge were cancelled due to density restrictions to manage the C...

There have now been 170 deaths since June and 226 since the start of the pandemic last year.

The unprecedented emergency order means nursing assistants and people employed as ‘COVID vaccinators’ are now authorised to give the jab.

The Premier has warned parts of south-east Queensland may have to go into lockdown within days after five new local cases were reported on Saturday, but for now the region will remain open.

Detail contained in the latest payroll data helps explain why the Premier is erring on the side of reopening.

The appointment of Lorraine Finlay has horrified sections of the activist commentariat. But are her views so outrageous?

The road map to partial freedom is a relief for millions of locked down NSW citizens, but it comes with risks.

The Delta outbreak has cost NSW $11 billion in just twelve weeks, with the budget deficit now forecast to surge to more than $19 billion.

If NSW’s end to lockdown is to work, the public needs to trust its government’s decisions. That means making all the data public.

Whether, as Winston Churchill suggested, our buildings “shape us”, is debatable. But people should certainly shape their buildings.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton is on a mission to fix Australia’s complacency regarding China, but our nation must also look within to address the many threats to the lucky country.

Education Minister Alan Tudge says he wants history class to teach students to love, not hate Australia. Teachers say when they tried to question him about this on social media, they found themselves blocked.

The availability of faster rail will be the tipping point for city dwellers considering joining the droves of people migrating to the regions as a result of the pandemic, but most still will prefer to be able to walk to the station.

Australia has the largest surviving collection of 19th century prefabricated and portable buildings in the world, including NSW’s Legislative Council. It may look like sandstone, but it is all a Victorian-era trick.

In sexual assault cases, establishing consent remains the most vexed issue of all – as shown at the trials involving high-profile NRL player Jack de Belin.

Geelong, Lorne and Daylesford are among several areas where COVID cases have been detected, just as most of regional Victoria exited lockdown.

Portraits of a war-battered country, from moments of high drama to the superhuman will to endure. Contains graphic content.

I am concerned that by giving freedoms only to the fully vaccinated, while keeping the unvaccinated under tight restrictions, the government may achieve the opposite to what it intends:

Earlier this year anthropologist Peter Sutton and archaeologist Keryn Walshe put forward a critique of Bruce Pascoe’s celebrated book Dark Emu. Here the author seeks to explain his journey.

When Scott Morrison was given the job at Tourism Australia, he was already proving difficult to handle.

Western Sydney’s young workers have borne the brunt of this outbreak in several ways: they’ve been the least vaccinated and caught the most COVID-19 all while showing up every day to work in essential industries.

Trivia buffs: test your knowledge with today's interactive superquiz and target.

Melbourne fans near and far relish the Demons preliminary final win over the Cats in Perth.

More than 58,156 packed Optus Stadium for the historic AFL preliminary final between the two Victorian teams – a record venue attendance for a non-WA team game and a promising sign for the league ahead of the 2021 grand final on September 25.

Health authorities are racing to manage twin COVID-19 fronts after mystery positive tests from a school student and Griffith University staff member.

Health experts express concerns about NSW’s road map, Victoria’s Chief Health Officer is facing calls to hand down a reopening plan of his own and Brisbane is on alert after another truck driver was infectious in the community.

The national sergeant-at-arms of the bikie gang overcame the authorities’ attempts to keep him under control in NSW and despite COVID-19 travel restrictions.

Queensland health workers are facing an uneasy wait ahead of a predicted surge of Delta cases, with concerns over whether the hospital system can take the strain.

Project co-lead Professor Paul Young says the new version of the vaccine will target new and emerging strains of the virus, including Delta.

Some ultra-Orthodox Jewish worshippers – many from the strictly conservative Satmar sect – have been gathering since March last year during repeated lockdowns, to the frustration of police, Victoria’s Department of Health and the wider Jewish c...

Unvaccinated staff, even those who have a medical exemption, may have to take leave when the vaccine order comes into effect next Sunday.

Two people were driving along Woori Yallock Road in Cockatoo on Friday morning when a tree fell, Victoria Police believe.

No one told Muhammad Salman Shahid when he picked up his taxi for his shift in Melbourne that another driver had died in the same vehicle the night before.

Parts of the D’Aguilar and Bruce highways have been cordoned off as specialist police use drones to search for the man who allegedly fired shots.

After weeks under the toughest border regime in place between the states throughout the pandemic, wider cross-border travel will return with 12 NSW local government areas from 1am Monday.

A 34-year-old truck driver who recently travelled through New South Wales and into Western Australia has been charged over alleged breaches of emergency laws put in place because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

​Moses Obeid “could be dead by the end of the year” if he was sent to jail while Covid-19 was in the NSW prison system, his barrister told court.

Greg Domaszewicz must donate $100 to charity after a run-in with a group of cricketers over a remote-controlled car.

The opposition proposed a bill under which offenders could be punished for the public display of swastikas, with exemptions for their use by religious communities.

The footage allegedly shows a live rabbit being thrown into a bin of carcasses as another lies dead on the ground. Others appear to be suffering from open wounds and exposed bones.