Treasury says $27 billion in JobKeeper payments went to businesses whose turnover either increased or did not decline as much as required, but rejects calls to introduce a clawback mechanism and defends the scheme's design.

A fly-in fly-out mine worker tests positive for COVID-19 after arriving in Adelaide from Melbourne, then going to a hotel in a taxi, with SA Health now urgently seeking to identify close contacts.

After months of harsh restrictions, many in Western Sydney were keen for some retail therapy, waiting in line as shops reopened on the stroke of midnight. 

Victorian Labor minister Luke Donnellan resigns from Cabinet and moves to the backbench, saying he has broken party rules but "never misused public funds or resources in any way".

A parliamentary hearing in Canberra reveals that more than 280 Australian citizens or permanent residents remain stranded in Afghanistan almost two months after the Taliban seized power in Kabul, with around 26,000 Afghans applying for hum...

Senior insiders break their silence to expose what they endured at Sony Music under the reign of Denis Handlin — decades where appalling behaviour was normalised and ignored.

As Queensland marks another day with no locally acquired cases, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk confirms the state is at 70 per cent having had a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Follow live.

Vaccination rates among NSW's young adults continue to lag as the state officially reaches the all-important 70 per cent double-dose benchmark.

A judge says Sydney man Isaac El Matari "did a lot of talking" and there was a "low" chance of him launching a terrorism attack in Australia, as the 22-year-old is jailed for seven years.

South Australia's top health bureaucrat is distancing himself from a proposal to remove quarantining requirements for fully vaccinated interstate travellers by Christmas, saying such a deadline "hasn't come from me".

Australian researchers looked at common vape liquids and found a mix of carcinogens and other nasties, in the most comprehensive study of products available in Australia to date. 

The sentence given to an Adelaide woman whose "drug-fuelled dangerous driving" killed two "innocent" and much-loved brothers is described as not long enough by some of those closest to them.

NSW records 496 new locally transmitted COVID cases and eight deaths as many areas take their first steps from a lengthy lockdown.

He grew up in Tumbarumba in NSW and dreamt of going into space. Now Chris Boshuizen will be the third Australian to travel into space on board Jeff Bezos' Blue Origins flight.

Half of all calves born on Australian dairy farms live less than a month and farmers think there's a better option.

Researchers hope a "heart in a box" system being trialled at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne could lead to a 15 per cent increase in heart transplants in Australia.

British boxer Tyson Fury accuses his American opponent, Deontay Wilder, of being a sore loser after refusing to acknowledge him at the conclusion of their epic heavyweight trilogy contest.

Floods and cyclones are on the forecast, but that doesn't mean we are off the hook for heatwaves and fires this summer.

Indigenous artists and major arts organisations join forces to call for special measures to protect First Nations people living in remote communities, fearing the loss of culture if COVID-19 reaches vulnerable people, including Indigenous a...

American and Taliban officials have held talks in Doha, with a spokesman for the militant group saying the US will provide aid but is refusing to recognise Afghanistan's new rulers.

While it is not quite Freedom Day, New South Wales shops, pubs and restaurants are reopening and, if you are fully vaccinated, here is a guide to what's changing as the state passes its 70 per cent double-vaccination target.

Victoria records 1,612 new local COVID-19 cases and eight deaths, as the state government defends its plan to allow 10,000 people into the Melbourne Cup while residents are still not allowed to visit their loved ones in their homes. ...

Cincinnati Bengals kicker Evan McPherson had already kicked two match-winning goals in his rookie NFL season but missed twice against the Green Bay Packers on a torrid day for the kickers. 

Precious consignments of queen bees are arriving late, dead or not at all and breeders say there could be serious consequences.

A former Australian soldier who stormed an animal shelter with a fake firearm and kept a woman captive while attempting to recover his missing cat pleads guilty in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court.