Senior ministers in the NSW government are eyeing a potential 95 per cent mark double dose rate.

Shops are welcoming back customers and Melburnians can again head to the regions.

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

Bennet Schwartz, a former employee at mining giant Rio Tinto, was arrested and charged by the AFP over a separate drug importation scheme.

Kids are splashing into Victoria pools as swimming lessons make a return. Parents, swim teachers and lifesavers say it’s important for them to catch up on lost time.

Victorians are enjoying new freedoms after the state hit a vaccination coverage target of 80 per cent of 16 year olds. Our photographers have been out today capturing all the action including a stormy start to the day.

Ramping issues at Perth hospitals and the provision of ambulance services to regional WA were two key issues raised at an inquiry into the delivery of the emergency service this week.

In the weeks before she was killed, Sandra Peniamina had planned to surprise her family in New Zealand and move back. What she was thinking in the final moments of her life will never be known.

Masks are off outdoors, Melburnians and regional Victorians are reuniting and shops and gyms are reopening as the state prepares to hit 80 per cent vaccination.

Melburnians will be able to reunite with regional friends and family from today, the Prime Minister has had a ‘candid’ phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron and former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian is due to front ICAC.

It took millions of photographs taken over 113 years to come up with a book that would capture our extraordinary city.

A large window pane was dangling from the eighth floor of a Paddington unit as strong winds hit Sydney on Friday afternoon.

Some Victorian residents will remain without power into the weekend after heavy winds downed power lines and severe weather warnings remain in place for parts of the state.

Queenslanders without their first dose have been warned they have only days left to do so, as health authorities reported a third day without a new local case.

Australia has a role to play in ensuring poorer countries get a fairer share of vaccines to achieve worldwide herd immunity.

A woman accused of calling the key witness in a slavery case and trying to talk her out of giving evidence in court has been committed to stand trial on a charge of trying to pervert the course of justice.

Two alleged leaders of Australia’s national socialist movement will face trial accused of an attack on hikers in regional Victoria.

Melburnians planning to celebrate the end of the city’s lockdown with a trip to regional Victoria are being asked to rethink their arrangements after storms led to widespread power outages.

MCA director Liz Ann Macgregor's highlights

Andrew Chapman owes his life to two organ transplants from different donors, a decade apart. The second came courtesy of his eldest child, Sarah last May.

Two men have told the NSW District Court of the lifelong suffering they endured as a result of being sexually assaulted by a teacher at The Armidale School.

Dr Evans was interviewed by police earlier this month, and referred to the state’s Health Care Complaints Commission, after allegedly telling police he had issued 400 vaccine exemptions with another 300 to be written.

A large-scale clinical trial has found common antidepressant fluvoxamine is very good at suppressing inflammation that lands COVID-19 patients in hospital.

Not so long ago, economists were telling us that “experiences” had more lasting value than acquiring objects. Yet now, we know our postal workers by name.

The dust cloud was associated with storm activity that created a severe 93km/h wind gust at Thargomindah.

It may not be everyone’s idea of fun at 6pm on Friday, but thousands of Victorians are booked in to hit the gym once they open their doors.

Today on Please Explain, football reporter Dominic Bossi joins Nathanael Cooper to look at what this means in the broader context of the sporting world.

Nearly two weeks since four-year-old Cleo Smith went missing and police say they have plenty of leads to follow up despite having no luck in identifying a car seen near the remote campsite she disappeared from.

A young man who shot dead his childhood friend with a shotgun, about 40 minutes after they had a “play fight” outside a Melbourne cafe, has been jailed for 24 years.

Police say no one was injured when a 23-year-old man was arrested after reports of a person with a gun on Bourke Street in central Melbourne.

The RAC Rescue helicopter is due to land at the scene around 11.30am with a St John Ambulance paramedic on board to treat the man before he is flown to Royal Perth Hospital. 

There have been hundreds of complaints about vaccine mandate breaches but only a small number of fines issued since Victorian businesses started to reopen.

Premier Dominic Perrottet says the NSW government’s ban on construction in the midst of the Delta-outbreak was a mistake.

Billionaire and Crown major shareholder James Packer has fronted the Perth Casino Royal Commission on Friday morning and admitted to oversights and governance shortfalls at Burswood.

Krispin Hajkowicz’s shock decision to bow out of the role just days from Jeannette Young’s swearing in as Governor, and weeks out from a border reopening, has the government now chasing another top doctor.

Heavy winds lash the state

Former UTS professor Dianne Jolley was given a prison sentence of two years and six months to be served in the community after she sent herself 10 threatening letters.

Public health authorities believe Victoria will reach the major 80 per cent vaccine milestone on Saturday.

Back then you were expected to shut up and get on with it. Doubts were for backroom staff and social workers, not hardened detectives.

It would only take a small number of critically ill coronavirus patients to overwhelm some of Victoria’s rural hospitals, medicos have warned, especially with cases expected to surge when the state reopens.

The AFP, which has joined the search for missing girl Cleo Smith, has access to high-resolution satellite imagery which could help solve the mystery of who took the four-year-old from a remote campsite in WA’s north.

Western Australia’s vaccine mandate has support from some sectors of the community others such as the construction industry have raised concerns. What do the experts think?

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

Despite the fact that the bill falls short of being an exemplar, it improves on current arrangements in respect of scrutiny and oversight.

The government’s own figures reveal hospitals and other vital health services are struggling to cope with demand, and doctors predict the strain will increase.

Mark Higginbotham, a former NSW Police officer, is speaking out for the first time about witnessing other officers bashing gay men in Sydney.

Sydney’s new River Class ferry fleet won’t be able to operate at night this summer, with the problem-plagued vessels yet to undergo substantial remediation of design faults.

Turns out the Celebrity Masterchef contestant has another pot on the boil.

A survey of teachers has found most believe the job is rewarding, but are unable to maintain work-life balance, leading many to consider leaving the profession.

University of NSW research has found a switch to cool-roofing options could drive down indoor temperatures in uninsulated homes in western Sydney.