The Native Title determination includes areas coveted by developers and close to a resort proposed by billionaire miner Gina Rinehart.

A key health agency has approved the most significant change to hospital funding in a decade, allowing the states to experiment with service delivery.

People hoping to make the drive into Queensland from hotspot areas will have to wait until Monday for further clarity on whether they will be able to make the trip from the end of the week.

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

Regents Park Christian School has been closed for the remainder of the year, while authorities are investigating a possible transmission event at an indoor climbing centre in western Sydney.

Never had our suburbs’ “liveability” mattered so much as it did during lockdown. Now, it’s time to bring that experience to bear at the ballot box.

Victorian hospitals caring for pregnant women and newborns say patients are increasingly concerned about unvaccinated visitors, as midwives report a jump in home births due to virus fears and restrictive hospital rules.

NSW’s Omicron outbreak is expected to grow, Victoria’s new pandemic laws will come into effect in a fortnight and WA has closed its border to South Australians.

Queensland Health have detected a new case of COVID and listed more than a dozen new exposure sites across the south-east, with authorities to provide more detail on Saturday.

Severe thunderstorms were detected to Sydney’s west and south on Friday afternoon, bringing large hail and moving north into the Hunter region.

Hundreds of drivers on Sydney’s bus network will strike for 24 hours on Monday and Tuesday over an ongoing pay dispute.

It was a shock to Ray Whittacre when on Thursday he was told the state government intended to pass laws to prevent his carriage service entering the CBD.

A young athlete who represented Australia at the last Youth Olympics has been charged with rape after allegedly not using a condom during sex when he said he would.

Despite years imagining finishing the HSC, Year 12 student Kim Ponluskanapimol says he could not predict how his final year would end up.

A self-described ‘soldier of Islamic State’ who stabbed another woman in prison has been sentenced for a second terrorist act and had her jail term increased to 48 years.

The proceedings against The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald are scheduled to resume next year after a six-month pause owing to coronavirus restrictions.

The policy of “not jacking on your mate” has been a major theme in the first week of royal commission hearings.

The antics of our elected officials are very much like those of an ill disciplined, unfettered schoolyard mob.

A new forensic laboratory will examine hundreds of remains, hoping to identify some of the 2600 missing persons.

They’re a couple who have it all: now, Boris Tosic and his wife, Naomi, explain how they’ve made room for a terminal diagnosis.

Two men charged over the suspected death of Maryam Hamka have been heckled in court by supporters of the missing Melbourne woman after indicating they will contest their charges.

Former mayor Kent Johns declared he was not a close associate of developers despite having helmed a company with them.

Elaine Evans set out to greatly expand the range of legal services available to women.

Live music venues would be shielded from unreasonable noise complaints under a plan favoured by several City of Sydney mayoral candidates.

With fires, floods, lockdowns and the wettest November on record, the South Coast of NSW can’t catch a break.

Children’s commissioner demands the age children can be jailed rise to at least 14 after 10-year-old held in infamous Don Dale youth detention centre.

The Falun Dafa Association was initially offered a place in the event, run by billionaire Kerry Stokes’ Seven West Media, but the invitation was revoked 10 days later.

Want to chat? We’d love to hear from you. Send your letters to goodweekend@​goodweekend.com.au.

Today on Please Explain, Brisbane Times reporter Toby Crockford joins Nathanael Cooper to discuss the first week of the Royal Commission Into Defence and Veteran Suicide.

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

Two episodes of Unravel: Juanita were pulled by the ABC, but the podcast came second in the self-nominated Australian Podcast Awards.

Police believe their operation has smashed a major crime syndicate connected to the theft of more than $7 million worth of cigarettes.

Zoran Stanojevic, 63, was arrested on unrelated charges by police investigating the model’s disappearance in 1994.

A western Sydney school student has become ninth case with the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in NSW, with health authorities concerned the virus may have been acquired locally. 

The woman forced open the glass door of her Gold Coast room and fled on August 3. She was arrested four days later in Caboolture.

Some of our best photos of the year and top stories by The Age photographers 2021, the year in pictures.

The Gold Coast is again on high alert after genomic testing confirmed a COVID-19 case detected this week is not linked to other recent cases, suggesting hidden spread.

While the pandemic has been all consuming for the Herald’s photojournalists this year, other breaking news stories, natural disasters and social issues have also demanded our attention.

Emergency services were called to Glebe Street, in Sydney’s inner west, on Friday morning following report a child had been hit by a car.

Working from home and homeschooling are being blamed for an increase in eye problems among adults and children.

Police said the body of jockey Chris Caserta had been found about 200 metres offshore near the sand pumping jetty at Main Beach. 

A group of women who attend a Perth gym have taken out the major prize, with one telling how she scrambled to join the group entry using coins found on the floor of her car.

Speaking publicly for the first time, the former student who was suspended in 2016 following a dispute over the use of kids hospital burns money has revealed to WAtoday the mental anguish she suffered.

On issues relating to women, Morrison walks among landmines. Rachelle Miller’s latest claims against Alan Tudge show how dangerously and unexpectedly one can detonate.

Questions surrounding suspended Perth Modern School principal Lois Joll’s pursuit of a $10 million auditorium over better science facilities and relief teachers were raised with the Department of Education in 2017.

This weekend’s election is a serious political contest - without the mudslinging.

There’s no easy solution to Melbourne’s embarrassingly low number of statues of women, but help could be at hand in a couple of storage lockers.

Detectives say former escort boss Zoran Stanojevic was part of a Serbian organised crime gang that allegedly cultivated cannabis at two Sydney properties and co-ordinated the theft and sale of luxury goods.

A man has been charged after he allegedly assaulted eight people, one as young as 11-months-old, and then two police officers after a violent attack on a Brisbane train on Sunday. 

As Victoria recovers from the damage to our economy, health and society caused by the pandemic, we need to start looking at new ways to build back better.