Sydney lord mayor Clover Moore is fighting for a historic fifth term at Town Hall as voters head to the polls today for 124 councils across the state.

Long-term camping on private property and opening homes to workers are among measures to counter a worker and housing shortage that will bite just as we take holidays.

Inner-city residents used to silent nights during lockdowns will be asked to call police as a last resort and put up with the noise of people “living, having fun and connecting” again.

While Australians are spending more on food delivery apps today than pre-pandemic, getting a hot meal on time has become more expensive and difficult in recent months in Melbourne.

Health authorities are expecting to announce several additional cases of the Omicron variant in south-west Sydney on Sunday.

The stage is set for Town Hall showdown in City of Sydney elections.

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

Protesters have taken to the streets of Melbourne again this weekend at the Eureka freedom rally.

After the success of TV shows like Love on the Spectrum, a new film school in Melbourne is training Victorians with a disability to be producers of films – not just the subject of them.

There is no shortage of superheroes at this weekend’s Oz Comic-Con Homegrown convention at the Sydney Showgrounds.

Leaders in the ‘freedom movement’ are now fighting to stop their cause from losing steam – and relevance.

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

Clover Moore is expected to secure a record fifth term as Sydney lord mayor, as nearly 5 million voters went to the polls in council elections across NSW.

Hazel Craig studied art and design in Dunedin, New Zealand, but soon realised there were bigger horizons to conquer.

Two siblings with severe autism have made remarkable progress in their intellectual development, such that specialist schools will no longer accept one of them.

The man, believed to be in his 40s, was taken to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital with multiple serious stab wounds.

State health authorities say there are no known cases of the Omicron variant of the virus, as South Australia tightens testing requirements for visitors from Victoria.

During the last 20 years of her life, Karen Casey was involved in numerous projects promoting Aboriginal reconciliation.

Greater Adelaide declared a hotspot from Sunday morning and masks may return as new Queensland COVID-19 cases give the state a sign of what it might expect as borders open.

Steffen Faurby thanked staff and announced it was his last day of a two-year “journey” after signing a five-year contract at the beginning of 2020.

Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant has described NSW’s Omicron cases as a “rapidly evolving situation”, with more infections likely to be announced today.

More than 5 million voters in NSW are being urged to vote early to avoid crowds at polling booths on Saturday, December 4.

When the only avenue for assistance is contacting the Education Minister with your concerns, well, suffice to say it’s an indictment on the system, a West Australian teacher writes.

A rare variety from the Great Southern and home-grown beer brewed in Burswood have respectively earned major gongs at prestigious awards ceremonies.

Outgoing police chief Mick Fuller has doubled down on criticism of the William Tyrrell investigation under Gary Jubelin, saying Mr Jubelin illegally recording a suspect is what got him removed from the case.

Development interests hold too much sway in some councils. Saturday is your chance to vote them out.

The Tasmanian MP’s meeting with the Prime Minister was painted as a story of female weakness, but there’s another interpretation.

Zoran Stanojevic’s former wife says she has no idea where her husband was the night Ms Balmain - who was supposed to meet Mr Stanojevic at a Bondi hotel - went missing.

Liberals pursue government in state Parliament after public service spending on consultants grew by 300 per cent.

Premier Dominic Perrottet says it’s steady as she goes as NSW deals with the latest coronavirus threat – but Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant is conspicuous by her absence.

The way our parcels are handled has changed a lot since 1929, but the spirit of gift giving has endured.

Victoria’s corruption watchdog will review the investigation of a Ballarat officer acquitted after punching his neighbour in self defence and breaking her nose following a complaint about conflict of interest and concerns about the impartiality of ...

Clover Moore is fighting for a fifth term as Sydney’s lord mayor. The five women vying to unseat her argue it’s time for a changing of the guard at Town Hall.

The detectives who spoke to Greg Lynn about missing campers Carol Clay and Russell Hill last month had never met him, but they had already built a psychological profile of the suspect.

As the NSW teachers’ strike looms next week, the union is using the same tactics that brought hundreds of thousands onto the streets of Sydney in the 1980s.

A whistleblower has warned parts of the ageing Bayswater Power Station are falling apart and threatening to spew toxic pollution into surrounding communities.

Returning to the CBD might be hard after six lockdowns, but there are benefits to shopping instore and working in an office.

Deep inside a concrete containment lab, Australian scientists in hazmat suits keep a watchful eye on a microscopic sample of Omicron growing in a lab dish.

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

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.

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.