Can you get in a sneaky swim without going near the water?

A proposal by the NSW government to recruit an army of retired teachers and others to address staff shortages when school returns has been attacked, with a few exceptions. 

Police and rescue crews are still searching for missing nine-year-old Charlise Mutten, who was reported missing in the Blue Mountains on Friday.

Griffith University wants to bulldoze the building out of which came Australia’s first environmental studies degrees – and its architect is furious.

University of Auckland Professor Shane Cronin, a volcanologist, says there will “almost certainly be more eruptions” in the next few days and weeks.

There is new advice for exposure sites in Bentley, Bull Creek, Cannington, Jandakot, St James and Success, and new higher risk sites identified in Applecross and Mount Lawley.

The Victorian government on Sunday took delivery of the first 3 million RAT tests ordered for the state, but Premier Daniel Andrews said they’ll go directly to workers in critical industries.

As the finishing touches are added to the Wellcamp quarantine centre, the government is pondering who will use the facility, which will charge guests $3220 for a 14-day stay. 

For many Australians, Novak Djokovic has become the embodiment of the adage that one rule applies for the wealthy and powerful and another for the rest of us.

Con Theocharous remembers his father walked into Sydney Grammar School in the late 1970s and asked if he could have a scholarship. Then he finished in the top 1 per cent of the HSC.

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

The accused’s brigade responded to eight of the nine bushfires that the state police’s Strike Force Vulcan allege he lit during Christmas and New Year heatwaves.

It will be alleged that the man presented another person’s driver’s licence and vaccination certificate to the security staff at Crown, who called the police.

If Novak Djokovic is deported over his anti-vaccination views, he will join a list of other high-profile people either ejected from the country or prevented from travelling.

The first 3 million of the state’s rapid antigen tests have arrived, as the state records 28,128 new COVID-19 cases and 13 deaths.

A plan to ask recently retired teachers and principals to come back to work to fill in for infected staff would put some of the most at-risk individuals at the frontline of the COVID-19 crisis, according to a leading epidemiologist.

For those of us returning from beach holidays and camping trips, I sense our collective mental health and wellbeing is about to be tested.

NSW has recorded 34,660 new COVID-19 cases and 20 deaths in the latest reporting period.

The Gold Coast and areas south of Brisbane’s CBD continue to be the most affected from COVID-19 as Omicron spreads across the state.

South-east Queensland beaches from the border up to the Fraser Coast remained closed late on Sunday after a volcano erupted off Tonga triggering tsunami warnings.

Investigators seized a boat they hope will shed light on her disappearance and local police continued to search the area overnight.

Scotland Island has long been a refuge for artists, writers and musicians but, as the community experiences a “pandemic” boom, some residents fear the ‘sacred place’ will be tamed.

The week in photos from our award winning staff photographers and regular contributing photographers at The Age.

Hundreds of patients turn up at our hospital’s emergency each day, many needing a bed. But we can’t give them one. This is why.

Senior nurses and doctors say conditions in hospitals are the worst they have seen as they strive to cope with the impact of rising coronavirus cases and staff shortages.

COVID-19 capitalism to the rescue: I’ve got a few ideas for some new products to take us into our pandemic future.

They can’t say they weren’t warned. Now hospital systems are being pushed to the limit and ramifications - from health to the economy - are clear.

Even during COVID we need to ensure the mental well-being and general health by interacting.

Summer holidays in regional NSW have been marred by staff shortages, cancelled bookings and the threat of COVID-19.

Visitors and residents in a popular NSW South Coast holiday town can no longer drink the town’s water as the influx of people overwhelmed its water treatment plant.

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

I am a frontline health worker, stuck in bed battling COVID-19. It has given me an opportunity to reflect on what lessons can be learnt from this disaster.

Two men who allege they were sexually abused as teenagers at cadet camp are suing the prestigious Melbourne school they attended, seeking an apology and damages for trauma they say they endured for almost 45 years.

The data comes as Health Minister Yvette D’Ath flagged the possibility of new hospital visitor limits and staffing concerns at an aged-care facility amid 19,709 new infections reported on Saturday.

Central NSW has seen violent thunderstorms this week.

Margaret River Chocolate Company in West Swan has now been listed as an exposure site across two separate dates, on January 10 and 13. 

Former Liberal MP Craig Kelly said the decision to cancel the world No.1 men’s tennis player’s visa brought shame onto Australia.

The scheme was due to end on Sunday after being introduced in the first quarter of 2020, and the extension means deferred rent will automatically roll over for enrolled businesses.

People desperate for rapid antigen tests are turning to Airtasker, Facebook groups and friends overseas in search of the coveted tests as authorities investigate reports of price gouging.

The group were detained and five outlaw gang members were charged with displaying prohibited insignia.

About 1100 aged care homes across Australia are battling COVID-19 outbreaks, with 7014 active cases in residents and aged care workers.

The Ladye Chapel of St Francis’, the oldest Catholic Church in Victoria, is a place of great beauty and deep peace that is not disturbed by the constant turnover of people popping in to offer a prayer.

Queensland has reported six new COVID-19 deaths, including a person in their 20s, alongside 19,709 new infections and an increase of 60 patients in the state’s hospitals.

Ian Flett Robertson was an ophthalmologist and corneal transplant surgeon who devoted much of his career to establish the Lions Eye Bank of Victoria, to help facilitate corneal transplants and improve the vision of many Victorians.

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

The family company of Australia’s richest person Gina Rinehart plans to develop a new iron ore mine beside the homestead of her family cattle station in WA’s Pilbara.

Police said they had decided not to issue a fine to the religious organisation after videos of attendees singing and dancing without masks at a youth camp sparked public outrage.

Sydney Morning Herald and The Age photographer James Brickwood travelled with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison as he visited multiple states during a busy schedule in December 2021.

With the election fast approaching, Prime Minister Scott Morrison in a rare one-on-one interview reflects on a tumultuous three years shadowed by crisis and self-inflicted political wounds.

The world No. 1could safely have been waved in to make a fool of himself without making a fool of us.