Australia

Indonesian police have arrested an alleged people smuggler who has targeted Australia since 1999, Indonesian and Australian authorities say.

As summer nears, Australian rural healthcare workers are being advised to be on alert for a deadly brain disease after the death of a baby boy in Townsville.

Attorney-General George Brandis is warning the legalisation of gay marriage could take years if there is no agreement on the plebiscite.

A Sydney children's court has varied bail conditions for a boy accused of raping a six-year-old girl so he can go on a family holiday.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has met with to US security and defence officials in Washington.

A Jetstar plane was forced to make an unscheduled landing in Brisbane after the cabin filled with smoke.

Indigenous people are 2.3 times more likely to have a disease than other Australians, and six times more likely to have diabetes, a report has found.

An orphaned baby koala in Australia has found solace cuddling a fluffy toy marsupial in the absence of his mother as he recovers from the trauma of her death.

Australia has reached an out-of-court settlement with the owners of a Chinese coal carrier that ran aground in 2010 on the Great Barrier Reef.

A consortium of global and domestic funds, backed by investors including China Investment Corp, have agreed to buy Australia's busiest port for a higher-than-expected amount.

Nearly 25 years after Australia's Aboriginal people won the legal right to make claims on their 'country', they are fighting a new battle - a complex network of red tape required to manage the lands, a leading lawyer warns.

Australia is to make big cuts in funding from its renewable energy agency as it strives to plug a $6 billion budget shortfall.

Cancer is now Australia's biggest killer, overtaking heart disease for the first time to take more lives than any other ailment, a new health report shows.

A US judge has agreed to delay the terror trial of a former Sydney resident until after the presidential election amid claims "virulent anti-Muslim rhetoric" could dash his chances of an impartial jury.

Mining billionaire Andrew Forrest has used his private company to apply for thousands of square kilometres of mineral exploration rights over his cattle stations.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk wants other states to support uniform anti-gang laws to drive bikie gangs out of the country.

A class action has been launched over the estimated $500 million in stolen wages the Queensland government owes indigenous workers.