The Latest Breaking News from Danielle Bonica

While many Australians go to great lengths to avoid serving on a jury, Brent Phillips has been fighting for the right of deaf people to take part for almost a decade.

A Melbourne woman has been awarded a record compensation payout for abuse she suffered while in foster care — with a family she says the department should never have left her with.

Melbourne's planners have earmarked 128-hectares of land on the city's western fringe, which they hope will provide enough burial and cremation space for the next 150 years of population growth.

Australia's economy is still holding up on the back of household spending, but there are warning signs that a severe downturn is imminent — and small businesses are already seeing it in action.

Millions of Australians live with a disability, yet a costly private dental system is leaving thousands languishing on public waitlists while those who can afford to go private struggle to find someone who will treat them.

A field of endangered native wildflowers is damaged after a truck drives through a protected field in Melbourne's outer west, sparking fears of extinction as the city's sprawling population growth threatens grassland ecosystems.

The use of references in criminal sentencing is under scrutiny after revelations an outdated character reference was provided to help defend child-sex offender Jeffrey "Joffa" Corfe without his former employer's knowledge.

The family of a woman found beaten to death in northern NSW calls for answers from police about why it took them 55 minutes to respond the night she was allegedly murdered.

At the height of her gambling addiction, Bree Hughes was visiting up to seven venues each day. She's joined a growing chorus of voices urging Victoria to put the brakes on poker machine losses in the state's most disadvantaged communities.

Clare Goss and Anthea Parsons were grateful their sexual abuse complaint against a former teacher was proceeding to trial. But after watching him plead guilty to reduced charges, they say their experience at the hands of Victoria's public prosecutors left them feeling "abandoned".

Female cyclists say they should have been consulted about the design of a bike track which is part of the Victorian government's West Gate Tunnel project.