Panel urges Australia to send boatpeople offshore
Australia should transfer asylum-seekers offshore to places such as Nauru and Papua New Guinea to deter boatpeople from risking their lives at sea.
Australia rescues more than 200 from asylum boat
Australia rescued more than 200 asylum-seekers from a boat off Indonesia, officials said Friday, amid reports navy ships are literally cracking under the strain of responding to a flood of boatpeople.
Australian jet lands in Antarctica on rescue mission
An Australian government jet carrying a medical team made a successful landing on an icy runway in Antarctica Thursday to rescue a sick scientist from the United States' McMurdo Station base.
Long-haul travel boosts illness risk for athletes -- study
The questions arising from a new probe which says elite athletes who have to travel very long distances are nearly three times likelier to fall ill than when they play at home.
Australia hits out at Facebook over 'racist' page
Australian Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has hit out at Facebook over its failure to immediately take down a page that stereotyped Aboriginal people as hopeless petrol-sniffing drunks.
Australian police chief attacks violent video games
One of Australia's top police officers on Monday criticised violent video games that glorify rape and murder, after a spate of high-profile knifings by young people.
Qantas pilot tests positive for alcohol
A Qantas Airways pilot failed an alcohol test after being removed from the controls of a passenger flight just minutes before take-off over concerns she had been drinking.
Jail for Hong Kongers after huge Australia cocaine bust
Two men from Hong Kong were on Friday handed lengthy jail terms in Australia after importing Aus$173 million (US$181 million) of cocaine hidden in lawnmowers.
BHP chief forgoes bonus after $2.84 bln US gas writedown
BHP Billiton on Friday said chief executive Marius Kloppers will forgo his annual bonus after the world's biggest miner was forced to write down the value of its US shale gas assets by US$2.84 billion.
Mother knows best: finches choose chicks' gender
Female parrot finches can match their offspring's gender to prevailing living conditions, producing more sons in lean times, scientists in Australia said Wednesday.
Australia smashes $500 mln Hong Kong drug ring
Australian police have seized half a billion dollars' worth of crystal methamphetamine and heroin after smashing a Hong Kong-linked international drugs syndicate.
Sea rise threatens 'paradise' Down Under
When Elaine Pearce left Sydney for the seaside peace of Old Bar 12 years ago she was assured her new house was a solid investment, with a century's worth of frontage to guard against erosion.
Australian gas rush set to overhaul Qatar's lead
Australia is set to become the world's biggest liquefied natural gas producer, with analysts predicting it will overtake Qatar by 2020 as it unlocks reserves that could last more than a century.
Australia warned mining boom could end in two years
Australia's mining boom will slow more sharply than expected and could be over within two years due to easing demand from China and falling prices.
Sleeping Australian teen in dingo incident
An Australian teenager told Wednesday of her sleeping bag being torn off by a dingo as she slept at a campsite, weeks after a landmark ruling that a baby was snatched in 1980 by one of the wild dogs.
Australian woman wins key thalidomide settlement
An Australian woman born without arms and legs after her mother took thalidomide during pregnancy on Wednesday won a landmark multi-million dollar settlement in her class action against drug firms.
Titanic II to have 'safety deck' says Australian tycoon
Australian billionaire Clive Palmer Tuesday said his modern-day version of the Titanic will retain the first, second and third-class divisions of the original and include a new "safety" deck.
People-smugglers 'using' Australian navy
People-smugglers have begun using the Australian navy as a collection service with asylum-seeker boats issuing distress calls even when they are not in trouble.
Australian study links breast milk to nut allergies
Children who are solely breast-fed in the first six months of life are at increased risk of developing a nut allergy, new research showed Thursday.
Quitting smoking adds even more pounds than thought: study
Quitting smoking leads to an average weight gain of four to five kilogrammes (nine to 11 pounds) in the first year -- "significantly" more than previously thought.
