AUSTRALIA

Jacob Lavender, 11, was last seen on the evening of 30 December in Shalvey, Australia. Police officers searched the surrounding area but could not find him.

Rain interrupted the day's play on two occasions in the fourth day of the fourth Ashes Test between Australia and England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

The England opener was rarely troubled as he batted through the third day to end on 244 not out from 409 balls at stumps.

Officials in Melbourne have been left with a hefty clean-up bill after a Christmas party got out of control.

Cook was unbeaten on 104 as the tourists ended the second day on 192-2, 135 runs behind Australia's first innings total.

A new study reveals that an estimated 2,250 adult great white sharks are roaming off the western coast of Australia, prompting calls for aggressive measures to protect swimmers.

A fine hundred from David Warner and an unbeaten half-century from Steve Smith propel hosts to 244-3 at the close of play on day one.

More than a dozen people have been injured, including a toddler, after police say a car intentionally ploughed into pedestrians in the heart of Melbourne, Australia.

Flight attendants working from one of Australia's most popular tourist destinations were taken to hospital with the same symptoms.

An Australian women has endured 20 hours of surgery in Sydney after she was scalped in a gruesome sheep shearing shed accident in regional New South Wales.

The crest-tailed mulgara was thought believed to have been extinct in the Australian state of New South Wales until it was rediscovered out of the blue.

"This shows the surprising ease with which de-identification can fail, highlighting the risky balance between data sharing and privacy," researchers said.

Fatal balcony collapse in Melbourne, Australia, kills two women including Cheryl Taylor and injures 17 others as people gathered for office Christmas photo.

Australian commission publishes report that finds "catastrophic failures" by Catholic Church to address child sex abuse allegations and calls on Vatican to overhaul celibacy rule.

Australia's Channel 9 released an advert for the country's "biggest social experiment," Married at First Sight, but people are angry about how sexist it sounds.

Paedophile barred from boarding flight in Sydney under new Australian sex tourism law, which aims to stop sex offenders abusing children in developing countries.

Islamic leaders in Australia instruct muslims to stand in court and remove burkas if asked when giving evidence.

A 400 year-old mass grave has been discovered in connection with the Dutch merchant vessel Batavia, which was shipwrecked near Beacon Island off the west coast of Australia.

A hard working retired couple who have been paying into a life insurance for decades have been told that if they don't die before 17 January next year, they'll receive nothing.

An inquest into the disappearance of cult leader Simon Kadwell heard how police failed to fully investigate leads, including several reported sightings.

England could only add 57 runs to their overnight score of 176-4 as Australia moved a step closer to taking back the Ashes.