Sinéad Mangan

Steeped in colonial history and modern-slavery controversy, Oceania House, is getting a new lease on life as a place of healing.

Hollywood's horror shark still looms large in many minds around the ocean. Yet drones show people and sharks frequently and peacefully mingle, writes ABC presenter and keen ocean swimmer Sinéad Mangan.

Among the long rows of glossy publications that cater to the reading needs of home renovators, gold hunters, hobby farmers, celebrity watchers, and puzzle lovers, this newsagent is witnessing a resurgence in demand for print magazines. 

About 100 metres from the end of a runway earmarked to take spy planes for the Australian Defence Force and its allies, hundreds of vulnerable turtles are starving and dying.

The Defence Force is about to splash more than $500 million on this remote part of Australia to upgrade the airstrip to take more high-tech spy planes. Locals, already concerned about parts of the islands falling into the sea, are worried what it'll mean for their futures.

Scientists, looking deep into space, have long voiced their concerns that satellites are encroaching on their ability to study the cosmos.

Criminologists and academics say some members of community Facebook groups, fed up with crime rates, are endorsing vigilante action and stirring racial tensions in regional towns.

For millennia humans have gazed up at the wonder of the night sky, but what we can see is rapidly changing because of our quest to be connected.

Almost half of all maternity services in regional areas across the country have closed in a 25-year period, but advocates say small services can improve safety and should be reinstated.

"Wheeling and dealing" between then-immigration minister Scott Morrison and the mining magnate back in 2014 changed the face of regional Australia and the lives of those seeking a safe place to call home.

When Australian rough diamonds began surfacing in Europe, it was the first clue millions of gems were disappearing from the Argyle mine in the heart of WA's Kimberley.

In the gem business, knowing a real diamond from a fake is pretty crucial. Diamonds, just like people, have a unique 'fingerprint' and the technology to map them out is getting more advanced.

When George Clooney pulls off an elaborate heist in the movies, a sharp suit and some high-tech wizardry are the order of the day, but what happens in the real world?

After the Juukan Gorge scandal, Rio Tinto and traditional owners are in tough negotiations about what's left behind at Argyle in Western Australia's Kimberley region following 37 years of mining diamonds.

Rohan Milne is not your average jeweller. In fact, he's worked in some of the most prestigious and secretive ateliers in the world. Then came an email offering to sell him diamonds recovered from a heist.

Fire has been part of the northern Australian landscape for millennia but concern is growing that modern fire management techniques are doing irreparable damage.

People in search of Margaret River's good life have flooded the property market and pushed families out to the fringes, say local housing advocates.

No region of Australia is uninsurable at the moment, but leading scientists are warning that could soon change as premiums rise along with the mercury.

Western Australia's Department of Water and Environmental Regulation slams the mining industry's lack of transparency about a prolonged dust monitoring failure in the iron ore town.

Mining giant BHP has failed to meet environmental conditions of its licence for the world's biggest open-cut iron ore mine in Western Australia's Pilbara region.

Locals in Port Hedland are being offered money to sell up and leave due to persistent dust from nearby iron ore operations. Some say they are being ripped off, and there are concerns about the miners' commitment to curbing dust, particularly if they buy people out.

Lockdowns and travel restrictions have shuttered much of Australia's economy, but in the iron ore town of Port Hedland in WA's Pilbara region there is no sign of a slowdown.

"Because of the hazards in Canberra, the smoke and the heat we split up our family to find clean air for my daughter": Climate scientists hope this summer will make governments respond.

Australia has traded in live cattle to Indonesia since the late 1980s, but in 2011 the trade was stopped suddenly. Eight years on, traders on both sides say there are still aftershocks from the ban.

The climb closure at Uluru could motivate other traditional owner groups around the country to limit access to their cultural and sacred sites.