Australia

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>

Crowd Riots Outside Australian Hospital After Girl's Murder
A 5-Year-Old's Murder,
Riots, and Now Charges
UPDATED
May 3, 2026 6:40 AM CDT

A 5-Year-Old's Murder, Riots, and Now Charges

Jefferson Lewis was charged on Saturday night in the death of Kumanjayi Little Baby

(Newser) - A week after a 5-year-old disappeared from an Aboriginal town camp near Alice Springs, 47-year-old Jefferson Lewis has been charged with her murder. Northern Territory Police say Lewis was also charged on Saturday night with two counts of sexual assault in connection with the death of the girl, identified for...

Marathon Swimmer Beats the Crocs—and the Record

Andy Donaldson broke world record by swimming 34 miles along Australia's croc-infested Ord River

(Newser) - Well, he beat the record and he beat the crocs: Scottish-Australian swimmer Andy Donaldson swam 34 miles in a remote Australian river he was sharing with about 5,500 crocodiles in 11 hours and 51 minutes on Tuesday, reports ABC Australia . That beat the previous record handily by four hours,...

Tourist Swept From Rocks at Scenic Australia Site

Man drowned after he was dragged out to sea at natural spa pool in Western Australia

(Newser) - A tourist's visit to one of Western Australia's most Instagrammed coastal spots ended in tragedy on Monday. Police say a man in his 20s from Southeast Asia was climbing on rocks at Injidup Natural Spa, near Yallingup, when he was swept into the water just after midday, caught...

Australia Plans Big Tech Tax to Fund Local News

'News bargaining incentive' plan aims to raise $250M annually

(Newser) - Australia says big tech companies have a choice: pay news outlets or pay the taxman. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has unveiled draft legislation that would slap a 2.25% levy on Australian revenue from major digital platforms—currently Google, Meta and TikTok—unless they strike fresh deals to pay local...

Surfer Survives 'Torture' From Ocean's Venom King
He Met Ocean's Most
Venomous Creature—and Lived
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Apr 26, 2026 9:29 AM CDT

He Met Ocean's Most Venomous Creature—and Lived

Australia's Guy Rowles returns to the waves after nightmare box jellyfish sting in Fiji

(Newser) - An Australian surfer's " wild experience " in Fiji had nothing to do with the waves. Guy Rowles, 30, says he was hit with pain that felt like "fire" after a brush with what is described as the ocean's most venomous creature: an irukandji box jellyfish. A...

Road Trip Break Turns Into 3-Hour Outhouse Ordeal

Woman was stuck up to her waist in collapsed pit toilet (i.e., in poop) in Australia's Northern Territory

(Newser) - A roadside bathroom break in Australia turned into a three-hour ordeal for one woman who ended up stuck up to her waist in a collapsed pit toilet. Authorities in the Northern Territory say the individual, traveling with her husband and two children to Canberra after visiting family in Darwin, stopped...

Rebel Wilson Faces Defamation Trial Over Instagram Posts

She's accused of inventing sex harassment claim after film star, producer shared a bath

(Newser) - Rebel Wilson's text messages and Instagram posts are now under a judicial microscope in Sydney, where a young co-star says the actor-director went public with a sexual harassment claim that never happened. Charlotte MacInnes, who appears in Wilson's film The Deb, is suing for defamation over Wilson's claims that MacInnes...

Aussie Hero Granted Bail on War Crimes Charges

Judge imposes strict conditions addressing Ben Roberts-Smith's flight risk

(Newser) - Australia's most decorated living soldier will fight war crimes charges from outside a prison cell—for now. Ben Roberts-Smith, a Victoria Cross recipient facing five counts of the war crime of murder over alleged killings of unarmed Afghan detainees between 2009 and 2012, was granted bail Friday in Sydney....

Australia's Richest Person Ordered to Share the Wealth

Judge orders royalties for rival heirs but upholds Gina Rinehart's mining rights

(Newser) - The mining company of Gina Rinehart , Australia's wealthiest person, has been ordered to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to the descendants of her late father's business partner. The decision, delivered Wednesday by a Western Australia Supreme Court judge, ends a 13-year battle involving the descendants of Peter Wright,...

Harry, Meghan Return to Australia, Raising Eyebrows

Couple mixes charity visits with lucrative private speaking engagements

(Newser) - Prince Harry and wife Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, have touched down in Australia for a four-day swing that blends charity visits with high-priced speaking gigs—and no public walkabouts, the BBC reports. Now private citizens rather than working royals, the Sussexes will visit a children's hospital,...

Cops: Man Killed Partner, Tried to Blame Kangaroo

Police believe fatal assault was disguised as Northern Territory car crash

(Newser) - Police in Australia say a kangaroo crash never happened, but a homicide did. Northern Territory authorities have charged a 33-year-old man with murdering his 27-year-old partner after he allegedly told emergency services their Jeep hit a kangaroo on a remote Outback highway early Sunday and his partner had "stopped...

Tiny Australian Town Hits Market for Just $400K

Sale includes roadhouse, four-bedroom home, and town's postcode

(Newser) - One of Australia's tiniest towns is up for grabs. Cooladdi, a remote speck in outback Queensland with just two residents and its own postcode, has been listed for sale at about $400,000, which the Guardian points out is less than half the cost of a typical Sydney apartment....

Australian 'Sovereign Citizen' Allegedly Kills 2 Cops
Dezi Freeman Killed
After 7 Months on the Run
UPDATED
Mar 30, 2026 1:30 AM CDT

Dezi Freeman Killed After 7 Months on the Run

Aussie man had been a fugitive since he killed 2 officers looking to serve arrest warrant

(Newser) - Dezi Freeman was shot and killed by police in the Australian state of Victoria early Monday after a seven-month manhunt, the Guardian reports. Police have not publicly confirmed Freeman's identity, but said that the incident brings to a conclusion Operation Summit, the investigation focused on the 56-year-old after he...

Woman Sentenced for Putting Googly Eyes on $89K Statue

Australia's Amelia Vanderhorst ordered to pay restitution, complete community service

(Newser) - An Australian woman who admitted to slapping googly eyes on a pricey city sculpture after downing three liters of vodka and MDMA is now on the hook for repair costs. Initially charged with property damage, Amelia Vanderhorst, 20, of Mount Gambier pleaded guilty to a graffiti charge on Tuesday and...

Among Shop's Plush Animals, a Very Real One

Brushtail possum appears on shelf at Australian airport gift shop

(Newser) - On shelves crammed with cuddly toy native animals in an Australian airport gift shop, one fluffy possum stood out: Its big brown eyes were moving. A browsing passenger first spotted a living Australian brushtail possum peering out from among the kangaroos on the display shelf at the departure terminal shop...

Most Iranian Women's Soccer Defectors Drop Asylum Bid

Players reportedly faced threats and pressure on their families in Iran

(Newser) - A high-profile defection story involving the Iranian women's soccer team is rapidly unraveling. The Wall Street Journal reports that of seven players and a staffer who sought to remain in Australia after refusing to sing Iran's national anthem at a March tournament, only two now plan to stay....

Katie Perry Triumphs Over Katy Perry in Aussie Court

Designer had sued singer over trademark

(Newser) - In the very long-running case of Katy Perry vs. Katie Perry, Katie Perry has won it in an Australian courtroom, reports ABC News . The nation's High Court ruled in favor of the Aussie clothing designer, saying that her trademark was unlikely to be confused with the American pop star,...

Australia: Iranian Soccer Players Don't Have to Go Home

Trump said US would take players from women's team if Australia didn't

(Newser) - Five members of Iran's women's national soccer team have been granted temporary humanitarian visas, giving them a path to permanent residency, Australia's home affairs minister Tony Burke said Tuesday. He said the players are now in a secure location under Australian Federal Police protection after seeking help...

Divers Finally Find 1877 Wreck, Aided by Wind Farm Surveyors

Divers locate City of Hobart steamer during offshore wind survey

(Newser) - A coal run that vanished in 1877 off the coast of Australia has finally turned up—after a modern hunt for wind power, not shipwrecks. The iron steamer City of Hobart left Newcastle, New South Wales, on July 21, 1877, with more than 600 tons of coal bound for Melbourne....

In Flooded Australia, Crocs 'Absolutely Everywhere'

Officials urge people not to swim in floodwaters, which have forced more than 1K to evacuate

(Newser) - Authorities in Australia's Northern Territory have a blunt warning amid severe flooding: stay out of the water. "There are crocs absolutely everywhere," police incident control acting commander Shaun Gill said Sunday, per 9News , after what he described as "independent reports" of people swimming in swollen rivers, where...

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>
Most Read on Newser