Latest National News

Australia's embassy in Dubai will continue to support businessman Matthew Joyce and his family as they battle against his 10-year jail sentence.

Foreign Minister Bob Carr says a four-year court case involving two Australian businessmen in Dubai has taken an "indefensible amount of time".

Melbourne's Catholic archbishop has apologised to abuse victims over what he says is one of the darkest periods in the church's history.

A senior member of the Australian Labor Party says the ALP should focus more on communities and less on promoting market power ahead of the September poll.

Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart has defended the delay in petitioning for a convicted sex offender priest to be laicised, saying "better late than never".

Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart has admitted the church covered up child sexual abuse and was slow to act against offenders.

After a ruling last week by the Federal Court, the Victorian government has watered down its code that cracked down on building unions.

A 65-year-old Gold Coast man is facing multiple rape and sex offence charges over incidents dating back to the late 1990s.

Gregory Charles Cox told his alleged victim "over and over again" he had a lot of money after he forced her to give him oral sex, a Sydney court has heard.

A Santos well near the Queensland-South Australian border has been plugged, after leaking nearly a quarter of a million litres of oil.