A teenager suing the Australian government to overturn a ban on social media for under-16s says the measure would make the internet more dangerous for young people and be widely circumvented.

A woman was killed and a man was seriously injured in a shark attack on a beach near a popular surf spot on Australia’s east coast, authorities said.

The Australian city of Darwin’s international airport remained shuttered on Sunday after a tropical cyclone brought destructive winds to the Northern Territory capital overnight.

More than 70 schools in Australia and New Zealand were closed for cleaning after asbestos was discovered in widely used children’s play sand products.

Nine people attending a school fair were pelted with giant hailstones in a supercell thunderstorm, as Australia’s east is warned more wild weather is on the way.

More people are dying from flu than COVID-19 in Australia in a disturbing turning point for the nation’s health.

Australian authorities are investigating after an 80-year-old woman who was left behind on a Great Barrier Reef island by a cruise ship was found dead.

Australia and New Zealand both face damaging winds and heat this week, with the New Zealand meteorological agency on Wednesday warning conditions will deteriorate on Thursday.

A sophisticated cannabis crop has been dismantled, with police seizing thousands of cannabis plants worth $15 million.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese cited an Australian aid worker killed in Gaza, along with journalists and “tens of thousands of civilians”, in a speech at the United Nations where dozens of leaders met on Monday to promote Palestinian statehood.

Australia has officially recognised the state of Palestine, marking a shift in long-standing foreign policy, as Anthony Albanese walks a fine diplomatic line with the nation’s most important security ally.

Weary of bomb threats to mosques and schools and mounting levels of persecution, Muslims in Australia are calling on the government to take Islamophobia seriously.