It hurts the head to think.

The Docklands drone swarm will give its debut performance on Saturday, with 350 drones buzzing into the city sky to create colourful light displays after COVID-19 woes stopped a planned New Year’s Eve event.

NSW residents are required to report a positive rapid antigen test result from today, Victoria’s triple-zero service is under strain and Novak Djokovic’s visa saga has entered its sixth day.

With contact tracing essentially abandoned, some are asking why Australians should keep getting tested at all.

Doctors say many clinics can’t access the highly protective N95 masks, despite the state government advising medical professionals to use them, owing to a big jump in demand from ordinary shoppers.

Close to 60,000 additional COVID-19 cases were recorded in NSW in less than nine hours on Wednesday, with the true scale of the state’s Omicron wave emerging after the government mandated the reporting of positive rapid antigen tests. 

While consumers are confronted with empty shelves at the supermarket, farmers are having to plough produce back into the ground because there are not enough workers to harvest, transport and unpack it.

Fredrik Blencke, 49, has been charged with contravening an AVO and common assault.

First-year healthcare students and retired nurses will be among the recruits, as the nation records one of its deadliest days since the start of the pandemic.

Police are hunting for the alleged kidnappers of Condell Park man Omar Elomar, who was abducted from his palatial home on Sunday night before presenting at Bankstown Hospital 48 hours late.

The young girl was one of six children in the care of a couple in their 70s when she drowned in a pool.

Adam Brooks, the successful candidate in the Tasmanian Division of Braddon, fronted a court hearing on Wednesday.

Councils across Sydney are changing hands following the NSW local government elections.

The blaze, which was reported at 8pm Monday, started at Curtis Bay Beach in Dunsborough and burnt through 225 hectares, threatening lives and properties in the Meelup and Eagle Bay areas. 

Two officials allegedly entered an exclusion zone, halting construction, and refused to leave the site on two occasions.

Rubbish collection has been delayed in Melbourne municipalities including Moreland and Monash due to worker shortages, and the industry warns worse may be to come.

The mystery case is the first in WA unable to be linked to a known cluster since April 2020 and indicates there is undetected transmission in WA.

Despite the threat of COVID-19, Sydneysiders and expatriates flocked to Nielsen Park on Wednesday as temperatures hit 29 degrees.

Unions say early childhood educators are “frequently exposed to infection but have little support to get tested or to isolate”.

Partygoers were allegedly dancing and drinking without masks, behind blackout curtains and locked doors, contrary to snap restrictions that had forced cancellations on most other events.

This was meant to be our “hot vax summer”. But instead of going out to bars and clubs and boosting the economy, many young people are staying in to avoid the risk of COVID-19.

Some said Chamberlains would have never been convicted if defended by Barker.

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath clarifies that it is not mandatory for Queenslanders to stay home, but vulnerable people should stay away from heavily populated or crowded areas.

I am a specialist doctor, triple vaxxed, healthy, in my early 30s – but my “personal responsibility” hasn’t protected me from COVID.

About 22,000 new COVID-19 infections have been detected in the state, with more than 550 people now in hospital with the virus — including 30 in ICUs.

Labour – human beings getting out of bed and going to work every day - is the only thing that puts food on supermarket shelves, cares for sick people and teaches our children. And the economy doesn’t work when people can’t work.

Today on Please Explain, National Security and Foreign Affairs correspondent Anthony Galloway joins Nathanael Cooper to find out more about Aussie spooks.

The country’s head of state would be chosen by voters from a shortlist of 11 names selected by state, territory and federal parliaments.

Police are investigating whether the fatal school holidays stabbing was the result of an agreement to meet up and fight.

There are 2242 people in NSW hospitals with the virus, of whom 175 are in intensive care units.

NSW has announced it will be mandatory to register positive rapid antigen tests with Service NSW or face a $1000 fine. Here’s what you need to know about the system.

St John of God Health Care revealed the most popular names given to baby boys and girls born at its hospitals in 2021.

Queensland unions are concerned the health system and its staff will not cope with the surge of COVID-positive patients in coming weeks.

Investigators put out a call for information about the alleged assault on the morning of December 31, after the woman in her 20s was assaulted in her Yokine home between 12.30am and 1am.

The man and woman were each charged with murder, torture and failure to provide necessities of life.

The search for the girl would continue on Wednesday, with rescue crews still trying to access the area she went missing.

Thirty-five of Australia’s top academics, doctors and community leaders and have written an open letter to Australian governments, calling on them to reaffirm their commitment to open schools.

Scott Morrison has joined the wildly popular social media platform, but he seems less interested in listening to what young people want to say.

Over policy, no field should have a monopoly.

I recently had a distressing experience which I would like to see other vulnerable Australians avoid.

Allegations of bogus documentation and toilets appearing on top of garages have rankled neighbours in a usually tranquil inner-city street.

Many young people are not so much worried for themselves but fear unwittingly spreading the virus to more vulnerable members of the community.

School holiday care providers are slashing hours and cancelling programs as COVID-19 staff shortages force educators into isolation and parents to scramble to find alternative care.

Up to a dozen deaths and other adverse incidents are suspected of being linked to emergency call delays in recent months as the agency running triple zero faces staff shortages and rising demand.

Qld’s bid to combat the Omicron wave by postponing term one has some health experts worried it will affect students’ mental health, obesity levels and delay their development.

Scott Morrison and Dominic Perrottet seem determined to play “whack-a-mole” with our health.

Leniency for young cricketer, monumental unveiling and Brisbane thief’s timely arrest.

Trivia buffs: test your knowledge with today’s interactive superquiz and target.

Grotesque masks serve a dual-purpose

As the number of reported active cases across the state passes 100,000, experts say the real number is likely to be much higher, as concerns shift to pressure on the health system.