2021 - Photos of the year by The Sydney Morning Herald photographers

Not long after deciding on a winter sport to pursue, Bree Walker’s family moved to tropical far north Queensland. Her unlikely journey could see her take the podium in Beijing.

Queensland health authorities have begun shifting some public hospital patients into the private system to free-up capacity ahead of the anticipated COVID case surge within weeks.

A witness to the shooting says he shook hands with a victim only seconds before they were shot dead.

The Australian Republic Movement’s advertisements include new slogans “we’ll take it from here” and “one of us, for us, by us”.

The family of Charlise Mutten say she has been missing since Thursday from their property at Mount Wilson.

The Immigration Minister has cancelled Novak Djokovic’s visa, NSW and Victoria are holding firm on starting the school year on time and there are changes to isolation requirements for teachers and childcare workers who are close contacts.

Novak Djokovic’s visa cancellation might be popular but will damage Australia’s reputation for years to come.

The “mystery case” is confirmed as infected from a source with the Omicron variant, hence advice that visitors to 14 previously announced exposure sites in Perth’s south should be tested immediately.

The week in photos from the award-winning SMH and AFR photographers.

Friends gathered outside the Mill Park home on Friday remembered dental nurse Poonam Sharma, 39, as a “good mum” to her daughters Vanessa, 6, and Angela, 10.

Scotch College says it conducted extensive background checks on the man it appointed to be its new principal, even though it has now sacked him before he got to start the plum new job.

Sydney residents have reported paying up to $30 for individual tests that appear to have been separated from larger packs and sold in resealable sandwich bags.

Sydney Morning Herald and The Age photographer James Brickwood travelled with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison as he visited multiple states during a busy schedule in December 2021.

Authorities say they will begin using the state’s quarantine hotels to house virus patients from next week as the state records 34,836 new COVID-19 cases.

More than 30 firefighters raced to the scene in Northmead on Friday morning and extinguished the blaze. A woman was found dead inside the home.

Premier Mark McGowan believes most anti-vaxxers will get the jab once Western Australia’s new proof-of-vaccination requirements are in effect.

Two midwives who were charged over the death of a Melbourne woman following a home birth have had charges of manslaughter struck out and won’t have to stand trial, nearly a decade after the tragedy.

As Roebourne hit 50.5 degrees on Thursday, inmates at the town’s prison were sweltering in an aged facility recommended for closure by the WA government in 2003.

A total of 23,630 new infections was reported on Friday, including 10,182 from rapid antigen kits and 43,913 PCR tests.

A union has called for urgent support for disability workers, including paid isolation leave, priority booster vaccinations and access to rapid tests.

If a 50-degree day is not enough to loosen the purse strings and spend $2 million addressing the 20-year-old human rights issue unfolding in Roebourne, it’s time the Premier and the boss of justice spent a summer evening bunking down in a Pilbara c...

The Country Women's Association of Australia is celebrating 100 years of service.

Queensland court staff have been consulted on a COVID-19 vaccine mandate, but while all judges are already vaccinated, prisoners and visitors to court will not need to get the jab.

WA’s isolated mining fly-in fly-out camps have been likened to islands that were very good at keeping infection out, but very vulnerable places during pandemics.

Today on Please Explain, senior culture writer Karl Quinn joins Nathanael Cooper to discover more about the Aussie accent.

Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant estimated that while up to half the state’s population could contract Omicron, not all will have symptomatic infection or even know that they’ve been infected.

The CWA is celebrating a century of activism. Behind the scones, there’s a quiet army raising funds for bushfire relief and so much more.

Arresting officers will ask all suspects and victims if they are Indigenous in a policy change that NSW Police says will provide improve data and create a fairer justice system.

As Omicron rages seemingly unimpeded through Victoria and the rest of the country, the public health response – and the politics – are vastly different.

Patients nearing the end of their hospital stay are set to be transferred to hotel quarantine in a bid to reduce the demand for hospital beds.

The Committee for Melbourne says lessons must be learnt from the Djokovic saga, which reflects poorly on the city’s international reputation as a major events host.

Politicians hate good advice from their rivals, but the Morrison government was getting good advice from its friends. And they ignored it.

Researchers have for the first time found elevated inflammation levels in unvaccinated people who caught the virus during the state’s first wave, indicating abnormalities in the immune system persist at least eight months after recovery.

Safe & Found was created by WA police and Australia Medic Alert Foundation to support West Australians living with dementia or a cognitive impairment who might be at risk of becoming lost or reported missing.

The Australian Republic Movement model for presidential nomination is hardly a “choice” for voters because political parties will control who gets on the ballot paper.

Higher School Certificate marks for the 2021 exams will be released four days earlier than planned, on January 20, after the NSW Education Standards Authority completed its marking ahead of schedule.

Health funds set new rates, shop owners threaten to blockade road over traffic signs and nation awash with floods in four states.

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

Matthew Leeds was due to start his new role this year, but the school confirmed on Thursday evening it would terminate his contract.

Deep thought should not forget the comrades.

Omicron pushes Queensland into an early dismantling of its domestic border regime as it approaches the next vaccine milestone.

Queensland will soon leave its hardline quarantine requirements behind. What does it mean for the multimillion-dollar, commercial-in-confidence and privately owned Toowoomba quarantine facility?

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk ending all interstate border restrictions on the same day she announced six deaths might seem counterintuitive. But it’s not.

With term one less than three weeks away, young teenagers will also be able to consent to a COVID-19 jab without a parent or guardian’s permission at state hubs, with NSW easing guidelines as vaccine uptake among children aged 12 to 15 stalls.

The federal government’s investigation into Novak Djokovic’s visa has widened, tens of thousands of people have registered their rapid antigen test results in NSW and most indoor dancefloors are now banned in Victoria.

For most of the 33 years until Scott White stood in a closed Sydney courtroom this week and uttered the words ‘Guilty, I am guilty, guilty’, the American IT entrepreneur Steve Johnson had endured a persistent message from the NSW Police Force abo...

NSW Health has ordered the organisers of a Hillsong youth camp to immediately stop singing and dancing at the event after a video sparked public outrage.

The former PM said the Australian Republic Movement’s plan would be “a massive shift in the current model of power”.

The best photos from the international wire agencies as chosen by our picture editors