Emergency services crews responded to reports a group of swimmers was distressed shortly after 2pm.

One of the reasons we have been so successful in navigating the pandemic is that we have listened to the experts in Australia.

Police are hunting two men who allegedly approached the injured pair in a shopping centre car park early on Sunday.

Scott Morrison has confirmed he wants Social Services Minister Anne Ruston to replace Greg Hunt as health minister should the Coalition win another term of government, Labor leader Anthony Albanese is in Queensland today and the PM is in Sydney.

It was standing room only for Melbourne’s largest Easter Catholic mass on Sunday, as the city’s religious leaders used the celebration to reflect on the world’s “moral responsibility” to Ukraine.

The week in photos from our award winning staff photographers and regular contributing photographers at The Age.

Buy from the Bush founder Grace Brennan and 12 regional business owners have set up stalls to show the cities the quality of rural retail.

As Ukrainian citizens flee for Poland, the people left behind confront the carnage of war.

Just 7452 PCR tests were conducted on Saturday, with 1587 cases confirmed, while 3525 cases came via self-reported positive rapid antigen tests.

Nearly 4000 licensed venues in Victoria have not renewed their liquor licence in 2022, leading to fears venues are either serving alcohol without a licence in breach of regulations or have closed their doors during the pandemic.

80 years ago, PM John Curtin announced that command of all combat sections of the Australian defence force had passed to US General Douglas MacArthur. Curtin called it “a momentous day for the peoples of the United Nations”.

The 27-year-old man was reported missing on Friday and was seen running into bushland on the NSW Central Coast before the critical incident.

The armed 24-year-old ordered a driving instructor to take him to Inala shopping centre so he could abduct the woman, police allege.

Easter is the paramount Christian celebration, commemorating the core beliefs of the faith about Jesus’ death and resurrection, but its connection to Christianity is relatively recent.

The Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique employs 33,000 researchers around the world, counts 12 Nobel Prize laureates and 12 Field Medal winners among its staff, and has just set up in Melbourne.

Otherwise healthy Australians under the age of 65 are unlikely to need a fourth dose of the coronavirus vaccine before winter.

Experts say uptake of this year’s flu vaccine has so far been promising as a jab-weary public once again roll up their sleeves.

The federal government ban on cruise ships lifts on Sunday, marking a major step in the country’s tourism reopening and pleasing the more than a million Australians who take to the seas each year.

The facility has accepted a fraction of Victoria’s 180,000 overseas arrivals in the past two months, raising questions over its future as the state prepares to scrap lingering coronavirus rules.

Sensitive internal emails have come to light after Transport for NSW terminated an employee for calling Crimestoppers about a murder.

Sydney’s Anglican Archbishop says the pandemic has led many people who drifted away from religion to reconnect with the church.

Is work “working” for you, or are you a casualty of the burnout culture? This long weekend is a good time for some unhurried attentiveness and to consider what matters most to us.

A Catholic priest nudging 90, Monsignor Tony Doherty chats to Peter FitzSimons about his life and beliefs.

Good messages allow us to believe that we are examining policy. But policies don’t win campaigns. Messages do.

Huge sums have been spent backing the race for more than 20 years. It’s now time to invest in events that deliver all year, for everyone.

A report filed as part of a defamation case by a farmer in western Victoria argues the stone arrangement he disturbed on his land is not a sacred site.

To maintain profits and meet their obligations to shareholders, the tobacco industry needs to addict a new generation to nicotine.

On the eve of his release from prison, Slava Pastuk has released a memoir of the events that led to five drug couriers from Toronto’s hipster subculture being arrested at Sydney Airport.

Ampol estimates over 700 litres of “oily water” washed over the suburb after a retention pit overflowed due to the heavy rain earlier this month.

A Dutch masterpiece has survived hundreds of years of dust, dampness and bug attacks to become a highlight of the National Trust’s art collection.

A painting unearthed in the Blue Mountains and long thought to be a copy may be worth up to $5 million after art historians confirmed it was a 17th-century Dutch masterpiece.

Students rely on strategy rather than honesty when choosing university preferences and short-change themselves as a result, a study has found.

As electric car ownership rises, how much charging power does your postcode have to fuel those vehicles? And what’s planned for the future?

Investigations began in July last year when Border Force officials intercepted a suspicious package that allegedly contained 135kg of gamma butyrolactone (GBL), the precursor to the so-called date rape drug GHB.

The harbour city is home to wealthy blue-bloods, many of whom are interconnected through marriage.

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

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese covered a lot of ground during the first week of the federal election campaign. There will be plenty more photo opportunities in the weeks to come before Australia chooses its next ...

A doctor being honoured with an Order of Australia for his work with people who abuse drugs, is calling for more GPs to join the ranks as demand for opioid treatment surges in the pandemic.

It’s a cultural and religious extravaganza in Melbourne this weekend, with celebrations across the city to mark important dates in the calendar of several faiths and ethnic groups.

Police are searching for three men after Jenny Elhassan allegedly had acid thrown in her face while live-streaming in Haymarket on Friday night.

Melbourne turned on some egg-cellent weather for about 4000 egg-cited children and parents at Rippon Lea Estate’s annual egg and spoon race on Easter Saturday.

Taxpayers have funded $55.6 billion in federal grants over less than four years sparking federal ICAC calls, while the Australian Christian Lobby has begun targeting Liberal MPs who crossed the floor on the religious discrimination bill.

On Saturday morning a member of the public called police and reported a plane crash landing between the river and the airport in Kununurra.

Sydney Ferries urged travellers to “consider alternative travel options” as services were cancelled due to staff shortages on Saturday.

Brian Corless, elder son of Daisy and Arthur Corless, was destined go far in drama and the creative arts.

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

The daily number has dropped significantly and testing figures are also down as the Easter long weekend begins.

The number of people with COVID in Queensland hospitals has dropped for a third day, as authorities stand firm against calls from business groups to ease close contact isolation rules for workers.

Police have released a facial reconstruction of an unidentified man whose severed head was discovered by fishermen in 1997.

From the street, nobody would guess what lies behind an old worker’s cottage in Chippendale and a terrace in Oxford Street. They’re like Pandora’s boxes, says architect Erik Rudolfsson.