The idea of hugs, which Sunday’s press conference seemed to endorse after Thursday, were high on the list of simple things making Melbourne happy.

Melbourne’s sixth lockdown will end at 11.59pm on Thursday, NSW’s anti-corruption hearings begin today and the nation is edging towards its 70 per cent double-dose vaccination target.

Australia’s border rules are shifting fast as states pursue their road maps out of isolation. Here’s a wrap of where residents of the country’s eastern states can travel once new rules kick in on Friday.

We need some higher powers to help us if Australia is to lift its climate action targets.

Carnarvon is in shock after four-year-old Cleo Smith disappeared in the middle of the night while camping at Quobba Blowholes, a popular weekend spot 75 kilometres north of the township.

The ABC has announced it will review - and not before time - the way it handles complaints from viewers.

The Victorian government’s delay in allowing retailers to fully reopen as restrictions ease on Friday has been labelled hypocritical and impractical, with stores limited to outdoor shopping and click and collect.

New pools could be built in parts of Sydney Harbour under plans to improve the swimming options within the iconic waterway.

Postponed elective surgery procedures are set to return as early as next week as COVID-19 hospitalisations in NSW continue to decline.

A Seven West Media director says a report he commissioned from a Walkley-award winning journalist into war crime allegations was legally privileged and should not be produced in court.

It’s alleged the man twice attacked policewomen mounted on horses at anti-lockdown protests in Melbourne.

In Sydney, balloons, posters and smiling teachers welcomed thousands of students through the gates, as kindergarten and year 1 students became the first primary school children to attend school full-time since the end of June.

The young girl was last seen inside her family’s tent at the Quobba blow holes campsite at 1.30am on Saturday morning. When her mother woke at 6am, Cleo and her sleeping bag were gone.

The mayor also admitted spending $15,000 of his own money on branch stacking in Melbourne’s northern suburbs.

Queenslanders are being urged to get vaccinated ahead of hard reopening dates announced on Monday.

Look out beaches, breweries and basically anything that isn’t confined to 15 kilometres of home. I’m free and I’m comin’.

Parts of Queensland’s coast were hit by a band of severe thunderstorms, as a tornado was recorded south-west of Toowoomba.

Members of a Melbourne family are calling for a major overhaul of the state’s firearm registry after an inquest into their mother’s murder uncovered an “inadequate” police investigation and data that more than 100,000 guns remain missing.

The slight rise in infections came as the state geared up to end some of its restrictions on Friday.

A man who repeatedly raped his wife and whose years of brutal, cruel and degrading abuse left a judge struggling to find the words to describe his conduct has been jailed for 15 years.

Prosecutors will not push ahead with a traffic fine handed to prominent Brisbane councillor Jonathan Sri.

The Queensland government has released its COVID-19 vaccination roadmap, which outlines how travellers can enter the state.

Many of the men in the hotel are already medically vulnerable after being evacuated, because of health issues, from detention at Manus Island and Nauru.

Queensland will fully reopen before Christmas, with the Queensland government unveiling the key dates for the borders to be lifted.

Europe correspondent Bevan Shields joins Bianca Hall to discuss Norway’s clean-car evolution.

WA police commissioner Chris Dawson, who is in charge of the vaccine rollout, said he was confident the state would easily reach an 80 per cent vaccination rate but the final 20 per cent were proving trickier to convince.

Reece Walsh on Monday pleaded guilty to possessing the drugs and contravention of a police move-on direction in the Southport Magistrates Court.

At MLC School in Burwood, the heads of school were dressed in unicorn onesies to welcome kindergarten and year 1 back after more than three months of remote learning.

Sydney’s Chinatown struggles to recover from COVID-19 lockdown

Gas giant Santos has been given the go-ahead for its $3.6 billion development, which it says is vital to keeping prices down.

Primary schools across Melbourne welcomed back their prep students on Monday morning after more than 10 weeks of remote learning. There was relief among parents, but also anxiety over the high number of active COVID-19 infections in the community.

Senior Constable Robert William Eickenloff, 56, fronted the Brisbane Arrests Court for the first time on Monday.

Teeming with tourists before the pandemic hit, business owners say one of Sydney’s best known central city areas is suffering from neglect.

Her name is Eliza: A rare 1920s theatre organ has been saved to return to its original home, Melbourne’s Capitol Theatre.

Tens of thousands of prep students in Melbourne returned to school this morning after a 74-day absence.

Researchers say on-street parking spots take up too much space on Melbourne shopping strips, as Yarra Council asks the government for funding to avoid charging bars and restaurants for using “parklets”.

Police believe the pedestrians and motorists did not know each other before the confrontation.

As kids head back to the classroom for face-to-face learning, teachers in Broken Hill say their students are keen to get back to language and culture lessons.

Modelling undertaken by WA Health, including scenario planning for what WA might look like once COVID is allowed in, has been supplied to Premier Mark McGowan - however he has refused to release the documents.

A Northcote woman is keen to see relatives, see her kids go back to school and to re-open her beauty salon.

NSW Police charged 17 people with drug offences in Sydney’s eastern suburbs at the weekend, seizing $50,000 worth of cocaine and $35,000 in cash.

Christmas will be a super-spreader event in any state living with the virus. So what do we need to do now to achieve a decent festive season without too much risk?

The Morrison government’s apparent climate epiphany has been given the royal treatment in some quarters, but it may not shift the political dial enough to retain power.

Political donations have been at the heart of many corruption investigations. While the existing system remains, this will not change.

ABC’s executive board is whiter than a packet of Sunrise Calrose rice.

An open letter calls for a “truly self-determined” plan to stop attacks against Indigenous women, who are 32 times more likely to be hospitalised due to family violence.

More than 30,000 residents of Greater Sydney have been called up for jury duty, with trials set to resume from October 25.

Kindergarten and year 1 are the first Sydney students to return to school on Monday after four months of lockdown. Even though school won’t be back to its usual settings, many experts and parents believe it’s the right compromise.

Policy and action from the state government and the local councils - in this case, Campbelltown - could bring koalas back from the brink.

An examination of our 167-year history by former editor Michael Gawenda found The Age’s coverage has changed over the years, but has too rarely allowed Indigenous people to tell their own stories.