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AFP failed to probe BHP bribery claims

Nick McKenzie, Richard Baker Federal police made a 'critical decision' to handball case to corporate regulator, which also ran no probe.

Assange sets out his stall for Senate ticket

Philip Dorling WikiLeaks founder says new party would press for stronger safeguards for personal privacy.

Whale of a time over for our monsters of the deep

Andrew Darby Moby Dick's descendants are in trouble. Sperm whales are failing to recover from whaling in Australia, 30 years after the great predators were last harpooned.

$3 million goes to dementia research

Six federal government grants worth more than $3 million have been given to top researchers at five universities, for studies into dementia.

Black vault for a deluge of secrets

The Australian government has been building a state-of-the art, secret data storage facility just outside Canberra to enable intelligence agencies to deal with a ''data deluge'' siphoned from the...

More with less: welfare groups pessimistic

Rachel Browne Not-for-profits say they're struggling with increased demand as government increasingly outsources services - without adequate funding.

Ancient wisdom sends message across the world

Rick Feneley First Nations leaders from Canada have found a potential model for their people's aspirations - and it comes from deep in Arnhem Land. Rick Feneley travelled with them.

Treasury boss calls for rate cuts as dollar falls

Peter Martin The head of the Treasury says the Reserve Bank should be prepared to cut interest rates further as the Australian dollar falls, if necessary temporarily breaching its target and allowing inflation to...

Perhaps a coffee before reading this - or maybe not …

Bridie Smith It's grim news for coffee addicts who like to keep themselves in shape. Scientists from Western Australia have found that drinking too much of the popular brew can slow the metabolism and lead to...

Scientists find link between too much coffee and weight gain

Bridie Smith It's grim news for coffee addicts who like to keep in shape. Scientists from Western Australia have found that drinking too much of the brew can slow the metabolism and lead to weight gain.

Australian jailed for Saudi terror support

The Perth-born man convicted of terrorism-related offences in Saudi Arabia has been sentenced to four and a half years in prison.

Accidental underclass

Michael Gordon and Bianca Hall It was the foundation stone of Julia Gillard's plan to stop, or at least substantially slow, the flow of boats.

The transformation of Hazel Hawke

Gerry Carman The debilitating haze of Alzheimer's disease began its capricious descent on Hazel Hawke in 2001 and three years later she noted in typically laconic Australian style on her 75th birthday: "It's a...

Hazel - a rock star's rock, a nation's role model

Damien Murphy There was something about Hazel Hawke that made Australians want to reach out and protect her.

Hollow promises: an enduring tragedy

Mark Baker Two young Aboriginal men share a terrible bond: the fate of each has become a shameful landmark.

Doubling of indigenous in prisons alarms leaders

Mark Baker Aboriginal leaders have warned of a crisis in the justice system with an explosion in the black prison population, a spike in the number of juveniles being detained and continuing high numbers of...

Native voices join together at conference

Rick Feneley What insights might the deer-herding women of Lapland offer Australia's desert Aborigines? What might the Inuit, worried about food security in the Arctic, learn from the Kalahari bushmen? And what...

NT leader signs on to disability scheme

The Northern Territory has signed on to the federal government’s national disability insurance scheme, leaving Western Australia as the only holdout.

Pictures shine a light on teenagers for whom pregnancy is barely a matter of choice

Julie Power Raphaela Rosella urged her twin sister to have an abortion when she became pregnant at 19. ''I was angry.