A Sydney mother describes how she and her children were forced to flee on foot through the bush as a fast-moving bushfire closed in on the wooden holiday house they were renting.

Opinion is divided about whether men's Test matches should be reduced from five days to four, but the Australian players don't want to see any change to the traditional format.

University of Melbourne researchers have found rates of self-harm among asylum seekers as high as 260 per 1,000 people on Nauru, but say unreported rates are unknown and they expect the real figures to be much higher.

A 70-year-old man is remanded in custody over a string of alleged child abuse offences uncovered in a joint investigation between NSW Police, Northern Territory Police and the Australian Federal Police.

More than half of Australian nursing homes are understaffed, with residents having less access to qualified nurses than ever before, the aged care royal commission hears.