May 18, 2013 After years of putting jobs, relationships and lives on hold for their sport, Australia's world-beating female cricketers are about to take a big leap towards professionalism.

May 18, 2013 Military police in Afghanistan made prisoners more 'pliable' by gagging them and depriving them of sleep.

May 17, 2013 A week after the launch of one of the most talked-about pieces of public art in Australia in recent years, Patricia Piccinini's whimsical Skywhale, Robyn Archer has learnt a few hard lessons about how the arts are perceived in the wider world.

May 17, 2013 As crime across Australia drops, credit card fraud continued to rise as part of a six-year upward trend, according to the latest Australian Institute of Criminology facts and figures report.

May 17, 2013 The federal government's biggest department is spending $30 million hiring casual and short-term labour while shedding more than 2400 of its permanent staff.

May 17, 2013 Australia has again suspended the transfer of suspected insurgents to some Afghan prison facilities in Tarin Kowt following allegations of abuse.

May 17, 2013 Archibald Prize winners are usually full of praise for their subjects, but Max Fontaine would hardly be telling the truth if he had only kind things to say about his three-year-old sister, Lila.

May 17, 2013 Some of Australia's biggest retailers are facing threats of a consumer boycott after failing to sign an international agreement to improve fire safety and working conditions in Bangladesh, following the country's worst industrial accident.

May 16, 2013 Proposed change to constitution to recognise local government will make clear that councils remain under the watch of states, in a bid to allay fears of a Canberra power grab.

May 16, 2013 Why can't we believe the budget forecasts? Why were they so wrong over the past decade? Does Wayne Swan decide the forecasts, as the Liberals imply, or does Treasury?