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Volunteers are the lifeblood of regional communities but over the past 20 years there has been a steep decline in volunteers. Now, there is a glimmer of hope that young people will join groups to pursue their passions.

Joanne Fourmile has been waiting for housing for eight years, in the meantime she's raised children and been treated for breast cancer while sleeping on a mattress on the floor of her cousin's living room.

When a town in Australia's South West was forced to switch off gas, residents were given a choice: use bottled gas or electrify. Now, electricity is providing more energy for Esperance than ever before and most of it is coming from renewable sources.

Last month the town recorded its hottest ever winter day of 40.2C.

King Island Dairy is the largest single employers on the Bass Strait island, but the factory and associated cheese brand is set to be closed next year.

After losing the region's only general practitioner earlier this year, the Shire of Gnowangerup will now have to spend $350,000 a year to ensure another GP can service its 1,200 residents.

Children in regional areas are waiting for months in pain and in some cases travelling thousands of kilometres to access urgent dental care as fewer private hospitals offer the procedures and public waitlists blow out.

A new study reveals the scale of Australia wildlife being smuggled overseas, with dozens of species recorded for the first time. But government authorities insist its crackdown is working.

United by fear of the harms of social media, and a shared nostalgia for a screen-free childhood, hundreds of parents in regional Victoria have shown interest in keeping smartphones out of their kids' hands for as long as they can.

While a proposed ban on live sheep exports sparked the rally, farmers have vented their anger over a range of decisions the federal government from water buy-backs in the Murray Darling Basin to biosecurity funding.

South West Victorian residents say a "corrosive" trend to sell fertile farmland to make way for foreign-owned wood plantations is ruining communities and threatening Australia's food security. 

As the cost-of-living crisis bites hard, consider the additional costs associated with living on a remote island.

Dairy giant Saputo will shut its iconic King Island Dairy in the middle of next year and discontinue its more than 120-year-old brand, after being unable to find a buyer.

A publican in north-east Victoria is questioning an understanding local councils have with businesses that results in poker machines effectively being banned.

Lithium-ion batteries are increasingly sparking house fires and changing the dynamic of the blazes that firefighters face.

In regional and rural areas with small populations, there is a high chance the first person on the scene of a fatal crash could know the people or person involved. Now, there are calls for more mental health support for first responders dealing with road accident trauma. 

After four years of increasingly dry winters in WA, beekeepers are warning of diminished hives, and biodiversity loss as fewer flowers bloom and pollen dries up.  

In small country communities, everyone knows everyone, but this makes escaping domestic violence much more complicated. In towns like Longreach, where there is hardly any crime, the problem is still very much behind close doors. 

Indonesian repeat illegal fishing offenders jailed in Darwin amid a surge in overseas boats. Authorities says they will continue hold public information campaigns in Indonesia to inform communities about the risks of illegal fishing.

An almost year-long legal stoush between a small South Australian council and Western Australia's tourism body over a trademark request has come to an end after the application was officially abandoned earlier this month.