RARE PHOTOS: Broken hill | Vintage Vibes

Rain makes way for stars as bash ends on a high note

"There's nothing quite like Mundi," Noiseworks and INXS rocker Jon Stevens says as he headlines the closing night of Australia's largest outback festival.

AAP · Aug 21

Funding boost to protect kids from city's toxic legacy

A record multimillion dollar boost has been announced to tackle an outback city's lead crisis by doubling home cleanups, education and testing.

AAP · Jul 3

NSW Health continues to use machine known to produce inaccurate results to test child blood lead levels

LeadCare II offers point-of-care testing but the equipment has had recalls globally due to the potential for inaccurately low readings

The Guardian - AU · Mar 8

Community fights lead mine near primary school as report highlights Australia’s failure to protect children

Report commissioned by Mudgee health alliance suggests mine’s health and environmental assessments accepted by NSW government contain errors and outdated evidence

The Guardian - AU · Sep 16, 2025

Environment watchdog buried report on lead in children’s blood to placate mining companies, emails show

Documents tabled in NSW parliament show state agency took four years to publish report and told miners it would be put online ‘quietly’ but EPA says it was released to community earlier

The Guardian - AU · Sep 4, 2025

Sound no barrier for bands and fans at outback festival

With no neighbours to annoy as far as the eye can see, performances at Australia's largest outback music festival are loud and proud.

AAP · Aug 21, 2025

The canary in the concrete jungle: how polluted towns make sparrows frail, anxious and old before their time

Living in cities exposes people to all sorts of chemical pollutants. Many are harmful even at low concentrations. But it is hard to know what the risks and consequences might be.

The Conversation · Aug 14, 2025

Mystery, outback horror and a wandering protagonist propel Gail Jones’ The Name of the Sister

A side plot in one of Gail Jones’s most celebrated novels, The Death of Noah Glass (2018), involves a film-loving man who has recently lost his sight. Benjamin is desperate to enjoy thrillers again. He remembers watching, before his vision faded, the silhouette of James Bond, as iconic as a…

The Conversation · Jun 18, 2025

Wrecking ball for mouldy old school as plans unveiled

Plans for a new school in an outback mining town are being released amid preparations to knock down the decades-old facility after a mould outbreak.

AAP · Mar 24, 2025

'Scary': town could not call triple zero after storms

An outback town is still "flat out" recovering months after rolling power outages, which shut down a major mine and cut off phone services.

AAP · Mar 6, 2025