Burns Andy

Women in regional Australia are being funnelled into a multi-level marketing scheme promising a "multiple-six-figure business online" — but the "freedom" they seek comes at a cost.

A mother who requested her children be allowed to "sit silently" during the national anthem claims one was given detention by a private Christian school for refusing to stand.

Internal emails show an engineer asked the Ballarat Gold Mine management in May last year not to proceed with a handheld drilling trial without "minimum" ground supports "to ensure that we all get home to our families".

Reporters Charlotte King and Andy Burns detail the work that went into their investigation into freebirth in Australia.

There are no doctors, no hospitals, not even midwives. The women who subscribe say it's "empowering" and the only way to experience true childbirth. This is the world of freebirth.

The family of an Aboriginal man who died after an incident involving two security guards says new allegations of violence in the industry show lessons have not been learnt.

The public is paying for private security guards to patrol city streets, but they are in the dark about just what powers these guards have been given.

Documents show the Yarrabah Aboriginal Shire Council raised concerns with the state government over critical infrastructure failures more than a year before lead was discovered in the community's tap water.

Negotiations with a GP clinic stop a plan to start charging patients at Maryborough Hospital's urgent care centre, but it highlights the pressure the town's doctors face.

Providers from government-run hostels to elite boarding schools share in more than $170 million per year in ABSTUDY funding to support First Nations children going to high school away from home, however, stories of alleged abuse indicate better oversight is needed.

One stable dominates the harness racing industry — sometimes fielding an entire race with its horses. Insiders warn unusual races and betting mean integrity officers need to act.

A NSW council is under fire over its "cavalier" handling of a multi-million-dollar deal with a Korean-backed ethanol company, including paying $100,000 into an unknown bank account.

Black mould is being uncovered in the walls of defective apartment blocks, in what experts describe as an "absolute catastrophe".

A roadmap outlining how the religious right can "infiltrate" the Liberal Party with "Good Godly" candidates has been linked to a controversial former Liberal candidate and current member of the party's state assembly in Victoria.

Regional areas used to be places where people with low- to middle-income jobs like hospitality, retail, nursing or aged care could reasonably expect to find a home. Four Corners takes a first-hand look at the housing crisis that is forcing workers into cars and motels.

A Pentecostal church group in Gippsland is accused of branch-stacking to 'infiltrate' local Liberal Party branches and gain influence over the party's internal direction. 

A report tabled in parliament on the plans found there were "multiple points of failure" in the Education Department's efforts to get students back to school in the remote Kimberley town of Halls Creek.

The intrigue surrounding a superyacht that ran aground on a Queensland beach last month deepens, with the ABC uncovering a complex web of colourful characters and incidents.

Port Augusta's only aged care provider failed on every safety standard. Families say the system is exploiting vulnerable staff and residents.

Shaun Phillip Bloomfield and Luke John Merryfull, who are accused of sexually assaulting a woman in 2016, will now face court in Melbourne later this year.

New data shows one in five aged care residents are being given antipsychotic medication, and elderly residents are more likely to be given the drugs if they live in rural areas.

Queensland's peak Indigenous health body has become the fourth medical group to walk away from a controversial scheme that would dramatically expand the responsibilities of pharmacists in the state.

Victoria's environment watchdog is investigating a pet crematorium over allegations it's been dumping hundreds of horses in an unlicensed burial pit for more than a decade.

Leaked documents reveal departmental staff in NSW have flagged concerns over the "legitimacy and sustainability" of its kangaroo program.

A health policy expert says a massive shake-up of western Victoria's hospital system will benefit the region, but only if the government makes certain iron-clad commitments.