AAP

Australia's share market keeps breaking records - and overseas investors are clamouring for the benefits.

Senior public servants have been accused of outsourcing decisions on welfare policy to a private company.

Retail sales fell 1.5 per cent in Western Australia in April but merchandise exports continued to boom, hitting a record $205 billion in the previous 12 months.

Senior health bureaucrats have insisted a glaring lack of data about aged care workers' vaccination status will be fixed in coming weeks.

Patients in Western Australia's badly overcrowded public hospitals are having surgeries postponed as the system grapples with "unprecedented" demand.

Shares hit record heights for the second time this week on the Australian market, after investors could not resist materials and energy stocks.

The tax office is cracking down on dodgy company directors with a new identification system that will stick with them for life.

Western Australia has received its first repatriation flight from India amid concerns about a fresh COVID-19 hotel quarantine breach.

Australia's Chief of Defence Angus Campbell has conceded the country's involvement in the Afghanistan war will be "painted in hues" in the history books.

Investors are debating whether the Reserve Bank might be signalling it's about to reduce quantitative easing efforts after some subtle changes in the bank's language.

The Reserve Bank of Australia has left the cash rate unchanged at its monthly board meeting, reiterating that it is unlikely to rise until 2024 at the earliest.

At least 56,000 people have been left out of work since the JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme ended in March.

Mathias Cormann is preparing to take over as next secretary general of the Paris-based Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Nine Entertainment has completed deals with tech giants Google and Facebook that will mean it gets paid for its news content.

Scott Morrison is under renewed pressure to launch an independent inquiry into a decades-old rape allegation against Christian Porter, which he denies.

Australia's share market set an all-time high as it finally climbed above levels of early last year, days before the coronavirus crash began.

A rise in renewable electricity and curbed transport industry activity have helped to drive down Australia's greenhouse gas emissions.

The Australian economy may be growing at a solid clip with confidence at multi-year highs, but there are few signs people are willing to take on a loan outside of housing.

Westpac chief executive Peter King wants the corporate sector to be allowed to step in and help Australia's flagging vaccine rollout.

Investors are making a mockery of the saying 'sell in May and go away', after the ASX200 notched a record closing high and the All Ordinaries claimed a record high.

The first phase of evidence has concluded in a royal commission into Crown Perth, with the focus on the regulation of gambling in Western Australia.

Greg Hunt has fiercely defended Australia's sluggish vaccine rollout in a series of heated interviews, with the federal government under fire over the Victorian lockdown.

Qantas could soon offer frequent flyer points and other incentives to Australians who get the coronavirus vaccine.

ASIC is in line for a new program designed to stop it imposing too many fees across the economy.

Victoria's coronavirus lockdown has sapped confidence on the share market as some companies brace for a considerable hit to sales.

Australia Post has stopped short of apologising to former chief executive Christine Holgate or heeding calls for the organisation's chairman to resign.

The Commonwealth Bank has bought stakes in an online shopping group and power retailer as it tries to keep pace with innovative online rivals.

New figures suggest next week's crucial economic growth figures will get a major boost from business investment and finalise a complete recovery from last year's recession.

Financial regulator ASIC is taking wealth manager AMP to court for selling life insurance to dead people – one of the controversies from the banking royal commission.

Australia has backed Joe Biden's calls for a fresh investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic.

Talk of rate rises from New Zealand's central bank and falling iron ore prices have prompted investors to send Australia's share market lower.

A report into Christine Holgate's acrimonious departure from Australia Post has called for the prime minister to apologise and the chairman to resign.