While Australia’s parliamentarians were frocking up for the Midwinter Ball last week, representatives of the nation’s authors, musicians and artists were in Canberra pleading for assurances that the government would not water down copyright laws, as part of a deal with giant tech firms to build $50bn worth of new data centres across the country.

Byron Writers Festival opens on Bundjalung Country on August 14 with a Calling to Country led by local Arakwal Bundjalung custodian, Delta Kay, and this year will feature the inaugural Rhoda Roberts Oration, honouring the late, beloved Rhoda Roberts AO.

A program called The Welcome Experience, which aims to ensure essential workers who move to the Northern Rivers establish meaningful connections and navigate their new communities has been boosted with a new 'Local Connector' position.

Lismore City Council says Lismore households recently threw away an estimated $670,000 by placing eligible drink containers in their kerbside bins instead of claiming their refund, while almost half the contents of red-lid general waste bins could have been recycled or composted.

On Sunday, a memorial was unveiled at the RSL Memorial Park, next to the Ballina RSL, to pay tribute to those lost on the night of May 4 on the Ballina Bar.

Lismore’s signature food, arts and culture festival, Norco Eat the Street, is making its highly anticipated return to the CBD on Saturday, 22 August 2026.