The Chinese dissident Rebiya Kadeer is in Australia to raise awareness about the plight of China's Uighur people. She joins the Dalai Lama and Steven Spielberg in trying to use the Beijing Olympics to turn global attention to China's human rights record. Kadeer spoke briefly to Phil Mercer, who sends this report from Sydney.

Retreats in Australia’s outback let eco-adventurers and wine lovers alike – of all levels and abilities – get off the grid in style with these getaways that shout, Visit me!

A new study says that the diets of Australia's migrants have helped to raise overall life expectancy in the country. Large numbers of native-born Australians still don't eat properly, however, a fact that is more than evident on Australia's famous beaches. From Sydney, Phil Mercer reports.

This April The Australian Ballet presents Jerome Robbins – A Celebration at the Sydney Opera House. The programme is a tribute to the world famous choreographer, on the tenth anniversary of his death, whose genius stretched across decades and art forms, from 30 April to 19 May 2008.

A simulated refugee camp has been set up in Melbourne to show Australians the sort of hardship suffered by millions of people around the world. "Refugee Realities" is the work of the charity Oxfam. The camp is set in an artificial desert, with fake landmines and security checkpoints. From Sydney, Phil Mercer reports.

Australian cricket coach Tim Nielsen says both the Indian and Australian players should not change the way they play the game.

The Federal Government has announced details of its promised health and hospital reform commission.

When Professor Garnaut was asked to prepare his report, there was a feeling around the traps that the report would be conservative and would probably fit within the confines of modest political action. However, Professor Ross Garnaut has shown that he is his own man.

The United States and Australia have reaffirmed their alliance in the first high-level meeting between the two countries since the installation of the new Kevin Rudd government in December. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte met Saturday in Canberra with Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith and Defense Minister Joel Fitzgibbon. Barry Kalb has details from VOA's Asia news center in Hong Kong.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has made a historic apology to the country's Aboriginal people for past mistreatment. Mr. Rudd said past policies of assimilation under which indigenous children were taken from their families were a 'stain on the nation's soul'. From Darwin in Australia's Northern Territory, Phil Mercer reports.

Australia is preparing to issue its first formal apology for past mistreatment of the country's Aboriginal people. The declaration by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will be the first act of the new government when the Australian parliament reopens in Canberra on February 13. It will acknowledge injustices suffered by Aborigines in the years after European colonization that began in the late 1700's. From Sydney, Phil Mercer reports.

It was the time of the Beatles, the Mavis Bramston Show, the EH Holden and prime minister Robert Menzies.