A decorated Bungaree netballer accused of defrauding the Wathaurung Aboriginal Corporation has admitted to taking $240,000 of the company's funds for her own personal use. Read more.

Hundreds of people poured into the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute in a powerful display of solidarity with a Tamil refugee family facing deportation. Read more.

A small business owner is reeling after heartless thieves stole a valuable and integral part of his business – a cool room trailer. Read more.

A Ballarat woman has spent the last year photographing the “disgraceful” rubbish she finds dumped in the Enfield Forest. Read more.

Star forwards Jarrah Maksymow and Cam Richardson were always going to have a big say for Bacchus Marsh in the Ballarat Football League grand final at Eastern Oval on Saturday. Read more.

Foggy then a top of 12 degrees.

Need a national news snapshot first thing - well, we have you covered. 

► HUNTER: A teenage boy has described holding his bleeding cousin in his arms and promising him he wouldn’t die, after the 15-year-old from the Hunter was stabbed in the abdomen on Saturday night. 

The boy then picked up his cousin up and carried him along an alleyway towards some nearby homes to seek help. Read the full report.

► WIMMERA: River flooding is expected to peak on Monday morning after rain eased off over the weekend and water was diverted to multiple lakes.

With catchment areas soaked and many lakes full, the region is at risk of further flooding if heavy rains return later this month. More here.

► VICTORIA POINT: A man armed with a knife and wearing a balaclava robbed a Victoria Point petrol station on Saturday night.

The man threatened a 21-year-old employee with the knife, demanding money from her. Read on.

►ALBURY: A woman who had her head smashed into concrete three or four times at an APCO service station wants to remain friends with her assailant.

Court proceedings have prevented Akashia Sharram Bunker, 23, and the victim from contacting each other. But Albury Local Court has heard they hope to resume their friendship once it’s legal to do so. Read on.

►  MAITLAND: Dom Punch’s dream has been to drive again since he suffered a severe spinal injury a year ago.

That goal could become a reality for the 28-year-old through a modified, wheelchair-accessible van. But that van comes with a price tag in the six figure range. More here.

► BATHURST: The biggest time of the year – Race Week – is getting ever closer and Bathurst Regional Council has now announced the guide to off-track events. 

The popular Supercars driver and transport parade will take its usual route up William Street to Kings Parade, kicking-off a jam-packed week on Wednesday, October 5 at 11.30am. More here.

► PORT STEPHENS: Veterinarian Donald Hudson has always found time to treat koalas over the past 20 years and the results speak for themselves.

In the past four weeks alone he’s operated three orthopedic surgeries on koalas in his Noah’s Ark clinic, all of them destined for release. More here.

►Black Caviar is a proud mum once again after giving birth to Snitzel filly in the Hunter Valley on Saturday. Read on.

► A simple band of gold found in a Perth street has sparked a major Facebook search to find the wedding ring's owner.

Facebook user Tony Croce sparked the search after he found the ring on the road in North Perth near Coles. Read on.

► More than one in five NSW coal mining jobs have gone since employment peaked four years ago, the industry body Coal Services has revealed.

A summary of statistics for the 2015-16 financial year also shows the number of coal mines in NSW has fallen from a modern peak of 62 in June 2010 to 40 in June 2016. Read on

► Two NSW members of the outlaw motorcycle gang, the Nomads, have been charged with trafficking $750,000 worth of ecstasy after a tip off that the drugs were being flown as freight on a flight between Darwin and Sydney. Read on.

NEW YORK: An explosion in New York City neighbourhood Chelsea has injured dozens of people.

According to police reports, the explosion occurred on 23rd Street around 8.30pm on Saturday, September 17. More here.

RIO: Iranian paralympian Bahman Golbarnezhad has died following a cycling crash, Iran's national Paralympic committee has announced.

Golbarnezhad was competing in the men's C4/C5 road race when he lost control and crashed into the asphalt, breaking his neck. He was treated at the scene before being taken to a local hospital, but the 48-year-old later died. More here.

SINGAPORE: As Red Bull driver Max Verstappen approached turn 3 of Singapore’s Marina Bay circuit, he could never have suspected what would by lying on the road in front of him. Take a look.

1870: Siege of Paris by Prussian Forces begins (lasts until January 28 1871)

1893: New Zealand becomes the first country to grant all women the right to vote

1985: Mexico City 8.1 earthquake kills 12,000 and injures 40,000

1986: US Federal health officials announce AZT will be available to AIDS patients

Facts supplied: onthisday.com

Rhys Thomas was given three months to live, but almost three years on he is alive and recovering well thanks to a medical breakthrough lauded as a “penicillin moment” for cancer treatment.

Since being diagnosed with melanoma in October 2013, the New Lambton father-of-three and anaesthetist has been participating in a clinical trial for a new class of cancer drugs that work through immunotherapy. Read the full story.