Brooke Chandler is a reporter for ABC Illawarra, based in Wollongong.
Raised in the NSW central west hub of Dubbo, Brooke has a tenacious passion for regional communities and their stories.
She joined the ABC in 2023 as a journalism graduate from Charles Sturt University in Bathurst.
Brooke spent most of 2024 reporting from the NSW newsroom in Sydney before returning to Wollongong.
A charity in the NSW Southern Highlands says red tape is holding back its plan to help alleviate homelessness by building tiny homes on privately-owned rural land.
A radio call-out in Ireland has sparked a successful international effort to get a specialised replacement rugby league wheelchair sent to Sydney in time for a game today.
A school outreach program encourages young women to seek diagnosis, treatment and support for pelvic pain.
Fifteen Australians were among the 900 competitors who took on the gruelling Backyard Ultra World Team Championships at Kembla Grange.
South Coast passengers will get more than 200 extra weekly services from November 15, but they come with longer Sydney journeys and changes to airport connections.
In the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, amid debate about slashing migrant numbers in Australia, a rural GP practice is relying on skilled doctors from overseas.
By taking on three new international recruits, The Practice Bundanoon says it's been able to accept new patients and continue delivering aged care.
It's happening across the country: Census figures show nearly 60 per cent of GPs in Australia were born overseas.
Most of Australia's GPs were born overseas and, as political debate rages over immigration numbers, regional medical clinics rely on them to keep their doors open. But the process isn't easy.
Topic: Doctors and Medical Professionals
Jim Frecklington dies during the final stages of a build for King Charles III, but his team vows to see the work through.
Conservationists hope koalas will start using the first koala underpass south of Sydney despite research suggesting the native animal rarely uses them.
Topic: Endangered and Protected Species
The beacons are part of a safety program proposed by Wollondilly Council in memory of Lily Hooper who died while bushwalking in Nattai National Park.
Topic: Disasters, Accidents and Emergency Incidents
Police say a driver who died after colliding with a truck at Appin was about 50 metres in front of two police vehicles using lights and sirens.
Topic: Road Accidents and Incidents
A deer stranded on an ocean rock shelf near swimmers and cyclists in Wollongong is the latest example of pest species encroaching into urban areas.
Motor neurone disease advocate Bob Montgomery dies just one day after completing a 5,300-kilometre bicycle ride across Australia.
Bob Montgomery, 82, and his grandson Tom Malcolm, 18, have completed an epic cross-country cycling journey to raise money for research into motor neurone disease.
There have been six incidents involving falling tools and building materials at BlueScope, less than a year since contractor Jack McGrath was killed.
Topic: Workplace Accidents and Incidents
When bushfire and drought robbed farmer Peter Chauncy of his livelihood, he started chopping wood to sell. Forty years later, he runs one of Australia's largest firewood businesses.
The rail union says it raised safety concerns with a freight train operator about 24 hours before a major derailment in the New South Wales Southern Highlands.
Topic: Rail Accidents and Incidents
The family of a man who died in a workplace accident in Wollongong say they've found comfort knowing his donated organs are improving the lives of others.
Topic: Workplace Accidents and Incidents
The first case of the deadly H5 bird flu is confirmed in a giant petrel found on the NSW Mid North Coast.
Investigators are unable to work out why a take-off control was wrongly-positioned leading to a fatal plane crash at Shellharbour Airport last October.
Four decades ago, 92-year-old Roma Dix co-founded a braille music camp for visually impaired children. This week they're celebrating its 40th anniversary in full song.
A Wollongong man has pleaded guilty to using a carriage service to menace, harass, or cause offence after posting an online comment about Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
The Princes Highway remains closed in both directions as police investigate the cause of the crash.
Police on the NSW south coast are investigating an alleged hammer attack that has left a man with a fractured skull and bleeding on the brain.
One of Australia's most infamous "big things" could be moved to make way for a new supermarket in the NSW Southern Highlands.
Topic: Regional Development and Planning
