AN AUSTRALIAN man has been charged with the rape and murder of Jill Meagher, who went missing in Melbourne last week.

Adrian Ernest Bayley, 41, appeared at a special court sitting in Melbourne this evening Irish time.

It is understood the body of the 29-year-old Irish woman has been found.

Officers from the Victoria Police homicide squad missing persons unit arrested Mr Bayley, from the Coburg suburb of the city, as the search entered its sixth day.

Mrs Meagher, from Drogheda, Co Louth, was last seen leaving a bar in Melbourne in the early hours of Saturday after a night out with colleagues.

Her husband, Thomas (31), raised the alarm when she failed to make the five-minute walk to her home less than a mile from Bar Etiquette in Sydney Road, Brunswick, after leaving about 1.30am local time.

The case took a twist after a handbag containing several items believed to belong to Mrs Meagher was found in a lane off Hope Street. It was not discovered in an initial search of the area.

Mrs Meagher had been out with colleagues from Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) radio.

Her disappearance sparked a huge social media campaign to find her, with well-known presenters from ABC helping to spread the message.

CCTV footage released by the police in Australia showed Mrs Meagher talking to a man in a hooded top on the night she vanished.

Officers had been trying to trace six people in total who may have seen Mrs Meagher after she left the bar. One man is understood to have come forward.

There has also been a witness report that a car made a U-turn on the street after Mrs Meagher walked past.