The weather serves as both a great unifier and obsession for most Australians and now the Bureau of Meteorology is about to bring in the next generation of online forecasting technology.

A crackdown on home loans emerges in the wake of the Banking Royal Commission, with borrowers being asked for deposits of up to 30 per cent and banks throwing greater scrutiny on location and living expenses.

Dr Barbara Anne York Main OAM, who died last week, was one of Australia's leading spider researchers and conservationists. She studied the world's oldest spider and championed their home at a time when both the environment and women were given no fighting chance.

An increase in the production of the trendy grains overseas forces a number of pioneering Australian growers to scale down production. What is the future for Australian farmers in the multi-billion-dollar superfood industry?

A 56-year-old woman has been charged with acts likely to endanger life for allegedly driving with her teenage daughter on the bonnet of a car.

Killer whales gathering in a newly discovered biodiversity hotspot off the south coast of Western Australia are communicating with Aussie accents, according to a research group studying the ocean's apex predator.

Catching a glimpse of snow at the top of Bluff Knoll is a highly sought after WA bucket-list item, but this history of snowfall in WA spans Geraldton to Southern Cross.

Australian companies are enjoying record high woodchip prices, with overseas demand especially form China pushing the price for premium chips beyond $260 per bone-dry tonne.

This online community is reaching out to asylum seekers, providing friendship and support.

Arm wrestling is often associated with a casual competition at the local pub, but professionals like Ryan 'The Milkman' Scott compete internationally and are working hard to grow the sport in regional communities.

The shared horror of losing family members to homicide has united two women in their quest to form a unique peer support group in Western Australia.

Concerns have been raised in Australia over the online sale of accessories that turn handguns into automatic weapons.

Australian farmers are grappling with the future of wheat exports as Black Sea nations like Russia and Ukraine increase shipments to Indonesia.

With WA moving closer to legalising voluntary assisted dying, the debate is shining a light on the desperate need for better palliative care, particularly in regional areas.

In West Cape Howe National Park on WA's rugged south coast, there is a narrow, twisting track with a fearsome reputation that has become a rite of passage for four-wheel drive enthusiasts.

Australia's $1.4-billion plantation woodchip industry is dragged into the US-China trade war, with a number of shipments to the Asian economic powerhouse cancelled in the fallout from the dispute.

African swine fever has depleted China's pig herd, creating a protein shortage that is benefitting Australian sheep farmers.

Praised for its "sweat characters and nuttiness", a Perth-based distillery and second-generation farmer from Western Australia's far-north have teamed up to create Australia's first red corn whiskey.

Close to the heart of gay rights campaigner Rodney Croome are two flags made from the dresses of drag queens who fought police in the Stonewall riots in New York. They'll now be preserved in a collection of memorabilia documenting the battle to change society's views.

DAILY BRIEFING: Man who's been on the run from police for almost two weeks caught, Madeleine Ogilvie takes her new seat in Parliament as an independent.

DAILY BRIEFING: A woman is in police custody after a house is in Lauderdale on Hobart's eastern shore is destroyed by fire and concerns raised over planned cuts to distance education teacher levels.

A man accused of deliberately running over and killing a stranger had post-traumatic stress disorder after an assault nine years earlier, a court has heard.

The Launceston City Council becomes the second in Tasmania to scrap its Australia Day celebrations and instead hold its citizenship ceremony on a less contentious day.

South Australia's recent "old mate" tourism campaign may have ended in tears both literally and figuratively but Tasmania is hoping to cash in on that controversy by releasing its own rival ad.

Scientists hope a drill that can plunge 3 kilometres down into an Antarctic ice cap and withstand temperatures of -55 degrees Celsius will help solve one of the last great puzzles in climate science.

Autonomous mining trucks and remote health tools are among key Australian technologies that NASA will need for its 2024 Moon mission, stakeholders say.

When there's a smell of smoke in the air, bushfire survivor Michael King still feels jittery. He describes it as similar to "how a Vietnam veteran might feel if he hears the sound of a chopper overhead".

While you hear about children choosing the same career as their parents regularly, the opposite is true for this mother-daughter police duo.

The Peck family want the Tasmanian Government to overhaul the Mental Health Act so clinicians can consider a patient's history and risk of self-harm when considering involuntary treatment orders.

A bench shaped like a butterfly marks the spot where seven-year-old Rebecca Jackson was fatally struck by a falling tree limb. For her family, it's provided a quiet spot to heal.

In the town of Miena there are just 100 people and human interaction can be scarce, but Kaylee Hattinger has done her bit to bring life to one of the coldest places in the country.

An archaeological excavation is approved at the site where one of Tasmania's most divisive colonial figures once lived, sparking concerns Aboriginal "spirits" will be disturbed by the dig.

Photos and documents show nurses in the Roy Fagan Centre for aged psychiatric patients use old pagers and duress buttons held together with sticky tape.

A cancer patient whose hysterectomy wound was split open after an assault by her former partner and carer, who has now won an appeal against his jail sentence, says she wants to see justice before she dies.

Terry Hodgetts, 80, reckons a lifetime of woodchopping has kept him motivated, and he wants to see more "young ones" get into the sport.

DAILY BRIEFING: A motorist is fined $963 and has had his car clamped for 28 days after allegedly being caught driving 172 kilometres per hour, and the University of Tasmania engages a "reputation protection" consultancy group.

A tent in his sister-in-law's back yard has been Paul's home for the past year, and despite government plans to build hundreds of affordable homes he is not optimistic of getting a roof over his head.

DAILY BRIEFING: A Launceston woman is rescued from a house fire, and a Tasmanian judge describes the actions of a man caught with ecstasy in his underwear at Hobart Airport as "immature".

Before moving to Tasmania, Malak Abdou was a veterinarian in Egypt. Now working on a farm, he's one of the lucky ones.

As Antarctic icebreaker Aurora Australis launches into its last season, there are many stories to tell, including a love story.

A mansion in Melbourne's east, newly constructed units and more than 3,000 acres of Tasmanian farmland are among the assets seized by Australian Federal Police as part of a two-year investigation into alleged money laundering by Chinese nationals.

DAILY BRIEFING: A fire that started north of Bothwell two days ago has been upgraded to emergency level, with firefighters pulling out because it is too dangerous.

The operators of a fast-food pizza shop in Hobart are fined $104,000 after a court finds they "deliberately" adopted a different payment system for foreign employees that saw the workers earn significantly less than their Australian counterparts.

Isabella Corbin can remember sitting on her dad's lap in the cockpit of his helicopter when she was just a baby. Two years after his death, she's determined to keep his legacy alive.

DAILY BRIEFING: TasWater has lifted a boil water alert that was put in place on Monday for Lauderdale, Acton Park, Roches Beach and Seven Mile Beach, but investigations into how the drinking supply became infected with E. coli are still underway.