A Federal Government investigation has found no evidence a whistleblower onboard the livestock carrier Awassi Express fabricated conditions on the boat by switching off fans and ventilation.

It usually melts long before lunchtime but forecasters expect snow over the Stirling Ranges to linger into the midafternoon this Saturday as a cold front blasts the mountain peaks of southern WA.

A sea snake has washed up on a beach near Esperance on WA's southern coast, marking the region's first verified record of the typically tropical creature.

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

It is now decades since Todd Jefferis first raised the alarm about the sexual abuse atrocities carried out at Katanning's St Andrew's Hostel in Western Australia, but his fight for justice might finally be nearing an end.

The "extinction pit" is the name used by scientists for a place no animal wants to go, and just five years ago the numbat Western Australia's animal emblem found itself on the edge thanks to the rise of a new predator.

Tasmanian driver Alex Peroni sustains a broken vertebra but walks away from a spectacular crash at Monza in Italy, with his survival attributed to his helmet and the round bar which protects drivers' heads.

Lucienne Rickard will draw an extinct species every day for a year but at the end there will hardly be anything left to show for her work.

Formula Three driver Alex Peroni walks off a plane in his hometown of Hobart just one week after a horror race day crash in Italy.

A senior member of the Fertility Society of Australia has used a speech at the opening of the society's conference to criticise researchers for making negative comments about the IVF industry in the media.

Fire is "absolutely the number-one risk" to the city of Hobart, authorities say. But has the island state learnt from the 1967 fires that destroyed hundreds of homes and claimed 62 lives?

With just 34 return boat journeys made over a year, politicians are debating whether $200 million should be spent to build a taller bridge in Tasmania's south.

DAILY BRIEFING: Police allege a motorcyclist was doing more than 200km/h, and Tasmania's Basslink interconnector will be back up and running by Monday.

DAILY BRIEFING: The majority shareholders of Hobart Airport have sold a 70 per cent stake in the facility, and concerns surround the rejection of the Constitution Dock extension.

In a matter of weeks more than 50,000 virtual signatures have been added to an online petition supporting the formation of a Tasmanian AFL team, but it is unlikely to be enough to sway the AFL executive, writes Chris Rowbottom.

Jorgen Jorgenson visited Van Diemen's Land when it was first settled 20 years later he would return as a convict and former self-proclaimed king of Iceland.

The 24-year-old believes a move to change laws in Tasmania allowing survivors of sexual crimes to share their stories will give greater insights into how perpetrators operate.

Julie Gough's 25-year quest to tell history through art is captured across more than 30 works that range from unsettling to searing.

A woman has been left in shock and with a deep distrust of cyber security laws after her ex-boyfriend used an app to control her car and stalk her.

Single dad becomes unsung hero of a photographic exhibition championing men's health that is making a difference

Regional airports are deemed essential gateways between the city and country, but questions have been raised about how secure they are.

A vulnerable malleefowl chick is the first to be discovered in a South Australian wildlife refuge and comes after the last cats and foxes were removed from the exclosure.

A South Australian MP is calling for an increase in travel subsidies, coverage of services like Airbnb and Uber, and more flexibility for patients to see their own medical specialists under the state's Patient Assisted Transport Scheme (PATS).

Greenpeace questions the independence of the national offshore oil and gas regulator, amid revelations the authority will speak at a Parliamentary dinner in favour of oil exploration in the Great Australian Bight.

Survivors of sexual assault in regional Australia are driving for hours to access forensic medical examinations, even though any GP or nurse can be trained to administer them.

The Federal Government pledges to extend cashless debit card trials, designed to curb drug and alcohol abuse, but reports of the card's success are mixed.

Australian wool totals are forecast to be down by 12.7 per cent on last year a drop of 43 million kilograms, and the lowest yield since 1924, when the industry was much smaller.

A council in South Australia's Riverland is working to recognise the final resting places of people whose graves were unmarked because of the stigma of suicide at the time.

Regional Express Airlines says a video of what is claimed to be a rusty propeller shaft on one of its planes does not actually show corrosion, with CASA saying it had "no current issues" with the safety of Rex aircraft.

The forgotten language of the Barngarla people on Eyre Peninsula is being revived thanks to a dictionary written by a German Lutheran pastor in 1844.

The shrinking town of Poochera is pinning its hopes of survival on a big statue and a prehistoric ant, and locals say their plan may just be enough to save their home from dying out completely.

A plan to probe the Great Australian Bight for gas and oil using seismic testing is delayed, with the company behind the move confirming its testing will be postponed until next year.

South Australia's Emergency Services Minister says the Country Fire Service's new chief officer has "experience right across the world", as volunteers criticise their new head for his lack of experience of catastrophic fire conditions.

Aboriginal children will be excluded from a plan to boost adoptions of children in state care in South Australia because of cultural sensitivities around the Stolen Generation, the State Government says.

The South Australian Government is considering providing council rate relief to drought-affected farmers as the state opposition claims that South Australia is way behind other state support.

An expert policy advisor says until governments properly fund crisis accommodation for family violence perpetrators the risk to victims will only escalate.

A four-year study into faith communities has found Muslims experience acts of violence on an individual basis like no other religious adherents.

Amateur photographer Kristan Emerson is legally blind and is helping other people with visual impairments to experience travel and foreign cultures through his eyes.

The family of a woman who was sexually assaulted in aged care calls for better protection of vulnerable nursing home patients, as a former aged care worker is sentenced to one month in jail.