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.

Mandatory drug and alcohol testing for elected representatives could soon be a reality for a second Tasmanian council, but the proposal is proving to be divisive with one councillor labelling it "highly invasive".

More and more Australians are facing the prospect of random drug testing in their places of work. What does it involve, how reliable is it, and can you say no?

DAILY BRIEFING: Premier Will Hodgman says it is "improbable" mining exploration licences or leases will be granted to companies looking for coal on agricultural land, and the Hobart City Council is one step closer to drug testing councillors.

DAILY BRIEFING: Protesters fearing an imminent logging operation in Tasmania's Tarkine area are outside a government building in Hobart, as Labor calls for an investigation into how a 17-year-old escaped detainee custody.

If you thought it was hot last year, you're not wrong. The Bureau of Meteorology is warning there is little relief on the cards, with 2018's high temperatures and severely dry conditions expected to persist until at least March.

Oil and gas testing is set to take place in the Great Australian Bight this year, with the national petroleum regulator granting permission to exploration company PGS.

Visitors are travelling to outback South Australia for tours of the former atomic testing site, but traditional owners want to see the narrative refocused to tell their story.

Maritime collector Jamie Verhoeven dons a 70kg dive suit from the 1960s in shark-infested waters near Port Lincoln.

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 Police are investigating a video that appears to show an off-duty officer badly injuring or killing a wombat by throwing rocks at it, but an Aboriginal elder says it is a local hunting practice.

Thousands of scientists and soldiers once lived at the Maralinga nuclear site, but now it's home to just three people who are in love with the country.

The South Australian Government's attempt to reform land tax appears doomed to fail, despite an eleventh-hour bid to get the support of traditional Liberal Party allies.

The Swan Hill and Robinvale regions produce more $800 million in agricultural goods each year, but a "dangerous" C-class road connects them to Melbourne. The community says the lack of funding is a "human rights issue" and the system "needs to change".

There has been widespread disruption and confusion for passengers at Adelaide Airport as taxi drivers protest against Uber offering its services there. The airport announced yesterday that it reached a deal to allow ride-sharing services to collect people from the terminal, ending a monopoly by the taxi industry. But with most taxi drivers refusing to accept fares, weary passengers are being left stranded and told to catch buses or find other transport.

A prominent French journalist and his television crew are charged with trespass after being arrested while filming protesters near the Abbot Point coal terminal in north Queensland.

Police drop trespass charges against prominent French journalist Hugo Clement and his film crew, following their arrest while filming anti-Adani protesters at Abbot Point earlier this week.

On a small bush block some 50 kilometres out of Bowen in north Queensland, a group of anti-coal activists are living harmoniously while also training for civil disobedience.

Leaks from one of Adani's most significant contractors for its Carmichael coal mine, engineering firm GHD, show it has been rocked by internal dissent and management has been bombarded with complaints and questions about its work on the mine.

Rural independents are proving a difficult test for the Coalition in this election. But the pathway to parliament is harder than it might seem.

In their ruling, the three Court of Appeals judges say a couple who were inside the home had not done anything to "revoke or negate" the implied right for police to walk up their footpath and approach the door.

A rare copy of the nearly 40-year-old documentary Dirt Cheap, which details the early resistance against uranium mining in Kakadu National Park, is rediscovered in Darwin.

A deadly pig disease that has decimated herds across Asia has spread closer to Australia with the Philippines confirming it has tested positive to African swine fever.

The Home Affairs Minister called the environmental activists "anti-establishment".

Sussan Ley says she believes only people who have a "connection to farming" should be allowed to own water in the Murray-Darling Basin.

Irma Palasics was killed during a brutal home invasion in 1999, but her killers were never identified. Twenty years later, her family believe new forensic procedures could find the people responsible.

Astronaut screening programs have inspired a group of Australian scientists to study the individual personalities of 50 native rats and how they cope with environmental stresses.

Artists across Australia say they have mailed more than 1,400 artworks of the endangered black-throated finch to key politicians to express their grief over the mine's approval.

After the Queensland Government extinguished native title over the Adani mine site this week, police are concerned a clash is likely between mine workers and traditional owners who have set up a protest camp.

The dismantling of Big Kev, Darwin's resident brachiosaurus, has become the latest example of the lengths communities will go to to protect a local icon.

MORNING BRIEFING: Dozens of firefighters from South Australia head to New South Wales as back-up for weary RFS workers, and two people are fined after a banner is hung from the Harbour Bridge.

The NSW Government introduces fines of up to $440,000 and possible jail time for animal rights activists illegally entering farms.

To celebrate 40th anniversary of "Friday the 13th," take this quiz to test your knowledge of the iconic horror series.