Before you approach someone you don't know and start interviewing them about their disability, there's something you need to ask yourself.

DAILY BRIEFING: Bushwalkers are rescued in two separate incidents in Tasmania's national parks, while road spikes are deployed after a driver evades police.

A man who assaulted his then-pregnant girlfriend on a weekly basis, destroyed her possessions by driving over them and smeared faeces on her clothes is jailed and described by the presiding judge as "domineering" and "cowardly".

An iceberg 1,636 square kilometres in size, or about the size of urban Sydney or Scotland's Isle of Skye, breaks off Antarctica.

DAILY BRIEFING: Scientists offer the public the chance to name a rare red handfish, and there are calls for councillors to receive training on responding to bullying.

Tasmanian farmer Richard Headlam says he was reassured a proposed coal mine on his land would not go ahead. Two years later, the plan by Midland Energy has been revived.

DAILY BRIEFING: Police arrest a man after a firearms incident at Risdon Vale, Tasmania's tourism boom appears to be going bust and people are encouraged to participate in platypus monitoring study.

Karen Cranfield has moved to a Hobart suburb where people on modest incomes should be able to "afford living" but with rental prices increasing, that's no longer the case.

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

David Warner's much-queried spot in the Test side looks a little more secure after the Australian opener makes a Shield century for NSW against Queensland.

A new survey of Tasmanian Newstart and Youth Allowance recipients finds poverty has forced more than a third to steal food, prompting renewed calls for the Federal Government to increase welfare payments.

DAILY BRIEFING: A motorcyclist dies in the state's north after crashing into the back of a parked truck, and a 29-year-old charged with the murder of Jarrod Leigh Turner pleads not guilty.

A botched effort at censoring a scathing report on Tasmania's juvenile detention centre reveals a litany of shortcomings, including "very little real security", CCTV that is "rarely monitored", inadequate reporting of force being used and a fence that would not stop an escape attempt, only "slow it down".

DAILY BRIEFING: An elderly female driver has a fright after her car swerves off a road and over a cliff, and the Tasmanian Government holds off formally asking the Commonwealth to help pay for firefighting in the Wilderness World Heritage Area last summer.

With the imminent arrival of a new salmon processing ship in Tasmania, and another even larger ship next month, some in the local sailing community fear there is "an accident waiting to happen" on the already very busy waterways.

Until now little has been known about what penguins get up to when they head out to sea to forage.

In just one month, Donna went from thinking she was "too young" to have breast cancer to having a mastectomy. Now she's decided to have her other breast removed.

The future of the world's largest wild-caught fishery could be on a "path to oblivion" says one man, who after calling for a drastic cut in abalone catch limits was booted from the industry's peak body in Tasmania.

The daughter of a Tasmanian man shot dead in the Philippines says the family is shattered by the loss and having trouble repatriating his body due to "language barriers".

New vision emerges of the ship which brought down Hobart's Tasman Bridge more than 40 years ago, showing a wreck teeming with marine life including gill sharks.

DAILY BRIEFING: Two bushfires are burning near the small communities of Glen Huon and Miena, but authorities say there is no immediate threat to people and property, and seven little penguins injured in a dog attack have been released into the wild.

Calls for a trial of the Federal Government's cashless welfare card in Tasmania spark fierce rebukes, including a comparison to "Nazi Germany" by one local mayor.

DAILY BRIEFING: The Royal Hobart Show reopens after damaging winds, and police are using the rescue helicopter to search for a man at Roaring Beach.

Onlookers at the Royal Hobart Show are left in shock when a rodeo bull breaks its hind leg and begins limping in the arena. WARNING: This story includes distressing images.

When Molly Sandford's construction worker ex-husband was told to have a "cup of cement" and "harden up" it was the last thing he needed. After losing him to suicide, she's determined to help others in the sector get the support they need.

The Tasmanian Fire Service downgrades the threat from a bushfire in the Derwent Valley where a lack of fresh water had earlier made firefighting "a challenge".

DAILY BRIEFING: TasWater has issued a temporary boil water alert after E.coli bacteria was found after routine testing.

Consultants investigating Ambulance Tasmania found poor management of fatigue and workplace stress and a lack of workplace health and safety procedures across the organisation, a leaked report reveals.

A national fertility business attached to clinics in six Australian states and territories says its email system has been subjected to a "malicious cyber attack", with patients reporting receiving bogus messages that appear to be from the company.

A five-member fishing crew is relieved to be back on land after enduring 12 days adrift off South Australia's coast, coming up against personal tragedy, a failed rescue attempt and a shortage of food.

South Australia's fishing industry is "banding together" to make sure the WA Government's plan to take control of a portion of the rock lobster catch does not also happen in its state.

Regional Australians are feeling 'pill shamed' and are avoiding treatment due to the stigma around mental health medication and a lack of confidentiality in small-town pharmacies.

High speeds, low altitudes, and "crazy" games of chicken meet two of Australia's most elite pilots, including the first woman to become the national aerobatics champion in more than 20 years.

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).

Have you ever seen the Great Australian Bight from the air? A truck driver with a passion for drone photography showcases some of Australia's most remote landscapes as he makes his weekly Nullarbor crossing.

The AFL industry rallies behind Eddie Betts, with the peak body for players set to "name and shame" the person behind a racist attack on the Adelaide Crows star made on social media.

A pedestrian dies after suffering serious chest and leg injuries when hit by a car in Adelaide's east, while a woman dies in a rollover in the state's far west.

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.

An ancient lizard fossil found in north-west Queensland shows the ancestor of the modern skink had a crushing jaw, equipped with hard-rounded teeth, rather than the sharper teeth of today.

South Australian voters watching party leaders cut a trail through marginal seats across the country could be justified in feeling like they have been left in the dust with the state barely rating a blip for Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten.

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

A former Adelaide doctor jailed for trying to murder a pharmacistwho reported him for overprescribing medication loses his bid to reduce his decade-long sentence.

A decades-old message in a bottle is found by a young boy during a fishing trip with his dad on a remote South Australian beach. Now, the search is on for its author.

Many rural parents are facing increasing debt and overdrawing their accounts in a bid to pay for "exorbitant" boarding fees. There are calls for more financial help for those living in isolated parts of Australia.