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

Authorities in Western Australia investigate a large mussel die-off that covered a 1km stretch of beach on the south coast last week.

A master wine producer whose riesling is the reigning Australian wine of the year bows out of the industry, citing age and the desire to hand over to a new generation for the decision.

A ship left Melbourne in January 1954 to set up Australia's first Antarctic base. Facing harsh conditions and the unknown, the pioneers built Mawson Station.

Cruise ships bring in millions of dollars to Tasmania each year, but tourism operators say if their schedules are not better managed they will continue to be both a "blessing and a curse".

From electronic pet trackers, paying cyclists to commute to work and driverless cars, Hobart City Council is floating some innovations to make it a smarter city. And, strangely, that could also mean Wi-Fi free zones.

This wild and rugged corner of north-west Tasmania is bursting with ancient history and dotted with artefacts, but you've probably never heard of it.

A trampoline lands on the roof of a Hobart home, piercing a bedroom ceiling, as strong winds of up to 155 kilometres per hour wreak havoc in southern Tasmania overnight.

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.

Wombat researchers at the University of Tasmania have won an Ig Nobel Prize for unexpectedly discovering the "quite incredible" reason the animal's scat is cubed.

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.

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.

DAILY BRIEFING: The father of Graham Enniss, who escaped from Hobart's Risdon Prison this morning, urges his son to hand himself in, as police caution the public to stay away from the man.

Residents in the Hobart suburb of Risdon Vale say they are double checking their doors are locked as the search for a prison escapee enters its second day.

Tasmanian police release photos of a number of household items and non-perishable foods found in bushland near where a prison escapee was found.

DAILY BRIEFING: A promised lost-cost abortion service for southern Tasmania is on hold indefinitely, and the union says more immediate solutions are needed to address prison overcrowding.

A Tasmanian councillor announces her resignation live on radio, saying ongoing "personal attacks" and negative comments on social media have taken "too much" of a toll.

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.

Despite a bid to move Tasmania's time zone 30 minutes earlier than eastern standard time failing to win support, Prime Minister Scott Morrison tells Liberal Party faithful their future remains bright thanks to the revived fortunes for the island state.

As Tasmania heads towards its busy summer tourist season, residents in popular locations are bracing themselves to share the road with tourists.

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.

Elective surgery relief for Sally McShane is still years away under Tasmania's worsening waiting list. One doctor says his request for a male patient be moved up the list, was met with an "inappropriate" hospital letter.

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".

A draft report has found a $260 million development of Glenorchy's Wilkinson's Point would great 1,100 jobs and inject millions into Hobart, but it could come at a cost to locals.

Residents of a heritage town in northern Tasmania accuse the Government of not consulting them over plans for a new prison nearby, and demand to know the location of other potential sites.

DAILY BRIEFING: The prisons watchdog says he was pressured to redact a report on the Ashley youth detention centre and he will strongly resist requests to do so in the future.

A late spring blast of icy air from Antarctica has deposited up to 10 centimetres of snow on parts of Tasmania, but people are being urged to "get their skis on" quickly if they want to play in it.

A 77-year-old man dies on a rural property on the west coast of South Australia after falling into a grain bin. SafeWork SA will investigate.

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.

The South Australian Government is looking at banning single-use plastic products such as straws and cutlery in a bid to lead the nation in another anti-littering cause.

Inmates at four South Australian prisons will be confronted with the faces of cold case murder victims in what authorities hope will be a "conscious jogger" for people to come forward with information.

Make-up course organiser Larissa Jones says parents can't ignore the pressure their children feel to wear make-up and it is better to coach them and let them talk about their insecurities.

South Australia's oyster growers are given the all-clear over a potentially devastating disease.

Some posts and memes on social media want foreign aid cut until Australians get back on their feet after natural disasters. But is this too simplistic?

Australian woolgrowers are set to benefit from the suspension of wool exports from South Africa to China due to an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.

The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting floodwaters will reach Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre in South Australia's outback within weeks, but the lake is unlikely to fill.

Lukina Lukin has fought her way to the top of Australia's lucrative southern bluefin tuna industry in a classic rags-to-riches tale of survival and success.

SA senator Sarah Hanson-Young says a crude Facebook post shared by a business owned by the Ceduna Mayor is "degrading" to women, but he says his Facebook account was hacked.

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.

Hot temperatures and low rainfall take their toll on South Australian wine grape growers, but many are happy with the quality of the wines in spite of, or perhaps even because of, the tough conditions.

Swiss sailor Peter Baggenstos is repairing his boat in Port Lincoln nine days after it was badly damaged in a Southern Ocean storm he feared could have ended his life.