Residents of drought-stricken parts of southern Queensland are being warned of the increasing number of people affected by Q fever, a nasty bacterial infection spread from animals. 

University of New England Institute of Healthcare Research director Frances Quirk says prolonged drought conditions have seen the disease pop up in new areas.

A company working on the Shell-owned Queensland Gas Corporation project have told job applicants they will need to complete a blood test before being offered jobs. 

The tests will check if applicants are at risk of heart attacks, high cholesterol and other conditions, and employees must sign a waiver to release their medical records to overseas companies that do not comply with Australia’s privacy laws. 

The curator of the Historic Royal Palaces has announced archaeologists have found complete 500-year-old skeletons of a woman and child underneath the Tower of London's chapel.

The Royal Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula is known as the burial place for many famous prisoners, including three queens of England.

Combining documented evidence, Historic Buildings Curator Alfred Hawkins, deduced that the two skeletons were buried on the floor of Edward I's lost chapel which burnt down in 1513.

Police have arrested a man allegedly accused of smuggling two rare lizards in rice cookers in the mail from Melbourne to Hong Kong.

The package was stopped at Melbourne Airport in January and discovered to contain an albino blue tongue and a shingleback lizard which were taped, stuffed in a sock and put in the bottom of a rice cooker.

The man is now under an ongoing investigation of an illegal wildlife smuggling ring.

Five men have been taken to hospital after a B-double truck crashed into three cars and caught fire at a roadworks site on the M1 on the NSW Central Coast this morning. 

Chief Inspector Cole Lott from Tuggara Lakes Police District said the men were "very lucky" not to be more seriously injured, with the driver only sustaining a minor injury to his shoulder after being ejected from the vehicle.

The driver will undergo mandatory testing, while four road workers were also treated for shock after the accident.

It is feared that hundreds of koalas have been burned alive by an out-of-control bushfire in northern NSW that has raged unchecked for days in the heartland of their prime habitat.

The blaze, reportedly caused by a lightning strike near Port Macquarie, has burned more than 2000 hectares of land, including an important koala breeding ground.

Port Macquarie Koala Hospital president Sue Ashton, said that the hospital, which can house up to 40 koalas, has rallied more than 150 volunteers to deal with the expected influx of injured animals.

A Queensland couple has launched legal action against Education Queensland over allegations their disabled son was restrained in an isolated withdrawal room at a Queensland school for over two hours despite vomiting and complaining of chest pain.

The Queensland parents allege that their son, who has autism and ADHD endured physical violence, restraint and seclusion at the Hervey Bay school between 2011 and 2015.

The Education Minister has announced the launch of a new Indigenous Action Plan for Queensland schools during a visit to Mornington Island.

The plan, completed after consultation with the Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education and Training Advisory Committee, will aim to improve participation at kindergarten, as well as developing culturally appropriate learning resources and professional development opportunities for Queensland teachers.