The NSW Department of Primary Industries says 99.8% of the state continues to experience drought conditions, despite some relief from summer storms.

Some areas have experienced its lowest January rainfall in 100 years, and for many others, it's been the driest for 20 years.

Farm water supplies remain critically low in western and southern NSW.

The Sunshine Coast Council now looks set to spend the "pennies” needed for Kenil- worth's designer dunny.

According to a council report, it is hoped construction will begin next month on the structure at Isaac Moore Park and work is planned to be complete by the second half of the financial year.

Councillors late last year unanimously adopted the project progress report which said funding for the construction cost of $635,000 included a $35,000 contingency fund.

The monsoon trough that has flooded north and western Queensland could become a cyclone as it hovers over the Coral Sea.

The Bureau of Meteorology says conditions are perfect for the system to gain strength offshore, and potentially head back toward the east coast.

Any more rain would be deeply unwelcome, as communities recover from record flooding.

A Spanish teenager born without a right forearm due to a rare genetic condition has built himself a robotic prosthetic arm using Lego pieces.

David Aguilar, 19, who studies bioengineering at a Spanish University is already using his fourth model of the colourful prosthetic.

His dream after university is to design affordable robotic limbs for those who need them.

The world’s oldest elephant in captivity has died at the age of 88 in India.

The elephant took part in temple rituals and processions in the southern state of Kerala.

Keepers started feeding her pineapples and carrots in recent years after she began to have trouble moving around, but her vet reported that the elephant stopped eating food on Tuesday.

Former NSW premier Mike Baird hasn't ruled out running for the top job at NAB, following the resignation of chief executive Andrew Thorburn.

Mr Thorburn and chairman Ken Henry announced they were stepping down on Thursday after a scathing critique by the financial services royal commission.

Mr Baird, NAB's head of retail banking, said he was "very proud" of what the outgoing boss had done as a leader - labeling him an "incredible person".

Australia’s security agencies are investigating a cyber-security break at the Federal Parliament in Canberra.

Officers from the Parliament say authorities were yet to detect any evidence that data has been stolen during the breach.

“Accurate attribution of a cyber incident takes time and investigations are being undertaken in conjunction with the relevant security agencies”.

A new $2 million water treatment plant will be constructed in the Queensland town Linville to secure long-term water supply for the growing community.

The existing plant, which was constructed in 1970, was forced to close after the 2013 floods put the facility out of action.

Since then, Seqwater has supplied drinking water for Linville’s 400 or so residents by tanker from the nearby Kilcoy Water Treatment Plant.

Noosa is looking to improve its landfill waste reduction levels as the State Government revealed Queensland generated nearly 11 million tonnes of waste in 2017-18.

This was an increase of 1.1million tonnes compared to the previous year according to a report conducted by Recycling and Waste in Queensland.

Environment Minister Leeanne Enoch says the report demonstrated the urgency needed to improve Queensland's waste management.