Australia news LIVE: Online predators use gaming to target Aussie children; Reality TV star arrested over domestic violence charges

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By Clare Sibthorpe

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of national news for Monday, October 5. Here’s what is making headlines today.

Sadistic and nihilistic online networks are using Australia’s most popular gaming platforms to coerce children into self-mutilating and committing violence against their siblings and pets, experts warn.
Reality TV star and fitness guru Sam Wood is behind bars in Queensland after being charged with alleged domestic violence offences in Noosa. Queensland Police said they had charged a 46-year-old Victorian man with assault occasioning bodily harm (domestic violence) and strangulation in a domestic setting after they were called to an address in Noosa on Saturday at around 9pm.
The federal government has thrown down a challenge to state premiers over the rampant illicit tobacco trade, dangling fresh cash and pointing to Queensland’s dramatic crackdown as a blueprint for the rest of the country.
Tenants who rely on credit cards to pay their rent could soon be forced into arrears, advocates warn, after a major rental payment platform blocked the method of payment in response to a new ban on card surcharge fees.