This season, 12 intelligent Brains take on 12 strong Brawn in Cloncurry, Queensland for another exciting season of Australian Survivor that will test whether the mind or the body will outlast the others. The tribes immediately compete in their first reward challenge when they meet.

• Reward challenge: Teams retrieve a key and have a choice between chopping a log or solving a puzzle. They then spin a giant wheel with spokes and move puzzle pieces to spell their tribe's name on each arm. The first tribe to complete this has a choice between a survival kit including fruit, vegetables, rope and a tarpaulin or fire in the form of flame.

Brawn wins Reward and chooses the survival kit. Back at camp, Brawn begins to second guess their decision on picking the survival kit as they fail to get fire started on their first night. Simon takes some of the heat for this as he advocated for taking the kit, told the others he could get fire, and he failed. Brawn endures a very cold, miserable first night.

On Brains tribe, Mitch is perceived as the leader of camp. Discussion of keeping the tribe physically strong causes concern with tribe members Wai and George over whether they will be voted out first. George resents Mitch taking a leadership role and believes he is taking the tribe in the wrong direction. While walking by the well, George finds an advantage that allows him to give himself and five other tribe members Immunity from their first Tribal Council. The six immune tribe members will not vote and will instead leave Tribal Council, leaving the other six people vulnerable to be voted out.

• Immunity challenge: Teams will race across a ramp and net, untying a ladder from the course. They will climb up to a deck, get into a cart, and race down to the bottom. From there, they will climb up a rope to release four balls. They will use a slingshot to launch all four balls into a net. The first tribe to land their balls into the net wins Immunity.

Brawn wins Immunity. At Brains tribe, Mitch leads a discussion about voting Wai out of the tribe due to her poor performance at the Immunity Challenge and the perception that she is physically weakest. Wai is aware she is on the chopping block and her and George attempt to turn the tide against Mitch for being a strong social threat and the leader of the tribe. George also considers playing his advantage, but is concerned that if he does then Mitch might not be voted out.

At Tribal Council, the discussion centers on whether the Brains tribe should keep physically stronger tribe members or whether people should be given a chance to excel in other challenges. Mitch advocates for a strong tribe, but George advocates against voting people out only based on strength. George criticizes Mitch's leadership and his tribe for not giving him a chance to shine in the first challenge and believes people are not being given a chance to show their strengths. Before the vote, George decides to play his advantage and decides to save Rachel, Baden, Cara, Georgia, and Wai. The six leave Tribal Council. The remaining six are stunned by the change of events as Wai or George was the intended target. After the votes are cast, the other five voters believe that Phil is the physically weakest of the group and has fewer social connections with the other five. In a 5-1 vote, Phil becomes the first person voted out of Australian Survivor.

At Brains, the tribe is still in shock over George's advantage play. Wai is grateful to still be in the game and thanks George for saving her. George hopes that he can form a six-person alliance with the people he saved, admitting that he saved people he believed were weaker and vulnerable players. However, George voices those feelings to Rachel and Georgia, causing Rachel to be insulted. While George hoped to build trust, everyone on the tribe believes that George is just trying to run the game, acted in his own self-interest, and not many are keen to align themselves with him.

At Brawn, Emmett is finally able to start a fire. The tribe believes they've started the game well and hope to continue their winning streak.

• Reward challenge: Contestants face off against one another to collect a bag and get it into a marked square to win a point. The first tribe to win three points wins a fishing kit, salt & pepper and a loaf of bread with honey.

Brawn wins Reward. During the final round, Emmett had an easy chance to win, but he taunted Joey long enough to be tackled. Emmett still wins the round, but made the challenge closer than it should have been. Back at camp, Janelle is unimpressed with Emmett's behavior during the challenge and believes him to be arrogant.

At Brains, George expresses frustration with his tribe that he tried to volunteer for the challenge, but he was ignored. George believes he could have won one of the rounds for his tribe. Baden notes it is the round he won for the tribe and confronts George. George again argues he is not being given a chance, but Baden believes George is just being selfish and not looking out for the tribe's best interest. George begins to realize that he doesn't have the allies he was hoping for and believes he is in trouble if Brains lose another Immunity Challenge.

• Immunity challenge: The tribes will swim out to a deck, climb a ladder, and roll over a spinning ladder into the water. They will then use a stick to hit balls out of a net and push them up a chute to release a key. The key will unlock a hanging fish puzzle that the tribes will have to compete. First tribe to finish the puzzle will win Immunity.

Brains win Immunity. At Brawn, the tribe discusses voting Janelle out for her performance on the puzzle and the belief that she will be a challenge liability. There is also discussion among tribe members that Simon, Emmett, and Gavin have formed a strong trio and might need broken up. Janelle advocates for Emmett to be voted out for his arrogance at the reward challenge and for being a huge threat, which surprises Emmett when he hears his name. However, Simon overhears Shannon talking about keeping the ladies together and Simon believes Shannon is going to lead the women against his alliance down the road. Simon attempts to organize a blindside against Shannon and recruits Emmett, Gavin, Chelsea, and Dani. Flick finds herself as the swing vote as both voting blocs against Shannon and Janelle try to recruit her for her vote.

At Tribal Council, Janelle acknowledges that she's on the hot seat, but argues she is not the only challenge liability and has useful skills for the tribe. Janelle takes a jab at Emmett for almost losing the reward challenge by showing off. Emmett argues that he never would have lost the challenge. Janelle also calls out Simon, Emmett, and Gavin for being a strong trio. Emmett questions why his name was mentioned as a vote off, but he doesn't get much of an answer. After the votes are cast, Flick decides to join the vote against Janelle. Janelle becomes the second person voted out of Australian Survivor.

At Brawn, Simon contemplates where the votes went wrong on his attempt to blindside Shannon. Gavin notes that he accidentally voted the wrong way because he was confused on whether Shannon or Janelle was the target, but he does not tell Simon this for fear of losing his trust. Flick states that she didn't vote with Simon's group because she believed she would be on the bottom of his alliance and she believes she can work with Shannon moving forward. An alliance forms between Flick, Shannon, and Kez with the intention of breaking up Simon, Emmett, and Gavin at the next Tribal Council.

At Brains, the tribe has gone six days without a fire. Andrew leads an effort to build a fire so they can cook their food, but George believes they'll be wasting strength for the Reward Challenge. Andrew pushes forward and is able to finally start a fire for Brains.

• Reward Challenge: Two members from each tribe will hold up a trough. Two other members will be guarding the front of the trough while the remaining tribe members will try to throw buckets of water past them and into the trough. Eventually, the trough will become too hard to hold and one tribe will drop it. The last tribe holding up their trough will win a Coffee and Tea Reward.

Brawn wins their third Reward in a row. At the Reward site, they find pictures of their families and loved ones. The tribe shares an emotional afternoon talking about their families. When they return, Kez comes upon a clue for a hidden immunity idol.

At Brains, the tribe has not been getting much nourishment with no rewards or fire. The tribe ventures out to catch some fish and are successful in catching a few small fish.

• Immunity Challenge: Tribes will solve a giant brainteaser to release a ring and use it to climb over a wall. They will then make their way over rope steps, retrieve sandbags, and use them to knock down a tower of blocks. They will then have to stack those blocks on a seesaw and keep the stack standing for three seconds after the seesaw levels. The first tribe to complete this will win Immunity.

George finally gets his time to shine when he figures out the brainteaser and gives Brains a massive lead. Brains win Immunity.

At Brawn, Flick, Shannon, and Kez talk to Benny, Big D, and Gerald about a six person alliance to vote off Gavin to break up the boys alliance and keep the tribe strong. Simon observes that Flick has turned on his group, but hopes to find another way to succeed in blindsiding Shannon. Simon approaches Big D to join his five person alliance with Emmett, Gavin, Chelsea, and Dani. When Kez sees Simon talking to Big D, she worries that he might flip and decides to search for the idol. Kez finds the idol, but because of the little clothing she is wearing, she must sneak it back to camp and manages to succeed. Big D finds himself the swing vote for the night. Big D attempts to sway Simon's group to vote for Kez instead of Shannon as he finds her to be a bigger threat. Simon agrees to change the vote to prove his trust to Big D.

At Tribal Council, the tribe discusses their poor performance in the challenge. Simon admits that he was blindsided at the last vote. There is discussion that the tribe is truly divided in half and tonight will determine which side takes control. Kez teases that there might be a snake in the grass, tonight, and Emmett and Shannon express confidence that their sides will take the numbers tonight. After the votes are cast, Kez senses she is in danger and plays her idol, negating five votes against her. However, Big D decides to go along with the plan to eliminate Gavin. With 6 votes, Gavin becomes the third person voted out of Australian Survivor.

At Brawn, Simon, Emmett, Chelsea, and Dani realize that Big D played double agent and they are now in the minority of the tribe. Simon believes he is the next target and begins looking for the idol.

At Brains, while the tribe longs for a reward win, they are happy to have avoided Tribal Council twice. While most believe the tribe has a good dynamic, almost everyone still believes George doesn't fit in with the tribe and is on the outs. George is aware of this and hopes to find an idol to shake up the game again. Baden believes the tribe is underestimating George's ability to play the game and tails him as he searches for the idol. While doing so, Baden finds an idol clue.

• Reward Challenge: While tethered in pairs, teams will race through a web of obstacles to get their tribe-colored ball and attempt to shoot it into a basket. The first tribe to three points will win a comfort reward of pillows, blankets, a hammock, and bacon and eggs.

Brawn wins their fourth reward in a row. At Brains, Mitch observes that while Brains have lost all the rewards, Brawn has lost more Immunities. Mitch hopes that Brawn continues to feel overconfident at the Immunity Challenges and continue to lose. Baden continues his idol hunt, but George follows him and knows Baden is idol searching. After Baden walks by an area, George searches it and finds the idol in a tree. George shares his discovery with Wai and, while she is excited, she also worries how this affects her position in the tribe.

• Immunity Challenge: Tribes will carry a heavy cage through an obstacle course and gather puzzle pieces. They will race up a ramp, climb out of the cage, over a wall, down a cargo net, and then throw a rope to pull together a wooden bridge. At their puzzle station, they will solve a word puzzle. First to solve the puzzle wins Immunity.

Brains win their third Immunity Challenge in a row. At Brawn, Simon and Big D believe that Benny is to blame for the challenge loss because he moved puzzle pieces around and didn't communicate. While Shannon's alliance targets Simon, Simon's alliance hope to flip a few of them to vote Benny out. Things are further complicated when Benny reveals to Dani that Simon is the target, which makes Shannon's alliance worry about an idol play. Simon attempts a pitch to Shannon and Big D that Brawn needs to vote Benny out to stay strong and he can provide more in the challenges.

As Brawn arrives at Tribal, Shannon, Kez, and Flick whisper over who to vote for. There is discussion of whether Benny is at fault for losing the challenge. There is discussion of whether the vote should be based on alliances or based on overall challenge performance. Simon pitches that Benny will continue to hurt them in challenges while he will help Brawn win and get them majority for the merge. Benny argues that Simon is saying whatever he can to stay in the game. Shannon and Big D both admit they are conflicted over the vote, which startles Benny because he thought he had a solid alliance. Benny tries to pitch his loyalty to his alliance. When the votes are cast, Big D is revealed to have gone against his alliance, voting for Benny and resulting in a 5–5 tied vote between Benny and Simon. On the revote, Kez and Shannon decide to vote Benny out and keep Simon. Benny becomes the fourth person voted out of Australian Survivor.

On Brawn, Gerald questions his alliance's decision to turn on Benny but hopes they can still have majority on the tribe. Simon knows that he narrowly dodged a bullet last night and continues his idol search. Simon finds the idol in a tree.

On Brains, a four-person alliance has formed between Joey, Laura, Andrew, and Georgia. The group plans to vote George out next because he doesn't fit in with the tribe and they find him to be untrustworthy.

• Reward Challenge: Tribe members will square off one on one in a log rolling competition and try to stay on the log longer than the other tribe. The first tribe to score three points will win a reward of toasties.

Brawn wins their fifth reward in a row. While the tribe enjoys their reward, Simon discovers some sacks he hopes to use for fishing. When he picks them up, he feels an idol inside and grabs it. Simon now has two idols in his possession. However, Gerald spots Simon grab this idol and worries how Simon is now a bigger threat than he was previously.

On Brains, Baden continues his search for the idol which George already found. George knows that Baden is not in a majority alliance and still hopes to recruit him despite their differences. George decides to tell Baden that he found the idol. Baden notes that he still has problems trusting George, but he believes George is a strong player and decides to join an alliance with him, Wai, and Cara. George believes he is now gaining ground in the game and hopes to have some numbers if Brains goes to Tribal again.

• Immunity Challenge: Teams will release a series of balls. The entire tribe will have to race through a course to catch the balls down a chute. Once everyone catches a ball, each tribe member will have to roll it through a raised chute, race through a mud pit, and then shoot the balls into a hanging frame. First tribe to land all of their balls wins Immunity.

Brawn wins Immunity. During the challenge, George had struggled to get his ball through the chute. Back at camp, Joey believes it will be an easy vote tonight as the majority of the tribe is ready and eager to vote George out. However, George decides to shake up camp prior to Tribal by openly wearing his idol. The tribe is taken aback and realize they now need to make a new plan. The four-person alliance decides to target Mitch because they believe he is hiding in the middle and will emerge as a threat later because he's been such a good leader and will recruit allies easier. George, Wai, Baden, and Cara decide to target Laura because they believe she has strong social connections and it would tear apart the four-person alliance. Both groups attempt to recruit Hayley and Rachel towards their side and Hayley and Rachel find themselves as swing votes for the night.

At Tribal, the tribe discusses the alliances growing in the tribe and George affecting the vote tonight by revealing his idol. Joey and George exchange a few words back and forth regarding George's position and unpopularity with the tribe. George states that the tribe needs a good bloodletting, tonight. Hayley acknowledges that the vote, tonight, will be based on trust and who people want to work with moving forward. After the votes are cast, George plays his idol for himself. It only negates one vote from Mitch. In the end, Hayley and Rachel decide to join the four-person alliance with their plan to blindside Mitch. Mitch becomes the fifth person voted out of Australian Survivor.

On Brawn, Gerald informs his alliance that Simon found an idol. The group hopes they can flush his idol before Simon becomes too powerful of a player.

On Brains, George is disappointed that his plan to vote out Laura failed. George confronts Rachel for her betrayal last night and criticizes her for lying to him. Some believe that George is acting like a poor sport. They hope the next Tribal Council will be the time they get rid of George.

• Reward Challenge: Tethered to a rope, the tribes will dig under a log, weave through obstacles, and unlock a box of sandbags. Two people will use the sandbags to smash six clay baskets. First tribe to smash all six will win Lamingtons and chocolate milk.

Brawn wins their sixth reward in a row. They are allowed to pick one member from Brains to join them and they pick Joey. Brawn hopes that Joey will spill some information about the Brains. At the Reward, Joey does share that George is on the outs and what happened with last night's Tribal.

At Brains, Rachel confronts George about his negative comments he made about the tribe at the Reward Challenge. Rachel believes George is a constant negative energy in the tribe and he put the tribe down today. George does not take the criticism well and storms off. Georgia follows him with the dual purpose of calming him down and making sure he doesn't find the idol. George can tell what Georgia is trying to do and sets his sights on targeting her next.

• Immunity Challenge: One member of each tribe will run out to a pontoon to collect one of five keys. They'll then hang onto a board and the remaining tribe members will use a winch to wheel them back to the puzzle mat. Once the five keys are collected, they can unlock their puzzles pieces and solve a puzzle containing an image on their tribe flag. First tribe to complete the puzzle wins Immunity.

At Brains, the majority six plan to vote out George. George and Cara search for the idol, knowing it is the only way to keep their alliance intact. Cara finds the idol in a tree. The two tell Baden and Wai about their idol discovery and the four intend to target Georgia. Laura and Rachel suspect that George or Cara found an idol and they do not have enough numbers to split the vote with no risk. The majority talk to Wai to see if she will flip and vote with them to split up George and Cara. Wai is conflicted because she does appreciate George for saving her at the first Tribal, but she believes George's game can be a little too volatile. Wai does admit to George, Cara, and Baden that she is unsure of what to do. George tries to convince Wai that she is being played by the other side and reminds her that he saved her. George, Cara, and Baden discuss playing Hot Potato with the idol, passing it around to confuse the others on who it will be played for.

At Tribal Council, Cara openly wears her idol and her, George, and Baden pass it around to each other throughout Tribal. Joey accuses George of being the bad egg on the tribe. Wai states the dynamics on the tribe are fluid and the alliances are not set tonight. George discusses about how the game has changed him and is content to go out knowing he played true to himself. George pleads with Wai to vote with him, stating that he saved her because he felt she was a genuine person. After the votes are cast, Cara decides to play her idol on George, which moves him to tears over the gesture. Cara's idol negates four votes against George. However, Wai flips on her alliance and joins the majority to force a tie between Cara and Georgia after splitting their votes. On the revote, Cara is voted out of the tribe. However, after she leaves Tribal, she comes upon a lit torch with a Brawn buff and a sign indicating she was voted out of the tribe, but not out of the game. Cara will join the Brawn tribe. Therefore, nobody is voted out of the game this episode.