Acting Queensland Premier Jackie Trad says the Gold Coast hinterland fire that swept through the area over the weekend included areas of rainforest a highly unusual event, but one that experts say is occurring more frequently in recent times.

Police are speaking to a number of teenagers over a fire that damaged homes at Peregian Beach overnight, as authorities continue to battle a blaze threatening large areas of the Sunshine Coast. See how events unfolded in our live blog.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is returning early from a trip to Switzerland because of the ongoing bushfire threat, with more than 80 fires burning across the state and a blaze at Peregian on the Sunshine Coast that is still out of control.

Images from the scene of Queensland's recent bushfires capture the devastation as scores of fires sweep across the Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast hinterland and the Granite Belt.

The high temperatures and winds that have fanned severe bushfires in southern Queensland ease on Wednesday, but some communities need to stay alert with about 70 blazes still burning. Despite the reprieve, conditions are expected to worsen again on Friday.

After fires tore through parts of Queensland in an earlier-than-expected bushfire season, emergency services are warning of the growing threat to suburban backyards as the weather gets hotter and drier.

Firefighters from South Australia arrive in Queensland to give local crews a rest from battling bushfires, but the break may be short-lived with conditions forecast to get worse in the state later in the week.

A man is taken into police custody in relation to a car that crashed through the front of a house on the Gold Coast early on Sunday morning, leaving a teenage girl trapped inside.

A large bushfire that has claimed 11 properties in the Gold Coast hinterland as well as historic Binna Burra Lodge could have been deliberately lit, Queensland's Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll says.

Thunderstorms have rolled west across Queensland's southern inland, bringing more rain than expected to the Gold Coast hinterland as well as numerous lightning strikes raising concerns about the possibility of new bushfires.

South-East Queensland's bat population is in crisis as the species faces a mass starvation event which is seeing rescue groups inundated with as many as 50 calls a day reporting deaths and injuries in public spaces and backyards.

An investigation is underway after two police officers fired their weapons during the dramatic arrest of a 53-year-old man suspected of lighting up to four fires in north Queensland.

Family and friends post tributes to Jeffrey and Matthew Hills, whose bodies were found in the wreckage of a plane which crashed in northern NSW on Friday.

As the ban on climbing Uluru fast approaches there remains many locations attracting crowds, despite calls from local Indigenous people to stay away.

A Gold Coast couple who funded a "lavish lifestyle" peddling MDMA and cannabis on the dark web is jailed after pleading guilty to drug trafficking.

Visitor numbers plummet on the Gold Coast hinterland and Scenic Rim after devastating bushfires razed parts of the regions earlier this month a double tragedy for local businesses.

Concerned about a spike in drownings on Queensland's beaches most of which occur outside the flags lifesavers have come up with a unique way to get people where they want them.

A Gold Coast stripper is found guilty of glassing Neighbours star Scott McGregor after a "foul-mouthed tirade" from the actor.

A software firm develops smartphone keyboards specifically designed to write in traditional languages to help people protect their language.

With an influx of 350,000 new residents expected by 2041, locals are concerned the planning and development will continue to alter the Gold Coast's unique identity.

A jockey who rode War Ends for a year and made numerous attempts to rehome him says she recognised the horse being slaughtered in an abattoir on the ABC's 7.30 program and laments she "failed" him.

A Gold Coast father wants to raise awareness about breast cancer in men after he let a lump go undiagnosed for a year.

Shane van Gisbergen is desperate to make up ground on Scott McLaughlin in the race for the Supercars championship, but he forgot about that in the wake of his countryman's frightening crash on the Gold Coast.

Conservationists are claiming a coup after convincing Gold Coast Council to save a freshwater lake from being turned into a carpark.

A Gold Coast man acquitted of murdering a woman he met on Tinder says he has "no ethical obligation" to reveal details of his past online, after a feminist group began a campaign against him.

About 34,000 troops from several countries are playing out high-end war games in a mammoth training exercise designed to improve military cooperation.

A Queensland mother says she experienced a parent's worst nightmare when her car was stolen with her four-year-old son and the family puppy still inside.

A Queensland community was hit hard when seven young people took their own lives in the space of six months. It's now striving to get more support to those in need.

A mother alleges her newborn baby needed emergency help after being given a life-threatening dose of insulin at a Queensland public hospital.

Australia is the skin cancer capital of the world, so you might be surprised to find there are just 16 ultraviolet radiation sensors around the country monitoring the sun's rays.

I had only been in Rockhampton for two hours when I experienced some form of Islamophobia and I'm a Palestinian-Arab-Christian, writes Ryan Al-Natour.

A Queensland miner has created a popular roadside stop with hundreds of travellers pulling over to take a photo with his now-famous family of Minions.

Fewer than one in 10 pregnant women in Australia have access to what is considered to be the 'gold standard' of maternity care, but one outback Queensland town has adopted the model in a bold move to empower local women and midwives.

A Queensland crocodile farmer has found a surgical plate "complete with six stainless steel screws" inside a dead crocodile, months after the sick animal stopped eating.