As ferocious blazes tore through Rappville last week, many of the community's young people displayed extraordinary bravery, rescuing their neighbours and animals while fighting tooth and nail to save homes.

As bushfire victims work to rebuild their lives after the devastating Australian summer, a group of quilters is stitching together beautiful handmade squares from around the world to offer a gift that is like a "nice warm hug".

After a frustrating wait, the bushfire clean-up effort is set to ramp up in South East NSW with around 300 properties to be cleared each week.

Veronica Coen and Ruth Haggar make one final sift through the ruins of their Quaama homes before the first stage of the bushfire clean-up begins.

The Australian Red Cross and Salvation Army have so far paid out fewer than half the donations they received to help Black Summer bushfire victims — with one charity claiming it's had to sift through more than 1,000 fraudulent claims.

In the five months since her house was destroyed, Tod Adams has been at war with government agencies because the Fires Near Me app suggests her home was not affected.

A court hears the NSW Rural Fire Service may ask the state's Attorney-General to relax restrictions so it can distribute the $51.3 million raised by comedian Celeste Barber to help victims of the Black Summer bushfires.

Over $340,000 raised by celebrity bushfire relief concert Fire Aid 2020 is being pre-loaded onto EFTPOS cards linked to local businesses, tackling two disasters with one innovative idea.

The NSW Rural Fire Service says there are 65 bush and grass fires burning across the state, but no emergency warnings are in place. Six fires have been downgraded to watch and act or advice status after spending much of the day as emergencies due to dry and windy conditions.

Two dangerous fires near Tenterfield and Armidale are downgraded as firefighters keep properties out of danger, but the dwindling water supply and expected strong winds will make today challenging.

With dams and creeks bone dry in drought-stricken towns, firefighters are being forced to find ways to combat blazes that are almost impossible to extinguish.

Ten years ago Chris Roby sought help from the Salvos for crippling alcoholism; he's now leading a group of men fighting addiction to help their local community's response to bushfires.

A bushfire threatening homes at Drake, near Tenterfield, is downgraded as the threat to houses eases.

An emergency warning has been issued for a blaze burning at Sandy Creek, east of Armidale, which has closed roads and is threatening several properties where residents have been told it is "too late to leave".

An emergency warning is downgraded in northern NSW after an "unpredictable and fast-moving" grass fire had threatened homes, with embers to blowing up to 4 kilometres ahead of the fire front.

Business owners in Tenterfield say tourists will be the key to the rural town's recovery, as bushfires and drought take their toll on the local economy.

MORNING BRIEFING: The Rural Fire Service says it will begin assessing the full extent of the bushfire damage in northern New South Wales today, and a man is charged after a robbery in 2003.

The remains of a 77-year-old man and a 68-year-old woman are found on a property destroyed in the bushfires which ripped through northern NSW earlier this week.

Free sheds are being built for those with nothing, in a creative approach to disaster recovery that is changing lives and putting a smile back on faces of despair.

Police investigate the cause of a bushfire that came dangerously close to a Loxton aged care facility in South Australia's Riverland, prompting an evacuation overnight.

Despite the heat, hail and fires, the Brumbies are planning to kick off their Super Rugby 2020 season tonight at Canberra Stadium, bringing some short-term relief to local fans.

A decade after they lost everything in Black Saturday, one Victorian family is learning just how difficult it is to declutter.

Hundreds of residents from three Victorian towns are told to evacuate from their homes as part of one of the state's biggest-ever fire drills, in preparation for what could be a devastating fire season.

Dark Mofo art experience Hrafn: Conversations with Odin sees tourists returning to the fire-ravaged Huon Valley south of Hobart to spend money and boost the local communities.

Trees damaged by recent bushfires are used to restore Upper Murray River with the hope of saving the endangered trout cod.

Those who suffered devastating loss in the January bushfires say they didn't have time to rebuild before the coronavirus came along and dealt them another crippling blow.

Firefighters are protecting properties in Belmont, south of Newcastle, as a bushfire fanned by strong winds continues to burn near homes.

A NSW firefighter who hatched a plan to start bushfires "so he could fight them" will serve more time in jail than the man who lit them his younger brother.

Crescent Head is currently experiencing wind gusts of up to 40kph.

A woman whose house burnt down in bushfires affecting the NSW North Coast said that she and her husband now plan on leaving the bush due to the hazard.

Experts say bushfires coupled with decreasing habitat in an urbanised landscape is taking its toll on wildlife and improved land management is crucial.

The winds are not giving firefighters any breaks as a fire in the Clarence Valley moves in on properties and blazes near Armidale and Tenterfield remain "absolutely enormous", according to the Rural Fire Service.

The number of homes lost to three fires in northern NSW rises to nine as strong winds continue to hamper the efforts of firefighters to bring them under control.

MORNING BRIEFING: A woman has been charged with murder after a man was found with multiple stab wounds in a Sydney apartment complex, while easing weather conditions have helped firefighters in Tenterfield gain the upper hand on a bushfire.

The NSW Rural Fire Service downgrades an emergency warning for a fire at Backwater near Armidale, as hot and dry conditions continue to fuel bushfires in the area.

There are reports of property damage in the town of Darawank, north of Forster-Tuncurry on the NSW north coast where a bushfire is burning at emergency level.

Social media vision of three bushfires burning on the NSW north coast. An emergency declaration has been issued by the NSW RFS with homes under threat.

The Port Macquarie koala hospital fears more than 350 koalas may have died in a bushfire south of the town, with staff frustrated they cannot yet access the site.

Student Liam Birrer was supposed to be sitting a HSC exam instead he was fighting a bushfire in his local community.

The honey industry is facing hard times along with other producers, having taken a battering over recent years from the drought and a string of natural disasters.

Injured koalas receive life-saving treatment after surviving devastating bushfires on the New South Wales mid-north coast.

When there's a smell of smoke in the air, bushfire survivor Michael King still feels jittery. He describes it as similar to "how a Vietnam veteran might feel if he hears the sound of a chopper overhead".

DAILY BRIEFING: An elderly female driver has a fright after her car swerves off a road and over a cliff, and the Tasmanian Government holds off formally asking the Commonwealth to help pay for firefighting in the Wilderness World Heritage Area last summer.

DAILY BRIEFING: Two bushfires are burning near the small communities of Glen Huon and Miena, but authorities say there is no immediate threat to people and property, and seven little penguins injured in a dog attack have been released into the wild.

The Tasmanian Fire Service downgrades the threat from a bushfire in the Derwent Valley where a lack of fresh water had earlier made firefighting "a challenge".

An app designed to alert South Australians about bushfires is still not ready as total fire bans were issued amid sweltering temperatures. A watch and act message has been issued for a fire burning near Swan Reach in the state's Murraylands region.

Temperatures in parts of NSW are expected to exceed 40 degrees including the outskirts of Sydney.

A 53-year-old man accused of lighting up to four bushfires in north Queensland will undergo a mental health assessment, after a dramatic arrest where he allegedly rammed a police car and officers fired shots at his vehicle.