Service upgrades rolling out this week aim to plug a hole in Telstra's network for regional, remote, and rural customers who do not receive emergency service alerts.

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.

The only unburnt area of bushland around the Conjola National Park, on the South Coast, is set to be cleared this week for a new housing development.

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.

If there is anything good to come out of the coronavirus pandemic, it could be that rural Australians end up better connected to essential and recreational services than ever before.

Hiking huts are Australia's answer to Scotland's famed bothies and New Zealand's backcountry shacks and stand as a testament of a national identity that has long been intertwined with survival in isolation.

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.

These fairground ponies have seen brighter days. They wait in the dry grass for a new generation of children to climb aboard and giggle with delight.

The idea was simple; find a spot in Australia with some of the best weather in the world, move there, and start brewing German beer.

An inmate from a prison once touted as housing criminals with "no escape risk" is on the run after he fled into bushland while on a work assignment.

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.

MORNING BRIEFING: Michael Ferguson says union bosses have hit a 'new low' and a court hears that a Launceston man accused of murder said his alleged victim "is going to pay".

Adelaide woman Deborah Pilgrim says the kindness of strangers who helped find her after three days lost in the bush is "overwhelming".

During the three days Deborah Pilgrim was lost in scrubland she desperately searched empty properties, climbed a windmill and endured sickness from drinking dirty water before her incredible rescue.

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.

Sam Bloomfield makes medieval-inspired armour and art in a process he says is a bit like dressmaking — only with metal, not cloth.

Erin Hext is an experienced bushwalker, who set out on a day hike near Hobart well prepared. She didn't expect to make the return journey in a rescue helicopter.

Inspired by Tourism Australia's Matesong video, locals in south-west Queensland write their own version with the banks of the Balonne River standing in for the beaches of Sydney.

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.

Bush schools which harness outdoor exploration and play are increasing, and teachers say they are improving engagement, reducing anxiety and building resilience.

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.