Clocks will go forward one hour at 2am Sunday in some states.
Two helicopters are assisting nine fire crews fight a blaze in the Gold Coast hinterland.
Twenty-six people who returned from Samoa on a Australian government-chartered flight have been offered counselling.
Wombats are being shot, run over, burned and buried alive in South Australia, wildlife carers say.
More than 310 firefighters and 119 vehicles are battling 35 fires across Queensland amid dry and windy conditions.
King penguins are returning to a killing ground on Australia's sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island, where they were once wiped out.
The residents of Bundanoon in July voted 355 to one to ban commercially bottled water.
Police are about to step up patrols of Sydney beaches, vowing to crack down on thieves and louts.
Web designer Dean Robbins won the three-month nationwide competition with his suggestion to name the new take on an old favourite: iSnack2.0.
Southern Queensland was blanketed in dust on Wednesday, causing traffic delays, cancelling horse racing, and raising health concerns.