Most of the 1.6 million New Year's Eve revellers across Sydney were well-behaved through the night.
Incidents and arrests were down from previous years, with 31 people arrested overall, police say.
"We were overwhelmingly happy with crowd behaviour," a police spokesman said on Thursday morning.
More than 3000 officers were deployed across the city as it erupted into celebrations in a goodbye to 2014.
"Sydney's New Year's Eve celebrations are widely regarded as some of the best in the world, so we were pleased to see Sydneysiders living up to that reputation and acting responsibly," Assistant Commissioner Mick Fuller said.
People hugged, kissed, clapped and cheered as fireworks coloured the skies.
Although most kept clear of trouble, police said there were a few exceptions.
Two men, aged 32 and 37, were arrested at St Clair, in Sydney's west, over an alleged assault on a police officer at about 12.30am.
The officer was struck on the head and suffered bruising and swelling, police say.
Paramedics helped more than 1000 for a range of injuries, mostly due to falls, assaults or intoxication.
In Sydney's south, one man has life-threatening injuries after trying to light a firework on Sans Souci beach.
An explosion occurred, injuring the 29-year-old man.
He was taken to St George Hospital in a critical condition, with face and head injuries.
In a separate incident, a 22-year-old man suffered burns and other injuries to his face while using fireworks at Shelley Beach on NSW's Central Coast.
Meanwhile, ACT police praised crowd behaviour in Canberra.
Revellers attended a concert, a dance party, and two fireworks displays.
Only five people were arrested, with two drink-drivers and a disqualified driver among them.
Seven adults were taken to the police watchhouse for being drunk.
A female pedestrian suffered minor injuries when she was hit by a car in Civic after midnight.
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