Volunteer firefighters will be offered government compensation after spending extended periods fighting bushfires raging across the country, authorities announced Sunday.
Rural Fire Service volunteers who have spent at least 10 days battling blazes in worst-hit New South Wales are immediately eligible for the scheme, which offers payments of up to $300 per day for a maximum of $6,000 per person.
"While I know RFS volunteers don't seek payment for their service, I don't want to see volunteers or their families unable to pay bills, or struggle financially as a result of the selfless contribution they are making," Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.
Rural Fire Service crews douse a home lost to the Green Wattle Creek Fire in the south-west of Sydney. Source: AAP
"This is not about paying volunteers. It is about sustaining our volunteer efforts by protecting them from financial loss."
Mr Morrison said the compensation scheme would be rolled out across other Australian states and territories if local authorities requested that assistance.
"They run their own shows; they know what their challenges are," he said of the state governments.
The scheme - which applies only to self-employed volunteers and those working for small- and medium-sized businesses - is expected to cost about $50 million in NSW, which boasts the world's largest volunteer fire service at 70,000 people.
Volunteers who are also government employees were last week granted additional paid leave to help fight the blazes.
The Morrison government has announced that rural New South Wales fire service volunteers will be compensated for loss of income, after weeks of pressure. Source: AAP
The prime minister has come under increasing pressure in recent weeks over his response to the bushfire crisis, which has killed 10 people, destroyed hundreds of homes and scorched more than three million hectares.
Mr Morrison was forced to apologise for taking a family holiday to Hawaii as Australia battled the bushfires, a decision that sparked public outrage and prompted street protests.
Evacuation ordered
Temperatures are set to soar again across large parts of south-eastern Australia, with elevated fire danger expected in the lead-up to New Year's Day.
People were ordered to evacuate Victoria's East Gippsland region on Sunday amid concerns three large blazes sparked over a month ago could burn out of control.
The state's Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp said the more than 30,000 people in the popular tourist region should "leave now", as fires could force the closure of the last major road still open.
Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp addresses the media at the State Control Centre in Melbourne. Source: AAP
"What we're saying now with the conditions that will be confronting us tomorrow... is if you're holidaying in that part of the state, it's time you left," Commissioner Crisp said while urging local residents to do the same.
A major music festival was also cancelled ahead of the forecast extreme weather conditions, with 9,000 people asked to leave the Falls Festival campsite in Lorne due to the risk of bushfires, smoke haze and severe winds.
Severe thunderstorms and damaging wind gusts are predicted for neighbouring South Australia where multiple fires are raging and the bushfire danger will be extreme in several areas on Monday.
Firefighters are also bracing for bushfire conditions to worsen during the week in New South Wales.
Ninety-five blazes were listed as burning across the state on Sunday, including 48 fires which are uncontained.
