It was 36 nailbiting hours for the parents of four Aussie surfers missing at sea off the coast of Indonesia.

Steph Weisse, Will Teagle and Jordan Short were celebrating Elliot Foote's 30th birthday with a surf trip to Indonesia with eight others when their boat struck bad weather and they disappeared on Sunday night.

Families back in Australia received the call no parent wants to hear from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

READ MORE: Four Australians missing in Indonesia found alive

"I answered it and unfortunately the news was not good," Steph's father Wayne Weisse told 9News.

"They told me she was missing and three of her friends as well."

Her mum Jill Weisse said: "Straight away my blood turned cold and I thought, 'Oh god, what mess has she got into this time', and Wayne just started crying, saying, 'She is missing.'"

Mr Weisse said they felt hopeless waiting by the phone for updates on whether they would hear good news or the unthinkable.

Rescue teams launched into action on Sunday night after the group vanished in inclement weather.

But after nearly 40 hours, the families received the phone call they'd been praying for on Tuesday morning.

"(The boat captain) said, 'Wayne, I got someone here to talk to you' and it was my daughter and I heard her and she said, 'Hi Dad'," Mr Weisse said.

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For Foote's family, the wait for the joyous phone call was a little longer.

He wasn't found for a few hours after his friends.

Foote's father Peter said his son had paddled off on his surfboard and left the group to get help.

But after hours of anxious waiting, his utter joy was captured in the throngs of the media at his home in Sydney when he received a calm and collected text message from Elliot.

"Hey dad. Elliot here. I'm alive. Safe now!! Love you. Chat later," the text read.

Foote had paddled to a nearby surf resort and was located a few hours after his friends with a bad case of board rash but otherwise in good spirits.

Peter said it was "so typical" of his son to be relaxed after surviving the throes of the sea for nearly two days.

Despite the turmoil of the past two days, Mr Foote had always remained "optimistic" and held out hope the group would be found alive.

"What a scare he's put me through," he said.

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Similarly, for Teagle's sister, hope was never lost.

"They are all born and bred in the water," Amy said.

"Very competent thrillseekers. I hope they have enjoyed it more than we have."

Now the four mates are looking to head back to Australia, which will likely be a joyous reunion for the families after days of being worried sick. 

The inquiry will help develop an ‘enduring’ system with cross-party consensus, Shaw says.

People were yelling, there was a repetitive ‘thud’ and two days later a body was found.

Aussies are increasingly turning to credit cards as the cost-of-living crisis hits hip pockets.

Australians put a record number of purchases on credit cards in the month of June, making 301 million purchases on plastic, according to Finder analysis of Reserve Bank of Australia data.

Those purchases cost a massive $34 billion, marking an 8.4 per cent increase on Aussies' monthly credit card spending over the past year.

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The country's total credit is now at $40.5 billion, Finder has calculated.

Before January, that figure had never reached $33.5 billion.

Research released last month found that one in six Aussies was struggling to pay off their credit card debt.

Finder credit card expert Amy Bradney-George has warned Aussies to be cautious of putting items on credit.

"We're seeing an overreliance on credit as people struggle to manage the cost-of-living crisis," she said.

"Emergency savings have been wiped in some households and expenses feel out of control.

"Consider transferring your outstanding balance to a zero per cent interest balance transfer card and aim to make purchases only using a debit card until you can dig yourself out of the red."

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Bradney-George further urged credit card users to focus on what is affordable for them instead of spending unnecessarily.

"If making repayments is difficult or causing stress, contact your bank or lender to discuss solutions," she said.

"You can also get free financial counselling by calling the National Debt Helpline on 1800 007 007."

Aussies running hot with Matildas fever are ripe targets for opportunist scammers, the consumer watchdog has warned, as it urged fans to beware of bogus live stream links set up to drain bank accounts and fake ticket sales.

The ACCC said scams targeting Matildas fans were starting to emerge on social media platforms, especially Facebook, where people are hunting for the hottest tickets in town.

Catriona Lowe, the ACCC deputy chair, urged fans to be "very careful" if they are trying to snap up last-minute tickets for tomorrow night's semifinal and the tournament final.

READ MORE: Four Australians missing in Indonesia found alive, floating on surfboards

"We are already seeing initial reports of scam activity, particularly on Facebook, where scammers are responding to posts from people looking for tickets and using compromised accounts to sell non-existent tickets," Lowe said.

"There have also been reports of scammers claiming there is a problem with the payment and asking for it to be made again."

Ticket scammers will scan social media platforms and either post or directly contact people to say they have tickets available for sale. If they find a potential victim, scammers will send convincing screenshots showing fake proof of World Cup ticket ownership.

As well as the ticket sale scams, the ACCC's National Anti-Scam Centre said it had also received reports of scammer activity on social media, with links to supposed live-streams of sporting events, including World Cup matches.

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Lowe described fake live streams as a "relatively new scam" which aims to exploit keen fans of various sports teams, including the Matildas.

Would-be spectators are prompted to click a link and enter their credit card details to subscribe to the live-streaming service.

But that click, in most cases, ends up with scammers stealing a victim's credit card details and not delivering the content.

Australia faces England at a sold-out Stadium Australia on Wednesday night at 8pm.

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Emergency services were called to Khyber Pass Rd in Grafton just before 5pm

The pair pleaded guilty a year ago to crimes committed when they were teens.

“The truth is you were a willing participant,” lawyer Paul Knowsley said to the woman.

A magistrate has told paedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale he will "probably die in custody" as he increased the 89-year-old's jail term by one year for abusing his 72nd victim.

Ridsdale appeared frail and kept his eyes closed as he lay in a prison hospital bed, appearing by video link for his sentence at Ballarat Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

He has been in prison since 1994 and is currently serving a maximum 39-year sentence for abusing dozens of child victims when he worked as a priest at multiple schools and churches across Victoria.

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He pleaded guilty in June to a new charge of indecent assault against a 13-year-old boy while he worked at a Catholic school in Horsham in 1987.

The boy went to the counsellor's office to meet with Ridsdale, who grabbed his arm and said he was a "big strong lad" before touching him inappropriately.

The victim, who is now aged in his 40s, ran out of the room after being touched and said he felt like "the world was 100 miles per hour" during the offending.

"It was like I was a passenger and had no control," he said, in a statement read to the court.

"This led me down a path of destruction."

Ridsdale suffered a fall in November 2022 and is now bed-ridden, suffering chronic pain, muscle wasting and weak limbs, the court was told.

He was recommended to be placed into palliative care earlier this year.

Magistrate Hugh Radford said Ridsdale was in a position of trust as a trainee priest, and "more than that you were a man of God" who should have been providing guidance to the boy.

He handed Ridsdale a 12-month prison sentence with no parole period, increasing his current maximum term to 40 years and his minimum to 33-and-a-half years.

"You will probably die in custody," he said.

His earliest release date was extended to April 2028.

If he serves out his full maximum sentence, Ridsdale will be 100 years old when he is released.

The global survey underscores the rising problem of data breaches and cyber-crime.