Christmas Day is now just days away, which means the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) has been able to announce the official forecast.

Some Aussies may need to move celebrations indoors as a few states are warned of possible showers, as well as relatively cool to mild temperatures.

"It will be a varied Christmas Day across the country, with cool conditions across much of the south-east compared to an expected hot day in Perth, and hot and stormy conditions for much of the Northern Territory," the BoM says.

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Victoria and South Australia are expected to remain dry but the bureau is forecasting showers for western and northern Tasmania.

There's also a risk of showers for eastern NSW with onshore winds and a partly cloudy day on the forecast, so not ideal beach weather.

However, it should be generally dry and sunny elsewhere, with above average temperatures forecast for north-east NSW and southern Queensland.

Large parts of the Sunshine State, including the south-east and the tropical north, are set to see showers and storms.

While over on the west coast, it will be a hot and dry day across southern WA.

So what does the weather have planned for your neck of the woods? Let's check out the state-by-state forecasts:

Queensland

Brisbane is set to see a shower or two, with highs of 33 degrees and balmy overnight lows of 22 degrees.

Through eastern, central and northern Queensland, there's a risk of showers and storms.

Maximum temperatures in the low 30s near the coast and across northern parts, to high 30s elsewhere through southern inland areas.

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NSW

A generally dry and mostly sunny day across the state, although there's the risk of showers for the east coast.

Sydney is expecting a shower or two with highs of 26 degrees, falling to lows of 19.

Maximum temperatures for the state will be within a few degrees of the December average – low to mid 20s about the south coast, grading to high 20s about the north coast.

Away from coast, maximum temperatures in the high 20s in the south, grading to low 30s in the north.

ACT

Canberra is set for a mostly sunny Christmas Day with highs also reaching 27 degrees but a chilly evening is forecast, with lows down around 10 degrees.

Victoria

It's set to be a cool to mild day with the slight risk of a light morning shower about the exposed southern coasts, clearing to a dry afternoon.

Maximum temperatures will be well-below average, with the partly cloudy skies keeping maximum temperatures in the high-teens to low 20s in the south.

Melbourne can expect a mild and partly cloudy day with highs of just 17 degrees, dropping down to 13 degrees.

It'll be dry and sunny in the north.

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Tasmania

A gusty westerly flow will bring showers to western and southern Tasmania.

Daytime temperatures are generally 2 to 6 degrees below the December average, and in the mid-teens through western and southern parts but reaching around 20 degrees for the northeast.

Hobart is set for a cloudy day with highs reaching 16 degrees, before dropping to 9 degrees overnight.

South Australia

A dry and mostly sunny day across South Australia, with cloud clearing in Adelaide for a top of 26 degrees.

While maximum temperatures will be in the mid to low 20s about the east coast, it'll be cooler in the far south-east, where the maximums are only set to reaching the high teens.

On the flip side, inland temperatures could reach into the high 30s.

Western Australia

It'll be a dry and warm-to-hot Christmas Day across much of the state, with daytime temperatures in the mid-to-high 30s, grading to low 40s away from the coast, through central and northern parts.

Perth is forecast to reach a scorcher with tops of 40 degrees forecast, while overnight lows will remain at a warm 25 degrees.

Tropical showers and storms are forecast for the Kimberley.

Northern Territory

And cloudy with showers and storms across much of central and northern NT, with a shower or two and possible storm forecast for Darwin.

They'll see a top of 32 degrees, with lows of 26 degrees.

Dry and mostly sunny in the far south.

– Reported with Bureau of Meteorology

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Analysis: The Optus network outage that occurred on September 18 this year led to a failure of hundreds of Triple Zero calls, and tragically two deaths where people had attempted to make Triple Zero calls.

Yesterday's independent report, released by Optus, is a complex analysis of the incident which will lead to changes in the handling of network upgrades, communications within Optus, but most alarmingly, shines a light on a serious issue with our modern mobile-reliant communications systems and the Triple Zero emergency line.

Leaving aside the analysis of the technical "why" surrounding the network outage, and understanding that there will be plenty of people at Optus looking at potentially packing their bags after failures to escalate the problem and properly communicate the issues, the real focus, I think, should be on educating Australians about the learnings we can all take from this issue.

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On the very first page of the over 40-page report produced by Dr Kerry Schott AO, there is a reference to mobile devices possibly taking "40 to 60 seconds to camp-on," which is the technical term for your mobile finding an alternate network to make a Triple Zero call in the event of an outage.

Calls to Optus' customer support on the day of the outage reported this exact problem; customers had tried to call Triple Zero but heard nothing but complete silence.

A key recommendation of the Schott report is to "Inform all customers that their devices may take 40-60 seconds to connect to Triple Zero" – that is a staggering thing to hear, as Dr Schott points out, "In an emergency, people are unlikely to hang on for this length of time, especially when the only response they are getting is silence on the line."

Critically, there is no single way in which mobile phones operate in the event of an outage to process a request to call Triple Zero.

Optus testing showed that Apple and Samsung phones used different pathways to establish a route through to another network and ultimately to Triple Zero.

Most concerning might also be the analysis which showed both Apple and Samsung devices attempted to connect to 3G to make that call, despite the fact that 3G has been switched off in Australia for over a year now.

Given this 40 to 60 second delay, it can be assumed that part of that timeframe is used to attempt 3G connections, and that should be written completely out of the code for devices used in Australia.

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Perhaps problematically, removing that code might then render the phones unable to contact emergency numbers in other countries when travelling, which is also an issue for travellers coming to Australia with phones still hard-coded to use 3G for emergency services.

The Schott report recommends that the industry and Government investigate ways to make the Triple Zero system be data-enabled, which would remove this reliance on now-old, outdated, and discontinued mobile network concepts.

Concerningly, the report also recommends that the public be encouraged to test their devices to ensure they work for a Triple Zero call.

It is vital that the public never call Triple Zero unless it is an emergency; in fact, it's an offence to do so.

What is needed though is a system by which people can have faith that their phone will work in the unique circumstances of a network failure, something you can't test by simply making a call.

Industry testing of devices must continue; a phone or SMS number should be set up for people to contact to validate their device, and the regulators and Government must act fast to bring our Triple Zero emergency call network up to a modern global standard.

While not noted in the Schott report, this could and should include factors such as calls via satellite, SMS, and messaging connectivity to Triple Zero and a modern data-enabled call system; it's the least we should expect from the most important phone number in Australia.

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A vile act has been captured on CCTV with a vandal spray painting banned symbols of hate on the walls of a Brisbane mosque.

The vision shows a masked figure running towards the Bald Hills Mosque and committing the graffiti late on Wednesday night.

A swastika was among the ugly messages and slogans worshipers were confronted with yesterday morning.

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"We condemn all forms of violence, racism, and hatred just as we condemn the recent acts of terror," Iman Salik said.

Members shared their disappointment as they left the mosque this afternoon.

"The evil that exists around us purely to spread division and it breeds more hate and the only answer is love," mosque member Greg McIntosh said.

One mosque member extended an olive branch to the vandal today.

"Mate come out, ask questions, let's hang out, kebabs on me," Khaled Akbery said.

Following the vandalism, police have increased patrols of the area and a mobile police van was set up at a mosque gathering today.

"Queensland and Australia is a multicultural society, and there is no tolerance for any threats or persecution on any culture or religion," Queensland Police detective inspector Chris Toohey said.

Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja shared the vandalism on Instagram, with a message for his followers.

"Don't let the haters divide us," he wrote.

Sandgate MP Bisma Asif also condemned the act of hate.

"This comes on the back of 15 innocent people who have lost their lives, at the hands of extremists," she said.

"There is no room for this kind of division or hatred in our community.

"My message to our local community is we must stand together at these times of grief.

"A lot of people are hurting right now.

"We need to come together rather than tear each other apart, and there is no room for racism, racial vilification, or any forms of discrimination."

Boards have since been secured over the graffiti.

Anyone who may have witnessed the incident or has relevant information is asked to contact police.

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Seven men who were arrested yesterday after a dramatic operation in Sydney's south-west and released today without charge plan to sue NSW Police for damages.

Their lawyer Ahmed Dibb said the group, the youngest of whom was just 18, claim they were unfairly targeted and want to set a precedent that no other group receives the same treatment.

Two of their cars were damaged after being rammed during the arrest on the corner of George and Campbell streets in Liverpool yesterday, but it is understood the lawsuit will go beyond that.

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No filings have been lodged just yet.

Police said in a statement yesterday they had received information that "a violent act was possibly being planned".

"As investigations continue, seven men are assisting police with their inquiries," NSW Police said yesterday.

"At this point in time, police have not identified any connection to the current police investigation of the Bondi terror attack."

Speaking to reporters after their release, the men denied any wrongdoing, claiming that they arrived from Victoria two days ago for a holiday.

The men told police they were on their way to a short-term rental before they were intercepted.

Police lacked sufficient evidence to charge the men with any offences, and they were released earlier today.

"We didn't do nothing wrong. There was nothing found on us," one of the men told reporters.

"Why are we here? If we got terrorism charges, I'd be locked up right now."

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A far-right extremist did perform a Nazi salute outside court, a judge has ruled following an appeal hearing.

Jacob Hersant, 26, in November 2024 became the first Australian jailed for performing a Nazi salute in public.

The self-confessed neo-Nazi was sentenced to one month behind bars but immediately launched an appeal against his conviction in the Victorian County Court.

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Following a three-day hearing in October, Judge Simon Moglia on Friday ruled Hersant was guilty of intentionally performing the salute on October 27, 2023.

The 26-year-old had argued he did not perform the sieg heil and, even if he did, the charge was constitutionally invalid as the gesture was a legitimate form of political expression.

Video played in court showed Hersant raising his arm to salute in front of media outside the County Court, about six days after Victorian laws banning the gesture came into effect.

He was then captured on camera saying "nearly did it – it's illegal now" and "Australia for the white man, heil Hitler", before walking away.

Moglia described the comments after the gesture as a brazen acknowledgement of his offending.

Teenagers have again been filmed brawling on a popular beach in Melbourne, just a day after police labelled troublemakers in the area a "brat pack".

Vision has emerged of dozens of youths shoving each other and throwing punches and kicks at Mordialloc Beach around 8.30pm yesterday.

It's the latest in a series of incidents on the same beach, after hundreds of teens stormed and trashed a nearby Woolworths on Wednesday before clashing with police on the water's edge.

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Elsewhere in the city, police swooped on three young men at a train station in Chelsea.

One of the men had tried to steal alcohol from a liquor store, police allege.

The other two refused to move on and resisted police.

One police officer was injured in the altercation.

On the other side of the city, knives were found stashed in bushes following a brawl in Altona.

Police were called to reports of a brawl at a beachside reserve around 5.30pm yesterday.

A 16-year-old boy was charged with drug offences.

READ MORE: Cool Christmas forecast across the south-east but a scorcher in the west

He has been bailed to appear before a childrens' court at a later date.

Two 16-year-old boys and a 19-year-old man were interviewed by police and are expected to be charged via summons.

The investigation into the incident remains ongoing.

This week's spate of beach brawls follows the release of damning crime figures which found child offenders accounted for more than half of all robberies, carjackings, home invasions and aggravated burglaries across the state in the 12 months to September.

A group of almost 1200 children were arrested nearly 7100 times across the year.

"That particular group drives some of the crime types that cause significant harm in the community," Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Robert Hill said.

Hill yesterday vowed to identify every teenager involved in Wednesday's beach riot.

He urged parents to turn their children in if they attended the beach party.

"It's better that you proactively contact police rather than waiting for us to knock on your door in about two or three weeks' time, if not earlier," Hill said.

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Wednesday's Mordialloc brawl saw the riot squad, water police and the police AirWing deployed to the gathering.

"I've called them a brat pack, you know, young people terrifying those within a shopping precinct and also conducting themselves on the beach, on the foreshore area, attacking our police members," Hill said.

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Tony Mokbel's barrister has slammed prosecutors after they asked for more time to decide whether to retry the gangland figure on a drug importation charge.

Mokbel, 60, is facing a retrial over the alleged 2005 offending, dubbed Orbital, after the Victorian Court of Appeal set aside his conviction in the aftermath of the Lawyer X saga.

His lawyers in November applied for the proceedings to be discontinued, with the Director of Public Prosecutions indicating they would need some time to consider the matter.

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Prosecutor Simon Thomas today told the Supreme Court the director still needed until mid-February to decide because the case was complicated.

Mokbel's barrister Julie Condon KC criticised the delay, saying it was completely unacceptable.

"It is very unfortunate given the delay that has tainted this matter," Condon said.

"The line has to be drawn in the sand somewhere."

It's alleged Mokbel dealt with two undercover officers in June 2005, believing they were international MDMA suppliers, and tried to import 100kg of the drug.

Condon said it was not a complicated matter for the director to consider, noting the alleged offending only spanned two weeks.

Mokbel had also effectively served the jail sentence that was originally imposed, the barrister added.

She urged judicial registrar Tim Freeman to adjourn the case to the next possible date, saying her client was keen to have the "sorry saga" come to an end.

Freeman agreed the case needed to progress at the next hearing, either through the director discontinuing the charge or setting down dates towards a retrial.

The case was adjourned to February 6, with Mokbel's bail extended to that date.

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His bail conditions were also varied to allow him to head to Queensland for a three-week holiday over the New Year.

Mokbel, who was supported by his girlfriend, did not speak to reporters as he left the court today.

The 60-year-old had launched an appeal against his three drug convictions, arguing they were tainted by barrister-turned-informer Nicola Gobbo, known as Lawyer X.

He successfully quashed his Quills drug trafficking conviction in October, with the appeal justices finding he had suffered a substantial miscarriage of justice because of Gobbo's actions in secretly providing information to police.

His Orbital importation charge was set aside but the judges ordered a retrial after accepting there still could have been a fair trial if a witness's tainted statement was excluded.

Mokbel lost his appeal on the Magnum drug trafficking offence, finding he had fallen short of establishing there was a real question as to his guilt.

He was re-sentenced on that charge to time already served.

The identity of the unsung hero who ran in to help confront one of the Bondi Beach shooters alongside Ahmed al Ahmed has been revealed as 30-year-old Israeli Gefen Bitton.

When shooting began on Sunday evening, Bitton and his friend fled. But when his friend turned around to look for him, he was nowhere to be seen.

"He knew exactly what he was doing, he was just set on a mission to help others," another one of Bitton's friends, Matthew Volpatti, told 9News.

READ MORE: Final victim of Bondi attack named as local grandmother

The 30-year-old had sprinted towards danger, alongside Ahmed al-Ahmed, in an attempt to stop the attack.

Shortly after, Bitton's sister in Israel called his friend and said that Bitton called her and said he had been shot.

There was no information on his whereabouts, and his friends travelled to Bondi, trying to find any information about whether he had survived the shooting.

He was eventually found at a hospital, already in surgery for the gunshot wounds he sustained in the attack.

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Bitton was eventually identified after his father, who had flown from Israel, recognised him as the man in a red shirt seen in viral footage running in to help Ahmed al Ahmed, who famously disarmed one of the shooters.

Bitton was shot three times and remains in critical condition at St Vincent's Hospital after five rounds of surgery.

His loved ones are raising money for his medical expenses.

"He's got a long road to recovery," Volpatti said.

"He's just a young man come from overseas to have a better life in Australia, and he's gonna need everyone's support."

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‘I put something under the tree … but it’s gone horribly wrong.’

The ban will run from April 1, 2026 for five years or until stocks recover.