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Rural and regional NSW is "on edge" after heavy rain and flash flooding while Sydney was spared the worst of the wild weather that has hit the state.

Emergency services have performed 28 flood rescues in the last 24 hours as of Sunday afternoon, with 21 of them overnight.

Five emergency warnings have been issued across NSW, from Dubbo to the outskirts of Sydney, with residents told to prepare to leave.

The evacuation orders are among 94 warnings issued across NSW, including 45 advice-level warnings and 44 watch-and-act warnings.

State Emergency Service commissioner Carlene York urged people to be vigilant after a night of rescues, the majority being people who'd attempted to drive through floodwaters.

"It is very dangerous out there on our roads and we are seeing a lot of flash flooding and obviously the rivers are still rising," Ms York said on Sunday.

Emergency Services Minister Steph Cooke said Sydney had been "fortunate" but NSW is expecting another big system to hit on Wednesday.

"Communities in rural, regional and remote NSW; they'll be on edge for the next few days while we wait for another big system to arrive," Ms Cooke said.

"We are in for a long spring and summer in relation to wet weather conditions."

Ms Cooke said floodwaters would cause problems for inland communities for months.

The Bureau of Meteorology's Jane Golding said NSW could expect a series of weather fronts to pass through the state.

"We've seen totals far more than what we would normally see at this point in October," Ms Golding said.

Evacuation orders were active for the Oura Beach Camping Area outside Wagga Wagga, the Western Plains Tourist Park at Dubbo, the Riverside Ski Park in Cattai, and parts of Agnes Banks and Lower Portland.

Residents along the Hawkesbury River west of Sydney have been told to prepare to evacuate with dangerous flooding predicted.

Four evacuation centres have been set up, including three in and around Sydney and a fourth in Dubbo.

Major flooding is occurring and expected across the state, including in Gundagai from Sunday afternoon and several locations along the Lachlan River.

In the NSW's central west, the Bathurst 1000 was marred by a series of crashes with conditions hampered by the torrential rain the area had seen.

Meanwhile in Victoria, heavy rain drowned out a wine and music festival on Saturday, with major flood warnings for parts of the state even as rain eased.

Emergency services issued a watch and act message for communities in central and northeast parts, including the towns of Charlton, Avoca, Laanecoorie and Cowra near the Murray River.

© AAP 2022

A senior coalition frontbencher says a religious freedom bill is more urgent in the wake of the Essendon -Andrew Thorburn saga.

Mr Thorburn resigned as CEO of the AFL club a day after his appointment, due to his role as chair of a church with divisive views around abortion and homosexuality.

He opted to remain with the church after being told he was unable to serve as CEO while continuing as chair of City on a Hill.

He has since said he believed his Christian faith had been tagged as "unacceptable".

Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor said the CEO's treatment was "disgraceful" and religious diversity needed to be accepted.

Asked if the saga makes the case for a religious discrimination bill more urgent, he replied: "It absolutely does".

"We absolutely want to see this proceed," he told Sky News.

"There's a whole range of different faiths across Australia. Tolerance and diversity on these issues are enormously important.

"We do need to make sure we have legislation in place that protects citizens against situations like this."

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton told the ABC's Insiders program Mr Thornburn had been inclusive and received no complaints while he was the CEO of NAB.

Mr Dutton said Mr Thorburn should be reinstated as Essendon CEO.

"We are in a dangerous position in our country that we can discriminate against somebody because of their Christian values, their religious adherence to whatever religion," he said.

Mr Dutton also stood by his view religious schools should be able to discriminate against teachers who don't share its values.

"If you're of a Jewish faith and you're sending your child to that school, it's for a reason," he said.

"You've made a decision to send your child there to receive religious as part of a more general education and that should be unhindered."

© AAP 2022

A senior Labor minister says there are no plans to amend legislated tax cuts amid speculation the government is considering changes.

Resources Minister Madeleine King said it was alright for the community to have a discussion about tax policy but the government's policy remained behind the cuts.

"We have no plans to change those stage three tax cuts," she told Sky News on Sunday.

"Obviously there is a conversation going on in the community ... but right now this government is not planning any changes."

Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor welcomed the minister's words but called on the prime minister to categorically rule out any changes.

"It's encouraging that I hear that but it doesn't count until Anthony Albanese has stood up and ruled them out," he told the same network.

Mr Taylor said any changes to the legislated cuts, due to come into effect from mid-2024, would constitute "a war on aspiration".

"This is about middle Australia making sure they can earn or keep more of what they earn," he said

"We're seeing extraordinary inflationary pressures right now. And we know with inflation, the average Australian pays a higher rate of tax.

"These tax reforms were designed very carefully to make sure there was an incentive for Australians to get out there to have a crack."

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said the prime minister needed to honour his commitment to keep the tax cuts untouched.

"The prime minister promised on multiple occasions he wouldn't step back from it and it seems he is still contemplating it between now and the next election," he told the ABC's Insiders program.

"That would be an unforgivable and a ridiculous mistake."

He said the coalition would honour its commitment to the cuts.

"That's our policy," he said when asked if the coalition would seek to overturn any changes if it comes to power.

"We went to the last election with a promise (to support the tax cuts) and I'm not in the business of breaking promises.

"We will take a policy to the next election and if we are successful in government, we will honour it."

His comments come after Deputy Liberal Leader Sussan Ley promised to fight any attack on the tax cuts in parliament.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Friday maintained the government "has not changed its position" on tax cuts.

However, Mr Taylor said the prime minister had been allowing the debate to run for weeks without expressly ruling out any changes.

"We need to see Anthony Albanese ruling out dropping the tax cuts," he said.

© AAP 2022