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Two women, including a mother of two, have been shot dead in a targeted and appalling public shooting in suburban Sydney, detectives say.

Police have vowed to solve the double murder, after the women, aged 39 and 48, were killed when a hail of bullets was fired at their vehicle in Panania on Saturday night.

"This is an appalling attack on two women, who lost their lives in a planned murder and assassination that's happened in a public street in Sydney," Homicide Squad commander Danny Doherty told media on Sunday.

"It's not acceptable by any standards. It's unprecedented, really, and we're determined to get the answers for the family."

Emergency services were called to a street in Revesby just before 8.50pm on Saturday following reports of a shooting.

The 48-year-old, identified as a mother of two, could not be revived and died at the scene. The 39-year-old was taken in a critical condition to Liverpool Hospital, where she later died.

A girl, 16, and man, 20, were also in the car at the time and were left incredibly shaken but physically unhurt, Detective Superintendent Doherty said.

He said the other occupants were incredibly lucky not to have been killed or seriously injured.

Police believe the shooting occurred at Hendy Avenue, Panania, before the vehicle travelled to Weston St, Revesby, where emergency services were contacted, Det Supt Doherty said.

Burned-out cars were located in nearby suburbs in the hours following the attack and police are investigating if the vehicles are linked to the shooting.

"These are the hallmarks of a planned attack; it was methodical, it was planned," Det Supt Doherty said.

He said he could not publicly identify the victims because police were still in the process of contacting relatives, who he said were devastated.

Police were familiar with the 48-year-old victim for having past connections to underworld figures, and one theory was she was the intended target of the attack.

Det Supt Doherty said the three other people in the vehicle had no links to organised crime.

He urged the public to come forward with information about the attack.

"The time is now. This is unprecedented," Det Supt Doherty said.

"We should be asking questions, how could this happen? How did we get to this point, where two women have lost their lives in Sydney, in a public street?"

Det Supt Doherty said underworld figures used to operate by "unwritten laws" under which women and children were protected from being attacked - but it appeared these rules no longer applied.

"I think this has just demonstrated how low they've got at this point, where any person that may be associated with someone who they want to target ... they don't discriminate, whether you're male or female," he said.

"The rule books have been thrown out the window."

Strike Force Laurantus has been established to investigate the incident.

Anyone who may have information, or dashcam or CCTV footage from the surrounding areas, is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

© AAP 2022

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Cash-strapped Australians filling up at the fuel pump paid an extra $5 a week over the course of the past three months, according to new figures.

The Australian Automobile Association's latest Transport Affordability Index, released on Sunday, shows average weekly fuel costs across the nation rose to $100.39 in the June quarter.

Typical weekly household transport costs also grew to $412.21 in capital cities and $342.98 in the regions.

The fuel costs factor in the temporary halving of the fuel excise rate, inflation running at 6.1 per cent annually and global price shocks stemming from the war in Ukraine.

Michael Bradley, managing director of the peak motoring body, said it was the first time the national weekly fuel cost average had passed $100 since the index's inception in 2016.

"Despite the temporary excise cut, fuel prices are rising and continue to be a significant contributor to cost of living pressures across both regional and metropolitan Australia," he said.

Average fuel costs were $98.37 per week across the nation's capital cities and $102.71 per week regionally, with motorists in Bunbury ($122.70), Geelong ($118.31) and Launceston ($114.67) the hardest hit, according to the index.

The 22-cent cut to the fuel excise is due to end next month, with the Albanese government strongly indicating it won't be extended.

The national average for petrol prices fell to 173.6 cents a litre last week, its lowest point since Easter.

Sydney remains Australia's most expensive capital city for transport costs, averaging $486.18 per week, followed by Melbourne ($461.01) and Brisbane ($454.52).

The transport cost calculations take into consideration average weekly spending on fuel, car loan repayments, tolls, insurance and servicing, as well as public transport.

AAA DATA ON AVERAGE FUEL COSTS PER WEEK IN CAPITAL CITIES

* Hobart $102.63

* Darwin $99.84

* Sydney $99.13

* Canberra $98.92

* Brisbane $98.15

* Melbourne $97.29

* Perth $95.71

* Adelaide $95.28

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The walls inside the Dubbo Men's Shed are lined with a clutter of tools, boxes of screws and paint tins, stained with drips of colour.

A sign on the door of the NSW group says: "Don't use machinery unless you know how!" The shed's members, mostly retirees, meet here amongst the sawdust every week to tinker and talk.

The workbench, however, is pristine, with a carefully sanded wooden box sitting on top of a white sheet.

A bit bigger than a shoebox, it is a casket for a baby.

John Gibson was moved to make a coffin after hearing from a family friend, who paid $1000 for her baby's casket at a funeral home.

"She was a single mother, and I just couldn't help her out at the time," Gibson, a former dementia worker, tells AAP.

Some of the shed's members know the lingering grief after the death of a baby and hope to make more caskets for low-income families.

"(A friend) had a loss 40 years ago and she still celebrates his birthday. He only lasted two days.

"It affects people very strongly."

Men's Sheds have been bringing men together to work on community-focused projects across regional and rural Australia since the 1990s.

There are about 1270 around the nation, or more sheds than McDonald's restaurants, as Australian Men's Shed Association executive officer David Helmers likes to point out.

The "shedders'" projects are known for their country quirk, like coffins made by a Tasmanian chapter; picnic tables for a bushfire-ravaged community in Victoria's Gippsland; and a war memorial sculpted from 600 metres of bird wire on Queensland's Bribie Island.

But their creations are not the point, Helmers says.

The sheds aim to prevent men from sinking into social isolation, a "health by stealth" strategy.

"Our motto is 'men don't talk face-to-face, they talk shoulder-to-shoulder'.

"Isolation is one of the key contributors to poor health in men. It's a trigger point that can lead to substance abuse and depression.

"We get a dozen blokes together, put them in a room with an old lawnmower, some tools and tell them to fix it.

"You come back in an hour's time and the lawnmower won't be fixed, but they will have made friends."

The Australian Men's Shed model has been embraced overseas, particularly in the UK. A recent study found members report improved perspectives on their health and better recoveries from illness.

One man told the Glasgow Caledonian University researchers he was drinking heavily before finding the comfort of a shed.

"If the Men's Shed wasn't here, I wouldn't be here to tell the story. I'd have drunk myself to death," he said, according to the study published in the BMC Public Health journal last year.

Others said they learnt about strokes and heart attack risks from shed members, while one man was able to talk openly about his depression.

"(Men) don't want to show their weakness. I've started talking to people who've been through depression, or know where I'm coming from."

In Australia, the mental health organisation Beyond Blue has long backed the movement, which is partly funded by the state and federal governments.

Gibson says the shoulder-to-shoulder mantra plays out in the Dubbo shed and extends to the community.

Locals are enthusiastic about the casket project, helping people talk about an often unspeakable subject.

A women's group will sew pillows and linings, businesses have donated money, and the shed will ensure local funeral homes' trade is not affected if the project takes off.

Gibson says the best work happens at the shed's "smoko" breaks.

"Some men are quite open about their problems, but some aren't, some will try to hide it.

"But we always seem to have a way of getting it out."

Lifeline 13 11 14

beyondblue 1300 22 4636

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NSW Police have launched an investigation after two women were shot dead in southwestern Sydney.

Emergency services were called to a street in Revesby just before 8.50pm on Saturday, following reports of a shooting.

Bankstown Police Area Command found two women, aged 48 and 36, inside a vehicle.

The older woman could not be revived and died at the scene.

The younger woman was taken to Liverpool Hospital in a critical condition, where she later died.

Two other occupants in the vehicle - a man and woman - were not injured.

A task force has been established to investigate the incident.

Anyone who may have information, dashcam or CCTV from the surrounding areas is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

© AAP 2022