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NSW SES has issued evacuation orders for parts of north and south Lismore and low-lying parts of Kyogle as "exhausted" residents prepare again for torrential rain and yet more flooding.

Residents of those areas have been told to leave by 10pm on Monday, with moderate to major flood warnings issued for the Wilsons River.

The orders issued on Monday evening come amid fears the already-soaked Northern Rivers region could experience six hour totals of 80-140mm, and isolated falls of up 200mm.

The epicentre of unprecedented floods last month - still in the midst of a mammoth clean-up - is on the frontline along with Tweed Heads, Evans Head, Yamba as well as Grafton and Coffs Harbour.

"Everyone is a bit shell-shocked, they're in disbelief, they're exhausted ... and others are frantically trying to prepare the best they can," Lismore Councillor Adam Guise told AAP on Monday afternoon.

"It's all a bit uncertain and people are pretty devastated and scared facing the prospects of another major flood."

He said he was in preparation mode, evacuating his pets and other possessions to higher ground.

"Things could escalate quickly on these rivers particularly with these isolated falls," Dean Narramore of the Bureau of Meteorology told reporters, warning of life threatening flash flooding.

He said severe weather warnings are in place from the Queensland borders to Coffs Harbour, spanning 450 kilometres of coastline.

"The rain from this system shouldn't be as heavy as the event at the end of February and early March for most areas," said Ben Domensino of weather monitoring service Weatherzone.

But he warned "catchments are still waterlogged from that event, which will exacerbate the risk of flooding during the next 48 hours".

The rain will continue into Tuesday and only begin to ease that afternoon and evening.

"These things come with exceptionally short, sharp bursts of rain which pose a risk to life and property," the Acting Commissioner of the NSW SES Daniel Austin told reporters.

A flood watch is in place for the Northern Rivers, Mid North Coast, Hunter, Hawkesbury Nepean and North Western NSW Rivers.

Moderate to major floods are possible on the Richmond, Wilsons, Orara and Bellinger Rivers from Tuesday, as heavy falls hit already-saturated catchments.

Mr Austin said Warragamba Dam in western Sydney, which spilled earlier this month, could also begin spilling as early as Monday evening.

Meanwhile, Flood Recovery Minister Steph Cooke said 27 recovery centres run by Resilience NSW have been set up across the state, with the majority of them in northern NSW.

With La Nina drenching Australia's east coast for the second year in a row, fatigue has set in.

"It's a phenomenon that lasts over our summers and will dissolve by autumn," Dr Nina Ridder of UNSW's Climate Change Research Centre told AAP.

"La Nina events are likely to bring more extreme rainfall to Australia.

"We're definitely seeing the change in global weather patterns because of climate change".

© AAP 2022

A woman with cerebral palsy has told a royal commission she was raped and treated "like a dog" by a paid personal assistant who she says beat her after she returned a positive pregnancy test.

The woman, known by the pseudonym Chloe, said the man, who began caring for her in 2016, threatened to kill her if she told anyone about the abuse.

Chloe, who uses a wheelchair, said the man beat her from "head to foot" and kicked her in the belly "over and over again", killing the unborn child and almost killing her.

"He had his bad face for me and his good face for everyone else," she said in a statement read by Counsel Assisting the Disability Royal Commission, Kate Eastman SC, at hearings on Monday in Hobart.

"He treated me like a dog. There were so many rapes and physical assaults. It was awful.

"I tried to fight back by scratching him, so he would cut my nails."

The commission was told the man was charged with multiple counts of rape, grievous bodily harm, torture and assault and was found not guilty at trial.

"(The jury) saw me as disabled and a liar. (They) think you are making this all up and telling lies," Chloe said.

"I can't trust anyone any more. It's been about six years of hell. I'm scared to be in my own house."

She said the man once threw her dinner on the ground and told her to eat it off the floor after she flung a mug at his head. Chloe said she was raped after refusing to eat the food.

Chloe said the man used her bank card "all the time" to buy things for himself and used her phone, taking it home with him so she couldn't call anyone.

"He kept me from seeing friends and family. He would charm everyone," she said.

"He threatened to kill me if I told anyone what had happened. And I thought I was going to die."

The man tortured Chloe's dogs to punish her, the commission was told, after initially charming her and telling her she was his "princess".

The royal commission, which will this week hear from survivors of abuse, has been told almost half of all women with a disability will experience physical violence during their lives.

According to the figures, 48 per cent will experience physical violence - higher than the rate for women without disability, at 27 per cent.

Two in five women with disability have also experienced emotionally abusive, harassing and controlling behaviours from current or former partners.

Disability advocate Nicole Lee survived 10 years of sexual, emotional and financial abuse committed by her ex-husband, who was also her carer.

Ms Lee said her husband, who the commission was told was jailed for several years, used the police against her, calling them himself and positioning her as the "crazy wife".

She believes women with a disability aren't given enough support or education about their rights.

"For a lot of us we have had disempowering experiences across the course of our lifetime," she said.

"Other people are making decisions and we don't think that we are allowed to make decisions for ourselves.

"So we stop speaking up. We stop asking questions and we stop, you know, reaching for help."

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© AAP 2022

Best actor winner Will Smith smacked presenter Chris Rock on the face and shouted a vulgarity at the comedian for making a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith's hairstyle in an epic moment at the Oscars ceremony.

Minutes later, when accepting his first Oscar on Sunday night for best actor for his role in King Richard, Smith apologised to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and his fellow nominees in a tear-filled acceptance speech, but not to Rock.

"I want to be a vessel for love," Smith said, with tears streaming down his face during his acceptance speech.

It was unclear whether Rock, a comedian and actor, was aware that Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, suffers from a disease that causes hair loss.

The episode with Rock, upstaging the rest of the 3-1/2 hour show, was sure to become one of the most memorable moments in 94 years of Academy Awards.

The Academy did not say whether Smith would be invited back for future shows, but said on Twitter, "The Academy does not condone violence of any form."

In a statement sent to media, and without naming names, Los Angeles police said investigators were aware of the incident, but that, "The individual involved has declined to file a police report."

Should Rock change his mind, however, LA police would investigate.

The incident at first appeared to be a scripted joke but turned serious when Smith shouted: "Keep my wife's name out of your f***ing mouth."

The audio from the show, broadcast on a time-delay of a few seconds in the United States, appeared to have been cut from the live transmission for many viewers because of the language. But it was audible in some broadcasts, for example in Japan and Australia.

Rock was roasting some of the nominees and, after mentioning Smith, said of his wife, "Jada, I love you. 'G.I. Jane II,' can't wait to see it."

He was referencing the 1997 film "G.I. Jane" in which actress Demi Moore shaved her head.

Smith then walked on stage toward Rock, who had his hands behind his back when Smith threw an open hand at his face that produced an audible smack, and in a form befitting an action movie star. Rock somehow stayed on his feet.

"Oh, wow! Wow! Will Smith just smacked the shit out of me," Rock said as the audience laughed, thinking it was a skit. "Wow, dude. It was a 'G.I. Jane' joke."

Smith then made what may become one of the most repeated phrases of Oscar history when he said, "Keep my wife's name out of your f***king mouth."

Rock responded, "I'm going to. That's the greatest night in the history of television."

Smith then repeated his phrase, louder and more deliberately.

Jada Pinkett Smith told Billboard in December she has been battling the autoimmune disorder alopecia, which can cause hair loss and balding.

The audience initially thought Smith's indignation was feigned, part of the act.

It was only after he returned to his seat and shouted that the audience went silent and audibly gasped.

Smith, 53, has been one of Hollywood's most charming and bankable stars, and was known for his clean rap lyrics when he shot to fame in the 1990s in the television sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

He took on mostly comedy and action roles early in his movie career before expanding into drama, and twice had been nominated for best actor before, for 2001's Ali and the 2006 movie The Pursuit of Happyness.

Smith won this time for playing Richard Williams, the father of tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams.

"Richard Williams was a fierce defender of his family," Smith said through tears in an obvious reference to what had just taken place.

Smith did not mention Rock but said: "Art imitates life -- I look like the crazy father, just like they said about Richard Williams. But love will make you do crazy things."

And his final remark before leaving the stage was, "I hope the Academy invites me back."

© RAW 2022