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Where a neighbourhood's medical services are located, how much green space it offers and how willing its volunteers are can affect the ability of older Australians to successfully age at home, researchers say.

Dr Danielle Taylor believes a new health, ageing and environment index developed at the University of Adelaide will help evaluate not only factors that support senior citizens but those which render them more vulnerable.

As a starting point, her staff have mapped out 142 postcode areas within the South Australian capital to determine those where people over 65 are most 'at-risk or protected'.

The first to be assessed is a suburb associated with higher exposure to mortality and early transition to residential aged care, Dr Taylor says.

Some 40 variables are being examined across six indicator groups: income and employment, education, housing and health, social connectedness, geographical access and physical environment.

"While environments are by nature complex, using the HAVEN index we have shown neighbourhood environments are significantly associated with the health and wellbeing of older people and the ability of older Australians seeking care to age in place," Dr Taylor said.

Outcomes from the federal aged care royal commission, which handed down its findings in March last year, show most Australians would prefer to stay at home as long as possible.

"Keeping older Australians independent, active, healthy and happy for longer is a worthy goal, not only because of the benefit to them but also ... the economic benefit it can deliver," Dr Taylor said.

"We are not simply talking about savings to the public purse through their reduced need for health services but also the productivity gains brought about by the contributions older Australians make to the economy and society when they are able to age well."

So far the HAVEN index has clearly shown optimising environmental factors is key to best supporting healthy ageing, Dr Taylor said.

University of Adelaide Professor Renuka Visvanathan, a member of the World Health Organisation's Clinical Consortium of Healthy Ageing, said the index is especially relevant in light of the UN's Healthy Ageing Decade.

"This is a period where internationally we are focusing our efforts on developing a more comprehensive understanding of the many factors that contribute to successful ageing," she said.

© AAP 2022

More than 100 mobile home units are on their way to flood-ravaged communities in NSW, as the emergency services minister pledges "unprecedented resources" to help with the clean-up.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who toured the flooded Windsor region northwest of Sydney on Saturday, said 20 similar units had already been set up across Lismore in the north of the state.

It is estimated two-in-three damaged homes in that region will need to be demolished or undergo substantial repairs after the severe floods and storms this month.

"It's going to be a long road back," Mr Morrison said on Saturday.

The support came after a national emergency was declared in NSW late on Friday, triggering additional resources for flooded areas.

The declaration will last three months and allow the federal government to access stockpiled resources and remove red tape around welfare support.

Mr Morrison said Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk had knocked back a similar offer for her state, with Ms Palaszczuk saying on Thursday help had been needed a week earlier.

Assistance has also been extended to a further 12 local government areas in NSW.

Those LGAs are: Cessnock, Cumberland, Dungog Shire, Goulburn Mulwaree, Lithgow, Maitland, the mid-western region in the Central Tablelands, Muswellbrook Shire, Queanbeyan-Palerang, Singleton Shire, Snowy-Monaro, and Upper Hunter Shire.

The support will be provided through the jointly funded Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements, with some regions remaining at emergency level despite waters receding in other parts of the state.

NSW Emergency Services and Flood Recovery Minister Steph Cooke said the support would extend to thousands of households, small businesses, primary producers, non-profits and councils.

"The immense scale of the flooding is unprecedented and we are working closely with the Commonwealth to put equally unprecedented resources into the significant clean-up and long-term recovery effort," Ms Cooke said.

© AAP 2022

Having witnessed Hannah Green's landmark golf victory against men last month, Momoka Kobori, Cassie Porter and amateur Kelsey Bennett are threatening to follow her example.

Young New Zealander Kobori shares the lead with Queenslander Bryden Macpherson after they shot opening five-under 64s in the $200,000 TPS Hunter Valley tournament at Cypress Lakes on Friday.

The Webex Players Series mixed gender tournament was reduced to 54 holes due to the NSW downpours that made play impossible on Thursday.

Rookie pro Porter is in a five-way tie for third at three under, one behind Queensland's Aaron Wilkin.

And Bennett is a further shot back, tied ninth.

Kobori is no stranger to mixing it with the men having won a 36-hole Whitford Park Pro Am on New Zealand's Charles Tour last January and has consistently placed highly throughout the Webex Players Series.

She was tied for ninth at TPS Victoria, tied for fourth behind Green at TPS Murray River and shot 67-66 in the final two rounds at TPS Sydney to finish tied for 11th.

"It was amazing to see Hannah win at Cobram a few weeks ago," Kobori said of Green's breakthrough.

"It's so good to see quite a few of us girls doing quite well in the TPS events the past couple of months. It's definitely good motivation for all of us."

© AAP 2022