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Ash Barty says she's living out a childhood dream after sweeping past Madison Keys in straight sets to become the first home hope to reach the Australian Open women's singles final in 42 years.

The world No.1 and dual grand slam champion crushed Keys 6-1 6-3 on Thursday night to bury the demons of her shattering 2020 semi-final defeat to fellow American Sofia Kenin.

The first Australian to make the women's Open title match since Wendy Turnbull in 1980, Barty delivered another serving masterclass on Rod Laver Arena to see off Keys in just 62 minutes.

The 25-year-old's last hurdle in her quest to become the first local Open singles champion since Chris O'Neil in 1978 will be resurgent American world No.30 Danielle Collins on Saturday night.

"It's unreal. Honestly, it is just incredible," Barty said.

"To be in the finals weekend of your home grand slam is what a lot of Aussie players dream of.

"I love this tournament, love coming out here and playing in Australia and, as an Aussie, we are exceptionally spoiled that we are a grand slam nation (and) we get to play in our backyard and I am just happy that I get to play my best tennis here.

"I enjoy it, I've done well before and now we have a chance to play for a title. It's unreal."

And the top seed can once again thank her imperious serve for setting up the 10th victory of her glorious unbeaten summer.

Remarkably, Barty has dropped only one of her past 82 service games since her opening match of the year against Coco Gauff in Adelaide almost four weeks ago.

"I just feel really clear on my service games," she said.

"I have a lot of trust in my game, have a lot of trust in my serve.

"Even tonight I feel like I gave Maddie a lot of looks at second serves. I didn't quite have my rhythm on the first serve but, when I needed it most, it was there."

Looking untouchable, Barty is yet to drop a set all tournament and has conceded just 21 games in 12 near-flawless matches in the most dominant run to the final since Steffi Graf in 1989.

Collins booked her date with destiny with an equally impressive 6-4 6-1 dispatch of seventh-seeded Iga Swiatek in the second semi.

Barty holds a 2-1 winning record over Collins but lost their most recent meeting - in Adelaide last year the week after the world No.1's shock Open quarter-final loss to Karolina Muchova.

"Danielle has done incredibly well here in Australia before," Barty said.

"The way she's able to control the baseline and really take the game on, she's one of the most fierce competitors out here.

"It's going to be an incredible experience come Saturday. I can't wait to go out there and enjoy it."

Barty made a flying start to Thursday's historic first women's night-time semi-final, producing a brilliant running forehand pass to break Keys in the opening game.

She typically had no such troubles on her serve, rocketing down an ace on her very first delivery of the match and holding to love for a 2-0 lead.

The Wimbledon champion broke Keys for a second time in the fifth game, then a third time in the seventh game on the way to wrapping up the first set in 27 minutes.

Contesting her fourth grand slam semi-final, and second in Australia, Keys, the 2017 US Open runner-up, offered more resistance in the second set.

But there was no denying Barty as the hot title favourite repeated her 2019 French Open quarter-final triumph over the big-hitting American en route to her maiden grand slam title in Paris.

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Severe storms have battered parts of Victoria, with residents in metropolitan Geelong warned to stay indoors after heavy rain caused flash flooding.

A flash flood alert was issued just before 9.30pm on Thursday for the city's metropolitan area urging people to move indoors and not to enter floodwater.

Vic Emergency said homes, buildings and roads have been flooded and State Emergency Service crews were responding to call-outs in the area.

Severe thunderstorm warnings were issued on Thursday evening for metropolitan Melbourne and northwest and central Victoria.

Intense rainfall, destructive winds and large hail were forecast.

Meanwhile storms in the morning left 2800 people without electricity on the Powercor network in the state's west, also flooding major roads and bringing down traffic lights in central Melbourne.

By Thursday afternoon the SES had responded to more than 350 calls for help across Victoria.

A lightning strike set a Bundoora home alight just after 8am.

As the blaze threatened to spread to a nearby house, firefighters rescued three people from the property who were taken to hospital.

The storms brought record rains to Mildura in the state's north, which had its highest ever daily total for January with 80.2mm falling in 24 hours to 9am.

The storms brought flash flooding, with the SES receiving 126 calls for help in Mildura.

"Mildura had a pretty rough night, in terms of flooding and storm damage," Premier Daniel Andrews said on Thursday.

However, the bureau had warned the worst was yet to come.

Meteorologist Christopher Arvier warned the Grampians, Barwon and South West districts are in for more wild weather on Thursday night, with Melbourne and central Victoria expected to cop more storms on Friday.

"We are expecting the storms to redevelop this afternoon, particularly in the western half of Victoria, bringing the risk of severe thunderstorms leading to flash flooding, and there will also be the risk of damaging wind gusts and large hail," he said.

The bureau said high levels of humidity meant the storms had the potential to cause intense rainfall and localised flooding.

The SES warned people to rethink holiday plans, especially camping, and to secure loose objects and check for road closures.

"If you don't need to travel, it's a good day to actually stay inside because you're going to be potentially at risk of flash floods," SES State Agency Commander David Tucek told reporters.

Other areas also had dumps of rain on Thursday, with 75mm at Kyneton northwest of Melbourne and 42mm at Arthurs Creek in 24 hours.

Malmsbury Headwall recorded 56.2mm of rain in an hour, while Trentham Reservoir recorded 38.6mm in the early hours of Thursday.

The storms and humidity are being caused by the remnants of ex-tropical cyclone Tiffany which formed off Western Australia's Kimberley coast earlier this week.

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No decision has been made about whether to require Australians to have three COVID-19 vaccines to be considered fully immunised, ahead of an expected infection spike from schools returning.

The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) is still considering whether to change its advice about the definition of full vaccination.

If it does, it's up to states and territories to amend their respective public health orders.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews earlier suggested Thursday's national cabinet could agree to update the definition of full vaccination to cover three doses.

"This is not a two-dose thing (or) two doses and a bonus - it is absolutely critical and essential," he told reporters.

"International evidence, our own experience, the views of experts ... will mean everyone knows and understands this is a three-dose project."

But Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein said the leaders had not received advice about this from ATAGI.

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese stressed the need to follow health advice.

He thinks people will inevitably need to have received a booster to be considered fully vaccinated in time.

Premiers and chief ministers told Thursday's national cabinet meeting they expected a jump in daily infections as schools returned for the year.

They also reported decreased pressure on hospital admissions and intensive care units.

The Australian head of pharma giant Moderna thinks Australia is hitting the peak of its Omicron wave.

"The question is, well what's going to happen when schools do go back? What will happen when we come into the colder months of the year?" managing director Michael Azrak told AAP.

"Just looking back over the last three weeks, from pre-Christmas to where we are now, the data and the numbers do seem to indicate that we are at a peak.

"Is it going to be a very steep drop off? I just don't know."

National cabinet agreed not to change the definition of who was considered an essential worker for now, despite urging from the retail sector to extend isolation exemptions.

Premiers and chief ministers agreed to consider any recommendations should they be provided by the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee.

States and territories did agree to trucking licence changes to be based on competency and skills tests as opposed to only time. New Zealand trucking licences will also be recognised.

Ongoing difficulties in lifting Indigenous vaccination rates and problems posed by misinformation were also discussed.

The double-dose rate for Indigenous people aged 16 and older is sitting around 75 per cent, compared with more than 93 per cent for Australia's overall 16-plus population.

NSW on Thursday reported 29 virus-related deaths and 117,316 cases, while Victoria recorded 13,755 new COVID-19 cases and 15 more deaths.

There were another 15 deaths and 11,600 cases in Queensland, while South Australia recorded 13 more deaths and 1953 cases

The ACT racked up 884 new infections, Tasmania 726 and the Northern Territory 626.

Australia has recorded 3402 virus deaths since the start of the pandemic alongside more than 1.8 million infections.

© AAP 2022