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It's a brave woman who makes a career out of gluing tracking devices to the heads of the world's most venomous spider.

But researcher Caitlin Creak was hardened by growing up near bushland, surrounded by spiders.

Plus she gasses them to be safe.

The University of NSW PhD candidate is investigating the behaviour of the male Sydney funnel-web to learn how to predict likely big or small seasons and identify when they are high risk to humans.

She is tracking them to see how far they will travel in a season and whether weather or the environment impacts their movement.

To do this she has to fix a tracking device just larger than a grain of rice to the top of the spider's head using some superglue and a sponge shaped like a doughnut to hold down his legs.

"I use carbon dioxide to knock them out, then (attach the tracker) while they are asleep or groggy," Ms Creak said.

"I am very cautious with them. I never handle them with my hands, ever. I always use 30-centimetre long forceps and thick plastic containers when interacting with them."

The funnel-web is left "rather unimpressed" by the ordeal but recovers before being released into the wild the next day.

Ms Creak and her team of volunteers will then spend four to six hours locating all eight spiders and taking measurements - no mean feat, she says.

"Funnel-webs have zero concern about accessibility, so there's often a lot of bush-bashing and steep areas we have to navigate," she said.

"On average, to find all eight spiders and measure their distance, my morning of fieldwork could take four to six hours."

The Sydney funnel-web spider starts appearing in early November through to late April, Ms Creak says.

"I have learnt so far that our males are visiting multiple burrows per season, the females are mating multiple times and that the boys in Lane Cove National Park don't need to go far to find a mate," she said.

"Great news for them and us."

© AAP 2021

Australians have been urged to don face masks and stick to outdoor gatherings as COVID-19 infections surge in the lead-up to Christmas.

Infectious diseases pediatrician Robert Booy doesn't expect infections to fall until February following an anticipated January peak fuelled by holiday travel.

"There are so many simple things we have been doing already that work that we can continue doing without too much fuss," he told the Nine Network on Sunday.

"We don't have to be locked down, but we can observe simple measures like masking indoors, like spending more time outdoors where it is ventilated, social distancing by a metre to two metres."

Professor Booy thinks QR codes should be continued or brought back to help control the spread and avoid a return to lockdowns.

"Even then, we can do things like a partial lockdown where people can get on with their lives, but they limit the amount of time in pubs, clubs, hotels and the like," he said.

NSW recorded 2566 new infections on Sunday.

It came after dozens of guests, including schoolies, were forced to quarantine at a Byron Bay caravan park because of an outbreak.

In Victoria, there were 1240 new cases and four deaths.

South Australia on Saturday recorded 73 new infections, Queensland 24 locally acquired cases, the ACT 18, the Northern Territory eight and Tasmania one.

Australia has surpassed a 90 per cent double-dose rate for people aged 16 and older. More than 1.2 million booster doses have been delivered into arms.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has repeatedly urged states not to return to lockdowns and border closures.

He said people should focus on hospital numbers over daily infection tallies.

In NSW, there are 227 people in hospital and 28 of those in intensive care. There are 392 people hospitalised in Victoria.

"The South African data suggests (Omicron) is about half as severe, half as likely to put you in hospital," Prof Booy said.

"But if it's spreading twice as fast, it's the same amount of people going into hospital."

© AAP 2021

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet is preparing to announce a new cabinet but it won't include two long-standing members of the government, one of whom hopes it includes more women.

Special Minister of State Don Harwin and Local Government Minister Shelley Hancock have both told Mr Perrottet they do not want to be considered for a role in the reshuffle and will not contest the next election.

Mr Perrottet said they have both "been strong advocates for the people of NSW in their respective roles as ministers throughout their careers" and wished them well as they "continue to do what they do best by serving the great people of NSW", even outside of parliament.

Mr Harwin has been "giving consideration to whether I could commit to another eight-year term".

"I have now decided I will not recontest my seat and therefore, this is the right time to end my ministerial service," the long-standing MP said in a statement on Saturday.

Mr Harwin was first elected to the state's upper house in 1999 and has held ministries including energy and utilities, resources, public service and employee relations, Aboriginal affairs, heritage and the arts.

He has also been special minister for state since 2017 and leads the government in the upper house.

Mr Harwin said "at this stage" he plans to finish the remainder of his term in the upper house and bow out at the next election.

Ms Hancock first joined parliament in the legislative assembly in 2003, where she later served as speaker for close to eight years before her current ministry role.

Ms Hancock says "challenging family circumstances" and the departure of Gladys Berejiklian, who resigned as premier in October ahead of appearing before the Independent Commission Against Corruption, influenced her decision to step down.

She described the former premier's resignation as "a loss for New South Wales and a personal loss for me, and something that I have found difficult to move past".

Ms Hancock says the premier who replaced Ms Berejiklian needs to have more women in his cabinet.

"It is often difficult being the only woman in the room, or one of a handful, therefore it is essential that women make up a larger part of the cabinet to provide our views and perspectives," Ms Hancock said.

On Saturday evening, it was confirmed long-serving Nationals MP Melinda Pavey has been dumped from cabinet, the third casualty of the reshuffle.

Ms Pavey, the most senior woman in the lower house, said she would continue to serve for her party.

"I'm incredibly proud of the billions of dollars in funding that I secured for country timber bridges and local roads in the roads ministry, the record amount of public housing and the reforms that I made in the Murray Darling Basin plan," she told The Daily Telegraph.

"I will continue to serve and be a team player."

The soon-to-be-shuffled cabinet includes five women, including Ms Hancock, across 21 positions.

© AAP 2021