Tasmania

The children fell 10 metres (33 feet) to the ground after an inflated jumping castle was lifted into the air in a gust of wind at an end-of-year celebration at a primary school in Devonport in the northwest of the state on Thursday.

"We all feel this terrible loss," Tasmania Premier Peter Gutwein said at a media conference.

Three boys and one girl aged 12 years and one boy and one girl aged 11 have now lost their lives. Two children remain in critical condition, police said, and one is recovering at home.

The accident - caused by a wind gust - happened on Thursday at a primary school fun day in Devonport, Tasmania.

Police said the children had fallen from 10m (32ft), with two boys and two girls among the victims.

The children were in grade six, meaning they were probably 10 or 11 years old. A fifth child died later in hospital.

"A wind gust had reportedly caused the jumping castle and inflatable balls to lift into the air," Tasmanian Police Commissioner Darren Hine said.

Several grade 6 children fell from a height of 10 metres, causing serious injuries, when wind blew the jumping castle into the air at Hillcrest Primary School in Devonport, in the state's north-west.

Five children are in hospital, four of them critically injured.

"These children were meant to be celebrating their last day of primary school, instead we're all mourning their loss," Tasmania Police Commissioner Darren Hine said this afternoon.

Tasmania batted first and finished at 7/261, thanks to knocks from Alex Doolan (81), Simon Milenko (49), Beau Webster (40) and James Faulkner (31*).

Alei Nao (3/54), Norman Vanua (2/46) and Chad Soper (2/49) were the wicket takers for the Barras.

In their run chase, the Barras got off to a bad start, losing both openers Vani Vagi Morea (0) and Lega Siaka (0) in the first over.

Wickets continued to fall and it was all over inside 38 overs with the Barras being all bowled out for 137.

The storm continues to batter southern New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania.

A body was found in the swollen Cotter River near Canberra on Monday morning.

Erosion at Sydney's Collaroy Beach has forced the evacuation of multi-million dollar homes, which are now in danger of collapsing.

Flood warnings have been issued across several states, with northern Tasmania facing its worst flooding in decades on Monday.

After a 12-month voyage around the region on their yacht, the Sutherland family brought home a fresh perspective on life and now aim to collect and distribute books for under-resourced schools.

Braye Sutherland said when he packed up his family and set sail for the South Pacific, he knew their adventure would be life changing.

"I tend to be pretty impatient and rush around a fair bit," he said.

"But if you can, just take some time and sit and watch and actually listen to people, rather than rushing through life.

The adult woman had returned to their boat with scallops that the pair had collected then became concerned that her father, in his late 40s, had not surfaced after her, Inspector David Wiss told reporters in the state capital of Hobart.

"His daughter became worried and went down and checked on her father," Wiss said. "She saw a very large shark. She saw her father being attacked by the shark."