Any tips on building a house in Oz.

I am looking to move to Australia within the next few years from the UK but as a Kiwi. I would be interested to know more about the planning permission/resource consent system in Oz and keen to hear about what kind of beast is it. I am assuming its similar to NZ but hope its nowhere near draconian as the UK. Does each state differ dramatically?

On a side note I am surprised there no advice here on this site about living near wildfire prone areas or at the very least, which areas to avoid.