Thanks whiskyzulu2 :) Yeah using that glass half full perspective, you could also say that areas like southern VIC are currently close to an eachway bet re higher/lower than normal rainfall for this month as far as ACCESS-S goes.
And like you say, there's always a chance that a decent rain event or two could temporarily buck the overall trend since brown doesn't necessarily mean no rain at all.

Our region also faces elevated fire dangers, particularly tomorrow (as per the latest fire weather warning) as winds freshen, and then significantly ramping up again towards the end of the week/early weekend as hot dry winds become very gusty with the next front sweeping across before temps cool down.