The 78 recommendations from the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements were released on Friday.

"During the 2019-20 bushfires, some fire and emergency responders working interstate struggled to communicate with other responders," the commissioners said in their report.

"While it is costly and takes time, making emergency response technologies work seamlessly across jurisdictions is an essential part of an effective national response to disasters.

"This work should be expedited."

Firefighters who battled the Upper Murray fire, which started in December and hopped across the border multiple times, were among those to tell the Royal Commissions about problems they faced.

The report included a reference to the evidence of Beechworth fire brigade captain Bruce Forrest who said that when trying to communicate with firefighters in NSW, "the Murray River is between you but, bar getting out and waving, there's not really much you can do".

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Taking a national approach to all emergencies was a theme of the report, with commissioners recommending that cross-border coordination be a feature of national-level exercises to prepare for the next emergency.

They also recommended the states' mobile warning apps include information on road closures across borders, and provide cross-border access to evacuation centres to prevent a repeat of being turned away when looking for help.

"There is room for improvement to the functionality and utility of the apps. This could include exploring the feasibility of a national all-hazard app," they said.

The differences between the states' fire danger rating systems was a focus of the hearings, particularly the different colours and symbols used in Victoria and NSW for the same warning level.

The commissioners recommended the development of a national system, which started in 2016 and is not scheduled to be completed until 2022, also be expedited.

"Consistency in the terminology will help in ensuring that cross-border communities and tourists are able to respond to the risk information," they said.

"While we appreciate the complexity associated with finalising the prototype ... the development and finalisation of a nationally consistent visual display and rating classification should not be delayed further."

Indi MP Helen Haines said the government's response "must be swift, decisive and uncompromising".

"For the many people in our region who faced fires on both sides of the Murray, meaning two apps, two sets of instructions, two sources of information, this is a common sense and overdue idea," she said.

"The recovery arrangements this year were needlessly complex and bureaucratic and placed extra burden on people at the time they could least handle it.

"It is high time we made bushfire recovery work better for people."

Dr Haines said the Royal Commission "spoke a truth that too few of our leaders are willing to be honest about" that climate change meant bushfires will get significantly worse in Australia.