Man trying to light firework in NSW dies

A man has died after being hit in the head by an old firework he was trying to light on the NSW Central Coast during New Year celebrations.

The 52-year-old suffered serious head injuries at Budgewoi Beach about 3am on Sunday.

Friends and emergency services tried to save the man's life but he could not be revived.

"It was an old firework he had over a number of years; it was a fairly large one," Acting Deputy Commissioner Frank Mennilli told reporters.

In a separate incident on the Central Coast, a firework exploded in the face of a 19-year-old man at Blue Haven shortly after midnight, leaving him with serious eye injuries and burns, police said.

He was rushed to North Shore Hospital and is expected to undergo vision tests in the coming days.

Meanwhile, a 46-year-old man died in Victoria when a firework went off at Hollands Landing east of Melbourne on New Year's Eve.