Bushfire protection

Bushfire has been part of the Australian natural environment for thousands of years. The bushland and grassland environments have adapted to fire, and some plants, animals, and ecosystems rely on bushfire for their lifecycles. But bushfires can have devastating effects on human communities. Human and natural systems are damaged by frequent and intense bushfire, and many people have lost their lives, homes, businesses, and community infrastructure to fire. In January 2003, 4 people died and 470 homes were lost in the Canberra fires. During the Black Saturday fires of 2009, 173 people died. In the 2019-20 fire season, some 12 million hectares of land were burnt, 34 people died and over 3100 homes were lost (in more than 100 local government areas), with many more severely damaged. The Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements (Commonwealth of Australia, 2020) identified that "the likelihood of increases in the severity and frequency of natural hazards should be taken into account in land-use planning and building decisions". Landuse planning and building regulations can influence the exposure of structures and communities to natural hazard risks. Bushfire events vary greatly in impact. Most bushfires occur in the remote areas of Australia and have little impact on communities or people's homes. However, in the south-east and southwest of Australia, bushfires tend to have higher impacts because many densely populated areas are close to bushfire prone areas.