An inquiry into the ACT environment’s bushfire preparedness has recommended more prescribed burns be carried out each year, where the conditions are safe to do so.
A report by the Standing Committee on Environment, Climate Change, and Biodiversity , released on 20 September 2024, said prescribed burning activities were critical to the ACT’s fire management approach.
It was therefore essential Parks and Conservation Service (PCS) tried to complete as many prescribed burning activities as possible under the Bushfire Operations Plan (BOP) each year, where the conditions were safe to do so.
The committee acknowledged the difficulties faced by PCS in recent years in conducting fuel management activities due to climate change and resulting weather-related events.
It was therefore important that PCS be proactive in its broader approach to fuel management. Where prescribed burning could not be done safely, other fuel-reduction methods should be used, where appropriate and safe, to keep residual risk as low as possible.
This would require appropriate resourcing and support by the ACT Government to enable this to occur.
The committee recommended that the government should continue to increase the involvement of local First Nations groups in prescribed burning activities and the frequency of cultural burns.
More expertise needed
Former leaders and senior officials within government with experience and expertise in fire or fuel management had expressed the view to the inquiry that PCS was lacking suitable experience and personnel for fuel management activities.
The committee therefore recommended that the ACT Government review senior management positions and reassess against industry standards, while reflecting on levels of experience and risk that the positions were responsible for.
Urban expansion
With Canberra’s expansion to the west and north, the government needed to consider bushfire risk and response, and resourcing when considering the development of areas along the western edge.
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