Canberra is called the bush capital for good reason

With forest and grassland woven through our urban areas, we live in or near an environment where bushfire is a natural occurrence, an inevitable part of living here.

To make the ACT safer from bushfire, everyone has a role to play. Fire authorities, landowners, land managers, planning authorities and the community must work together.

The ACT Government works in consultation with the community to develop strategic and operational plans to protect our city and its assets, and to educate the community about fire and preparing for a fire emergency.

In 2019, the community helped shape the Strategic Bushfire Management Plan (2019–24). As part of that plan, a revision of the Fire Management Zones was required. The new revised zones have now been determined and you can see the changes to zones in the 'storyboard' of the Regional Fire Management Plan.

Following the development of the new zones and the changes to the landscape from the 2020 bushfires, we updated the draft Regional Fire Management Plan (2019–29) to better reflect the situation on the ground. We engaged with the community about the best practice hazard reduction activities we can take and other management activities.

Bushfire management in the ACT

Fire management in the ACT is guided by the Strategic Bushfire Management Plan 2019–24 (SBMP), developed by the ACT Emergency Services Agency (ACTESA). The Regional Fire Management Plan (RFMP) sits beneath the SBMP and is managed by the Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate (EPSDD). Annual Bushfire Operational Plans (BOP) in turn sit beneath the RFMP and are implemented by the ACT Parks and Conservation Service.

Home owners can help lower the risk to their property by reducing bushfire fuel to a minimum around their home, having their Emergency Survival Plan ready and being aware of fire conditions and ready to act if necessary.