Since the catastrophic bushfires of January 2003, and the impact of the 2019-20 fire season, the ACT Government and community have been proactive in implementing plans to provide increased protection against bushfires for the people, property and the environment of the ACT.

The Strategic Bushfire Management Plan (SBMP) sets out how to protect the ACT community from bushfires and reduce harm caused by bushfires. This is something we need to do every 5 years.

To help inform the next version of the plan, we asked Canberrans to give their feedback between 12 June 2024 and 31 July 2024.

For a brief summary of key themes within the current Strategic Bushfire Management Plan, please see here.

There are a few things we asked for your input on:

• We wanted to know what you thought about the Strategic Bushfire Management Plan; what is important to you and anything else you would include.
• We wanted to find out about how prepared Canberrans are for bushfires; what you know about warning systems and where to get information.
• We also wanted ideas or comments you had that could help shape bushfire management.

There were 3 ways to provide your feedback - submit your idea or comment using the post board (and agree/disagree with other posts), complete the short survey or provide a submission.

The current version of the plan is the Strategic Bushfire Management Plan version 4.

Version 4 of the SBMP draws on continuing research into fire management, bushfire behaviour, the effects of climate change and seasonal weather, the important role of community, lessons learned nationally and internationally, and feedback from the community. It also contains actions to continue to mitigate the risk of bushfires in the ACT.

The plan has six key themes:

1. All sections of the ACT Community are prepared for bushfires. Such strategies include reducing the number of bushfire ignitions and the continued implementation of the Fire Farmwise Program with rural landholders.
2. Skilled firefighting personnel are supported by the necessary resources and equipment to extinguish bushfire when they occur.
3. Broad area bushfire fuel reduction will occur across the ACT's natural landscape, including a focus on managing access for vehicles and firefighters.
4. The ACT Government will adopt an adaptive management process to address increasing bushfire risk, including climate change, and support continuous improvement based on sound research, modelling, monitoring, evaluation, and lessons learnt.
5. The assessment and mitigation of bushfire risk through effective land-use policy and planning will reduce the exposure of built and natural environments to bushfires, with a range of complimentary measures focusing on bushfire risk reduction for the urban edge of Canberra.
6. Recovery from bushfires will encompass actions to address the social, economic, and environmental impacts, as they affect individuals, the broader community, and the environment.

We are asking what you think about these themes in our survey to help us develop version 5 of the plan.

More information about bushfires

You can use the ACTmapi Bushfire Map to find out if you live in a bushfire prone area.

For more information about preparing for bushfires go to the ACT Emergency Services Agency website.

Consultation on the SBMP will be in two stages.

Stage one gave you an opportunity to comment on the current version of the SBMP through this website as well as general comments. Your responses, along with other conversations we are having with organisations and stakeholders, will help to inform the development of the SBMPv5.

Stage two of the consultation will be in early 2025. There is a statutory consultation period of 15 days to inspect the draft plan of the new version, with a further 15 days to provide comment.

Taking part in the consultation activities will help us develop a plan for the next 5 years that takes into account a wide range of views and experiences.