"Major bushfires over the weekend are a timely reminder to reassess your situation and revisit bushfire evacuation planning for this summer.

This includes:

• If you live in a bushfire prone area, on catastrophic fire danger days, leave early in the morning,  or the night before
• Prepare a bushfire action plan – write it down and share with neighbours and family
• Consider your physical and mental health – bushfires are frightening. Engaging with news and social media content can be difficult for families previously affected by bushfires.
• Remember to support others in the community who might need help – for example family/kin who may have a disability, children, elderly. Practical and emotional support is important
• Prepare what you need to leave – medicine, phone, charger, cash – and check the CFS website which has advice on planning
• Consider your pets– people get into trouble trying to get back to their pets
• Prepare your house – there are several measures to take before summer, including reducing the vegetation load around the house
• Also refer to rural fire services websites and keep an eye on state/ fire warning apps or ABC radio"

The recent destructive bushfires along the NSW central and mid north coast regions demonstrate well the new normal for community bushfire safety considerations. Disaster level bushfires are increasingly likely to impact communities which have not previously been thought of as at-risk of significant bushfire threat. This will occur as soil and vegetation moisture levels fall as a result of temperature increases and changed rainfall patterns. And ‘the house among the gum trees’ will become a more and more chancy lifestyle choice for people wishing to reside in a ‘natural’ environment.

"Summer in Australia brings hot, windy and dry conditions that can lead to damaging bushfires. In the last fortnight damaging bushfires have occurred in New South Wales, Tasmania and Western Australia. The loss of life and property is tragic and should remind everyone living in bushfire prone areas to ensure their preparations as we are now in bushfire season.

Research shows those living closest to bushland are most at-risk. For example, some 40% of buildings destroyed in the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfire season in New South Wales were located within one metre of surrounding bush. Embers can threaten properties further away.

On bad fire days quick, short, sharp fires can occur in bush areas within the suburbs, including parks, golf courses, grasslands, etc. The fire doesn’t need to be big to affect you. As our towns expand new developments are being built backing onto bush and grasslands - it’s not just about fires in regional areas. 

Climate change means that we are experiencing longer fire seasons and a great number of days where weather conditions increase the threat of bushfires.

Measures people can take include:

• Clear flammable materials from around your home
• Download apps to receive emergency information and warnings
• Review your bushfire survival plan, remembering that leaving early well before experiencing fire threat is always the safest option

We are only at the start of summer and everyone should be aware not only of bushfire risk but also thunderstorms and extreme heat across southern Australia and Tropical Cyclones in coastal Western Australia, the Northern Territory, Queensland and northern New South Wales. Now is the time to be prepared."

"My deepest condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of the firefighter who was killed in Bulahdelah. My heart goes out to everyone suffering as a result of these fires, including those whose homes have been damaged or destroyed. 

Firefighters are put in an incredibly difficult position and they deserve our full support. In many parts of the country the fire season has not yet peaked, so now is a good time to make a bushfire plan, check in with neighbours and stay informed with your local fire authorities.

Events like this are a reminder of the things that truly matter, like the health and wellbeing of our communities, ecosystems, air, water and Country.

While the focus should be on listening to and supporting those in need right now, it is also important to remember that fire affects all of us in one way or another, and we need all hands on deck if we are to coexist sustainably with fire. There are no simple solutions and we need to learn from as many disciplines, sectors, countries, communities and knowledge systems as possible. And we need to stop burning fossil fuels and cooking the climate system – it is making an already hard job needlessly harder."

"The death of a firefighter and the loss of homes in NSW is a stark reminder that frontline suppression comes with enormous risk. We rely heavily on emergency response and broad hazard-reduction burning, yet these approaches alone cannot keep pace with the scale and intensity of the fires we now face. Decades of research show that large, infrequent hazard-reduction burns can open forests, dry them, and encourage rapid regrowth of fine fuels. Fuel is often lowered for only a short window before it accumulates again, sometimes to even greater levels.

What is missing is meaningful investment in cultural burning. Aboriginal fire practice applies cool, small-scale burns that create patchiness and maintain open, healthy Country. It reduces fuel continuity rather than just resetting it. Cultural burning is not a symbolic gesture. It is an operational fire management system developed over millennia, and when embedded properly it lowers risk to firefighters and communities.

As we head into what looks to be a long fire season, the opportunity is to shift from reactive hazard-reduction cycles toward collaborative management with Indigenous fire practitioners. Cultural burning is preventative. It builds resilience. It needs to be supported as core strategy, not an afterthought."