1. Policy and Bushfire Risk
Prof John Handmer
Director of the Centre of Risk and Community Safety, RMIT

2. Key strategic approaches currently used for managing the risk of bushfire:
Fight fires – the risk is seen as the fire itself
Reduce fuel – reduce the fuel to reduce the intensity of the fire
Protect People – reduce the risk to people and the things they value

3. Where is the money mainly spent?
Fighting fires
Reducing fuel

4. Effectiveness of Strategies
Fight the fire and Reduce the Fuel strategies no longer effective under extreme circumstances

5. Integrative and Adaptive approaches
Learn from experience
Learn from evidence
Prepare to switch tactics
Rapidity and sensitivity to feedback

6. Key drivers to the risk
Development of cities – expansion of interfaces with bushland
Tree-changers – moving into small towns for rural, natural lifestyles
Climate Change – increased heat, dryer bushland
People – lifestyles, how we build, gardens, arsonists

7. Which institutions are influencing community safety policy?
Fire agencies – powerful and political. Objectives are community safety and putting out fires.
Land Management Agencies – objectives are fuel reduction and to put out fires.
How they frame the risk is different

8. Which decision-makers are contributing towards the risk?
Major players: Large development organizations often negotiating directly with state governments.
Minor players: Insurers, local government planners, building code board, infrastructure providers.

9. What can we do to minimise the risk?
Micro-zonation – map the areas
Exclude small areas from development which are known to be at risk
Building codes for safer houses and yards
Change slope around homes
Accept that in extreme conditions this will not be enough
North

10. Are people ready for fire?
Black Saturday research showed:
25% of people have disabilities or are elderly – no capacity to fight fire
20% not engaged with fact they live in a fire risk area
How do you support them?

11. How can we build resilience?
Generic community resilience
Bushfire loss covered by insurance
Shift from view that we are in control of nature and that fire agencies can protect us
Need to have regular inquiries which inform policy – enable review and renewal of practice
Political will to make the changes needed

12. Challenges in Land Management
Increasing spread of constructed assets within the landscape
We can’t have fires raging everywhere
Smoke impact on health, on agricultural products
Indigenous practices of land management are ideal for the land, but may not do so well to maintain values of the assets.