A new online bushfire best practice guide on how to improve the bushfire resilience of Australian homes and gardens has been launched by CSIRO.
As we head into another bushfire season, the Bushfire Best Practice Guide offers a range of advice on building and retrofitting for bushfire protection.
Australia’s national science Agency CSIRO has worked with The University of Melbourne and the Victorian Country Fire Authority to develop the guide, produced with funding provided by the Australian Government in partnership with the States and Territories under the National Partnership Agreement for National Disaster Resilience.
It is now publicly available online at https://research.csiro.au/bushfire, and will be showcased to media through an Australian Science Media Centre briefing.
The guide helps homeowners:
- understand that bushfires are a natural part of the Australian landscape
- understand how bushfires interact with homes and gardens
- use principles of design to reduce bushfire risks (including injury and the loss of life)
- improve on existing bushfire regulatory controls
- build or retrofit a house or garden.
Leader of CSIRO’s Bushfire Adaptation team Justin Leonard said the guide applies bushfire risk management advice for residential building and landscape design.
Applicable for homeowners across Australia, it also includes specific additional advice based on regulations for Victorian homeowners.
“It can be difficult to work out the best ways to build while navigating building and planning regulations that are focused on what the minimum requirements are to be allowed to build,” Mr Leonard said.
“Often bushfire building design and landscaping are considered separately when, in fact, there are so many opportunities to have them complement each other.”
