Preparing for bushfire season means reducing risk, strengthening communities and supporting the people who respond when it matters most.
As bushfire season and a strong El Niño event begin to affect parts of Australia, the Australian Government has committed more than $12 million to help reduce bushfire risk and support the mental health and wellbeing of emergency services workers.
The funding will go towards improving the Australian Fire Danger Rating System (AFDRS) and extending 3 critical national services that provide bushfire preparedness and mental health support.
The funding includes:
- $5.77 million to enhance the accuracy of the AFDRS.
- $3 million to extend funding for mental health support services delivered by Fortem Australia until December 2027.
- $2.57 million to continue the National Bushfire Intelligence Capability (NBIC).
- $0.85 million to continue the North Australia and Rangelands Fire Information Service (NAFI).
This funding builds on our $150 million investment in the National Aerial Firefighting Fleet over the next 3 years, ensuring aircraft can be rapidly deployed wherever and whenever disasters strike.
The AFDRS provides nationally consistent fire danger ratings, using local weather and conditions to help communities understand bushfire risk across four rating levels.
The upgrade will incorporate new science and locally relevant information on how bushfires start, spread and affect communities, helping emergency services and industry make better decisions to keep communities safe during bushfire season. The AFDRS is supported by state and territory governments and the Bureau of Meteorology.
The NBIC brings together information about weather, vegetation and the shape of the land to map where bushfires could be most severe across Australia. Led by CSIRO, it helps emergency managers and land-use planners understand how bushfire risk may change over time. The additional $2.57 million will provide governments with nationally consistent bushfire risk intelligence. It will help identify areas of greatest risk and support evidence-based decisions on preparedness, mitigation and investment to better protect communities.
NAFI, operated by Charles Darwin University, will receive $850,000 to deliver critical bushfire information across northern and remote Australia. This supports governments, Indigenous ranger groups and land managers to monitor fire activity, undertake hazard reduction activities and reduce bushfire risk in some of the country's most fire-prone regions.
Fortem Australia provides free mental health and wellbeing support to emergency first responders, including paid staff and volunteers, and their immediate families. The additional $3 million will extend the program to December 2027 and ensure that first responders and emergency service workers across Australia can access dedicated mental health and wellbeing support.
