What is the National Bushfire Intelligence Capability?

The National Bushfire Intelligence Capability (NBIC) provides trusted, science-based information about potential bushfire hazards across Australia. It looks at how future climate conditions could affect these hazards in the shorter and longer term.

Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, leads the NBIC with other national, state and territory agencies. It maps how severe bushfires could be and uses lessons from damage to infrastructure to help plan for future bushfires. 

Why is it needed?

The NBIC helps agencies across Australia assess bushfire risk and plan for it in a consistent way. It:

• provides consistent information across Australia to help states and territories produce more useful reports more efficiently
• helps states and territories prepare proposals about where the Australian Government should prioritise investment
• helps planners account for climate change when managing long-term bushfire risk
• helps identify the worst fire conditions that could reasonably occur, so agencies can decide where resources are needed and focus efforts to manage risk
• provides consistent information that land use planners, land managers and emergency managers can compare
• uses regular updates to include the latest and best available information. 

Who funds the NBIC?

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) is funding stage 3 of the NBIC for the 2025–26, and 2026–27 and 2027–28 financial years.

The Australian Climate Service funded stage 2 for the 2023–24 and 2024–25 financial years.

More information

Learn more about the NBIC and subscribe to updates on the CSIRO website.