Draft State Bushfire Management Plan 2021-2025

The Plan has been developed by the State Bushfire Coordination Committee to guide the key priorities for bushfire management in South Australia over the coming four years. The draft Plan was open for public consultation from 22nd March to 5th May 2021.

The final Plan has been approved by the Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services, having been endorsed by the Chief Officers of the SACFS and the SAMFS and the SBCC, in accordance with the Fire and Emergency Services Act 2005 (SA).

The full Plan document and a summary of the Plan are available for download.

The SBCC will now proceed to develop an implementation plan for the key actions to be overseen by the Committee, and further information on these processes will be provided in due course.

Submissions Received during public consultation:

A total of 22 submissions were received from the following agencies and organisations, and 4 from individuals:

Agencies and Organisations:

Individuals

12 discussion posts from 7 individuals were made on the YourSAy site, and 31 responses were received to an online survey also made available through the YourSAy site. It is noted that the survey questions and responses were focused on implementation actions rather than on the plan itself. Both the discussion posts and survey responses will be retained for further consideration during the implementation phase of the Plan document.

Major amendments made:

In summary, the major amendments made to the final draft were (this is not a complete list):

• Inclusion of additional SBCC Action 2.2 to review the structure and composition of the SBCC and BMCs, including but not limited to: addressing the relationship with the Fire Prevention Strategic Alliance and Heads of Agencies group, and considering representation of Indigenous Australians and the forestry industry;
• Inclusion of an additional SBCC Action 2.5 regarding identification of data gaps and improving data utilisation to support bushfire risk assessments;
• Clarification of environmental approvals processes as including regulation, policy and impact assessment processes;
• Clarification that the BMAP Handbook review will incorporate the zone standard and risk assessment process for environmental assets;
• Updating of all references to the planning and development assessment framework in relation to the operation of the Planning Development and Infrastructure Act 2016 (SA);
• Inclusion of a number of additional coordination actions, including: farm fire unit integration, environmental impact assessment as part of damage assessment, cross-border coordination arrangements.

Many comments received were relevant to:

• the implementation of bushfire management area plans, or implementation of other SBCC actions (eg. in relation to governance, or environmental approvals processes); or
• other operational matters within SBCC member agencies.

All comments made relating to the implementation phase of actions contained in the Plan document will be retained for consideration as those actions are progressed.

All comments relating to operational matters within SBCC member agencies have been formally referred to those agencies for their review and consideration.

Committee Governance

The members of the SBCC are gazetted for a three year term. The new term of the SBCC commenced 14 November 2020.

SBCC and BMC Guidelines and Terms of Reference

2021 SBCC Meeting Dates: 19th March, 14th May, 13th August & 12th November (dates may change subject to SBCC project priorities)

SBCC Meeting Minutes*:

• State Bushfire Coordination Committee Confirmed Minutes 11 Dec 2020
• State Bushfire Coordination Committee Confirmed Minutes 19 Mar 2021

*Minutes from this term of the SBCC will be posted here as they are confirmed. To obtain copies of Minutes from the previous term of the SBCC please request through the below email.

SBCC Communiques**:

• SBCC Communique May 2021

**A summary of key outcomes or information from SBCC meetings will be posted here.

For more information contact the SBCC:

Email: CFS.SBCC@sa.gov.au

The State Bushfire Coordination Committee (SBCC) is responsible for bushfire management planning in SA. The SBCC has divided the State into 9 Bushfire Management Areas. There is a sub-Committee, Bushfire Management Committee (BMC), for each area. Each BMC has prepared a Bushfire Management Area Plan (BMAP) for its area.

Bushfire Management Area Plans identify the risks and actions individuals organisations can take to reduce bushfire risk.

The 9 Bushfire Management Areas are listed below and each title links to the relevant Bushfire Management Area Plan:

• Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges
• Fleurieu
• Flinders, Mid North and Yorke Peninsula
• Kangaroo Island
• Limestone Coast
• Lower Eyre Peninsula
• Murray Mallee
• Outback
• Upper Eyre Peninsula

Note: The maps that form part of each BMAP do not show building planning zones. Please refer to Building or developing in bushfire prone areas and use the Property Location Browser.

If you have any questions about the Bushfire Management Area Plan for your area or you would like to be added to the list for future public consultations contact the Bushfire Management Planning Unit.

Below is a summary of the draft State Bushfire Management Plan 2021-2025.

The Plan summary is also available as a PDF download.

Vision

Communities, individuals and agencies working together to deliver coordinated management of bushfire risk in South Australia.

Mission

To build a safer, better prepared and more bushfire resilient South Australia, by facilitating coordination of bushfire risk management arrangements through developing and reinforcing successful partnerships among fire, land management and allied agencies together with representative organisations; and by engaging and sharing responsibility with the community.

Purpose and introduction

This State Bushfire Management Plan (the SBMP) has been prepared by the State Bushfire Coordination Committee (SBCC) for South Australia in accordance with the requirements of the Fire and Emergency Services Act 2005 (SA) (‘the FES Act’).

The Plan sets out:

• legislation and governance arrangements for bushfire management in South Australia
• the context for bushfire risk in the State and the initial scope for a state-level bushfire risk assessment, focusing on existential risks, and the relationship between these high-level strategic risks and landscape risk
• coordination actions treating bushfire risk across the PPRR spectrum
• reporting and Review processes for the SBCC against the SBMP
• includes the Bushfire Management Area Plan Handbook as part of the Plan itself, reflecting the requirement of s.73(4)(c).

The actions in this Plan are divided into 2 groups:

• ‘SBCC Actions’ – these are actions that are the direct responsibility of the SBCC - It is envisaged that annual works plans will be developed to support the implementation of the SBCC Actions.
• ‘Coordination Actions’ – these include existing and ongoing actions, as well as new actions resulting from the Government’s Response to the Independent Review, or other reforms, being undertaken by SBCC Member and allied agencies.

It is important to note that the SBCC has no authority to direct the implementation of these coordination actions, but it does have a function in supporting their coordination through encouraging information sharing and collaboration among the agencies responsible for their delivery.

Priorities for bushfire risk management

The SBMP priorities for bushfire risk management reflect:

• primacy of life protection (focusing on community and firefighter safety)
• protection of all classes of asset at risk from bushfire, namely: human settlement, economic, cultural and environmental assets
• well informed and prepared Government agencies, organisations, businesses and communities
• timely transition to recovery operations.

Strategic Alignment

The SBMP seeks to support and align with the following:

• Fire and Emergency Services Act 2005 (SA)
• Emergency Management Act 2004 (SA)
• State Emergency Management Plan
• State Emergency Management Committee Strategic Plan 2017-2022
• Independent Review into South Australia’s 2019-20 Bushfire Season
• To Create a Safer and More Bushfire Resilient South Australia: Government of South Australia’s response to the Independent Review into South Australia’s 2019-2020 Bushfire Season
• Climate Change Action Plan 2021-2025
• Stronger Together – South Australia’s Disaster Resilience Strategy 2019-2024
• National Disaster Risk Reduction Framework 2018
• The First National Action Plan – To Implement the National Disaster Risk Reduction Framework 2020
• Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030

Reporting and Review

As the first Plan of its type, in addition to annual review following the annual reporting process, there will be a mid-term (2 year) review of this 4-year plan.

The mid-term review will consider progress against the Plan’s objectives, and identify areas for improvement.

Objectives and SBCC Actions

SBCC Members undertake a range of activities supporting bushfire prevention.

The following activities will continue, together with new activities as mandated by the Government’s Response to the Independent Review or other new activities, as noted in the table's included in the link below.

Note that where the actions are mandated in the Government’s Response to the Independent Review, these are annotated as ‘(Government’s Response Action #)’.

Support agencies are indicated in brackets following the lead agency/agencies.

The objectives and SBCC actions are included within our Plan summary PDF.

Download the transcript of the discussion which includes all comments posted on the discussion board.

The State Bushfire Management Plan 2021-2025 (Plan) helps to create the foundations for government, non-government organisations and the community to work together to manage bushfire risk in South Australia.

We want your views on what you believe are the key issues and opportunities to build a safer, better prepared and more resilient South Australia.

To help prompt your feedback, consider the following questions:

• What are your top 3 priorities for bushfire management in South Australia over the next 4 years?
• What would assist you as a landholder and/or business owner to better understand your bushfire risk?
• What would help you to better prepare your property/business for the bushfire season?
• Read the draft State Bushfire Management Plan 2021-2025 and the Plan summary.

Have your say by commenting below.