The Select Committee on the recent Australian Bushfires seeks to identify measures that can be implemented by governments, industry and the community to minimise the incidence of, and impact of bushfires on, life, property and the environment with specific regard to the following.
|
|
| (a) |
the extent and impact of the bushfires on the environment, private and public assets and local communities; |
| (b) |
the causes of and risk factors contributing to the impact and severity of the bushfires, including land management practices and policies in national parks, state forests, other Crown land and private property; |
| (c) |
the adequacy and economic and environmental impact of hazard reduction and other strategies for bushfire prevention, suppression and control; |
| (d) |
appropriate land management policies and practices to mitigate the damage caused by bushfires to the environment, property, community facilities and infrastructure and the potential environmental impact of such policies and practices; |
| (e) |
any alternative or developmental bushfire mitigation and prevention approaches, and the appropriate direction of research into bushfire mitigation; |
| (f) |
the appropriateness of existing planning and building codes, particularly with respect to urban design and land use planning, in protecting life and property from bushfires; |
| (g) |
the adequacy of current response arrangements for firefighting; |
| (h) |
the adequacy of deployment of firefighting resources, including an examination of the efficiency and effectiveness of resource sharing between agencies and jurisdictions;
|
| (i) |
liability, insurance coverage and related matters; |
| (j) |
the roles and contributions of volunteers, including current management practices and future trends, taking into account changing social and economic factors. |