Fire Research Institute
A proposal for an Australasian Fire and Emergency Management Research Institute
It is proposed that the Bushfire CRC will transition to the new Australasian Fire and Emergency Management Research Institute from 2013, when its present funding contract with the Commonwealth Government expires.
The Institute will require ongoing Commonwealth funding as well as continued contributions from its existing partner agencies and new partners from the broader fire and emergency services industry.
The final report of the 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission called for the establishment of such a national centre for bushfire research, as did the 2010 report of a Senate inquiry into bushfires in Australia. The Institute will focus on many of the big issues of our time, including climate change, demographic change, workplace and community health and safety, technological innovation and policy and legislation.
The Institute will build on the success of the Bushfire CRC to bring together the best researchers from Australia, New Zealand and other countries in a coordinated research program. The proposal was supported by all Australian and New Zealand fire and land management agencies, in addition to leading universities and research organisations
The work of an Institute
The Institute will be a nationally coordinated independent centre of excellence in fire and emergency management research, with international reach and relevance. It will include:
- A network of co-operative links with like facilities and institutions in other fire-prone regions of the world
- An investment in research programs to address long-term national objectives
- A credible, expert source of knowledge for planning and response around fire and related natural hazards
- Financial accountability, transparency of operations and robust governance drawing on the foundation of the Bushfire CRC
- An opportunity to ensure the most appropriate and talented people are undertaking and collaborating on research in their areas of expertise
- Learnings for stakeholders and communities for better informed decision-making
The opportunity
The proposed Australasian Fire and Emergency Management Research Institute is a once-in-a generation opportunity to develop a centre of global excellence for managing fire and related natural hazards, says Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre chairman Len Foster, AO.
The return on investment for partners in the proposed institute would be safer communities, a more secure economy and a global model for more effective response to some of the physical challenges of climate change, Mr Foster added.
“The institute will build on the depth of research undertaken by the Bushfire CRC with a broader and ongoing strategic focus on natural hazards,” he said. “It will continue to ensure that this research is used by our partners, education providers and the community.”
Australia’s long experience of managing such hazards as fire and flood had made the country’s emergency mitigation and response systems absolutely world class, he said.
“But is world class good enough when we consider the human and financial cost of events such as Victoria’s 2009 Black Saturday fires, or the storms and floods of 2010-2011 across the eastern seaboard, Tasmania and the far north of Western Australia? Can we say we know enough about the identification, management and response to the natural hazards presented by our evolving landscape, our changing community and our shifting climate patterns?
“The proposal for an Australasian Fire and Emergency Management Research Institute provides a once-in- a-generation opportunity to develop a centre of global excellence in the practice of managing fire and related natural hazards.”
