BUSHFIRE CRC - CEO NEWSLETTER CHRISTMAS 2008
Issue 19
Dear Bushfire CRC partner
As 2008 draws to a close and the
Bushfire CRC enters its final phase with a strong challenge to
secure a future role for a national fire research program, it is
timely to acknowledge the solid achievements of recent times.
Over the past five and a half
years, much of our collective research effort has focussed on
finding improved ways of reducing the level of bushfire risk for
our community. And now, we are well into the phase of having this
research utilised by our members and the wider community.
With some confidence it can now be
seen that the combined efforts of 19 fire, emergency and land
management agency stakeholder organisations from across Australia
and New Zealand, and the research capabilities of some 20
universities and related research providers, is resulting in clear
community and industry benefits.
With the Christmas season now upon
us, I would like to briefly reflect on a few highlights of the past
12 months where these benefits were most obvious.
- The year began with an Innovation
Review out of the Federal Government coupled with a more specific
CRC Program Review. After much uncertainty about their ambit and
timeframes, the outcomes of these reviews subsequently changed the
very nature of our chief source of funds - the CRC program - and
the way the program was heading into the next decade. This had a
huge impact on our planning for the CRC Fire – Environment
and Society, overwhelmingly in a positive way.
- Our biggest event for the year,
the International Bushfire Research Conference,
incorporating the 15th Annual AFAC Conference attracted
around 1100 delegates to Adelaide in September. I know of no other
CRC that is so successfully partnered with its industry to be able
to gather such a number of people to hear about research. And I
know of no other conference that attracts as much on-site support
from ABC Local and Online to communicate our research to local,
national and international audiences.
- Our pre-conference workshop
trialed a new format this year. It was an ambitious venture but I
could not be more pleased that Bushfire Incident Response
attracted 75 senior people with a working interest in managing all
the complexities of a bushfire incident. This included five
CEO/Chief Officer level participants. Next year at our Gold Coast
conference, we will build upon what we learnt at Adelaide and have
more pre-conference workshops covering targeted outputs for
research adoption with end-users.
- Our Stakeholder Council meetings
continue to meet the demands of our partners with a full day in
April and October of presentations and discussion on our progress.
Both days were most productive and successful with each attracting
around 40 participants from all end-user organisations from around
Australia and New Zealand.
- An occasion to celebrate
achievement was the launch of the book Community Bushfire
Safety; a collection of Bushfire CRC Program C research
studies around community safety. The book is unique to the fire
industry both in Australia and internationally with its focus on
community safety as a key component of bushfire management. It
explains how we need to alter community attitudes to accept
responsibility for fire risk so we can better manage the safety of
people and property for bushfire.
- In October a 5th Year
Independent Panel Review established by the Bushfire CRC Board,
concluded its work with a highly favourable assessment of our
research quality, performance against agreed milestones and
research adoption processes. The Panel was left with a very
positive view of the Bushfire CRC, which is a tribute to the
combined effort of all researchers, stakeholders, Board members and
staff.
- The Bushfire Research
Fund is now a reality and is welcoming donations from the
broader community. The Fund is on the Register of Environmental
Organisations with the Australian Government’s
Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. Donations
to environmental bushfire research are tax deductible.
And finally, and importantly,
in the last few weeks the Australian Government’s
requirements for the next round of bidding for new CRCs have become
clear. Building upon the success of the current Bushfire CRC, AFAC
and its partners have, over the past year, been coordinating a bid
for a new research centre under the Cooperative Research Centres
program.
You will hear more about this bid
in the New Year but, in brief, the research being proposed will
address the broad areas of risk management, carbon, water,
biodiversity, local government, community resilience, economic
impact assessment, residential fires, incident management, and the
use of technology.
The bid will be submitted to the
Federal Government by 20 March 2009. Successful bids are expected
to be announced in July 2009.
So, although we enter 2009 with
some uncertainties, our successes and achievements to date are a
wonderful basis for moving forward.
In concluding may I, on behalf of
the Board and the staff at the Bushfire CRC office, take the
opportunity to express my continuing thanks to all those in the
wider Bushfire CRC ‘community’ for the efforts you have
put in over the past year.
My very best wishes to you and your
family for a Happy Christmas and a safe and successful New
Year.
Gary Morgan
Chief Executive Officer
Bushfire
CRC
