On the 30th October 2020, the Report of the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements on the Bushfires 2019-2020 was tabled in Australia’s parliament. Linking the extreme 2019-2020 bushfires with climate change, the report also investigates the role of Indigenous Land and Fire Management in disaster management and prevention, making two recommendations on Indigenous Land and Fire Management, namely: 

Recommendation 18.1 Indigenous land and fire management and natural disaster resilience  

Australian, state, territory and local governments should engage further with Traditional Owners to explore the relationship between Indigenous land and fire management and natural disaster resilience. 

Recommendation 18.2 Indigenous land and fire management and public land management  

Australian, state, territory and local governments should explore further opportunities to leverage Indigenous land and fire management insights, in the development, planning and execution of public land management activities. 

"Unprecedented is a word used all too often to describe natural disasters. In the case of the 2019-2020 bushfires, it was a description used by many.

The 2019-2020 bushfires were the catalyst for, although not the sole focus of, our inquiry. The fires started in Australia’s hottest and driest year on record, with much of the country that burnt already impacted by drought. The Forest Fire Danger Index was the highest since national records began.

We heard harrowing personal accounts of devastation and loss. Over 24 million hectares were burnt. Many Australians were impacted, directly or indirectly, by the fires. Tragically, 33 people died and extensive smoke coverage across much of eastern Australia may have caused many more deaths. Over 3,000 homes were destroyed. Estimates of the national financial impacts are over $10 billion. Nearly three billion animals were killed or displaced and many threatened species and other ecological communities were extensively harmed.

Every state and territory suffered fire to some extent. The fires did not respect state borders or local government boundaries. On some days, extreme conditions drove a fire behaviour that was impossible to control.

Thousands of Australians – locals and holidaymakers – became trapped. Communities were isolated, experiencing extended periods without power, communications, and ready access to essential goods and services, or access to cash or EFTPOS to pay for their most basic needs.

Australia wide, there was significant community loss, devastation of wildlife and adverse health impacts. These losses were exacerbated by severe hailstorms, and floods in some areas that were just starting to recover from the fires. Then COVID-19 hit.

Recovery will take years.” Excerpt from the Foreword to the Royal Commission on National Natural Disaster Arrangements on the Bushfires 2019 - 2020.

The full report can be downloaded from the website of the Royal Commission.