The Department of Fire and Emergency Services hosted six Portuguese Fire Managers to share knowledge and experiences on bushfire mitigation. The visit provided the delegation with valuable insight into WA’s approach to burning operations, which serve as a key tool for WA to be a world leader in bushfire mitigation.
The third annual Bushfire Community Day held at the Bushfire Centre of Excellence was another great success with plenty of bushfire preparedness information and family fun.
The Bushfire Centre of Excellence and the Indigenous Desert Alliance (IDA) have partnered to create a new and innovative planned burning training course for Traditional Owners and First Nations Ranger Groups.
The Cultural Fire Program team at the Bushfire Centre of Excellence is igniting movement of the program through supporting On Country cultural burns.
The Bushfire Centre of Excellence is an educational hub where bushfire management personnel can come together for training and learning.
Our dedicated team also examines bushfire knowledge research across the globe, from traditional fire practices of Aboriginal Australians to contemporary bushfire management practiced internationally.
The Centre is the first of its kind in Australia and is located in the Shire of Murray’s Peel Business Park, about an hour south of Perth.
Plans to establish a Bushfire Centre of Excellence in WA began after the Special Inquiry into the January 2016 Waroona Fire (Ferguson Report). In 2017, the concept of a Bushfire Centre of Excellence was discussed at the Bushfire Mitigation Summit and the inaugural Western Australian Prescribed Burning Forum. It was agreed that creating and capturing learnings through a Centre of Excellence would build bushfire management capability for the future.
In 2018, the State Government announced a rural fire reform package in response to the Ferguson Report recommendations. This included the establishment of a Rural Fire Division within the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) as well as the establishment of a Bushfire Centre of Excellence to enhance the state’s capability for rural fire management and bushfire risk management. Following the announcement, DFES consulted with more than 200 stakeholders through workshops, presentations and forums to inform the Centre’s key functions, service delivery and guiding principles. In March 2019, the Shire of Murray was selected as the preferred Centre location, after an extensive selection process across several local governments that expressed interest in partnering with DFES.
In January 2021, Bushfire Centre of Excellence staff moved into the new Centre, having operated in temporary offices since its 2018 inception. In the new, purpose-built facility, the Centre of Excellence brings together volunteer and career firefighters, bushfire practitioners, traditional land owners, researchers and scientists to share their bushfire management knowledge, skills and practices. The Centre includes Australia's first department-led Cultural Fire Program, that incorporates traditional fire management practices of Australia’s First Peoples with contemporary fire management to create new or adapted methods.
The Bushfire Centre of Excellence was purpose-built in 2020 and features training and meeting rooms, outdoor training and meeting spaces. Aboriginal themes have been carefully considered in the building’s design, artwork and interpretive information. The landscaping incorporates Indigenous and local heritage, local vegetation and bushfire design principles.
Take a virtual tour of the centre to find out more.
The Bushfire Centre of Excellence has a range of rooms available to book for your event, training or meeting.
If you are interested in booking one of our rooms for a function, feel free to request a booking or email BushfireCoE@dfes.wa.gov.au if you have any questions about room setup.
At the Bushfire Centre of Excellence, we welcome all people interested in upskilling in bushfire management to utilise the facility for their event, training or meeting. Request to book a room at the Centre.
The Bushfire Centre of Excellence training team develops and delivers year-round bushfire training for a wide audience across the state. We promote localised training delivery through the hub and spoke service delivery model, and support a network of trainers across the state, delivering training from Esperance all the way up to Kununurra.
The Bushfire of Excellence training team offers several online courses to the general public.
Bushfire Fundamentals
Bushfire Fundamentals provides a basic awareness of bushfire and is available to anyone interested in learning more about bushfire. The course is specifically targeted at personnel supporting Incident Management Teams or utility companies, St John WA, contractors, WA Police and Department of Defence working at bushfire incidents. The course provides an overview of bushfire characteristics and behaviour, bushfire safety and survival, the Australasian Inter-Service Incident Management System (AIIMS) and the role of WA fire agencies in bushfire response.
The course can be accessed via the DFES Learning and Development e-Academy portal.
For more information, please read the Course Information Sheet.
Rural Fire Awareness
Rural Fire Awareness is targeted at farmer response brigades and seasonal workers to provide students with a basic awareness of fireground safety, suppression strategies and maintaining their safety when operating on a fireground.
The course can be accessed via the DFES Learning and Development e-Academy portal.
For more information, please read the Course Information Sheet.
The Bushfire Centre of Excellence training team is focused on the development and delivery of bushfire, planned burning training and support material for bushfire management practitioners in the sector. Our current courses are below.
DFES Staff and Volunteers can apply via eAcademy. For courses that are not publicly available, all other stakeholders can apply by emailing bcoetraining@dfes.wa.gov.au. Please read our Course Catalogue to find out more about each course including the target audience and prerequisites.
The Cultural Fire Program at the Bushfire Centre of Excellence aims to enhance understanding, knowledge and application of cultural fire practices in WA.
The Cultural Fire Program emphasises:
Cultural burning is a practice that has been used for tens of thousands of years by First Nations Australians to connect and Care for Country, meet cultural obligations, share knowledge across generations and for practical and environmental outcomes.
Meet the team:
David Windsor
A Kaurareg descendant from Zenadth Kes (Torres Straits) belonging to Kiriri Island, David is the Cultural Fire and Partnerships Coordinator.
Clifton Bieundurry
A Bunuba - Walmatjarri man from the Central Kimberley, Clifton is the Traditional and Cultural Fire Officer.
David and Clifton work closely with a broad range of First Nations groups and non-indigenous organisations across WA to create culturally safe spaces, which provide support and build capacity for the delivery of cultural burning programs.
View examples of our work.
To learn more or to discuss cultural fire initiatives that you are working on, get in touch with our team.
The Bushfire Centre of Excellence has a comprehensive library of resources developed in-house with tailored content to support bushfire management practitioners.
ADFRS
Bushfire
Burn SMART
Course Information
Bushfire
Cultural Fire
Burn SMART
The bushfire research portfolio at the Bushfire Centre of Excellence works alongside our partners to influence, consolidate and translate quality assured bushfire research into practical knowledge. The Bushfire Centre of Excellence is a member of the Interagency Bushfire Operations Committee Research Subcommittee (RSC), which seeks to improve bushfire management across the State and also determines Western Australia’s Bushfire Research Priorities.
Our dedicated research team has compiled a registry of up-to-date bushfire research and resources from our Partners and other bushfire management experts to support bushfire management practice. This information is derived from government and academic sites, reputable organisations and academic journals.
Academic resources are an important source of bushfire management knowledge.
All sources listed meet Bushfire Centre of Excellence quality assurance and governance standards.
A more comprehensive database is available here:
Some of the most relevant journal and publication websites are:
Journals
Books
Have we missed something? Email us at bushfirecoe@dfes.wa.gov.au.
A list of bushfire data and tools designed to predict, identify, and monitor bushfires has been compiled, providing publicly available information crucial for enhancing predictive capabilities and monitoring efforts related to bushfires.
Australia
United States
Europe
Have we missed something? Email us at bushfirecoe@dfes.wa.gov.au.
Across Australia, bushfire research practitioners collaborate, contribute and engage in research activities to better the bushfire management sector in Australia.
Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council (AFAC) - National Council for Fire and Emergency Services
Australian Disaster Resilience Knowledge Hub
Dept of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions - Parks and Wildlife Service
CSIRO bushfire research
Natural Hazards Research Australia
Bushfire & Natural Hazards CRC
Have we missed something? Email us at bushfirecoe@dfes.wa.gov.au.
Bushfire Research Centres are dedicated to the study, analysis and understanding of bushfires, with various institutions around the world.
Key bushfire research centres in Australia as well as the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom are listed below.
Australia
Northern Territory
South Australia
Tasmania
Australian Capital Territory
Victoria
New South Wales
Queensland
Other University bushfire research capability
Overseas University Research
United States
Canada
United Kingdom
Have we missed something? Email us at bushfirecoe@dfes.wa.gov.au.
The Bushfire Research Subcommittee support the reduction of bushfire risk in WA by identifying and advising on WA’s bushfire research priorities, with a specific focus on bushfire mitigation and response. It supports projects that address WA’s bushfire research priorities, and subsequently improves accessibility, uptake and visibility of research and associated findings.
The inter-agency subcommittee is established by and operates under the governance of the Interagency Bushfire Operations Committee.
The Bushfire Research Subcommittee has coordinated the development of Western Australia’s Bushfire Research Priorities for 2023/24.
Have we missed something? Email us at bushfirecoe@dfes.wa.gov.au.
We welcome all feedback on how the Bushfire Centre of Excellence can better support you. How can we help you today?
Stay up to date on the latest Bushfire Centre of Excellence news, events and updates.