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A new peer-reviewed study analysing six decades of fire history across the entire public native forest of three regions, South west WA (WA), Victoria and NSW, has found that WA’s long-standing commitment to forest fuel reduction (prescribed burning) has delivered substantially better wildfire (bushfire) outcomes than the restricted area programs in Victoria and NSW. Sources: John N. Cameron, David R. Packham, Glen A. Kile & Neil D. Burrow The research, published in Australian Forestry, compared prescribed burning rates and wildfire losses in public native forests from 1965 to 2024. Over that period, WA treated an average of 9.2% of its forest estate with prescribed fire each year, compared with 1.9% in Victoria and 0.7% in NSW. The difference in outcomes was significant and greatest between WA and Victoria. Per capita wildfire deaths were 18 times higher, and houses burnt five times higher in Victoria than in WA. Across the 60-year study, wildfire burnt 60% of WA’s forest estate, compared with 112% in Victoria and 141% in NSW — with large areas of Victorian and NSW forest burnt up to four times in the past 25 years. WA’s higher prescribed burning program, reduces fuel loads, lowers fire intensity, and critically assists with the effectiveness and safety of wildfire suppression. The authors demonstrated similarity in fire proneness between the three regions for key wildfire conditions of fuel accumulation, drought, fire day relative humidity and fire day wind speed. In Victoria and NSW, where broad scale prescribed burning has been insufficient, localized fuel reduction has protected some towns and infrastructure, however, greater protection could have been delivered with more fuel reduction across the landscape to ensure more fuel reduced area close to ignition points. There was an inverse relationship between the proportion of the forest treated with prescribed fire and the proportion of the forest subsequently burnt by wildfire. For prescribed burning at least 8% of the forest each year as practised in WA this relationship was very strong, but there was no relationship below 4% of the forest as practised in Victoria and NSW. Why does this matter beyond the statistics? Because low-intensity, well-planned prescribed burning is the most cost-effective and environmentally friendly tool to minimise loss of life, property and infrastructure and damage to forest health in fire prone forests. Wildfires that ignite in old, heavy fuel loads do not behave like the low, patchy burns our drier forests evolved with. They incinerate tree canopies, damage soils, cause erosion and stream siltation and can push fragile ecosystems into a more flammable dense shrubland (scrub) that primes the landscape for the next catastrophic fire. Initial attack on bushfires in such shrublands are twice as likely to fail as in the tall forests they replaced. By contrast, well executed frequent, cool and patchy prescribed burns are conducted under mild conditions with substantially lower carbon emissions and no long-term damage to the forest. These fires cause little tree canopy scorch, and they preserve the duff layer that protects soil and its store of carbon and leave refuges for wildlife. This is, a modern ‘analogue’ of the cultural burning practised by Aboriginal peoples for tens of thousands of years that kept the country “clean” and resilient, rather than allowing fuel to accumulate into a ‘fuel bomb’ waiting for an ignition source such as lightning. The findings support lifting prescribed burning rates to at least 5% as recommended by the 2010 Victorian Bushfire Royal Commission. ‘Rapid suppression’ has failed on extreme fire days particularly with multiple fire ignitions, as suppression resources are quickly overwhelmed, in spite of the advent of aerial suppression and best the efforts of firefighters. Suppression resources have been continually being overwhelmed in Victoria with devastating outcomes e.g. in 1983, 2003, 2006-7, 2009, 2019-20, 2026. None of this means prescribed burning is a silver bullet.  It needs to be well planned and strategic — targeted at property interfaces and high fire risk areas in the broader landscape to protect life, property and regional economies, and reduce wildfire suppression and recovery costs. And it needs to be integrated with good detection, suppression and community preparedness. After 60 years and three States’ worth of evidence, the pattern is hard to ignore: the region that has invested seriously in landscape-scale fuel management has suffered dramatically fewer deaths, less property losses and less economic loss than those that have not. This is in spite of the similar extreme fire weather and a long-term drying trend for south west Western Australia. If we are serious about protecting lives, homes and forests and reducing the risk to those who fight fires, we need more low intensity fire in the landscape to reduce the damage from catastrophic wildfires. Prescribed burning can reduce wildfire losses including under climatic scenarios resulting from climate action. John N. Cameron, David R. Packham, Glen A. Kile & Neil D. Burrows (31 Aug 2026): Contrasting regional prescribed burning regimes effects the extent and impact of forest wildfire, Australian Forestry, DOI: 10.1080/00049158.2026.2711913 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/00049158.2026.2711913 Or download the complete article here.

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Forestry is deeply embedded in the economies of several New Zealand regions, with new NZIER research showing how strongly some regional economies depend on the sector and how widely a drop in activity can flow through jobs, wages, household spending and exports. Source: Timberbiz New Zealand Forest Owners Association (NZFOA) chief executive Dr Elizabeth Heeg says the research shows how closely local jobs and businesses are tied to forestry in parts of the country. “Forestry contributes $NZ5.4 billion to New Zealand’s GDP, and in some regions, it makes up a big part of the local economy. In Tairāwhiti, it accounts for 7.9% of GDP, the highest share anywhere in the country. “In some regions it is also one of the biggest contributors among land-based industries. Forestry contributes more to the regional economy than beef cattle in Tairāwhiti and Nelson-Marlborough, and more than sheep farming in Northland and Nelson-Marlborough.” “Forestry keeps crews, contractors, truck drivers and mills working, along with processors, manufacturers and the local businesses that supply and support them. Those wages are spent locally, so the impact reaches well beyond the forest.” NZIER modelling in Tairāwhiti shows how lower forestry activity can spread through a regional economy. “NZIER found that a 10% drop in forestry output in Tairāwhiti would cut household spending by 1.4% and exports by 4.4%, with jobs and wages also falling,” Dr Heeg says. The research also shows that keeping forests operating has become more expensive. NZIER found regulatory costs have increased across most areas since national environmental standards came into force, with smaller growers carrying a greater share of the burden. “A small grower can pay almost as much to prepare a resource consent as an operator with a forest 100 times the size, and monitoring fees can add another 20% to 50% of the original consent cost in some regions,” Dr Heeg says. “For a small business, that’s a massive hit. Growers expect to meet high environmental standards, but costs also have to reflect the size of the forest and the risk involved. Otherwise, they start affecting decisions about whether people keep investing and replanting.” Those decisions also affect what environmental benefits forests provide. NZIER estimates production forests provide around $NZ1.6 billion a year in carbon capture and $NZ312 million in avoided soil erosion. The research also identifies benefits for water quality, biodiversity and recreation, including walking, mountain biking and hunting in production forests. “So, when we make decisions about where forestry belongs and how it is managed, we’re talking about jobs and businesses, but we’re also talking about what that forest is doing on the land.” Dr Heeg says forestry decisions made now will shape regional economies for decades. “A decision about whether a forest is planted or replanted affects future work for contractors, the wood available to processors, the businesses built around the sector and the investment that stays in a region. “We want forestry to keep providing long-term work and investment in regions where communities have built businesses around it, while continuing to improve how forests are managed and environmental risks are reduced.” Download the NZIER reports: Economic contribution of forestry Environmental contribution of forestry Forestry: Cost of compliance  

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PrefabAUS has launched a new standard form contract for prefabricated homes, designed for use across the industry and available to builders, manufacturers, customers and lenders – regardless of which lender provides the finance. Source: Timberbiz The contract, developed through sponsorship by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, addresses a key barrier to the growth of prefabricated housing: existing contracts are designed for traditional construction, not homes that are manufactured offsite. PrefabAUS Executive Chairman, Damien Crough, said the absence of a dedicated prefab construction contract that aligns payments and financing to factory-built timelines and recognises Modern Method of Construction’s (MMC) unique parameters has contributed to slowing the broader adoption of prefab housing in Australia. “For too long, prefabricated construction has been constrained by contracts designed for traditional, site-based delivery,” Mr Crough said. “This new standard form contract provides the clarity and structure needed to better support how these homes are delivered, helping unlock investment, improve productivity and scale the growth of the modern construction industry in Australia.” The new contract is designed to better reflect how prefab homes are built – in factories and delivered in weeks, rather than constructed on-site over many months. For home buyers, it helps: Provide greater clarity on how prefabricated homes are designed, manufactured offsite, transported and completed Make payments easier to understand, with defined stages that reflect how prefab homes are built Improve transparency around costs, inclusions, responsibilities and key consumer protection. For manufacturers and builders, it helps: Provide a clearer framework for factory-built delivery, from design and manufacturing through to placement and completion Align payments to prefab production milestones, supporting more predictable cash flow and project planning Reduce contract complexity and improve consistency across projects, customers and lenders.   Prefabricated housing currently represents a small share of the Australian market, but has significant growth potential, particularly as Australia looks to deliver 1.2 million new homes by 1 July 2029. Prefab homes can be built in as little as 8–12 weeks, compared with 12–24 months for traditional construction, highlighting their potential to help increase housing supply in a shorter time period. CommBank sponsored the development of the contract as part of its broader efforts to improve access to prefabricated housing. In addition to the contract sponsorship, CommBank was the first major lender in Australia to introduce a prefabricated housing policy that allows customers to access funding earlier in the construction process – reducing the need for large upfront payments and helping more Australians consider this type of build. “Modern methods of construction have the potential to help address Australia’s housing shortage by delivering homes faster and more efficiently,” CommBank Home Buying General Manager Rebecca Markwell said. “We’ve already introduced changes to our lending policy to better support prefabricated housing, including enabling progress payments during the offsite construction phase. “Working with the industry to support innovation in construction and remove barriers for adoption of modern methods of construction, including sponsoring the development of a standardised contract, is all part of how CommBank is supporting the delivery of more housing supply to the market.” The PrefabAUS Standard Form Contract for Class 1 Domestic Construction, such as residential single detached homes is now available to industry participants, with further work underway to digitise the contract and streamline its use across projects. The release of the contract directly supports key priorities outlined in the prefabAUS Industry Roadmap 2023–2033: Building the Future We Want, particularly: Embedding Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) into mainstream delivery Leveraging procurement and contracting reform to build industry scale Improving access to finance for MMC projects.

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The Housing Industry Association has welcomed the Federal Government’s $150 million investment in Australia’s forestry industry, saying secure timber supply is critical to building the homes Australia desperately needs. Source: Timberbiz Under the $150 million program, grants and initiatives will be delivered across five key streams focused on modernising the sector, supporting secure and well-paid jobs, strengthening innovation, securing sustainable fibre supply and increasing Australia’s sovereign capability. HIA Chief Executive Industry & Policy Simon Croft said the Forestry Growth Fund investment in plantations, timber processing, innovation and workforce capacity was a welcome recognition that housing targets must be backed by the materials needed to deliver them. “You can’t build 1.2 million homes without securing the materials needed to build them,” Mr Croft said. “Timber remains one of the most important building materials in Australian housing, with more than 70% of house frames constructed using timber. “The $15 million investment in plantation establishment is particularly welcome. The trees we plant today will determine the timber available to Australian builders in the decades ahead. “Equally important is the $115 million investment in modern processing and innovation to strengthen local manufacturing and get more value from Australia’s timber resources. “Recent supply chain disruptions demonstrated the consequences when critical building materials become scarce, costs rise, construction slows and ultimately builders and home buyers pay more. “Strengthening domestic timber production and processing will help reduce Australia’s exposure to international supply shocks while supporting manufacturing and regional jobs. “HIA has consistently called for a long-term national approach to timber and building material security. “The Government’s Forestry Growth Fund and Timber Fibre Strategy are positive steps towards that goal and HIA welcomes the strong focus on supporting Australia’s sovereign capability. “Australia has an enormous task ahead to build enough homes for a growing population. That means planning not just for the homes we need tomorrow, but the timber, trades and manufacturing capacity required to build them. This investment is a welcome step towards ensuring Australian builders have reliable access to Australian timber to get those homes built,” Mr Croft said.

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