Landowners across NSW will be obliged to conduct more hazard-reduction burns on their properties and take an active role in bushfire preparation after the NSW government accepted all 76 recommendations of an independent bushfire inquiry.
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A trial will also be conducted of first-response aerial firefighting, which involves water bombers being deployed ahead of firefighters to reduce the intensity of blazes.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian in January established the inquiry amid an unprecedented bushfire season in which 25 people died, almost 2500 homes were razed, more than 5.5 million hectares were burned and billions of animals perished.
The inquiry leads, Professor Mary O'Kane and Dave Owens, handed the report to the NSW government in late July and it was published on Tuesday.
Ms Berejiklian's government has agreed to support all 76 recommendations from the inquiry, including an enhanced role for landowners in the firefighting process.
Landowners in fire-prone areas of NSW will be required to do their own hazard-reduction burns, and the NSW RFS will be permitted to intervene if they fail to do so.
The report also recommends more hazard-reduction burns in closer proximity to endangered communities and the performance of hazard-reduction burns and water bombing at night.
Indigenous cultural burning techniques will also be examined in greater detail.
Firefighting authorities will also trial "military-style" water-bombing tactics, update equipment, training and mental health support for firefighters and buy more water-bombing aircraft.
"The release of this report is timely - we know our job is not done in recovering and rebuilding in the aftermath of those horrific bushfires," Ms Berejiklian told reporters on Tuesday.
"We think of those who experienced the trauma and pain every day, and those who are still in recovery mode, recovering from that horrific bushfire season."
Australian Associated Press
