Study Links Poor Forest Fuel Management to High Bushfire Death Rates

A 60-year comparative study examining fire history from 1965 to 2024 across Western Australia, Victoria, and New South Wales found that Victoria’s bushfire death rate is 18 times higher per capita than Western Australia’s. The authors identified the failure to regularly reduce forest fuels annually by a specific statistical threshold as the primary cause. The study, which included John Cameron, suggests that planned burns have measurably affected outcomes in terms of property loss and forest area consumed.

The findings suggest a sharp difference in forest management outcomes between the states, noting that Victoria lost five times as many homes per capita to bushfire as Western Australia. The results potentially offer an indictment of the Victorian government’s forest management trajectory over several decades, while also noting that New South Wales fared poorly in comparison.