Changes to Bushfire Protection for WA planning and construction.

This Seminar  will provide an overview of changes to WA Positions Statements  Planning in bushfire prone areas – Demonstrating Element 1: Location and Element 2: Siting and design  as well as an introduction to the ABCBs Bushfire Verification Method adopted in NCC 2019.

Dr Grahame Douglas, University of Western Sydney, will be discussing the more significant changes to both the site assessment as well as construction provisions for each of the BAL levels. The introduction of a bushfire verification method has also meant that increased complexity may be introduced for those unfamiliar with the methodology used and data availability. The sessions will focus on the simplified method and its limitations at this stage.

Dr Douglas has spent more than 25 years engaged in bushfire related matters, was employed by the NSW Rural Fire Service for 16 years and has been researching and developing policy in the areas of land use planning and construction practice for bushfire prone areas. He has been involved in the development of AS3959 and is a member of the Standards Australia Committee FP-020 which is reviewing AS3959. 

He has assisted a number of States and councils including NSW, Victoria, Tasmania and in Western Australia in the development of planning and building practice for bushfire protection. He is currently contracted to Western Sydney University as Academic Course Advisor for the post-graduate bushfire protection program, a role he had held for 5 years.

 He has a PhD in bushfire protection under the influence of climate change and has published numerous papers on bushfire protection, planning and construction practice including on AS3959 and the bushfire verification method.