Prepare your council for the new Australian Fire Danger Rating System
The new national system has four Fire Danger Rating levels – Moderate, High, Extreme and Catastrophic – and is supported by action-oriented messages to encourage people to take action to protect themselves and others in the face of bushfire risks.
The AFDRS also introduces a new Fire Behaviour Index – a scale of fire danger that takes the latest in fire science and produces outputs across eight different fire behaviour models (compared to the existing two fire behaviour models) to support decisions about fire preparedness and bushfire suppression.
Impact on road signage for your council
As the CFS is encouraging more modern, efficient and dependable ways for the public to access daily forecast Fire Danger Ratings, they will not be endorsing roadside signage for South Australia going forward.
Any existing roadside signage or any references made to the fire danger rating in its current form must be removed and disposed of before 1 September 2022.
This includes any references to the old 6-tier Fire Danger Ratings in brochures, notices, flyers, or displayed in public in any form, including the traditional roadside signs.
The Local Government Association Mutual Liability Scheme endorses the new approach.
Your council is advised to follow the requirement to remove and dispose of your current signage by 1 September 2022. You are also advised to not install new signage which may attract liability. Taking on this liability, in the face of a new national approach (based on the latest findings from recent disasters), will put your council in a difficult position.
If your council has any concern, please inform the AFDRS SA Implementation Team via a quick 5-min form, or contact the Scheme
Training in the new Australian Fire Danger Rating System
To support councils in the transition to the new AFDRS, an introductory training course has been developed.
Councils can access the course to understand the new system and how it is used to protect staff and community.
A self-hosting site is available for this course, with a training guide to assist council representatives enrol council staff.
Please email the AFDRS SA Implementation Team at CFS.AFDRSImplementationTeam@eso.sa.gov.au to enrol your staff in the course.
Fire Danger Toolkit for councils
This toolkit is to help you communicate clear and consistent information about the new changes to the AFDRS. The toolkit contains:
- PDF Presentations
- Generic Presentation – broad overview of the new AFDRS
- Technical Presentation – technical details on the new processes and tools
- Each presentation set contains presenter notes and a recorded presentation
- Collateral
- A4 Infographics – Fire Danger Ratings, Fire Danger Ratings and Fire Behaviour Index
- A4 Fact sheets – Introducing AFDRS, How we communicate risk, Improving the science
- A2 Posters – Fire Danger Ratings, Fire Behaviour Index
- Tri-fold brochure – Fire Danger Rating System
- A4 Guide - Using Fire Behaviour Index for operational policies
- Key messages
- Change impact checklist
- To assess the areas of business that need to be revised
Please email the AFDRS SA Implementation Team at CFS.AFDRSImplementationTeam@eso.sa.gov.au if you have any questions about the toolkit.