Bushfire Risk Mitigation Update 2024–25 (FFMVic)

1. Introduction

Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMVic) is responsible for preventing and suppressing bushfires across approximately 8 million hectares of national parks, state forests, and protected public land. FFMVic carries out these duties under the Code of Practice for Bushfire Management on Public Land 2025, including a commitment to report publicly in a way that is clear, transparent, and tailored to relevant audiences.

A summary of FFMVic’s bushfire risk mitigation activities was provided in December 2025 in Victoria's Bushfire Management Snapshot. Further detail is due to be provided in a forthcoming report expected in mid-2026. This supplementary update provides additional landscape, operational and performance data for 2024–25, including:

• FFMVic Fuel management (planned burning, mechanical works, and other non-burn fuel treatments), including:
  • activity (areas and numbers of burns)
  • changes in fuel-driven bushfire risk
  • changes in measures of ecosystem resilience.
• Fuel break construction and maintenance
• Investment in bushfire risk mitigation
• FFMVic support for Traditional Owner-led cultural burning
• FFMVic participation in cross-tenure fuel management (private and public land)
• campfire safety.

2.3.5 Loddon Mallee Region

Loddon Mallee region’s long-term planning target is to keep bushfire risk below 75%. In 2024-25, Loddon Mallee region delivered a fuel management program of 9,566 hectares, with bushfire risk 71% as at 30 June 2025.

Fuel management delivery in 2024-25 focused on high-risk areas in the Pyrenees Ranges, Bendigo, and other smaller localities such as Inglewood, Wedderburn, and St Arnaud. There was also work done on key strategic corridors in the Mallee Parks. In addition to these burns, the region also delivered 3,728 hectares of non-burn fuel treatments.

In 2024-25, a significant achievement was the delivery of 5 key burns in the Pyrenees Ranges, totalling over 2,000 hectares and providing protection to the local communities and numerous wineries.

Bushfire risk reduction efforts in 2025-26 will focus on reducing fuel hazards around the highest risk areas of the region: Bendigo, wider Castlemaine, and the Macedon Ranges Shire.

Table 11: Fuel management delivery, Loddon Mallee region, 2024–25

Table 12: Fuel-driven bushfire risk, Loddon Mallee Region and Districts, 2021-22 to 2024-25

2.3.6 Port Phillip Region

Port Phillip region’s long-term planning target is to keep bushfire risk below 85%.

In 2024-25, Port Phillip region delivered a fuel management program of 6,621 hectares, with bushfire risk at 87% as at 30 June 2025. Fuel management delivery in 2024-25 focused on the treatment of areas near high-risk townships such as Powelltown and the Dandenong Ranges, and on the protection of Melbourne's drinking water through multiple burns in the Upper Yarra Catchment.

In 2024-25, Port Phillip region experienced extreme dryness and late-season bushfires (Montrose–Sheffield Road), which resulted in a reduced planned burning window. Despite these challenges, Port Phillip delivered 17 risk reduction burns.

Bushfire risk reduction efforts in 2025-26 will focus on known high-risk reducing areas such as Paul Range, the Warburton Valley, and the Dandenong Ranges. The region is aware that risk is being driven by fuel re-accumulation from the 2009 Black Saturday bushfire area. As a result, it is working closely with Hume and Murrindindi to the north to address bushfire risk entering the region.

Fuel-driven bushfire risk in Port Phillip region as at 30 June 2025 was above the long-term planning target of 85%. Within Port Phillip, Metropolitan district was above its planning target at 92% (target 85%), as was Yarra district at 86% (target 85%). Factors contributing to this include limited burn windows due to extreme landscape dryness.

FFMVic is addressing this by:

• Undertaking detailed risk analysis and attributing each year 1 and 2 burn on the JFMP a risk reduction ranking - the Region will prioritise the delivery of known high rank risk reducing burns on the JFMP
• Collaborating with Hume and Murrindindi to deliver cross regional burns that offer good risk reduction benefits to Port Phillip region.
• Prioritising delivery of the Metropolitan and Yarra 2026 fuel management program and supplementing with additional out of region resources as required

Table 13: Fuel management delivery, Port Phillip Region, 2024–25

Table 14: Fuel-driven bushfire risk, Port Phillip region, 2021-22 to 2024-25

2.4 Fuel hazard monitoring

Fuel hazard monitoring provides information about the outcomes of planned burns, including measurement of burn severity and coverage, assessment of changes in fuel hazard, evaluation of success in achieving ecological burn objectives where relevant, and identification of follow-up actions required.

Planned burns are evaluated using a series of plots designed to capture variations across the burn. This includes areas are intentionally left unburnt, for example to protect sensitive values or to provide refuges for wildlife.

Table 15: Fuel hazard sites monitored, by region, Victoria, 2024–25

2.5 Ecosystem resilience monitoring

Fire is a natural and vital process for many of Victoria’s ecosystems. Fire that is too hot, too frequent, or in inappropriate locations can also cause ecological damage. FFMVic uses several scientific measures to describe the effects of planned burning and bushfires on Victoria’s ecosystems:

• Tolerable Fire Interval (TFI): Indicates how frequently a fire can occur in an ecosystem while maintaining that vegetation community. TFI defines the minimum and maximum intervals between fires for different vegetation types, identifying where fire is occurring too frequently or too infrequently.
• Growth Stage Structure (GSS): Tracks the habitat provided by forests as they recover and regrow following fire through the stages of juvenile, adolescent, mature, and old. Well-functioning ecosystems contain vegetation in a mix of growth stages.

The figures below reflect the combined effect of bushfires and planned burning.

2.5.1 Statewide

Table 16: Tolerable Fire Interval – Statewide, 2021-22 to 2024-25

Table 17: Growth Stage Structure – Statewide, 2021-22 to 2024-25

2.5.2 Barwon South West

Table 18: Tolerable Fire Interval – Barwon South West region, 2021-22 to 2024-25

Table 19: Growth Stage Structure – Barwon South West region, 2021-22 to 2024-25

2.5.3 Gippsland

Table 20: Tolerable Fire Interval – Gippsland region, 2021-22 to 2024-25

Table 21: Growth Stage Structure – Gippsland region, 2021-22 to 2024-25

2.5.4 Grampians

Table 22: Tolerable Fire Interval – Grampians region, 2021-22 to 2024-25

Table 23: Growth Stage Structure – Grampians region, 2021-22 to 2024-25

2.5.5 Hume

Table 24: Tolerable Fire Interval – Hume region, 2021-22 to 2024-25

Table 25: Growth Stage Structure – Hume region, 2021-22 to 2024-25

2.5.6 Loddon Mallee

Table 26: Tolerable Fire Interval – Loddon Mallee region, 2021-22 to 2024-25

Table 27: Growth Stage Structure – Loddon Mallee region, 2021-22 to 2024-25

2.5.7 Port Phillip

Table 28: Tolerable Fire Interval – Port Phillip region, 2021-22 to 2024-25

Table 29: Growth Stage Structure – Port Phillip region, 2021-22 to 2024-25

3. Fuel breaks

FFMVic maintains a network of fuel breaks across the state to aid in limiting the size, spread, behaviour and impact of bushfires. Fuel breaks provide safe access to undertake suppression operations to respond to bushfires and assist with fuel management activities such as planned burning.

Previous reporting had included the term “upgraded”, which has been replaced by the more specific terms ‘construction’ and ‘maintenance’ of fuel breaks.

Table 30: Total kilometres of fuel breaks constructed in each region from 2021-25

* Victoria’s Bushfire Risk Management Report 2022-23 contained a typing error which read 106.7 instead of 160.7. This table includes correct figures.

Table 31: Total kilometres of fuel break maintenance in each region, 2024-25

4. Investment in bushfire risk mitigation

FFMVic invested $159.8 million in bushfire risk mitigation in 2024–25, which is a small increase from $159.5 million invested in 2023–24. Direct investment totalled $31.8 million, while indirect investment was $127.9 million.

Direct investment is the cost of undertaking specific bushfire risk mitigation activities, while indirect investment captures the cost of resources and systems to execute the program. This includes equipment and infrastructure, vehicles, systems, resourcing of personnel, and monitoring, evaluation and reporting. Table 21 provides a breakdown of fuel management investment by region and type.

Table 32: FFMVic fuel management investment, by region and group, Victoria, 2023–25

Table 33: Comparison of FFMVic direct investment in bushfire risk mitigation treatments from 2021-25

Table 34: Investment in fuel breaks (direct investment) by region from 2021-22 to 2024-25

Table 35: Indirect fuel management investment, by items, Victoria 2022–2025

5. Cultural burning

The importance of cultural fire, and the vision of Traditional Owners for the use of fire on Country to bring health to the land and people, is set out in the Victorian Traditional Owner Cultural Fire Strategy.

In 2024-25, FFMVic supported cultural burns led by nine Traditional Owner groups:

• Barengi Gadjin Land Council Aboriginal Corporation
• Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation
• Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation
• First People of the Millewa Mallee
• Gunaikurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation
• Taungurung Land and Waters Council Aboriginal Corporation
• Yorta Yorta Nation Aboriginal Corporation
• Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation
• Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation

The table below sets out numbers of cultural burns planned and delivered:

Table 36: Number of Traditional Owner led burns nominated, approved and delivered with the support of Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMVic), 2021-22 to 2024-25

Notes:

• Burns nominated: Cultural burns nominated by Traditional Owners for inclusion on the Joint Fuel Management Program (JFMP), the annual cross-sector fuel management works program. Each nominated burn is assessed in consultation with the nominator to ensure feasibility.
• Burns approved: The number of burns approved for inclusion in the JFMP, enabling work between fire agencies and Traditional Owners to progress burns towards delivery. More burns are typically planned and approved than delivered to allow flexibility for favourable conditions.
• Burns delivered: The number of approved burns completed within the financial year. Influenced by weather, capacity, and resourcing. Uncompleted burns remain on the JFMP for prioritisation.
• Operations completed: Number of discrete burn operations undertaken to deliver cultural burns. A single burn may require multiple operations across days or locations, showing the operational effort involved.

6. Cross-tenure burning

FFMVic’s fire management responsibilities relate principally to public land. Bushfires impact all land, public and private. FFMVic works with the CFA, private landholders, and other land managers to ensure integrated bushfire risk management.

In 2024-25 FFMVic led the delivery of 21 cross-tenure planned burns treating 12,979 hectares.

Table 37: Cross-tenure planned burns led by FFMVic, by region, 2021-22 to 2024-25

7. Campfire safety

FFMVic staff conduct patrols or make incidental observations of unattended campfires during day-to-day forest and fire management. In 2024-25, FFMVic attended 425 unattended campfires, which was 31% of all fires attended (1,371).

Table 38: Total number and percentage of unattended campfires attended by FFMVic per region in 2024-25

8. Notes on data

8.1 Rounding

Unless otherwise stated, rounding is to the nearest unit, with half-values rounded upward.

• Areas are rounded to the nearest whole hectare.
• Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole percent.
• Lineal measures are rounded to the nearest tenth of a kilometre.
• Expenditures are rounded to the nearest hundred thousand dollars.

Due to rounding, totals may differ slightly from the sum of their reported components, and percentages may not sum to exactly 100%.

8.2 Changes in reported bushfire risk

Mapping of past bushfires and planned burns often improves after initial reporting, as early mapping is progressively supplemented with higher-quality data that is not always immediately available (for example, satellite imagery, aerial photography, or LIDAR). Initial fire maps necessarily rely on assumptions about extent, patchiness, and severity, particularly in areas where direct observation is limited.

Bushfire risk is generally modelled using the best available data at the time reports are generated. As mapping is refined, our understanding of the impact of past fires may change. This can result in small differences from previously reported figures when risk is re-modelled using updated data.

Accordingly, risk figures for past years presented in this update may differ slightly from those reported in earlier publications.

Files for download

• Bushfire Risk Mitigation Update 2024-25 (accessible)
  (DOCX, 118.2 KB)

Page last updated: 31/03/26