Hundreds of bushfires ravaged south-eastern Australia over the 2019-20 summer, burning millions of hectares and billowing large plumes of smoke into the atmosphere. The fires and the smoke claimed many lives, and caused mental health problems that will last.
This bushfire season was not a one-off. Climate change is increasing the likelihood of ever more severe, intense, and longer-lasting bushfires into the future.
In this submission to the inquiry into the 2019-20 Victorian fire season, Grattan’s Health Program Director Stephen Duckett and Associates Will Mackey and Anika Stobart recommend reforms that could help minimise future loss of lives, properties, and livelihoods.