Bushfires are an intrinsic part of the NSW landscape. They are a natural hazard to which both rural and urban communities are exposed, and which are capable of inflicting tremendous costs in terms of environmental damage and lives and property lost. Vulnerability to bushfires is likely to increase in the future due to a number of factors. Population growth has led to progressive expansion of the rural-urban interface. This zone is often populated by people who are unfamiliar with its associated bushfire risks. In addition, the likelihood of bushfires and extreme bushfire weather occurring in NSW is predicted to rise due to climate change. Increased vulnerability, and the guaranteed reoccurrence of the environmental conditions that have caused severe fire events in the past, are
challenges faced by all Australian Governments.

The bushfires of 7 February 2009 in Victoria, otherwise known as Black Saturday, were one of Australia's worst natural disasters. 173 people died on Black Saturday. The total cost of the disaster is expected to exceed $4 billion. The 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission into Black Saturday established by the Victorian Government was the latest in a long line of bushfire inquiries. Themes common to all of these inquiries include: the importance of community education, especially with regard to the 'stay or go' policy; increased emphasis on risk reduction, including prescribed burning; insufficient integration of bushfire management into planning regimes; and a worrying level of community complacency regarding bushfire risk. 

Bushfire management involves regulatory and administrative arrangements which seek to minimise the potential impact of bushfires on the environment, public and private assets, communities and human life. Bushfire management needs to be internally coherent as well as integrated into broader planning and emergency management structures. This paper summarises the current regulatory and administrative arrangements in NSW. Presented next is an examination of some of the most important and relevant recommendations from the 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission. This examination provides material by which the strengths and weaknesses of bushfire management in NSW may be evaluated.