BMAP Uplift Project

Bushfire Management Area Plans – A visual Journey

What are Bushfire Management Area Plans?  

BMAPs create a single, trusted source of information to coordinate bushfire risk reduction across South Australia. It shows who contributes (firefighters, First Nations, primary producers, infrastructure owners, state and local government, experts, committees), what they share (fire science, assets, cultural knowledge, environmental information), and how that shared insight is used to prioritise and coordinate mitigation across regions. The overall message emphasises collaboration, accountability, and improved resilience through coordinated, evidence‑based decision making. 

How BMAPs Are Used to Protect South Australia 

BMAPs are applied across four community and landscape roles to reduce bushfire risk and strengthen resilience.  

• Utilities — highlights protecting critical infrastructure and coordinating activities across service networks, such as water, telecommunication. and power. 
• First Nations — emphasises cultural stewardship, caring for Country, and applying traditional knowledge to risk reduction. 
• Local Leaders — shows how visual BMAPs help leaders interpret science, communicate choices, and build community preparedness. 
• Primary Producers — focuses on farm stewardship, balancing production and landscape management with strategic advice. 

BMAPs create a single, shared source of truth that enables cross‑sector collaboration, coordinated mitigation, and informed decision making to protect people, assets, and Country from bushfire 

Bushfire Management Area Plan Development Cycle 

A continuous, framework showing how communities and agencies reduce bushfire risk: Understand (assess hazards and values), Plan (set objectives and coordinate stakeholders), Do (implement mitigation actions), and Reflect (evaluate outcomes and adapt). These steps form an iterative planning process that links landscape knowledge, collaborative decision‑making, on‑ground action, and learning to improve resilience over time.

Preparing the Landscape to Reduce Bushfire Risk

Two approaches to bushfire management — a split landscape shows Apart Without BMAPs on the left and Together With BMAPs on the right to contrast outcomes when planning is fragmented versus coordinated.

Apart Without BMAPs shows fragmented, asset‑focused responses with role confusion, misplaced effort, unmanaged land, and slower, less effective mitigation; visual cues include flames, smoke, a silo, and isolated responders.

Together With BMAPs displays coordinated, landscape‑scale action enabled by BMAPs — shared priorities, better planning, cultural fire and land management, ready resources, and improved community safety; visuals show people collaborating, healthy vegetation, and organised mitigation infrastructure. 

Key message: creating a single source of truth for landscape risk (BMAPs) shifts effort from isolated asset protection to strategic, collaborative mitigation that increases effectiveness and resilience.

Bushfire Management Area Plans — A Single Source for Safer South Australian Communities

BMAPs bring people, knowledge and action together into a single, practical plan that makes complex bushfire risk simple and actionable: by combining fire science, cultural knowledge, land management practices, and local priorities, they create a trusted regional map that guides who does what, where and why. The process is iterative — Understand → Plan → Do → Reflect — so decisions are grounded in place, tested on the ground, and improved over time.

When utilities, First Nations, land managers, local leaders and primary producers share information and align around the same priorities, effort shifts from isolated asset protection to strategic, landscape‑scale mitigation that is more efficient, equitable and effective. In short, supporting and using BMAPs means sharing local knowledge, coordinating activity to a common plan, and treating risk reduction as an ongoing cycle, resulting in clearer roles, fewer gaps, and safer, more resilient communities and Country.

Artwork by Dana Hayman Designs

BMAP Project Update 3 – August 2026

BIP Pilot Launch

Release 1 Pilot has been successfully launched. The Pilot has given over 300 end users an opportunity for hands‑on familiarisation with the basic functionality they can expect from the new system and a chance to capture user feedback that will shape subsequent releases.

System Name

The Pilot was launched without a name to provide time for end users to provide feedback on the naming options. The results of this engagement have been considered and captured in advice to the BMPRS Steering Committee who are expected to make the final decision on the name of the system at their next meeting in September.

It is expected that the name of the system will be announced along with the official launch of the system in Release 2 in early 2027.

Release 1 Pilot Launch

The pilot was launched in early July providing an opportunity for over 300 end users to get some hands-on experience with the features of the system.

BMAPs are spatial plans and therefore the mapping functionality of the system will provide the key tools for BMC members to create spatial features, assign attributes, view spatial information such as bushfire risk assessment outcomes and asset information.

The map view and map tools will not change very much in Release 2, but the rest of the user interface will be updated in Release 2 to provide additional system functionality to support the management of BMAP implementation planning and eventually, in Release 3, the reporting functionality to record the completion of activities to meet the objectives of the BMAP strategies.

The Pilot interface landing page and BMAP selection pages will change significantly in Release 2 and workshops open to all end users have been held to seek feedback on the interface options.

Reach and engagement metrics

• BMC Presentations: a presentation was provided to all 9 BMCs providing a demonstration of the Pilot system and promoting the opportunities to engage further through drop-in sessions and end user surveys.
• Drop in sessions: drop-in sessions were held to provide an opportunity for all end users to ask questions about the system. These sessions were attended by 140 end users across three sessions (this excludes attendees reached via BMC meetings, wireframe sessions, and virtual rooms).
• Release 2 User Interface Update Wireframe Feedback sessions: 2 separate sessions were held with the project Steering Committee and the BMC Executive Officers to gauge early feedback on the user interface design for Release 2. A further 2 sessions are scheduled for all end users to provide feedback on wireframe options. The final session will be held on 14 August.
• Suggestion Box: a survey will remain open for end users to provide any suggestions or ideas related to the project as they come up. So far 4 submissions have been provided with useful spatial layer and user function suggestions.

Survey Results

• What’s in a name – the survey to provide feedback on what to call the new system received 19 responses.
• Engagement Survey – a survey seeking feedback on how end user want to be engaged received 17 responses.
• Release 1 User Survey – a survey that served as both a basic training overview and a feedback mechanism has received 12 responses so far; average completion time 45.01 minutes; open until 14 August. Responses contain detailed, actionable suggestions on UI, search functionality, and spatial layers.

Resources published

• FAQ: The questions asked in the drop in sessions have been consolidated into FAQs and published on the SBCC BMAP Project resources page.
• Micro lessons and guides: Short videos and PDFs are available on the SBCC Resources page for self paced learning.

For more details and links to resources, visit the project resources page on the SBCC website. The link to this page is also available on the BIP Portal landing page.

Completed Engagement Opportunities

Upcoming Engagement Opportunities

There will be further drop-in session organised. Keep an eye out for upcoming sessions introducing end users to a wireframe (mock-up) of the implementation planning functionality coming in Release 2.

The Next Gen BMAP Suggestion Box – Fill out form will remain open for you to provide your feedback, share your ideas, or just to reach out for further information and engagement opportunities.

BMAP Project Update 1 - January 2026

BMAPs provide a common reference for all agencies and members of the population to identify and manage bushfire risk, so that risk reduction resources are used most effectively and efficiently.

The project will deliver core functionality for the nine BMCs to develop and maintain their BMAPs.

The project will vastly improve statewide bushfire management by using cutting-edge bushfire simulation technology to enable preventative infrastructure planning, improved protection of environmental and cultural assets, and the coordinated placement and maintenance of networks of firebreaks, fire access tracks, Bushfire Safer Places, and Last Resort Refuges.

This upgrade transforms how South Australia understands and mitigates bushfire risk, delivering clearer priorities, coordinated collective whole-of-government efforts, and stronger community resilience through a continuously updated, interactive platform.

A contract has been awarded to Nova Systems to deliver the software required to develop the next generation of the State Bushfire Coordination Committee's (SBCC) Bushfire Management Area Plans (BMAPs). This is a major update to how bushfire mitigation is planned and coordinated across South Australia.

BMAPs guide how bushfire risk reduction activities are planned and prioritised across the state. They help agencies work together on mitigation activities that reduce risk to communities before a fire occurs.

This next generation of BMAPs will replace the current planning system with a more modern, consistent and evidence-based approach. The new system will better support Bushfire Management Committees to plan, review and track mitigation activities over time.

CFS is leading the project on behalf of the SBCC. The new planning system will be rolled out to Bushfire Management Committee (BMC) users in stages, with initial capability expected within 6 months.

The system will support all 9 BMCs to progressively develop new BMAPs, using shared data and a consistent risk management process. This will improve coordination across agencies and make it easier to translate plans into on-ground mitigation work.

Nova Systems Pty Ltd has been selected to deliver the new BMAP software, building on an existing bushfire planning system already used by the New South Wales Rural Fire Service. This also creates opportunities to share lessons and improvements between jurisdictions.

More information will be shared as the rollout progresses and as access is provided to BMC users.