The 2003 fires that devastated Canberra and the ACT have been the subject of court action in the ACT Supreme Court. The NSW Rural Fire Service, a defendant in the matter, tried to have the claim against it dismissed on the basis that the case was unarguable under the current law. On the 5th September 2008 the Court refused that application, and will now allow the matter to go to trial. You can read my commentary on this decision in ‘Canberra bushfires litigation’ (2009) 28 Fire Update, 1-4 published by the Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre. The Fire Update is available from the Bushfire CRC website.

Michael Eburn
5 February 2008