A/Prof Nader Naderpajouh from the University of Sydney is one of the researchers presenting tomorrow for the final day of the Natural Hazards Research Forum 2026, where he will share findings from the Bushfire information database - scoping study project.
The project stems from the 2020 Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements and the 2020 NSW Independent Bushfire Inquiry, where there was a suggestion that Australia does not have a national bushfire database.
“In our study we are looking at the comparative international examples. We propose a foundation and infrastructure that is needed for the national database in terms of metadata, in terms of vocabulary, but we also go a little bit deeper of how do we organise this national database and what are the key barriers,” A/Prof Naderpajouh said.
He said one of the initial findings was that Australia has plenty of good bushfire data but the only issue is that "it’s not integrated, it’s not harmonised across the country”.
“Sometimes, there are parallel national databases, so this activity of having local databases would become parallel national databases, and there is a need for collaboration and collective action within that as well,” he said.
“The main selling point is that if we have broader collective action and we have the databases together, there will be a better leverage – especially when we are facing budget deficit”.
A/Prof Naderpajouh said the Centre’s Natural Hazards Research Forum is very unique and offers a great opportunity for creating connections.
“In every project that I had, a key point when we are shaping the project, when we are doing the project and after that, is personal connections, and these personal connections between the end-users, between the researchers would first of all enrich the research, but also after the research is done, would make it used better and we can see the feedback of it,” he said.
“This is something that we are always looking forward to as a team when we are presenting: what will be the feedback and what is the future path of the findings and how it is going to be used, which is the most important part of the research”.