The Bushfire and Natural Hazards Co-operative Research Centre has welcomed proposals from the NSW Coroner’s Court on ways to better manage bushfires.

The proposals are timely before what is widely expected to be one of the country’s most challenging bushfire seasons.

They include training, exercises and other professional development for firefighters, amending protocols for bushfire warnings and reviewing fire weather training courses.

“Large fires on extremely hot and windy days are complex and will always be difficult to manage, no matter how good our fire prediction and firefighting technology becomes,” CEO Richard Thornton told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“These recommendations, like the many recommendations from similar large fire inquiries in recent years, reinforce the need for a range of measures for not only fire agencies and governments, but also for local communities.”

NSW Deputy State Coroner Hugh Dillon made 23 proposals as part of an inquest into the Wambelong fire, which destroyed 53 homes, killed livestock and burned tens of thousands of hectares of land in January 2013.

“Given climate change is a reality… extreme heat and drought and other climatic conditions conducive to extreme fire events are likely to develop in Australia more often [and] the advance of bushfire science… is clearly a high priority for regional Australia,” he said.