We invite you to attend the Nature Conservation Council of NSW’s 14th Biennial Bushfire Conference 2025 Can we burn to learn? Sustaining people, nature and Country.

Join us for two days of presentations by leading academics, practitioners, Traditional Owners, agencies and communities to explore why, when and how can we best use fire across landscapes to protect what we most care about.

With the impacts of recent fires still imprinted on us and the ongoing certainty of future fires, now is an opportune time to test how we best work with fire, to re-think why we burn and evaluate what we are aiming to achieve.

By posing the question ‘Can we burn to learn?’ we hope to combine new investigations and learnings in managing fire into the optimal outcomes that sustain people, nature and Country. As with previous conferences, we will continue to showcase scientific research, applied methods, on-ground projects and First Nations burning initiatives to highlight learnings across a range of disciplines, ecosystems and communities.

This conference will be held as an in-person event at the Teacher’s Federation Conference Centre in Sydney, NSW on Wednesday 21st and Thursday 22nd of May 2025. A Poster Session and Conference Dinner will also be available to in-person delegates on the 21st of May. Although this conference is primarily an in-person event, virtual tickets for all sessions are available.

Join us on Friday the 23rd of May 2025 for an outdoors field day to be held in the Royal National Park. The day includes site walks and opportunities to further discuss fire and conservation management issues, and solutions raised during the conference.

Speakers

Read about our Speakers as they are announced here: https://www.nature.org.au/bush...

See our Preliminary Program here.

Events Program

Wednesday 21st May

Teacher’s Federation Conference Centre, 37 Reservoir St, Surry Hills NSW 2010

Draft program – program timings may change

8:00am - Registrations open

9:00am – Conference sessions start

Session 1

Morning tea

Session 2

Lunch

Session 3

Afternoon tea

Session 4

5:00pm – UNE Sponsored Conference sessions close

5:00 – 6:30pm – GHD Sponsored Poster Session

6:30 – 10:00pm – Conference Dinner at Rydges Sydney Central Hotel

GHD Sponsored Poster Session – Will be held at the Teachers Federation Conference Centre and includes drinks and nibbles. The Poster Session admission is included in all In-Person Conference tickets purchased for Wednesday 21st of May.

UNE Sponsored Conference Dinner - This Conference Extra will be held at Rydges Sydney Central Hotel (28 Albion St, Surry Hills, NSW 2010) located a short stroll (~3mins) from the conference centre. Delegates will need to make their own way from the conference centre to the dinner venue. The dinner tickets include a chef’s selection buffet dinner and one alcoholic or non-alcoholic drink on arrival. Additional drinks will be available for purchase. Please ensure you have detailed any dietary requirements in your registration form.

Thursday 22nd of May

Teacher’s Federation Conference Centre 37 Reservoir St, Surry Hills NSW 2010

Draft program – program timings may change

8:00am - Registrations open

9:00am – Conference sessions start

Session 5

Morning tea

Session 6

Lunch

Session 7

Afternoon tea

Session 8

5:00pm – Conference close

Friday 23rd of May
Royal National Park

Conference Field Day - This Conference Extra will be held at the Royal National Park. This ticket includes morning tea, lunch and transport to and from the field day.

All conference participants are welcome to register. The day will include site visits in the field, and patches of bush walking, so please be prepared for moderate outdoors exercise and be prepared for varying weather conditions. Please contact us if you have any questions. A complimentary bus will pick up delegates near Central Station and return them at the conclusion of the field trip by 5:30pm.

Tickets

Early Bird ticket sales closed on Sunday 11:59pm, 9th March, 2025.

In-Person ticket sales close on Monday 11:59pm, 12th May, 2025.

Students - Grab a 10% discount when you register as a group of five for either the Wednesday or Thursday In-Person.

First Nations Representatives - Grab a 10% discount when you register as a group of five for either the Wednesday or Thursday In-Person.

General = Corporate/ Government/ Individual

Concession = Non-Profit/ Student/ Unwaged/ NCC Member Groups/ Aboriginal Land Council or org/ Indigenous Protected Area representatives/ RFS Brigade Volunteers. Proof of concession may be requested after purchase.

Wednesday 21st of May- registration includes catering for morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, and drinks and nibbles at the GHD Sponsored Poster Session.

Thursday 22nd of May- registration includes catering for morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea.

Virtual Conference – this virtual conference will be hosted on the Zoom platform, instructions on how to attend virtually will be sent out to all delegates.

Purchasing tickets for multiple delegates

If you are purchasing tickets for multiple people, in-person or virtual, you will need to input their name, email, mobile number and dietary requirements in order to complete the registration. Please select the box "Email tickets to each attendee". Only registered emails will receive tickets and welcome packs.

Discount/Access Codes*

*Note: Discount and access codes are available via the conference organisers for presenters, relevant sponsor representatives, and Nature Conservation Council bush fire representatives. If you are an NCC representative on a Bush Fire Management Committee please contact the Bushfire Program team for your Discount Code before purchasing any tickets at NCCBushfireConference@nature.org.au

If you have an Access Code, enter your code at the top of the ticket selection page and select “Apply”. You should now be able to see additional tickets or bundles for you to select.

If you have a Discount Code, enter your code at the top of the ticket selection page and select “Apply”. You can then choose your tickets. Hit the “i” for information about which tickets your code applies to.

FAQ:

Can I update my registration details? Yes, click the Edit Order button in the order confirmation email you received with your purchase. Using the form, you can update your order details such as dietary requirements. To save the changes, click 'Save' at the bottom.

Is my ticket transferable? Yes, simply update the registration details as described above.

The name and email on the ticket doesn't match the attendee. Is that okay?  No - please add the name and email of each attendee. Zoom links and tickets will be sent to individual email addresses.

Can I pay by invoice? Yes, during the payment process choose "pay by invoice". Please note we are only able to accept invoice payments via EFT, if you need to pay by credit card use the online Humanitix gateway and email us for an invoice. 

I can't find my ticket or confirmation email to complete my registration?  Please check your trash and junk folders, and then contact us at NCCBushfireConference@nature.org.au and we can resend your tickets. 

I have caught COVID-19 before the event, what should I do? If you are feeling unwell, or have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive to COVID-19, please do not attend this in-person event. All in-person tickets include a link to our virtual event, so you will still be able to participate online. Unfortunately, no refunds will be provided after the refund closure date.

If you have any further questions please contact the Bushfire Program Team on (02) 9516 0359 or at NCCBushfireConference@nature.org.au or visit https://www.nature.org.au/bushfire_conference_2025

Nature Conservation Council of NSW would like to acknowledge the generous support of our conference sponsors:

The Nature Conservation Council of NSW acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the lands and waters of Australia. We pay our respects to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders past and present. We aspire to learn from their traditional knowledge to help nature thrive.

Accessibility

General information

Entry instructions