Tasmania is piloting a bushfire mitigation project for homes on urban fringes, amid concern across Australia over rising risks to such properties.

The University of Tasmania Fire Centre designed the program to assess the impact of combining different risk reduction activities. It is hoped the findings will help improve access to affordable insurance.

The project is a partnership between RACT, the Hobart and Kingborough city councils and the university.

RACT Group CEO Mark Mugnaioni says bushfire is one of the most significant and growing threats the group’s policyholders face.

“Our members have told us they want to be better prepared for the threat of natural disasters, but they need more support and information to act,” he said today.

“That’s what this partnership is all about.”

Practical support will include conducting assessments with households, and using mapping and modelling software to visualise risks and recommend the best mitigation measures.

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Households will be helped to maintain “defensible space” around properties, through initiatives such as free green waste disposal days and street skip bins.

Vegetation management will also occur on council land in pilot locations.

The project aims to understand motivations and barriers to action, which messages and supports are most effective, and how individuals and communities can be better equipped.

Hobart Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds says bushfire is the city’s biggest risk, with implications for homes, the economy and insurance costs, and it is important to seek solutions through innovative partnerships.

“We are really excited about this opportunity and we think it is going to be really groundbreaking for Tasmania, but also even for Australia,” she said.

The initial phase is likely to include more than 100 homes in Hobart and Kingborough, south of the capital. Additional funding will be sought through the federally led Disaster Ready Fund, potentially supporting expansion to more communities.

A Lateral Economics report released by the Insurance Council of Australia this year noted 98% of Tasmania’s land area is bushfire-prone, and the Los Angeles fires in January last year also highlighted the dangers at Australia’s urban and bushland interface.

A large bushfire in Hobart, like the 1967 Black Tuesday disaster, could produce insured losses exceeding $2 billion, the Lateral Economics report said.