Insurance Australia Group (IAG) has renewed its partnership with the Aboriginal Carbon Foundation for an additional three years, formalising continued collaboration on Aboriginal-led cultural land management and fire programs.
The relationship between IAG and the Aboriginal Carbon Foundation began in 2022. Since then, the foundation has expanded its cultural fire service capacity, engaging Indigenous peoples and Traditional Owner groups in specialised land and fire management work that generates economic activity in regional and remote communities. Under the renewed agreement, IAG will maintain financial and strategic support for the foundation’s efforts to increase awareness and use of cultural land management, including cultural burning. The insurer frames the partnership as part of its broader sustainability and climate strategy, with an emphasis on community-level risk reduction initiatives in areas exposed to natural perils.
IAG executive manager group sustainability & climate action Amy Hogan said the extension will allow the insurer to continue engaging with stakeholders on different fire management approaches. “We are delighted to continue working with the Aboriginal Carbon Foundation and look forward to helping advance conversations with industry and government around the community and environmental benefits of cultural burning as a preventative tool in mitigating bushfire risk,” Hogan said.
Cultural burning refers to Aboriginal fire practices developed over many thousands of years to manage Country, including vegetation, wildlife habitats, and cultural sites. These practices generally involve low-intensity, small-scale burns applied at particular times and locations, guided by seasonal indicators and local knowledge. Research referenced by IAG and the Aboriginal Carbon Foundation indicates that, when appropriately applied, cultural burning can lower the likelihood of high-intensity bushfires while emitting less greenhouse gas than some other hazard reduction methods and can help maintain soil condition and biodiversity. Such practices are relevant to risk prevention, exposure management, and claims outcomes in bushfire-prone regions, particularly at the bushland-urban interface.
The Aboriginal Carbon Foundation’s activities include delivering cultural fire services, training Traditional Owners, and facilitating knowledge exchange between Aboriginal land managers and government agencies. The organisation also seeks to link cultural land management with environmental and social outcomes that may be recognised in public policy, carbon markets, or resilience funding mechanisms. Aboriginal Carbon Foundation CEO Rowan Foley said ongoing funding from corporate partners enables the organisation to continue its programs. “We are grateful for the continued support of IAG and their recognition of cultural land management as an important mitigation tool to care for Country and communities. Through deepening understanding of Aboriginal land management practices, we will drive greater uptake and create safer communities. This will also generate community unity, prosperity, and wellbeing for First Nations peoples, enabling them to fulfil their aspirations and dreams for community and country,” Foley said.
Despite the growth in cultural fire activity, IAG and the foundation acknowledge ongoing barriers to incorporating Aboriginal land management into mainstream systems. These include existing emergency management protocols, regulatory and legislative settings, and the way risk is currently assessed and priced in insurance. For emergency services and land management agencies, aligning cultural burning with current planning and operational frameworks can involve changes to approval processes, liability arrangements, and training requirements. For insurers and reinsurers, a key issue is how to reflect any risk reduction from cultural burning in catastrophe models, portfolio analytics, and underwriting criteria. There is also interest in how partnerships with Aboriginal organisations might inform community-based risk reduction programs, risk-based pricing strategies, and engagement with policymakers on mitigation funding and land-use planning. Data on fuel loads, fire behaviour, and loss outcomes associated with cultural burning is one area of focus for actuaries and risk modellers seeking to quantify its impact at scale.
The partnership renewal aligns with findings from IAG’s third edition of its “Severe Weather in a Changing Climate” factsheet, released in November 2025, which outlines trends across perils relevant to the insurance sector. The report states that most severe weather phenomena that produce insurable damage are becoming more impactful, with notable regional variation across Australia. According to the report, short-duration intense rainfall and associated flash flooding, as well as fire weather risk, are increasing in several regions. It also points to rising risk from large to giant hail in densely populated southern areas; changing tropical cyclone characteristics in parts of Queensland, New South Wales, and Western Australia; and accelerating sea level rise consistent with a high-emissions scenario.
On bushfires, the factsheet concludes that fire weather is intensifying faster than earlier climate models suggested, driven by hotter and drier conditions, more frequent heatwaves, and shifts in rainfall patterns that reduce soil and fuel moisture. This is increasing the number of days with extreme fire weather and contributing to more extensive fire-supportive landscapes. These trends, together with the rise in compound and connected extremes, are increasing the focus on mitigation measures that can be implemented at the local level. Within that context, IAG’s continued partnership with the Aboriginal Carbon Foundation reflects the sector’s interest in how Aboriginal-led cultural land management may affect bushfire risk and exposure for communities and assets.
