Your plan · sample household

Your preparation plan

For a The Fence-Line Optimist household — The bush is basically their back fence, and the whole plan is that it stays friendly.

Finish Stage 1 and this household becomes a The Calm Bush Neighbour. Back to the report

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Readiness — Stage 1

Stage 1 · The first 72 hours0 of 6 steps done

The kit and decisions that carry your household through the first three days.

Shelf-stable food and bottled water packed into clear storage tubs, seen from above — THE STORES — what three days actually looks like, packed. Photo by Julia M Cameron via Pexels (Pexels License).

Write your household emergency plan

Decide together: when you would leave and when you would stay, where you would go, a meeting point if separated, and how you will follow official warnings.

Cost: $0 — Free — one household conversation, written down.

Time: 45 minutes

Most harm in a bushfire event comes from decisions made under pressure — a short written plan means your household already knows when to leave, where to go, and what to follow.

Notes and official sources

Warning channels are state-specific: Fires Near Me (NSW), VicEmergency (VIC), the state disaster dashboard plus local ABC radio (QLD). NSW households are pointed to the RFS Bush Fire Survival Plan (myfireplan.com.au). Include where the water, power and gas mains are and how to turn them off (Queensland guidance).

Store drinking water for three days

Store at least 10 litres of drinking water per person — enough for three days if taps stop or water is unsafe.

Cost: $ — $10–40: 10L bottled water (Woolworths/Coles, ~$0.6–1/L) or food-grade storage containers from Bunnings (~$15–25 each).

Time: 30 minutes

If bushfire interrupts your water supply, this gives everyone at home three days of drinking water without depending on shops or working taps.

Notes and official sources

Uses the Australian figure of 10 L per person for 3 days (~3.3 L/person/day), not the US FEMA gallon rule. Self-filled water should be refreshed about every 3 months (Urban Utilities). Pet water is additional — see AU-S1-07.

Pack a first aid kit and your regular medications

A household first aid kit, plus at least three days of each person's regular prescription medication kept with the kit, and spare glasses if you wear them.

Cost: $$ — $40–100 for a family first aid kit (St John Ambulance, Red Cross Shop, pharmacies). Prescription medication is rolling household stock, not an extra cost.

Time: 30 minutes

If bushfire closes roads or pharmacies for a few days, having your regular medication and a first aid kit at home covers the gap without a trip out.

Notes and official sources

Scope is limited to keeping regular prescription medication and a copy of prescriptions on hand — no medication advice of any kind. Three days here; the two-week buffer is AU-S2-02 (Red Cross wording).

Set up light and emergency information

A torch for each person, spare batteries, a battery or wind-up radio set to your local ABC frequency, and a charged power bank for phones.

Cost: $$ — $50–120: torches, a wind-up/battery radio and a 10,000mAh power bank (Bunnings, Kmart, Amazon AU).

Time: 30 minutes

When the power and mobile networks go down during bushfire, a torch and a battery radio are how your household still gets light and official warnings.

Notes and official sources

Australian guidance consistently names a battery/wind-up radio tuned to the local ABC frequency as a primary warning channel. Buy electrical items with Australian plugs and the RCM compliance mark only.

Secure your documents and emergency cash

Copy your ID, insurance, Medicare and property documents to a USB and cloud storage, keep a printed set in a waterproof pouch, and hold spare cash in small notes.

Cost: $ — $0–30 for a USB and waterproof pouch. Suggested cash holding of $200–500 in small notes is not counted as a purchase cost.

Time: 1 hour

If you have to leave home quickly because of bushfire, having your documents and cash ready means proving who you are and paying for essentials never depends on going back.

Notes and official sources

The Queensland list asks for important documents 'on USB or online' (licences, passports, birth certificates, Medicare cards, insurance policies) and spare cash in case ATMs or the internet are not working. Red Cross treats document copies as a separate recovery kit, ideally with one copy stored away from home.

Stock three days of no-cook food

Keep three days of long-life food your household actually eats, plus a manual can opener — nothing that needs refrigeration or cooking.

Cost: $$ — $60–140 for a family of four for 3 days; supermarket home brands reach the lower end.

Time: 1 hour (one shop)

With power out and shops closed or unreachable, three days of ready-to-eat food means bushfire doesn't turn into a food problem on day one.

Notes and official sources

Queensland's official list specifies packet, canned and dried food for three days. A manual can opener is listed separately by both QLD SES and Red Cross — electric openers are useless in an outage. Add formula/baby food prompts for households with infants.

Stage 2 · The first week, and beyondFull report

Deepening the same buffer towards a week — the level Australian guidance points to. Steps beyond seven days — towards two weeks — are an optional advanced level: a withHarmora recommendation, not an official guideline, and the steps say so where it applies.

An emergency kit laid out flat: water, torch, radio, first aid and documents — THE KIT, LAID OUT — the bag this stage assembles, item by item. Photo by cottonbro studio via Pexels (Pexels License).

This stage's steps for your household:

Prepare your property for bushfire season — in the full report
Extend food and water towards two weeks — in the full report
Set up backup power and an outage routine — in the full report
Make a heatwave plan for your home — in the full report
Stock two weeks of hygiene and sanitation basics — in the full report
Put your kit on a seasonal check cycle — in the full report

Checking your account…

Stage 3 · The season, maintainedFull report

Seasonal checks and upkeep, timed to the risks your place actually carries.

The asset protection zone, drawn

In NSW, the 10/50 vegetation clearing code lets a home in a mapped area clear trees within 10 metres of the house and vegetation within 50 metres without a separate approval — one of this stage's core moves. Every state's rule differs; your full report carries your state's own table, from its own fire service.

SOURCE: NSW RURAL FIRE SERVICE — 10/50 VEGETATION CLEARING CODE OF PRACTICE. DIAGRAM IS SCHEMATIC, NOT TO SCALE.

This stage's steps for your household:

Write your bush fire survival plan — in the full report
Create and maintain an asset protection zone — in the full report
Ember-proof your home — in the full report
Storm-proof your home — in the full report

Checking your account…

Stage 4 · Skills & self-relianceFull report

The capabilities that outlast any single event — first aid, growing, mending, knowing your neighbours.

The skills this stage builds

Stage 4 is not purchases — it is capability, the part of readiness no delivery can bring. These are this household's Stage 4 lines:

Build a neighbourhood check-in networkAgree a mutual check-in arrangement with at least two nearby households: who checks on whom in extreme weather, who has a generator, a ute, a spare room or first aid training, and a shared contact list kept on paper as well as on phones.

Learn your home's shut-offs and keep a basic tool kitEvery adult in the household physically locates and operates the water, power and gas mains shut-offs, labels them, and the home keeps a basic tool kit (wrench, torch, gloves, tape) next to them.

Complete an accredited first aid courseAt least one adult in your household completes an accredited first aid course including CPR (HLTAID011 Provide First Aid, or equivalent), and the household notes the renewal dates: first aid every three years, CPR every year.

Learn to preserve food safelyLearn one food-preserving skill properly — dehydrating, pickling, fermenting or bottling high-acid fruit — following official food-safety guidance, with botulism prevention as the non-negotiable core.

Start a kitchen gardenStart a small kitchen garden — one raised bed or a few large pots — planted with three easy leafy greens suited to your climate zone and season, and keep it alive through one full harvest cycle.

Run a household emergency drillOnce a year, run your written plan as a drill: one blackout evening with torches and the kit only, or a timed mock evacuation to your meeting point — then fix the gaps the drill exposed.

COURSES AND STANDARDS NAMED IN EACH STEP ARE THE OFFICIAL ONES — ST JOHN AMBULANCE, AUSTRALIAN RED CROSS, FSANZ — WITH SOURCES ON EVERY STEP ABOVE.

This stage's steps for your household:

Build a neighbourhood check-in network — in the full report
Learn your home's shut-offs and keep a basic tool kit — in the full report
Complete an accredited first aid course — in the full report
Learn to preserve food safely — in the full report
Start a kitchen garden — in the full report
Run a household emergency drill — in the full report

Checking your account…

Shopping list

Everything your action plan asks you to buy, in one place — grouped by store so you can buy it in as few trips as possible. Back to my report

9items

5stores

0 of 9bought

Bunnings · 4 items

Water storage, 10 L

STAGE 1

For: the household water reserve.

Find it at Bunnings ↗affiliate link

Power bank + solar charger + LED lantern

STAGE 1

For: Write the blackout cold-chain plan.

Find it at Bunnings ↗affiliate link

Wind-up radio + torch + power bank

STAGE 3

For: the no-power information plan.

Find it at Bunnings ↗affiliate link

Gutter guard + ember seal

STAGE 3

For: Ember-proof your home.

Find it at Bunnings ↗affiliate link

Woolworths · 2 items

Long-life pantry staples

STAGE 2

For: the two-week pantry reserve.

Find it at Woolworths ↗affiliate link

Hygiene essentials, bulk

STAGE 2

For: the household sanitation reserve.

Find it at Woolworths ↗affiliate link

Chemist Warehouse · 1 item

Household first aid kit

STAGE 1

For: Pack the bag to your household list.

Find it at Chemist Warehouse ↗affiliate link

Officeworks · 1 item

Waterproof document pouch + USB drive

STAGE 4

For: the grab-and-go documents set.

Find it at Officeworks ↗affiliate link

Kmart · 1 item

Emergency go bag backpack

STAGE 1

For: Confirm the weekday lift — the bag lives by the door.

Find it at Kmart ↗affiliate link

Links marked “Find it” are affiliate links: if you buy through one, withHarmora may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Commissions never change which steps we recommend or the order they appear in — that order is set only by your household's risks and gaps. Full disclosure in our terms

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