This dataset is a product of the Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC) Bushfire Data Challenge Project, a partnership between the ARDC and state and federal agencies to collate and create a national dataset depicting historical bushfire boundaries. The specific component of that project aligned to this dataset is 'Work Package 4 - Curating and harmonizing fire history data from state agencies'. Geoscience Australia's role in this project was to collate the data and create the 'Historical Bushfire Boundaries' dataset. More information on this project is available at https://ardc.edu.au/program/bushfire-data-challenges/

The Historical Bushfire Boundaries represents the aggregation of state (except the Northern Territory) supplied burnt areas polygons stemming from the early 1900's through to 2022. The burnt area polygons represent curated polygons of both bushfires and prescribed burns. Each state's data (attributes only) have been modified to align with the nationally approved and agreed data dictionary for fire history.

Fire history data is collected by various agencies within each state. The information provided within this dataset is reflective only of data supplied by participating agencies and may or may not represent all fire history within a state. The Northern Australia Fire Information (NAFI) data has been intentionally omitted from this dataset.