Fires in the open are deliberately started for a range of legitimate reasons: cooking, pest management, camping and fuel reduction burning to name only a few. Unfortunately, open fires are occasionally started with the deliberate intent of causing damage. The lighting of these fires is referred to as arson. Arson is defined as the act of intentionally and maliciously destroying or damaging property through use of fire. The concept of bushfire arson differs from general arson in that it does not require malice or intent. The offence of bushfire arson may be deliberate, but has widened to include those situations where a person is reckless in causing and spreading a fire to vegetation or property belonging to another.

It is difficult to know the exact cost of bushfire arson costs on the Australian community, but arson of all types is estimated to cost the population over $1.5 billion annually. As part of understanding the risk of bushfire arson in Australia, a Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre project is running from 2003 through 2013 by the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) in partnership with the ACT Department of Justice and Community Safety. This project reviews current bushfire arson patterns and Australian and international prevention practices with a view to better understanding and reduce bushfire arson in Australia.

This area of the Knowledge Web provides research on arson patterns, the sociology and psychology driving arson committers, emergency response toward arson, prevention, legislation and future directions.