Record heat and well below average rainfall has primed forested areas of eastern Australia for an early and busier than usual bushfire season, according to fire authorities and researchers.

The Southern Australia Seasonal Bushfire Outlook report, released on Thursday, is aimed at helping agencies to prepare resources for the coming fire season - and this year looks like being an active one.

"The combination of warming and drying has led to extensive and historically unprecedented landscape dryness across much of southern Australia," the report said.

Year-to-date maximum temperatures across Australia are running at a record rate - 1.36 degrees above the 1961-90 average - exacerbating the impact of well-below average rainfall by increasing evaporation.