ACT authorities are working to get on top of a "growing backlog" of prescribed burns, following warnings in a confidential report about funding issues and the increased risk of "severe landscape fires" in the Canberra region.

Emergency Services Agency (ESA) commissioner Dominic Lane played down the concerns contained in the ACT Bushfire Council's latest preparedness report, which was handed to Minister Mick Gentleman last November but recently obtained by the ABC.

The council reported that over the past four years only 45 per cent of the area planned for prescribed burning — amounting to 13,009 hectares — had been achieved "due to lack of suitable weather conditions" when it was either too wet, too dry or too hot.

"Council is extremely concerned at this growing backlog," the report stated.

ACT ESA Commissioner Dominic Lane said he was "very satisfied" with the number of burn-offs being completed. ( ABC News: Luke Stephenson )

The Bushfire Council is an advisory body made up of members with diverse skills such as fire sciences, Indigenous land management, fire fighting and community interests.

But Mr Lane said the prescribed burn program was "ambitious" and he was still "very satisfied" with the amount of work done, which took into account last year's unfavourable conditions when just 7 per cent of planned burns were completed.

"I have these open and frank conversations with the council, there's an agreed position, so they've reported against the figures as they stand, I don't argue with those figures," he said.

"But I can assure the community that that isn't placing greater risk on the citizens of Canberra."

The council sounded the alarm about two large burns in particular, both in Namadgi National Park, that have not been undertaken, saying "the fuel loads and fuel hazards would be high enough to sustain eruptive fire behaviour".

'Urgent and critical' funding issue

The Bushfire Council said they have called on the Emergency Services Minister to allow "catch-up" burns three times now. ( ABC News: Susan McDonald )

The Bushfire Council also expressed reservations about budget constraints after the Namadgi burns at Honeysuckle and near the Corin Dam Catchment were removed from the draft Bushfire Operations Plan last year.

But after concerns were raised by the council and the ESA Commissioner, they were added back in and funding was found from elsewhere in the Environment Directorate's budget.

The Bushfire Council's preparedness report identified the "urgent and critical" issue of funding not rolling over to following years.

It called for a "budget mechanism" that allowed for "catch-up" burns in subsequent years and has made this recommendation to the Emergency Services Minister three times now.

"In view of the extreme seriousness of creating large backlogs in prescribed burning with attendant increase in risk of severe landscape fires, we repeat this recommendation this year," the report said.

But Mr Lane stressed that no burn had been stopped from going ahead because of a lack of funding.

A spokesman for Mr Gentleman said the fuel reduction effort in the territory was adequately funded year on year, with over $10 million every year for the past two financial years.

"Additionally, the minister has asked the directorate to consider a means by which for those particularly good years, where the weather is conducive to deliver more fuel reduction activities than is planned or budgeted, that more activities are delivered," he said.

Community 'can't be completely assured' in bush capital

This year 30 of the 48 planned burns have been completed. ( ABC News: Susan McDonald )

Neil Cooper from ACT Parks and Conservation's fire unit said he advocated for the option of dipping into ACT budget reserves.

"What we're looking at now … is to have the ability to draw down on external treasurer's funds if it's a really good year for burning," he said.

Mr Cooper said this year's burns program had not been a bad year, with 30 of the 48 planned burns completed, and attempts would be made heading into winter to conduct the two Namadgi burns prioritised by the Bushfire Council.

Mr Cooper wants to ability to dip into budget reserves to complete burn-offs. ( ABC News: Greg Nelson )

"We're all trying to work out what would be a really good solution to achieve the overall burning, but just remember burning is only one part of what we do. There's a whole range of other things we do," Mr Cooper said.

Those measures include strategic grazing, slashing in urban areas, physical removal of fuels and fire trail maintenance.

New research for ACT Parks by Trent Penman, an associate professor from University of Melbourne, assessed the cost-benefit of different techniques and found the "suppression response" could have a very strong affect.

"This might be placing resources out in the bushland areas where they can respond quickly to ignitions on certain days, it might be putting up fire towers to detect fires soon after they start so the response can be quicker, it may be investing in other machinery that can perhaps respond faster," he said.

Dr Penman also emphasised the benefit of access roads and fire trails.

"If we have these roads that are maintained we can have our fire suppression resources get to those ignitions quite quickly," he said.

Mr Lane said his biggest concern about bushfire preparedness in the ACT was community complacency, 15 years on from the 2003 firestorm.