The auditor-general released a detailed report on Friday afternoon, assessing the ACT's preparedness for the ''inevitability'' of bushfires in the future.

Bushfire preparedness has been a hot topic since the devastating Canberra Bushfires in 2003, which wiped out hundreds of homes and killed four people, and sparked criticism and concern over the inaction of authorities.

The firestorm was the catalyst for a raft of reviews, funding boosts, and reforms that have significantly bolstered the ACT's bushfire preparedness.

The auditor-general's report has been welcomed by Emergency Services Minister Simon Corbell, who says it praises the framework the ACT Government has in place to deal with bushfire risk.

But, while commending the ''robust'' governance and planning framework, the auditor-general also identified numerous shortcomings.

The report found that the ACT's small community of rural landholders were unclear on what they were expected to do to prepare for the risk of bushfire, including whether they were responsible for preparing bushfire operational plans.

It found the Emergency Services Agency (ESA) and Territory and Municipal Services (TAMS) had ''limited oversight'' over how the ACT's rural leaseholders handled their bushfire risk, raising fears that strategic areas of the territory may not be managed effectively.

The auditor-general also identified a number of shortcomings in the Rural Fire Service (RFS), including issues with fitness testing.

The RFS is the only volunteer firefighting unit to have minimum fitness requirements for all firefighters.

But the report found that at the start of the last bushfire season in October, only 19 per cent of the 497 members had passed a fitness test.

That prompted a recommendation that firefighters be reminded of the requirement to pass fitness tests before the season, and the RFS was told to ''give priority to meeting that requirement''.

The auditor-general also raised concerns about equipment readiness, including the checking of RFS vehicles.

In 2012-13, no units were checked before the start of the bushfire season, while 50 per cent and 57 per cent of vehicles were checked in 2011-12 and 2010-11 respectively.

Shortcomings were noted in developing competency and training programs, and with working arrangements between various RFS brigades.

The auditor-general found that more testing of the ESA's communications and public alerts systems should be undertaken.

The report made 24 recommendations, all of which have been agreed or partly agreed to by the government.

"The Auditor-General's report will certainly contribute to further strengthening bushfire management and preparedness in the ACT,'' Mr Corbell said.

"The ESA continually strives to strengthen its relationship with the ACT community to promote resilience, understanding and managing the risks associated with living in the bush capital,'' he said.

The opposition, however, has labelled the number of recommendations as ''unprecedented''.

Shadow Emergency Services Minister Brendan Smyth said the report raised questions over whether the ACT Government was capable of protecting Canberrans from bushfire threats.

He accused the government of being unable to deliver improvements since the 2003 bushfires, and criticised the failure to publicly release the findings of a review into the ACT's emergency services.

The auditor-general's report identified several flaws with the ACT's important, overarching five-year Strategic Bushfire Management Plan. That document sets out the whole-of-government plan for the ACT's bushfire preparedness, and is supported by a series of regional fire management plans and bushfire operational plans.

''While these provide a sound basis for bushfire management in the ACT and are an improvement on what was in place prior to the 2003 bushfires, there are shortcomings in the plans and their supporting processes which impair their effectiveness,'' the auditor-general wrote.

It found most of the over-arching plan met legislative requirements, but said some content areas and monitoring of its implementation could be improved.

The report recommended that regional fire management plans should be reviewed more frequently, and should reflect changes in land use, operational considerations, and the latest research and knowledge on bushfire risk.

Concerns were also raised over the ''strategically critical'' TAMS bushfire operations plan.

The auditor-general said the plan could only provide ''limited assurance'' that it managed the overall risk of bushfire in the ACT.