An Australian journal of fire and steel
Fire, steel and the Australian backyard
Barbecue GrillsIndependent long-form writing for Australian backyards, balconies and campgrounds.
The yard
Built-in benches, balcony rules and the difference between a pretty outdoor kitchen and one you can still clean in February.
An outdoor kitchen is a wet-area renovation that happens to hold fire. Australian projects fail on drainage, gas certification, rangehoods that do nothing in a breeze, and strata by-laws written by people who have never cooked a snag on level twelve. This hub is for the yard and the balcony.
Read planning an Australian outdoor kitchen and balcony and apartment barbecue rules before you pour concrete.
Strata by-laws, smoke and fire bans decide what you can cook on an Australian balcony. The rules are local, and a neighbour’s Weber Q is not a permit.
Tom Bellear · 28 May 2026
Drainage, gas certification, benches, shade and coastal rust decide whether a backyard kitchen still works in February, not the colour of the splashback.
Callum Hartley · 20 May 2026