Concrete-filled steel tubular columns (CFST) made with high-strength concrete (HSC) are beneficial for high-rise buildings as such columns with HSC can carry significantly higher load compared to conventional CFST columns made with normal strength concrete, thereby maximising the utilisation of valuable space. However, fire spalling of HSC is a critical issue in case of fire events which can be disastrous if suitable measures are not taken to protect such columns from fire. Fire protection coatings such as spray-applied fire resistive materials (SFRM) can be applied to improve fire performance of CFST columns. In this regard, fire tests were conducted under the supervision of Dr Utsab Katwal, Prof Zhong Tao, and Mr Edward Huang, to investigate the effectiveness of novel SFRM developed by Prof Tao’s research team at Western Sydney University in collaboration with an industry partner. It was found that the unprotected CFST columns with nominal concrete strength of 100 MPa failed with a spalling explosion within 30 min, whereas the counterpart columns protected by SFRM resisted fire for more than three hours. This demonstrates that the novel SFRM developed by Prof Tao’s research team can be utilised to increase the fire performance of CFST columns. The research supports future commercialisation activities of the SFRM.