By December 2023, the Rural Fire Service should: develop a strategy to ensure that local brigade volunteers are adequate in numbers and appropriately trained to operate fleet appliances in the RFS Districts where they are required.

We recommend that DELWP conducts more effective ecosystem resilience monitoring by: - setting a target for regions on the quantity of ecosystem resilience monitoring assessments that they should complete annually - setting an outcomes-level target that defines desirable values for key ecosystem resilience metrics - reporting publicly against all of the metrics in its Measuring Ecosystem Resilience in Strategic Bushfire Management Planning policy in its fuel management reports.

We recommend that CFA (in consultation with FRV) improves its values checks by providing ongoing state-wide support to regional vegetation management officers and leveraging any relevant systems or capabilities from DELWP to conduct values checks through guidance, training and ongoing funding.

We recommend that DELWP improves the effectiveness, consistency and transparency of its environmental and cultural values checks by: - finalising its review of operational values checking processes and committing to an implementation plan - clarifying and formalising principles and procedures, making them publicly available where possible - improving capability and capacity among staff responsible for carrying out values checks, for example through training - developing a long-term program of work and investment to improve the quality, consistency and comprehensiveness of underlying datasets - increasing alignment in regard to values checks between agencies carrying out fuel management.

Relief and recovery capability: The Inspector-General for Emergency Management recommends that Emergency Management Victoria and the entity referred to in Recommendation 13, or otherwise responsible government department develop and resource an ongoing strategy to coordinate spontaneous volunteers that can be activated before, during or after emergencies.

The Committee finds that on the evidence presented, that volunteer firefighters are at risk of being undervalued and underrated and that the Government should use best endeavours to ensure the full acknowledgement and recognition of these services.

That CFA, VICSES and other volunteer-based emergency service organisations develop proposals in support of the strategies for sustainable volunteerism, and that the State Government advocate these initiatives to the Federal Government.