The Victorian Government to work with the Commonwealth Government and telecommunications carriers to ensure that there are appropriate arrangements, via existing services or alternatives, for communities to stay connected for 72 hours without network power supply.

The Victorian Government advocates for stronger telecommunications service reliability outcomes from the Australian Government, and associated telecommunications reviews.

Distribution businesses annually attest to the Minister for Energy and Resources. The attestation should include specific reference to, but not limited to: Review of emergency management practices including but not limited to review of risks and risk controls and testing of revised controls following all major events and exercises.

That the Victorian Government ensure that the state’s existing culvert infrastructure in high-risk flood areas is fit for purpose, and that the Government also consult with local councils and other relevant stakeholders and prioritise betterment in any upgrade works deemed necessary.

That the Victorian Government further investigate options for increasing outlet capacity at Lake Eppalock. This investigation should involve:
- conducting a cost-benefit analysis to evaluate financial feasibility
- extensive stakeholder engagement to gather input from affected parties and communities
- examination of environmental effects
- environmental risk assessments to understand potential impacts on local ecosystems, wildlife and water quality
- reviewing water-sharing arrangements to ensure: –appropriate adjustments to maintain equitable water distribution and –compliance with legal and regulatory requirements.

That the Victorian Government ensure that incident control centres include a mechanism for local expertise to be included in their operations and help inform processes to assist managing localised warnings and response.

That the efficacy and impact of the Flemington Racecourse flood wall be considered as part of Melbourne Water’s review of mitigation in the Maribyrnong River catchment announced following the updated flood modelling.

That the Victorian Government ensure that major flood mitigation measures be assessed and reviewed to ensure they perform as intended.

That the Victorian Government fund the pilot of a ring levee development program in Northern Victoria to protect house and curtilage in flood-prone areas.

That the Victorian Government develop community-based initiatives and resource-sharing mechanisms, fostering resilience and solidarity among towns facing challenges from environmental disasters. These should ensure timely and effective responses to future crises, leveraging collective strength and kindness to aid in the recovery process.

Melbourne Water should investigate the feasibility of installing one way valves on the outlets from the street and yard drainage from Evergreen Avenue (Rivervue Retirement Village).

Melbourne Water should investigate long term sustainable flood mitigation options for the Maribyrnong River.

We recommend that DELWP increases its collaboration with Victorian Traditional Owner groups to facilitate the reintroduction of cultural burning and ensure effective support for these practices across all of its regions.

Supporting local recovery: The Inspector-General for Emergency Management recommends that the entity referred to in Recommendation 13, or otherwise responsible government department work with councils and communities before, during and after emergencies to strengthen:
(a) a common understanding of community-led recovery
(b) the role of communities in recovery planning
(c) the support, training and resources required to enable community-led recovery.

Public authorities such as councils and CMAs should continue to seek local knowledge in relation to flood management issues. In particular, councils will collaborate with VICSES and other key stakeholders in reviewing the system of flood wardens. Roles and responsibilities of flood wardens, and the process for their recruitment, should be formalised and clearly articulated in relevant flood management plans.

A revised Victoria Flood Management Strategy should identify and assign roles and responsibilities for the management and ongoing maintenance of Victoria’s waterways, for the purposes of flood protection and flood mitigation:
• CMAs are confirmed as the responsible authority for the management and ongoing maintenance of waterways, including vegetation management, for the purposes of flood protection; and
• CMAs will negotiate with landholders, councils and other authorities, and conduct agreed flood mitigation works on the basis of beneficiary pays.

The state government establish a well coordinated and formalised system for the reading of river gauges by local people, including flood wardens. Furthermore, the knowledge of local people in predicting flood heights and impacts should be considered by emergency management agencies when predicting floods.

Local knowledge on the management and ongoing maintenance of waterways, including vegetation clearing and debris removal, needs to be incorporated in the development of regional flood mitigation strategies and local flood plans. Specifically:
• the process of flood risk assessment must include community consultation, and these views will inform development of both floodplain management studies, and floodplain implementation plans;
• in the absence of a formal planning process, councils and authorities undertaking significant ad hoc works on waterways for flood mitigation and protection must involve the local community; and
• the revised Victoria Flood Management Strategy and Victorian River Health Strategy will clearly articulate this process.

Fire services can improve outcomes by initiating discussions with landfill operators about fire management planning and emphasising the critical importance of water supplies and early intervention

Regulators can help to achieve improved outcomes by considering the issues identified by this review

the state comprehensively pursue the objective of achieving (where possible) the priority outcomes of the National Strategy for Disaster Resilience and the imperative of shared responsibility, in particular by: • requiring that local knowledge is considered as a critical component of all phases of emergency management • involving local communities in the development and ownership of community resilience plans based on an ‘all hazards’ approach and tailored for the specific needs of each community • encouraging local communities to form resilience committees to develop and administer community resilience plans • nominating Victoria Police as the lead agency in initiating the strategy to develop community resilience committees; and • requiring emergency service agencies to consult and engage with local community resilience committees in the preparation, planning, response and recovery phases of emergency management.

the state take the necessary measures to require that local knowledge is considered in flood risk planning, including verification of flood maps and flood response plans.

Ensure that local knowledge, local flavour and local language is used where possible in the development of all community bushfire warnings.

Encourage ICCs to use local knowledge to review templates prior to release.

That CFA, DSE and MFESB continue to develop the partnership approach for fire safety with Local Government, industry and communities. 

That DSE, with adequate resourcing, moves to a 12-month cycle of fire management to establish and maintain a more appropriate and balanced work program of prevention/mitigation and suppression.

That DSE and CFA as part of their long term planning, and in conjunction with the Commonwealth Bureau of Meteorology, consider ways in which evidence for climate change and El Niño–Southern Oscillation cycle impacts on the likelihood of unplanned fire, can be better incorporated into preparedness and response planning.

That DSE undertake community consultation on policies relating to roads and access tracks on public land, particularly in respect to fire management.

That communities, public land managers, Water Authorities and Catchment Management Authorities jointly identify and implement local and environmentally sound solutions to improve the availability of water for firefighting through the Municipal Fire Management Planning process.