The Inspector-General Emergency Management recommends the Queensland State Disaster Management Plan and the Queensland Bushfire Plan be reviewed to enhance appropriate arrangements for the management of bushfire and disaster events where a threat is posed to significant environmental and cultural

The Inspector-General Emergency Management recommends the Department of Environment and Science undertake a review of campfire locations on K’gari, including all relevant signage on and off the island, maps and visitor permit information, to promote a consistent message about lighting campfires o

The Inspector-General Emergency Management recommends entities with responsibilities for land and fire management consider the establishment of roles for Traditional Owner and First Nations representatives in incident management structures for significant bushfire or disaster events including tho

The Inspector-General Emergency Management recommends the prescribed burn program for K’gari be developed by the Department of Environment and Science, in collaboration with the Locality Specific Fire Management Group and the Butchulla people, based on the principles of the National Position on P

The Inspector-General Emergency Management recommends Queensland Fire and Emergency Services facilitate an annual state level exercise of the Queensland Bushfire Plan that includes all relevant stakeholders and land managers.

The Inspector-General Emergency Management recommends the Department of Environment and Science implements the proposed treatments for fire identified in the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service K’gari Compliance Strategy.

The Inspector-General Emergency Management recommends the Department of Environment and Science review the format and delivery of Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service annual fire refresher training to include a scenario-based exercise.

The Inspector-General Emergency Management recommends Queensland Fire and Emergency Services regularly review and evaluate the effectiveness of the Queensland Bushfire Plan with land managers and stakeholders, including disaster management groups.

The Inspector-General Emergency Management recommends the Interagency Protocol for Fire Management be reviewed by all relevant entities, including representatives of the Butchulla people, and be updated as a matter of priority.

The Inspector-General Emergency Management recommends all Area Fire Management Groups in Queensland make their Bushfire Risk Mitigation Plans, bushfire risk mapping and methodology easily understood and available to the community.

The Inspector-General Emergency Management recommends the next review of the Queensland State Disaster Management Plan examines and provides guidance in respect to the application of Queensland’s disaster management arrangements to support hazard specific events such as bushfire.

The Inspector-General Emergency Management recommends the Maryborough District Disaster Management Group works with the Fraser Coast Local Disaster Management Group to plan for the evacuation of K’gari due to bushfire. Once developed, the plan should be exercised and regularly reviewed.

The Inspector-General Emergency Management recommends the Department of Environment and Science review its training framework and minimum mandatory training requirements for Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service Incident Controllers to ensure they are appropriately trained to manage significant e

The Inspector-General Emergency Management recommends the Bushfire Risk Mitigation Plan for Fraser Coast Area Fire Management Group include a schedule of planned engagement activities, or a community engagement sub-plan outlining these activities, and be publicly available.

The Inspector-General Emergency Management recommends Queensland Fire and Emergency Services and the Department of Environment and Science monitor the progress of relevant improvement activities resulting from the K’gari (Fraser Island) Bushfire Review, through their respective lessons management

The Inspector-General Emergency Management recommends Queensland Fire and Emergency Services identifies stakeholders that would benefit from predictive service products. Suitable advice and training should be provided to these stakeholders to assist with using and interpreting the products.

The Inspector-General Emergency Management recommends Department of Environment and Science implement an awareness and engagement strategy aimed at deterring the lighting of campfires to encourage behavioural change amongst visitors.

The Inspector-General Emergency Management recommends should a Queensland Government Action Plan be considered, clarity about the intent of the recommendations be sought from the Inspector-General Emergency Management to assist in informing this process.

The Inspector-General Emergency Management recommends Queensland Fire and Emergency Services examines the use of predictive service capability to inform prevention and preparedness in addition to response activities.

The Inspector-General Emergency Management recommends the Department of Environment and Science examines the utilisation of technology, in consultation with relevant stakeholders, to improve the collection of visitor numbers and movement data.

The Inspector-General Emergency Management recommends this report be returned to the IGEM to monitor, evaluate and report on progress and implementation of the recommendations that are accepted in whole or in part by government.

The Inspector-General Emergency Management recommends a public information resource be developed by Queensland Fire and Emergency Services to inform the community and stakeholders about aerial assets utilised in bushfire response.

The Inspector-General Emergency Management recommends the Department of Environment and Science establish pre-determined financial delegations and authority for Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service Incident Controllers.

The Inspector-General Emergency Management recommends the Locality Specific Fire Management Group for K’gari meet at least twice per year, in person or virtually.

The Inspector-General Emergency Management recommends the Maryborough District Disaster Management Group works with the Fraser Coast Local Disaster Management Group to prepare and exercise a communications sub-plan with all responsible agencies, to clarify the roles, responsibilities and communic

The Inspector-General Emergency Management recommends the Department of Environment and Science identify opportunities to increase Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service’s capability in incident management and multi-agency fire response, through exercising plans and procedures in collaboration wit

The Inspector-General Emergency Management recommends Queensland Fire and Emergency Services engages with land managers and other stakeholders on K’gari to source data to inform Predictive Services products.

The Inspector-General Emergency Management recommends a collaborative review of firelines, tracks and trails on K’gari be undertaken by the Department of Environment and Science, in collaboration with the Locality Specific Area Fire Management Group and the Butchulla people, to ensure an adequate

The Inspector-General Emergency Management recommends the Department of Environment and Science review the resourcing model to ensure surge capacity is available to support incident management functions during response operations.

The Inspector-General Emergency Management recommends the membership of the K’gari Locality Specific Fire Management Group be expanded to include representatives of the Butchulla people, community associations from each township and tourism and business operators with interests on the island.

The Inspector-General Emergency Management recommends Queensland Fire and Emergency Services consider expanding specialist Remote Area Firefighting Team capability to assist in responding to significant bushfire events which occur in rugged or inaccessible terrain.

The Inspector-General Emergency Management recommends the Department of Environment and Science ensure that all Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service regions develop a Disaster Management Operations Plan based on a standardised format.

The Inspector-General Emergency Management recommends the Department of Environment and Science develop and implement a Wildfire Response Plan for Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service Coastal and Islands Region, to be included in the region’s Disaster Management Operations Plan.

The Inspector-General Emergency Management recommends the arrangements and requirements for situational reporting when an incident is under the control of the Department of Environment and Science be detailed in the Queensland Bushfire Plan.

The Inspector-General Emergency Management recommends a set of guiding principles that reflect a unified response to World Heritage listed sites in Queensland be included in the Queensland State Disaster Management Plan and reflected in the Queensland Bushfire Plan.

We recommend that DELWP enhances bushfire modelling by: - exploring multiple bushfire modelling tools to lower the uncertainty and limitations associated with using a single modelling tool - applying more detailed fire-severity data - validating and updating fuel accumulation curves - establishin

We recommend that DELWP in partnership with Parks Victoria, Country Fire Authority, Fire Rescue Victoria and councils as appropriate, collect empirical evidence after bushfire events to assess the effectiveness of different fuel management treatments, including planned burning, mulching, slashing

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, ma

We recommend that DEWLP and CFA (in consultation with FRV) in partnership with councils, provide advice to government in line with the Safer Together: A new approach to reducing the risk of bushfire in Victoria policy on options to better resource the assessment of risk on private land, its treat

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 develops more holistic bushfire-management planning that focuses on the best mix of risk treatments rather than planned burning alone.

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 r

We recommend that DELWP determines which elements of different regional planning approaches are the most effective and implements these across the state.

We recommend that DELWP in partnership with Country Fire Authority and Fire Rescue Victoria develops, implements and publicly reports on a holistic suite of performance metrics to demonstrate: - the impact that planned burning has on public and private land on bushfire risk - the impact that plan

We recommend that CFA (in consultation with FRV) improves planning on private land to ensure risk assessments and plans are conducted consistently across public and private land to address state-wide bushfire risk based on where and how they can most effectively reduce risk.

We recommend that DEWLP and CFA (in consultation with FRV) systemically documents and publicly reports reasons why it does not complete planned burns.

We recommend that DELWP provides advice to government, in consultation with Country Fire Authority, Fire Rescue Victoria and councils, on options to improve owner and occupier awareness of and accountability for bushfire management overlay planning controls (see Section 4.3).

We recommend that DELWP reviews its target for the number of fuel hazard assessments conducted and ensures that this measure is evidence based, accurately reflects regional performance, and that the department monitors and reports on each region’s performance against it.

We recommend that DEWLP and CFA (in consultation with FRV) develops financial reporting to monitor fuel management costs and estimate future costs.

We recommend that DELWP investigates incentives and advises government on options to accelerate burying and insulating the remaining high-voltage bare-wire powerlines in the 33 highest risk areas.

We recommend that DELWP improves the Powerline Bushfire Safety Program's transparency by publicly reporting on activities, costs and risk-reduction outcomes.

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.

Relief governance: The Inspector-General for Emergency Management recommends that the Emergency Management Commissioner strengthen the State Emergency Management Plan and supporting operational arrangements in accordance with his legislative obligations to ensure the roles and responsibilities of

Relief governance: The Inspector General for Emergency Management recommends that Emergency Management Victoria lead the development of relief arrangements to achieve greater clarity of roles, reporting and accountability in relief across state, regional and incident tiers.

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:

Recovery governance: The Inspector-General for Emergency Management recommends that the Victorian Government establish a permanent and comprehensive entity dedicated to recovery management with the authority, capability, capacity and resourcing to coordinate the planning and delivery of recovery

Foundations of emergency management: The Inspector-General for Emergency Management recommends that Emergency Management Victoria and the entity referred to in Recommendation 13, or otherwise responsible government department – in consultation with the emergency management sector – establish poli

Relief and recovery capability: The Inspector-General for Emergency Management recommends that the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions works with the entity referred to in Recommendation 13, or otherwise responsible government department and/or Municipal Association of Victoria, councils an

Relief and recovery funding: The Inspector-General for Emergency Management recommends that the entity referred to in Recommendation 13, or otherwise responsible government department, works with the emergency management sector to develop a recovery funding model that enables: 

Relief and recovery funding: The Inspector-General for Emergency Management recommends that the entity referred to in Recommendation 13, or otherwise responsible government department, leads the development of a comprehensive, person-centred, trauma-informed recovery financial assistance system t

Donated good: The Inspector-General for Emergency Management recommends that Emergency Management Victoria and the entity referred to in Recommendation 13, or otherwise responsible government department:

Public communications: The Inspector-General for Emergency Management recommends that Emergency Management Victoria and the entity referred to in Recommendation 13, or otherwise responsible government department, coordinate ongoing education campaigns to increase public awareness of community rol

Humanitarian relief: The Inspector-General for Emergency Management recommends that the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions work with the Municipal Association of Victoria and councils to build contingencies into emergency relief centre planning to ensure places of shelter are inclusive, re

Recovery governance: The Inspector-General for Emergency Management recommends that the entity referred to in Recommendation 13, or otherwise responsible government department, work with councils, relevant recovery organisations and communities to develop clear roles and responsibilities for:&nbs

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 volunteer

Public communications: The Inspector-General for Emergency Management recommends that Emergency Management Victoria and / or the entity referred to in Recommendation 13, or otherwise responsible government department, work with councils and government to refine an operational relief and recovery

The Inspector-General for Emergency Management recommends that the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (or the single entity referenced in Recommendation 4) – in collaboration with the Country Fire Authority and local government – undertake a review of the current residual risk ta

The Inspector-General for Emergency Management recommends that the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (or the single entity referenced in Recommendation 4) – supported by other organisations with a legislated responsibility for fuel management – plan for and increase the applicat

The Inspector-General for Emergency Management recommends that Emergency Management Victoria – in consultation with relevant agencies – develop a system to manage personnel and asset deployments to all tiers of incident management to meet the needs of the emergency and support the health and well

The Inspector-General for Emergency Management recommends that Emergency Management Victoria – in collaboration with the emergency management sector and as part of the emergency management planning reforms:

The Inspector-General for Emergency Management recommends that Emergency Management Victoria – in partnership with agencies engaged in state, regional and incident control centres:

The Inspector-General for Emergency Management recommends that the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (or the single entity referenced in Recommendation 4) – with support from all legislated fuel management organisations for public and private land – lead a community engagement p

The Inspector-General for Emergency Management recommends that Emergency Management Victoria – in collaboration with the emergency management sector – develops and implements processes to ensure greater dissemination and improved understanding of information for all Victorians, and visitors to Vi

The Inspector-General for Emergency Management recommends that Victoria Police – in collaboration with the community and the emergency management sector – reflect on events of the 2019–20 fire season to review and enhance evacuation plans and processes with consideration of:

The Inspector-General for Emergency Management recommends that the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (or the single entity referenced in Recommendation 4) – in conjunction with legislated fuel management organisations – develop a common set of objectives, metrics and reporting r

The Inspector-General for Emergency Management recommends that in conjunction with Inquiry Recommendation 2, the State establish or assign responsibility to a single body or entity to lead and coordinate the implementation of evidence-based fuel management policy, practice and assurance and repor

The Inspector-General for Emergency Management recommends that Emergency Management Victoria – in accepting that emergency management is a ‘shared responsibility’ - collaborate with the emergency management sector and community to:

The Inspector-General for Emergency Management recommends that Emergency Management Victoria collaborate with the emergency management sector to develop a capacity model that considers current and future:
a) career and volunteer emergency management personnel requirements

The Inspector-General for Emergency Management recommends that Emergency Management Victoria works with the emergency management sector and relevant emergency management entities in New South Wales and South Australia to identify and address key cross border operational and resource management is

The Inspector-General for Emergency Management recommends that the State support the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (or the single entity referenced in Recommendation 4) and its partners to expand the Safer Together program to:

The Inspector-General for Emergency Management recommends that the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (or the single entity referenced in Recommendation 4) lead the development and distribution of evidence-based land and fuel management tools for use by all legislated fuel manage

The Inspector-General for Emergency Management recommends that the State review (and where necessary amend) legislation including but not limited to the Country Fire Authority Act 1958, Forest Act 1958 and Local Government Act 2020 to:

The Inspector-General for Emergency Management recommends that responder agencies and Emergency Management Victoria review preparedness arrangements to ensure procedural documentation (including plans), recruitment, briefings and training are completed before significant seasonal events are likel

Australian, state and territory governments should continue to explore the feasibility of a national, all-hazard emergency warning app. 

State and territory governments should ensure that those responsible for evacuation planning periodically review those plans, and update them where appropriate, including in relation to:

The Australian Government should consider whether employment protections under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) are sufficient to ensure that fire and emergency services volunteers will not be discriminated against, disadvantaged or dismissed for reasons associated with their volunteer service during

Australian, state and territory governments should develop consistent processes for the classification, recording and sharing of fuel load data. 

Australian, state and territory governments should:
(1) develop close to real-time, nationally consistent air quality information, including consistent categorisation and public health advice
(2) greater community education and guidance, and

Australian, state and territory governments should support the implementation of the National Disaster Risk Information Services Capability and aligned climate adaptation initiatives. 

Australian, state and territory governments should conduct multi-agency, national-level exercises, not limited to cross-border jurisdictions. These exercises should, at a minimum:

State and territory governments should ensure that those responsible for evacuation planning periodically review those plans, and update them where appropriate, including in relation to:

State and territory governments should:
(1) each have a process or mechanism in place to communicate natural hazard risk information to households (including prospective purchasers) in ‘hazard prone’ areas, and

The National Disaster Risk Information Services Capability should include tools and systems to support operational and strategic decision making, including integrated climate and disaster risk scenarios tailored to various needs of relevant industry sectors and end users. 

Australian, state and territory governments should work together to develop a program for national level recovery exercises, building on the work currently underway through the Community Outcomes and Recovery Subcommittee of the Australia-New Zealand Emergency Management Committee. 

State and territory governments should, as a priority, adopt nationally consistent terminology and functions for the different sheltering facilities, including evacuation centres, Neighbourhood Safer Places, places of last resort and natural disaster shelters. 

Australian, state and territory governments should establish a national mechanism for sharing of trained and qualified recovery personnel and best practice during and following natural disasters. 

State and territory governments should have a structured process to regularly assess the capacity and capability requirements of fire and emergency services, in light of both current and future natural disaster risk. 

State and territory governments should provide further community education on the function and limitations of different sheltering facilities, including evacuation centres, Neighbourhood Safer Places, places of last resort and natural disaster shelters.

Australian, state and territory governments, in consultation with local governments and the private sector, should review supply chain risks, and consider options to ensure supply of essential goods in times of natural disasters. 

Australian, state and territory governments should produce downscaled climate
projections: