INQ181
Recommendations for this Inquiry
INQ-ref | REC-UID | CODE | SubCode | SrcNUM | Recommendation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
INQ181 | REC181-0152 | A - Responsibility | 9 - Community education | Recommendation 2 | The State revise the approach to community bushfire safety education in order to: ■ ensure that its publications and educational materials reflect the revised bushfire safety policy; ■ equip all fire agency personnel with the information needed to effectively communicate the policy to the public |
INQ181 | REC181-0201 | A - Responsibility | 9 - Community education | Recommendation 51 | The Victorian Building Commission, in conjunction with the Country Fire Authority, develop, publish and provide to the community and industry information about ways in which existing buildings in bushfire-prone areas can be modified to incorporate bushfire safety measures. |
INQ181 | REC181-0156 | A - Responsibility | 9 - Community education | Recommendation 6 | Victoria lead an initiative of the Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs to ensure that the national curriculum incorporates the history of bushfire in Australia and that existing curriculum areas such as geography, science and environmental studies incl |
INQ181 | REC181-0157 | A - Responsibility | 9 - Community education | Recommendation 7 | The Commonwealth lead an initiative through the Ministerial Council for Police and Emergency Management, facilitated by Emergency Management Australia, to develop a national bushfire awareness campaign. |
INQ181 | REC181-0194 | A - Responsibility | 9 - Community education | Recommendation 44 | The Country Fire Authority produce for community guidance material on fire-resistant landscape and garden design, including a list of fire-resistant species. |
INQ181 | REC181-0186 | A - Responsibility | 21 - Role of Commonwealth Government | Recommendation 36 | The Commonwealth, states and territories continue to pursue the National Action Plan to Reduce Bushfire Arson in Australia, giving priority to producing a nationally consistent framework for data collection and evaluating current and proposed programs in order to identify and share best-practice |
INQ181 | REC181-0195 | A - Responsibility | 22 - Role of local Gvt | Recommendation 45 | The State press municipal councils—in particular, Murrindindi Shire Council—to urgently adopt a bushfire policy in their Local Planning Policy Framework and incorporate bushfire risk management in their planning policies and strategies for rebuilding communities such as Marysville, Kinglake and o |
INQ181 | REC181-0181 | A - Responsibility | 22 - Role of local Gvt | Recommendation 31 | Municipal councils include in their municipal fire prevention plans for areas of high bushfire risk provision for the identification of hazard trees and for notifying the responsible entities with a view to having the situation redressed. |
INQ181 | REC181-0153 | A - Responsibility | 22 - Role of local Gvt | Recommendation 3 | The State establish mechanisms for helping municipal councils to undertake local planning that tailors bushfire safety options to the needs of individual communities. |
INQ181 | REC181-0202 | A - Responsibility | 22 - Role of local Gvt | Recommendation 52 | The State develop and implement, in consultation with local government, a mechanism for sign-off by municipal councils of any permit conditions imposed under the Bushfire-prone Overlay and the regular assessment of landowners’ compliance with conditions. |
INQ181 | REC181-0216 | A - Responsibility | 25 - Inquiry, audit, lessons management and after action review | Recommendation 66 | The State appoint an independent monitor or the Victorian Auditor-General to assess progress with implementing the Commission’s recommendations and report to the Parliament and the people of Victoria by 31 July 2012. |
INQ181 | REC181-0217 | A - Responsibility | 25 - Inquiry, audit, lessons management and after action review | Recommendation 67 | The State consider the development of legislation for the conduct of inquiries in Victoria —in particular, the conduct of royal commissions. |
INQ181 | REC181-0196 | B - Preparedness | 1 - Land-use and building regs | Recommendation 46 | The State develop and implement a retreat and resettlement strategy for existing developments in areas of unacceptably high bushfire risk, including a scheme for non-compulsory acquisition by the State of land in these areas. |
INQ181 | REC181-0197 | B - Preparedness | 1 - Land-use and building regs | Recommendation 47 | Standards Australia do the following: ■ amend the objective of AS 3959-2009, Construction of Buildings in Bushfire-prone Areas, to ensure that it incorporates reducing the risk of ignition from ember attack; ■ review, and amend as appropriate, the testing methods prescribed in its standards for T |
INQ181 | REC181-0198 | B - Preparedness | 1 - Land-use and building regs | Recommendation 48 | The Australian Building Codes Board do the following: ■ amend the performance requirements in the Building Code of Australia to ensure that they incorporate reducing the risk of ignition from ember attack; ■ work with Standards Australia to effect expeditious continuing review and development of |
INQ181 | REC181-0199 | B - Preparedness | 1 - Land-use and building regs | Recommendation 49 | The State modify its adoption of the Building Code of Australia for the following purposes: ■ to remove deemed-to-satisfy provisions for the construction of buildings in BAL-FZ (the Flame Zone); ■ to apply bushfire construction provisions to non-residential buildings that will be occupied by peop |
INQ181 | REC181-0200 | B - Preparedness | 1 - Land-use and building regs | Recommendation 50 | Standards Australia move expeditiously to develop a standard for bushfire sprinklers and sprayers. |
INQ181 | REC181-0203 | B - Preparedness | 1 - Land-use and building regs | Recommendation 53 | The State amend s. |
INQ181 | REC181-0188 | B - Preparedness | 1 - Land-use and building regs | Recommendation 38 | The State implement a regional settlement policy that: ■ takes account of the management of bushfire risk, including that associated with small, undeveloped rural lots; ■ includes a process for responding to bushfire risk at the planning stage for new urban developments in regional cities, the pr |
INQ181 | REC181-0189 | B - Preparedness | 1 - Land-use and building regs | Recommendation 39 | The State amend the Victoria Planning Provisions relating to bushfire to ensure that the provisions give priority to the protection of human life, adopt a clear objective of substantially restricting development in the areas of highest bushfire risk—giving due consideration to biodiversity conser |
INQ181 | REC181-0205 | B - Preparedness | 1 - Land-use and building regs | Recommendation 55 | The State initiate the development of education and training options to improve understanding of bushfire risk management in the building and planning regimes by: ■ providing regular training and guidance material to planning and building practitioners; ■ providing regular training and guidance m |
INQ181 | REC181-0190 | B - Preparedness | 1 - Land-use and building regs | Recommendation 40 | The Country Fire Authority amend its guidelines for assessing permit applications for dwellings, nondwellings and subdivisions in the Bushfire-prone Overlay in order to accommodate the amendments to the Wildfire Management Overlay that are implemented as a result of recommendation 39 and make the |
INQ181 | REC181-0191 | B - Preparedness | 1 - Land-use and building regs | Recommendation 41 | The State: ■ amend the Victoria Planning Provisions to require that, when assessing a permit to remove native vegetation around an existing dwelling, the responsible authority and the Department of Sustainability and Environment, as referral authority, take into account fire hazard and give weigh |
INQ181 | REC181-0211 | B - Preparedness | 4 - Fire season preparation | Recommendation 61 | The State and Commonwealth provide for municipal councils adequate guidance on resolving the competing tensions arising from the legislation affecting roadside clearing and, where necessary, amend environment protection legislation to facilitate annual bushfire-prevention activities by the approp |
INQ181 | REC181-0212 | B - Preparedness | 4 - Fire season preparation | Recommendation 62 | VicRoads implement a systematic statewide program of bushfire risk assessment for all roads for which it is responsible, to ensure conformity with the obligations in s. 43 of the Country Fire Authority Act 1958 and with the objectives expressed in the VicRoads 1985 Code of Practice. |
INQ181 | REC181-0192 | B - Preparedness | 4 - Fire season preparation | Recommendation 42 | The Department of Sustainability and Environment develop and administer a collective offset solution for individual landholders who are permitted to remove native vegetation for the purpose of fire protection. |
INQ181 | REC181-0210 | B - Preparedness | 4 - Fire season preparation | Recommendation 60 | The State amend the exemptions in clause 52.17-6 of the Victoria Planning Provisions to ensure that the provisions allow for a broad range of roadside works capable of reducing fire risk and provide specifically for a new exemption where the purpose of the works is to reduce bushfire risk. |
INQ181 | REC181-0206 | B - Preparedness | 5 - Hazard reduction burns | Recommendation 56 | The State fund and commit to implementing a long-term program of prescribed burning based on an annual rolling target of 5 per cent minimum of public land. |
INQ181 | REC181-0207 | B - Preparedness | 5 - Hazard reduction burns | Recommendation 57 | The Department of Sustainability and Environment report annually on prescribed burning outcomes in a manner that meets public accountability objectives, including publishing details of targets, area burnt, funds expended on the program, and impacts on biodiversity. |
INQ181 | REC181-0179 | B - Preparedness | 10 - Infrastructure | Recommendation 29 | The State (through Energy Safe Victoria) require distribution businesses to review and modify their current practices, standards and procedures for the training and auditing of asset inspectors to ensure that registered training organisations provide adequate theoretical and practical training fo |
INQ181 | REC181-0180 | B - Preparedness | 10 - Infrastructure | Recommendation 30 | The State amend the regulatory framework for electricity safety to require that distribution businesses adopt, as part of their management plans, measures to reduce the risks posed by hazard trees—that is, trees that are outside the clearance zone but that could come into contact with an electric |
INQ181 | REC181-0182 | B - Preparedness | 10 - Infrastructure | Recommendation 32 | The State (through Energy Safe Victoria) require distribution businesses to do the following: ■ disable the reclose function on the automatic circuit reclosers on all SWER lines for the six weeks of greatest risk in every fire season; ■ adjust the reclose function on the automatic circuit reclose |
INQ181 | REC181-0183 | B - Preparedness | 10 - Infrastructure | Recommendation 33 | The State (through Energy Safe Victoria) require distribution businesses to do the following: ■ fit spreaders to any lines with a history of clashing or the potential to do so; ■ fit or retrofit all spans that are more than 300 metres long with vibration dampers as soon as is reasonably practicab |
INQ181 | REC181-0184 | B - Preparedness | 10 - Infrastructure | Recommendation 34 | The State amend the regulatory framework for electricity safety to strengthen Energy Safe Victoria’s mandate in relation to the prevention and mitigation of electricity-caused bushfires and to require it to fulfil that mandate. |
INQ181 | REC181-0177 | B - Preparedness | 10 - Infrastructure | Recommendation 27 | The State amend the Regulations under Victoria’s Electricity Safety Act 1998 and otherwise take such steps as may be required to give effect to the following: ■ the progressive replacement of all SWER (single-wire earth return) power lines in Victoria with aerial bundled cable, underground cablin |
INQ181 | REC181-0178 | B - Preparedness | 10 - Infrastructure | Recommendation 28 | The State (through Energy Safe Victoria) require distribution businesses to change their asset inspection standards and procedures to require that all SWER lines and all 22-kilovolt feeders in areas of high bushfire risk are inspected at least every three years. |
INQ181 | REC181-0204 | C - Response | 2 - Emergency powers | Recommendation 54 | The State amend the Country Fire Authority Act 1958 to enable the Chief Officer to delegate the power to issue fire prevention notices. |
INQ181 | REC181-0173 | C - Response | 7 - Inter-agency communication | Recommendation 23 | The Country Fire Authority review and improve its communications strategy as a matter of priority and develop a program for identifying and responding to black spots in radio coverage. |
INQ181 | REC181-0151 | C - Response | 11 - Evacuation and shelters | Recommendation 1 | The State revise its bushfire safety policy. While adopting the national Prepare. Act. Survive. |
INQ181 | REC181-0154 | C - Response | 11 - Evacuation and shelters | Recommendation 4 | The State introduce a comprehensive approach to shelter options that includes the following: ■ developing standards for community refuges as a matter of priority and replacing the 2005 Fire Refuges in Victoria: Policy and Practice; ■ designating community refuges—particularly in areas of very hig |
INQ181 | REC181-0155 | C - Response | 11 - Evacuation and shelters | Recommendation 5 | The State introduce a comprehensive approach to evacuation, so that this option is planned, considered and implemented when it is likely to offer a higher level of protection than other contingency options. |
INQ181 | REC181-0165 | C - Response | 14 - Incident Mgt Teams | Recommendation 15 | The Country Fire Authority and the Department of Sustainability and Environment: ■ amend their procedures to require that an incident action plan summary be completed within the first four hours of an incident being reported and be provided to the State Control Centre and, where established, to t |
INQ181 | REC181-0167 | C - Response | 14 - Incident Mgt Teams | Recommendation 17 | The Country Fire Authority and the Department of Sustainability and Environment establish before the 2010–11 fire season: ■ a uniform, objective and transparent process based on the current DSE approach for the accreditation of level 3 Incident Controllers; ■ a performance review system for level |
INQ181 | REC181-0168 | C - Response | 14 - Incident Mgt Teams | Recommendation 18 | The Country Fire Authority and the Department of Sustainability and Environment amend their procedures to require that a suitably experienced, qualified and competent person be appointed as Incident Controller, regardless of the control agency for the fire. |
INQ181 | REC181-0159 | C - Response | 14 - Incident Mgt Teams | Recommendation 9 | The Country Fire Authority and the Department of Sustainability and Environment prescribe and audit the minimum number and nature of level 3 joint training exercises in which incident management team staff (including volunteers) are required to participate. |
INQ181 | REC181-0172 | C - Response | 15 - Inter-service cooperation | Recommendation 22 | The Country Fire Authority and the Department of Sustainability and Environment standardise their operating systems and information and communications technologies with the aim of achieving greater efficiency and interoperability between agencies. |
INQ181 | REC181-0169 | C - Response | 18 - Access to fire ground | Recommendation 19 | The Country Fire Authority provide to all CFA volunteers an identification card or similar to facilitate their passage through roadblocks established in accordance with the 2009 Guidelines for the Operation of Traffic Management Points during Wildfires. |
INQ181 | REC181-0185 | C - Response | 20 - Role of police | Recommendation 35 | Victoria Police continue to pursue a coordinated statewide approach to arson prevention and regularly review its approach to ensure that it contains the following elements: ■ high-level commitment from senior police; ■ a research program aimed at refining arson prevention and detection strategies |
INQ181 | REC181-0160 | C - Response | 20 - Role of police | Recommendation 10 | The State clarify whether, during major fires, Victoria Police should discharge its coordination functions from the State Emergency Response Coordination Centre or from the State Control Centre. |
INQ181 | REC181-0175 | E - Agency Organisation | 16 - Training and behaviour | Recommendation 25 | The Country Fire Authority and the Department of Sustainability and Environment require without exception that all relevant staff be trained in the need for Incident Controller approval to be obtained before a back-burn is lit. |