State and local government strategies to reduce and manage bushfire risks must concentrate on fuel management, Victoria’s Auditor-General has advised.
To ensure Victoria’s strategies to reduce and manage bushfire risks are well-designed, efficiently deployed, and continuously monitored and improved, the Audit Office examined whether responsible agencies were effectively working together to reduce Victoria’s bushfire risk.
Three councils, the City of Whittlesea, East Gippsland Shire Council, and Murrindindi Shire Council were part of the Audit Office’s review.
The office made 17 recommendations in its Reducing Bushfire Risks report: 14 on fuel management for the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) and the Country Fire Authority (CFA), and the remaining three for DELWP, one on land-use planning and two aimed at improving the Powerline Bushfire Safety Program.
All the recommendations have been accepted.