Posted 8/8/10 

Brumby Government's Interim Response to Bushfire Royal Commission Recommendations

Recommendations without unqualified "Support In Principle"

Source: Premier John Brumby's media release 2 August 2010 http://www.premier.vic.gov.au/newsroom/11351.html

The Brumby Government has said it supports most of the 65 recommendations in the Final Report, with only some 6 - 8 not immediately "supported in principle".

There are in fact 14 recommendations that are not given unqualified "support in principle":

6 are supported in principle but with a proviso... (1, 3, 5, 8, 32, 56)
8 require 'further consultation'  (4, 27, 40, 46, 48, 49, 53, 64)

 

Recommendation 5 is not included in full in the Premier's 2 August media release (see link above).  Omitted elements are included in the list below in (blue) italics.

Click here to see the State government's interim response to all 65 recommendations.

1. Support in principle, with further consultation to be undertaken around the issue of evacuation and shelters.

The State revise its bushfire safety policy. While adopting the national Prepare. Act. Survive. framework in Victoria, the policy should do the following:

• enhance the role of warnings—including providing for timely and informative advice about the predicted passage of a fire and the actions to be taken by people in areas potentially in its path;
• emphasise that all fires are different in ways that require an awareness of fire conditions, local circumstances and personal capacity;
• recognise that the heightened risk on the worst days demands a different response;
• retain those elements of the existing bushfire policy that have proved effective;
• strengthen the range of options available in the face of fire, including community refuges, bushfire shelters and evacuation;
• ensure that local solutions are tailored and known to communities through local bushfire planning;
• improve advice on the nature of fire and house defendability, taking account of broader landscape risks.

3. Support in principle with further consultation regarding evacuation, shelters and a register.

The State establish mechanisms for helping municipal councils to undertake local planning that tailors bushfire safety options to the needs of individual communities. In doing this planning, councils should:

• urgently develop for communities at risk of bushfire local plans that contain contingency options such as evacuation and shelter;
• document in municipal emergency management plans and other relevant plans facilities where vulnerable people are likely to be situated—for example, aged care facilities, hospitals, schools and child care centres;
• compile and maintain a list of vulnerable residents who need tailored advice of a recommendation to evacuate and provide this list to local police and anyone else with pre-arranged responsibility for helping vulnerable residents evacuate.

4. Further consultation.

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 high risk—where other bushfire safety options are limited;
• working with municipal councils to ensure that appropriate criteria are used for bushfire shelters, so that people are not discouraged from using a bushfire shelter if there is no better option available;
• acknowledging personal shelters around their homes as a fallback option for individuals.

5. Support in principle, with further consultation to be undertaken around the issue of evacuation.

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. The approach should:

• encourage individuals – especially vulnerable people – to relocate early
• include consideration of plans for assisted evacuation of vulnerable people;
• recommend 'emergency evacuation'.

8. Support in principle with consultation about implementation.

The Country Fire Authority and the Department of Sustainability and Environment amend their procedures to require the following:

• that at locations that attract preparedness levels A or B there be a full incident management team under the leadership of an accredited level 3 Incident Controller in position by 10.00 am on days of code red fire danger and a core incident management team (eight personnel) under the leadership of an accredited level 3 Incident Controller in position by 10.00 am on days of extreme fire danger; and
• that a full level 3 IMT be led by a level 3 Incident Controller unless the State Controller determines otherwise.

27. Further consultation.

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 cabling or other technology that delivers greatly reduced bushfire risk. The replacement program should be completed in the areas of highest bushfire risk within 10 years and should continue in areas of lower bushfire risk as the lines reach the end of their engineering lives; and
• the progressive replacement of all 22-kilovolt distribution feeders with aerial bundled cable, underground cabling or other technology that delivers greatly reduced bushfire risk as the feeders reach the end of their engineering lives. Priority should be given to distribution feeders in the areas of highest bushfire risk.

32. Support in principle, with further consultation about reclosers.

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; and
• adjust the reclose function on the automatic circuit reclosers on all 22-kilovolt feeders on all total fire ban days to permit only one reclose attempt before lockout.

40. Further consultation.

The Country Fire Authority amend its guidelines for assessing permit applications for dwellings, non-dwellings 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 guidelines available to municipal councils and the public. The revised guidelines should do the following:

• substantially restrict new developments and subdivisions in those areas of highest risk in the Bushfire-prone Overlay;
• set out the CFA’s guidelines for assessing permit applications for dwellings, non-dwellings and subdivisions—including the minimum defendable space requirements for different risk levels;
• clarify that the CFA will approve new developments and subdivisions only if the recommended bushfire protection measures—including the minimum defendable space—can be created and maintained on a continuing basis; and
• emphasise the need for enduring permit conditions—in particular, conditions for the creation and maintenance of minimum defendable space to be maintained for the life of the development.

46. Further consultation

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.

48. Further consultation.

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 AS 3959, Construction of Buildings in Bushfire-prone Areas, and other bushfire-related standards referred to in the Building Code of Australia;
• negotiate with Standards Australia and SAI Global Ltd an arrangement for free online access to AS 3959-2009, Construction of Buildings in Bushfire-prone Areas, the other Australian standards referred to in AS 3959-2009, and any other bushfire-related Australian standards referred to in the Building Code of Australia;
• amend the Building Code of Australia to remove deemed-to-satisfy provisions for the construction of buildings in BAL-FZ (the Flame Zone); and
• include in the Building Code of Australia bushfire construction provisions for non-residential buildings that will be occupied by people who are particularly vulnerable to bushfire attack, such as schools, child care centres, hospitals and aged care facilities.

49. Further consultation

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 people who are particularly vulnerable to bushfire attack, such as schools, child care centres, hospitals and aged care facilities; and
• other than in exceptional circumstances, to apply a minimum AS 3959-2009 construction level of BAL-12.5 to all new buildings and extensions in bushfire-prone areas.

53. Further consultation.

The State amend s. 32 of the Sale of Land Act 1962 to require that a vendor’s statement include whether the land is in a designated Bushfire-prone Area, a statement about the standard (if any) to which the dwelling was constructed, the bushfire attack level assessment at the time of construction (where relevant) and a current bushfire attack level assessment of the site of the dwelling.

56. Support in principle, with further consultation regarding implementation and scale-up.

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.

64. Further consultation.

The State replace the Fire Services Levy with:

• a property-based levy; and
• introduce concessions for low-income earners.