A Victorian Auditor-General report has revealed inadequacies in the government department’s implementation and measurement of bushfire risk reduction programs.
The report revealed the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) completed 43 per cent of the planned priority burns and 30 per cent of planned normal priority burns, while the department does not record data on, or analyse why, more than half of planned priority burns did not occur.
The reportreads, “The audited agencies, particularly DELWP and CFA, are collaborating to reduce the risks that bushfires pose to life, property and the environment, and do so with strong commitment.
“However, there is insufficient information available to understand the effectiveness and impacts of their risk-reduction activities.
“Current modelling limitations and lack of reporting on non-burn and private land-based risk reduction activities inhibits continuous improvement, limits community understanding of performance in reducing risk (and) constrains DELWP and government’s ability to make better informed investment decisions to further reduce risk.”
Evelyn MP and Shadow Minister for Environment and Climate Change, Bridget Vallence said, “Bushfires have had a devastating impact on human life, wildlife, flora, property and our economy, and Victorians will be deeply troubled to hear Labor is still failing to take bushfire hazard reduction seriously.”
As part of the audit, the Victorian Auditor-General’s Office examined how DELWP informed the government’s planned burn target and developed its risk reduction strategies to protect human life, property and the environment, how agencies deliver risk reduction strategies, how Victoria’s land-use planning system supports risk reduction and the Powerline Bushfire Safety Program.
Ms Vallence said the Auditor-General’s report exposes problems with DELWP’s modelling, data collection and reporting and found that their information to Government about reaching risk reduction targets was incomplete, keeping Victorians in the dark about the impacts and effectiveness of any DELWP and CFA bushfire risk reduction measures.
She urged the state government to accept and implement the 17 recommendations made by the Auditor-General as quickly as possible to help protect Victorian life, property and environment.
