Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission - 2016 Progress Report | Inspector-General for Emergency Management Victoria

All hazards

Risks spanning across multiple hazard types and across the emergency management system.

Biosecurity

Exotic animal and plant disease outbreaks and pest incursions can have significant economic, community and environmental impacts.

Bushfire and other fires

Bushfire and other fires have potential consequences including loss of life and property, and damage to infrastructure and environment.

Climate change

Risks include more days of extreme heat, harsher fire weather, less rainfall and rising sea levels.

Communications disruption

Communications services are crucial in keeping communities safe, connected and informed before, during and after emergencies.

Cyber security and ICT systems failure

Risks relating to the confidentiality, availability, integrity of information and data and disruption of services.

Energy supply disruption

Reliable energy supplies are critical to many social and economic activities.

Flood

Major flood events have occurred in Victoria every 10 to 20 years, with much of the increasing risk created by human settlement.

Hazardous material incident

Potential risks relate to many places where Victoria’s hazardous materials are manufactured, stored, transported, used and disposed.

Heatwave

Heatwaves are considered to be the ‘silent killer’ of extreme weather events and are the leading cause of weather-related deaths in Australia.

Public health emergency

Risks may relate to the delivery of public health services, with impacts on community health and wellbeing and potential for loss of life.

Supply chain disruption

Geopolitical, environmental, economic, societal and infrastructure-related shocks can expose supply chains to wide ranging consequences.

Terrorism and extremism

Attacks carried out by individuals or non-state groups with ideological, political or religious goals can result in loss of life, severe injury and/or material damage.

Water supply disruption

Risks include collection, storage, treatment, delivery, availability and allocation of water for consumption and environmental, recreation and cultural uses.

Workforce and resourcing

Risks may relate to human resource supply and skills to support emergency management operations.

This is the Inspector-General for Emergency Management’s (IGEM) second report on the implementation of the 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission recommendations and actions. It includes implementation progress from 2 May 2015 to 20 May 2016.

The report is IGEM’s assessment of the status of the seven recommendations and 11 actions reported as ‘ongoing’ in its 2015 Progress Report.

In its 2016 Progress Report, IGEM reported of the 11 actions remaining in 2015, seven actions were determined as closed and two actions deemed as completed. The two remaining ongoing and inter-related actions will continue to be monitored by IGEM however their completion will be reported directly to the minister.

Therefore this report concluded IGEM’s responsibility for annual VBRC implementation reporting.

The 2016 Progress Report was tabled in Parliament on 13 October 2016.

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