The Inspector-General for Emergency Management recommends that the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (or the single entity referenced in Recommendation 4) – supported by other organisations with a legislated responsibility for fuel management – plan for and increase the application of non-burning fuel management treatments including mechanical means.
The annual fuel management report should include the non-burn component of fuel management treatment, track annual change, and provide a comparison to the previous three years.
DELWP will include additional data regarding the non-burn component of fuel management treatment on public land, track annual change, and provide a comparison to the previous three years as detailed in DELWP’s 2019-20 fuel management report
Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMVic) comprises staff from DELWP, Parks Victoria, Melbourne Water and VicForests. FFMVic manages bushfires and bushfire risk in Victoria’s parks, forests and other public land through:
• risk-based bushfire management and planning
• fire prevention and preparedness
• fuel management programs (including planned burning)
• emergency response and recovery.
The fuel management delivery section of FFMVic’s Managing Victoria’s bushfire risk: Fuel management report 2020–21 includes comparative data on the non-burn fuel treatment component of fuel management on public land (refer to Figure 1, p 62). The report is available at ffm.vic.gov.au/fuel-management-report-2020-21