Implementation of government commitments in response to Inquiry into CFA Training College at Fiskville - Progress Report - 2018 | 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.

Fiskville was Victoria’s principal firefighter training facility, from 1972 to March 2015. Training was delivered to thousands of people from the Country Fire Authority, the Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services Board, government agencies and private companies. It was unique in offering realistic training scenarios to prepare firefighters for real emergencies.

Serious concerns about occupational health and safety practices at Fiskville were reported by the media in 2011, including potential risks from chemicals in the water and foam used during training. These ongoing safety concerns became a major focus for the inquiry.

The inquiry concluded that poor safety practices at Fiskville are likely to have harmed people’s health, highlighting delays by both agencies and regulators in preventing, responding to and managing the potential contamination of the site.

The government supported the recommendations from the inquiry either in full, part or principle and set out 33 commitments to address the recommendations.

This report outlines progress towards the government commitments for the period May 2017 to April 2018.

IGEM found that 16 of the commitments have been completed, 15 are ongoing and two have been closed as no further action is planned.

The Implementation of government commitments in response to the Inquiry into the CFA Training College - Progress Report – 2018 was published on 26 September 2019.

You can access the report from the link at the bottom of this page, or view as a flipbook (External link).

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