Implementation of government commitments in response to the Inquiry into the CFA Training College at Fiskville - Progress Report - 2022 | 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 fifth progress report on the Victorian Government's implementation of commitments in response to the 2016 Inquiry into the CFA Training College at Fiskville (External link).

About the Fiskville Inquiry

Located between Ballarat and Melbourne, Fiskville was the principal CFA training centre from 1972 until its closure in 2015 due to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination.

The inquiry, conducted by the Victorian Parliament’s Environment, Natural Resources and Regional Development Committee, made 31 recommendations on topics including:

occupational health and safety
environmental regulation
research and monitoring of PFAS health effects
redress for people affected by Fiskville's contamination.

The Victorian Government supported all 31 recommendations.

In December 2016 the then Minister for Emergency Services requested that IGEM monitor and report on the implementation of all 33 commitments made by the government in response to the inquiry.

This report details activity by lead departments and agencies to implement the five commitments that remained in progress as of August 2021. It focuses on the period August 2021 to July 2022 and provides information on key developments since then.

IGEM finds that two of the five commitments in progress as of August 2021 are now complete and that the other three remain in progress.

Significant milestones since IGEM's last report include:

the opening of the new Central Highlands training centre by the CFA in 2021
the announcement of the Fiskville Redress Scheme.

The Implementation of government commitments in response to the Inquiry into the CFA Training College at Fiskville - Progress Report - 2022 was published on 7 July 2023.

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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