The Victorian Department of Environment and Climate Change has released a revised Code of Practice for Bushfire Management on Public Land 2012.
The Code of Practice establishes the framework for bushfire management (including planned burning and bushfire response) on Victoria’s public land.
The Code sets the primary objectives for bushfire management in Victoria, and sets out strategies to achieve these objectives. The objectives are:
- To minimise the impact of major bushfires on human life, communities, essential and community infrastructure, industries, the economy and the environment. Human life will be afforded priority over all other considerations.
- To maintain or improve the resilience of natural ecosystems and their ability to deliver services such as biodiversity, water, carbon storage and forest products.
The key changes to the Code from the previous version are:
- Sets clear objectives for fire management on public land and strategies and actions to achieve those objectives
- Includes risk-based bushfire management planning
- Preparedness levels are based on risk
- Fuel management (for preparedness and land management are combined)
- Fire Management Zones updated
- Bushfire Response (Fire Services Commissioner obligations and warning the community)
- Recovery split into Emergency Stabilisation (as part of bushfire response) and Initial Recovery and Longer-term Recovery
- Monitoring, evaluation and reporting focused on a statewide framework.
