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Victoria lags on bushfire retrofitting

Guidelines to improve bushfire safety at Victorian schools, childcare centres, hospitals and aged care homes are more than two years overdue, according to a report on outcomes from the royal commission for the Black Saturday catastrophe.

Recommendations to increase resilience have mostly been implemented, Bushfires Royal Commission Implementation Monitor (BRCIM) Neil Comrie says in his final annual report.

But the one “problematic” area is retrofitting non-residential buildings occupied by people who are particularly vulnerable. “The BRCIM has received no evidence of progress of this action during 2013/14,” the report says.

Retrofitting guidelines cannot be released until proposed amendments to building regulations are made. The report does not include an assessment of reforms announced by the Planning Minister in late May.

Mr Comrie was appointed monitor in 2010 to report on progress implementing 67 royal commission recommendations and more than 300 related actions.

At the end of last financial year 21 actions relating to 11 recommendations remained ongoing, with progress judged “adequate” on most, despite some slow progress.

Mr Comrie says the newly appointed Inspector-General for Emergency Management should monitor the last measures.

He says Victoria is now much better prepared for bushfires than on Black Saturday in 2009, when 173 people died and more than 4600 homes were damaged or destroyed.

But he warns a greater commitment to shared responsibility is still needed, and the state must retain a focus on education. “The BRCIM remains very concerned about the level of community complacency regarding the risk of fire.”