Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMVic) conducts planned burning to reduce bushfire risk to communities, industries and the environment. Planned burning is essential for community safety. By reducing fuel loads and managing landscapes we lower the risk of uncontrollable bushfires, protecting lives, homes and the environment. In the past 10 years, less than 1 per cent of planned burns have breached control lines, with 13 of those breaches declared as bushfires.
The Office of Bushfire Risk Management (OBRM) is responsible for ensuring that FFMVic planned burns that breach the control line or are declared a bushfire are appropriately investigated and opportunities for continuous improvement proactively identified and implemented. In doing so, OBRM provides assurance that FFMVic’s systems and processes for delivering planned burns are safe and effective.
The assurance process provides a formal and objective evaluation of FFMVic's delivery of planned burns where they have breached control lines or been declared a bushfire, including through review of relevant documentation and doctrine and interviews with staff. The process supports evidence-based decision making and continuous improvement.
In following this process, OBRM ensures its assurance activities uphold the principles of the Inspector-General for Emergency Management’s (IGEM) Assurance Framework for Emergency Management. The framework governs each of the core assurance elements of continuous improvement, collaboration and coordination, reducing burden, and adding value.
What is assurance?
Assurance is an expression or statement designed to increase the confidence of the government, the sector, and the community in the ability of systems and processes to achieve intended outcomes. Assurance encompasses the identification and management of risks that may hinder the achievement of outcomes and objectives.
Background
Prior to June 2022, the assurance function in Victoria was delivered by the Inspector-General Emergency Management (find reports on the IGEM website). In June 2022 the function was formally transferred to OBRM, which has since reported on its assurance activities through Victoria’s Bushfire Risk Management Report and summary reports, available on the OBRM Reporting page.
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