Victorian Numbered Acts Victorian Numbered ActsSee:
Act
No.
6228.
Reprint
No. 12
as
at
1 July
2006
and
amending
Act
Nos
80/2006, 12/2008 and
77/2008.
LawToday:
www.
legislation.
vic.gov.au
After Part III of the Country Fire Authority Act 1958 insert —
In this Part—
"community fire refuge" means a place that is—
(a) to be used by the public for short-term shelter from a fire front during a bushfire; and
(b) designated as a community fire refuge in—
(i) a municipal fire prevention plan under Part IV; or
(ii) a municipal emergency management plan under the Emergency Management Act 1986 ;
"council land" means land occupied or controlled by a municipal council;
"designated neighbourhood safer place" means a place designated by a municipal council as a neighbourhood safer place under this Part;
"neighbourhood safer place" means a place that may, as a last resort, provide shelter for people from the immediate life-threatening effects of a bushfire;
"non-council land" means land (including Crown land) that is not council land;
"place" means land or premises.
It is the duty of the Chief Officer to issue warnings and provide information to the community in relation to bushfires in Victoria for the purpose of protecting life and property.
(1) In carrying out a duty under section 50B, the Chief Officer must have regard to any guidelines, procedures and operating protocols issued by the Authority in respect of that duty.
(2) The Authority must consult with the following in developing any guidelines, procedures or protocols referred to in subsection (1)—
(a) the Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services Board;
(b) the Secretary;
(c) any other prescribed agency.
(1) The Chief Officer may delegate his or her duty under section 50B to—
(a) the Chief Officer of the Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services;
(b) the Secretary;
(c) the Chief Fire Officer of the Department of Sustainability and Environment;
(d) any other prescribed person.
(2) A person to whom a duty is delegated under this section may delegate that duty—
(a) in the case of the Chief Officer of the Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services, to an employee of the Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services Board or any other prescribed person; or
(b) in the case of the Secretary or the Chief Fire Officer of the Department of Sustainability and Environment, a person employed in the Department or any other prescribed person; or
(c) in the case of a person prescribed under subsection (1)(d), an employee of the prescribed person.
(3) A power of delegation under subsection (1) is in addition to the powers of delegation of the Chief Officer under section 28.
(1) The Authority may from time to time issue guidelines (the Country Fire Authority Assessment Guidelines ) setting out criteria and other considerations to be applied in relation to neighbourhood safer places, including for the purpose of—
(a) assessing a place as suitable to be a neighbourhood safer place; and
(b) carrying out annual assessments of neighbourhood safer places.
(2) The Country Fire Authority Assessment Guidelines may incorporate or refer to any other document as issued or published from time to time.
(3) The Authority must publish the Country Fire Authority Assessment Guidelines—
(a) in the Government Gazette; and
(b) on the Authority's Internet site.
(1) A municipal council may prepare a plan (a Municipal Council Neighbourhood Safer Places Plan ) in relation to—
(a) the identification, suitability and designation of places as neighbourhood safer places; and
(b) the inspection, maintenance and decommissioning of designated neighbourhood safer places.
(2) A Municipal Council Neighbourhood Safer Places Plan must not be inconsistent with the Country Fire Authority Assessment Guidelines.
(3) A Municipal Council Neighbourhood Safer Places Plan may incorporate or refer to any other document as issued or published from time to time.
(4) A municipal council must—
(a) publish its Municipal Council Neighbourhood Safer Places Plan on its Internet site; and
(b) make the Municipal Council Neighbourhood Safer Places Plan and any documents incorporated in the Plan available at its municipal offices for public inspection during normal office hours free of charge.
(1) A municipal council, the municipal district of which is located wholly or partly in the country area of Victoria, must identify and designate places as neighbourhood safer places in its municipal district.
(2) A neighbourhood safer place may be on council land, or, with the consent of the occupier or the person in control of the land, on non-council land.
(3) In identifying and designating neighbourhood safer places, a municipal council may have regard to its Municipal Council Neighbourhood Safer Places Plan.
(4) After identifying a neighbourhood safer place, a municipal council must ask the Authority to assess the place in accordance with the Country Fire Authority Assessment Guidelines.
(5) On receiving a request, the Authority must—
(a) assess the place; and
(b) if the place meets the criteria set out in the Country Fire Authority Assessment Guidelines, certify in writing that the place meets those criteria.
(6) A municipal council must not designate a place as a neighbourhood safer place unless the place has been certified by the Authority under this section.
(7) A municipal council is not required to designate a place under subsection (1) if—
(a) no place has been certified by the Authority under this section; or
(b) the Authority has certified a place under this section but the council is satisfied on reasonable grounds that it is not appropriate to designate the place as a neighbourhood safer place; or
(c) any suitable existing place is on non-council land and the occupier or the person in control of the land does not consent to the designation of the place as a neighbourhood safer place.
(8) Before 1 July 2010, a municipal council complies with subsection (1) if it uses its best endeavours to do so.
(1) A municipal council must ensure that appropriate signs are provided at each designated neighbourhood safer place in its municipal district to identify it to the public as a neighbourhood safer place.
(2) A municipal council must have regard to the signage guidelines published from time to time on the Internet site of the Office of the Emergency Services Commissioner in ensuring the provision of appropriate signs under this section.
A municipal council is responsible for maintaining all designated neighbourhood safer places in its municipal district.
(1) A municipal council must, by 31 August in each year, conduct a review of each designated neighbourhood safer place in its municipal district to determine if it is still suitable to be designated as a neighbourhood safer place.
(2) In conducting an annual review, the municipal council must ask the Authority to assess each neighbourhood safer place in its municipal district in accordance with the Country Fire Authority Assessment Guidelines.
(3) On receiving a request, the Authority must—
(a) assess the place; and
(b) if the place meets the criteria set out in the Country Fire Authority Assessment Guidelines, certify in writing that the place meets those criteria.
(4) If the Authority's assessment determines that a designated neighbourhood safer place is no longer suitable, it must be decommissioned.
(5) The municipal council may also decommission a designated neighbourhood safer place if—
(a) the Authority has certified the place under this section but the council is satisfied on reasonable grounds that it is not appropriate for the place to continue to be a designated neighbourhood safer place; or
(b) the place is on non-council land and the occupier or the person in control of the land has withdrawn consent to the designation of the place as a neighbourhood safer place.
A municipal fire prevention officer must provide to the Authority by 30 September in each year an up to date list of all designated neighbourhood safer places and community fire refuges in the municipal district.
(1) The Authority must keep an up to date list showing the location of all designated neighbourhood safer places and community fire refuges in Victoria of which it is notified under section 50K.
(2) The Authority must publish the list on its Internet site and provide a copy of the list—
(a) to the Secretary; and
(b) to the Chief Commissioner of Police; and
(c) to the Chief Executive Officer of the State Emergency Service; and
(d) to the Municipal Association of Victoria; and
(e) for the use of the Victorian Bushfire Information Line.
This Division is to be construed as being in addition to and not in derogation of Part XII of the Wrongs Act 1958 .
(1) This section applies in respect of a designated neighbourhood safer place.
(2) Subject to this section, any liability for the death of or injury to a person arising from the use of the designated neighbourhood safer place that would attach to the owner or occupier of the land or a person with control of the land attaches instead to the municipal council in the municipal district of which the land is situated.
(3) This section only applies in respect of a death or injury arising from the use of the designated neighbourhood safer place as a shelter from bushfire on a day (or during part of a day) when the area in which the place was located was beset, or threatened, by bushfire.
(4) This section does not apply to a death or injury that was caused in the course of travelling to or from the designated neighbourhood safer place.
(5) A reference to a liability in subsection (2), is a reference to a liability—
(a) that arises in tort, contract, under statute or otherwise; and
(b) that does not arise from an intentional act of a person at the designated neighbourhood safer place.
For the purposes of any proceeding for the death of or injury to a person arising from—
(a) the use of a designated neighbourhood safer place; or
(b) a failure of a municipal council to designate a neighbourhood safer place—
an act or omission by a municipal council, which is in accordance with a policy in its Municipal Council Neighbourhood Safer Places Plan, does not constitute a wrongful exercise or failure by the municipal council, unless the policy is so unreasonable that no municipal council in that municipal council's position acting reasonably could have made that policy.
The Chief Officer may provide advice to the community or to any person on ways to improve the defendability of a home or other building in the event of a bushfire.
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