Statewide Coordination of Emergencies

An effective and coordinated approach to wildfire suppression and fire protection planning demands close liaison with other emergency services. At the regional level, the Department of Environment and Primary Industries (DEPI) maintains close liaison with Parks Victoria, the Emergency Management Planning Committees of local Shires, Regional and Municipal Fire Prevention Committees, Country Fire Authority (CFA) Group and Brigades and CFA Regional Officers.

State Coordination Centre

The State Coordination Centre is a shared facility for emergency coordination and control, located at East Melbourne. The main agencies that utilise the facility to coordinate their operations are DEPI, CFA and SES.

DEPI (in conjunction with Parks Victoria) uses the centre for the control of bushfires on public land, dam safety incidents, coordination and control of planned burning on public land and assisting with other emergencies such as flood events. The centre is also used for the coordination and control of planned burning on public land.

Australasian Inter-service Incident Management System (AIIMS)

AIIMS is used by a range of agencies around Australia to manage emergency incidents, large and small. During emergency activities this system provides for the control, coordination and integration of events.

In many incidents more than one organisation will be involved. During these times the use of the AIIMS system promotes effective joint operations through the use of common structures and terminology.

Parks Victoria

Created in 1997, Parks Victoria combined the former National Parks Service and the former Melbourne Parks and Waterways. As DEPI’s principal service provider, Parks Victoria is responsible for Melbourne’s regional open space network and for the statewide park system. National and other parks constitute around 50% of Victoria’s public land.

In partnership with DEPI, Parks Victoria plays a major role in fire management by providing trained and accredited staff, equipment and other infrastructure that contributes to all aspects of fire prevention, suppression and recovery.