DEPI Home > Fire & Other Emergencies > Fire Ecology > Legislation and planning

Legislation

Inappropriate fire regimes causing disruption to sustainable ecosystem processes and resultant loss to biodiversity is listed as a potentially threatening process under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988.

A draft action statement is currently being prepared to deal with this threatening process. Public authorities must be administered to have regard to the flora and fauna conservation and management objectives of the Act.

A range of legislation also exists that requires relevant land managers to control and suppress bushfire on public land. Elements of the legislation also make reference to the use and control of fire to conserve biodiversity. The legislation includes the Forests Act 1958, National Parks Act 1975, Parks Victoria Act 1998 and Wildlife Act 1975.

The importance of fire and its interaction with ecological processes is also recognised by other instruments for managing fire, such as the Code of Practice for Fire Management on Public Land.

Planning

The following documents help guide fire management planning in Victoria.

Guidelines for Ecological Burning on Public Land

DEPI and Parks Victoria, in partnership with the CFA, have developed a framework for ecological burning that integrates science with relevant policy and legal obligations, so that fire can be managed for the conservation of biodiversity across Victoria. The publication outlines the framework, and provide the principles and practices for using fire as a tool to achieve both fire protection objectives and biodiversity management objectives; and the principles, standards and planning procedures for ecological burning on public land throughout Victoria.

Guidelines and Procedures for Ecological Burning on Public Land in Victoria 2004 [PDF File - 590.6 KB]

Fire Ecology Program Strategic Directions 2009-2011

The Strategic Directions outline the next steps in addressing one of the great challenges facing land managers - how to achieve fire regimes that protect biodiversity and also protect public safety and property. It is written primarily for those involved in managing fire in the Victorian landscape, and outlines the fire ecology program for the next three years.

Fire Ecology Program Strategic Directions 2009-2011 [PDF File - 1.1 MB]

Fire Operations Plans 

Fire Operations Plans set out the proposed fire prevention activities that will be carried out on public land in each Victorian fire district over the next three years.