Six months on, the parliamentary inquiry into the January 2026 Victorian fires has released its findings.
Photo by
Bree Harding
A Victorian parliamentary inquiry into January's fires has called for sweeping changes to how the state prepares for, fights and recovers from bushfires, in a report documenting deep frustration across the Longwood fire district six months on.
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The Legislative Council Environment and Planning Committee's report, tabled in state parliament on July 28, makes 93 findings and 80 recommendations after examining fires that burnt more than 440,000 ha, a larger area than the 2009 Black Saturday fires, destroyed 451 homes, and claimed one life.
The Longwood fire accounted for the bulk of those losses.
The report says the 132,427 ha blaze, which ignited on January 7 and burnt across the Strathbogie, Murrindindi, Mansfield and Mitchell shires, destroyed 320 homes, with Yarck, Ruffy, Caveat, Fawcett and Terip Terip among the hardest hit.
The fire originated near Longwood but the cause remains under investigation.
The committee documented heavy agricultural losses statewide, citing more than 45,000 livestock deaths, 9625km of destroyed fencing, more than 40,400 tonnes of lost hay and silage, and about 150,000 ha of farmland burnt.
Its recommendations include protocols to let trusted locals, including veterinarians and licensed firearm owners, enter firegrounds to support farmers and assist with livestock euthanasia, and for governments to consider the "productive loss of primary producers, not purely residential damage" when designing recovery support.
On recovery, the findings are blunt.
The committee found that as of May 1, only 28 of 241 eligible properties had been fully cleared under the state's clean-up program, and heard evidence the program's insurance-based eligibility rules had divided communities.
It recommended future clean-ups run under a default model that does not depend on insurance status.
It also found some residents who stayed to defend their homes were deemed ineligible for relief payments, and recommended fire-affected property owners be exempted from the Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund levy, with councils supported to provide rate relief.
Murrindindi mayor Damien Gallagher told the inquiry his shire sustained about 48 per cent of the state's fire impact but received only 8.3 percent of an early recovery funding round.
The committee recommended future recovery funding be allocated according to impact.
Volunteers, including Grassmere CFA captain John Houston, called for the inquiry back in January. Photo: AAP
State Member for Euroa Annabelle Cleeland, who was personally impacted by the fires, told the inquiry the fires were "a systemic failure — a failure of leadership and a failure of recovery".
Committee member and State Member for Northern Victoria Gaelle Broad said in a statement the fires "were not simply the result of extreme weather", describing them as "the consequence of years of poor planning, underinvestment and repeated warnings to the government that went unheeded".
A Liberal and Nationals minority report called for greater investment in CFA and Fire Rescue Victoria equipment, improved water supply access, stronger communications and power reliability, and increased planned burning.
The committee majority found Victoria met its risk-based fuel management target ahead of the season, while acknowledging many areas carried very high to extreme fuel loads.
The committee also found CFA operational volunteer numbers had fallen 26 per cent over the past decade, about 650 tankers still carried firefighters in exposed rear seating, and ageing trucks were breaking down during emergency responses, with 802 single cab tankers in the fleet not due to be fully replaced until 2036.
Nationals leader and Shadow Emergency Services Minister Danny O'Brien said the report was a damning indictment of the government's stewardship of Victoria's fire services, and called on it to respond to all 80 recommendations immediately rather than take the six months allowed.
That deadline falls after November's state election and into the next fire season.
"This report should embarrass the Labor Government. A 26 per cent drop in CFA volunteers in 10 years should set off alarm bells in every regional community in this state," Mr O'Brien said.
He said an elected Liberal and Nationals government would fund the CFA properly, put fleet replacement on a fixed and transparent schedule, and scrap the Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund levy altogether in favour of the former fire services property levy.
The report records more than 10,000 emergency relief payments totalling over $12 million by early March, and notes the 2026-27 state budget included land tax waivers and stamp duty relief for affected owners.
Committee chair Michael Galea credited firefighters, volunteers and early warnings, writing it was "remarkable that we did not see mass fatalities" given the catastrophic conditions of January 9.
The Victorian Government has until late January to formally respond to the recommendations, and a separate review by the Inspector-General for Emergency Management is still to come.
