Horsham Rural City and Hindmarsh Shire councils have discussed the Emergency Management Legislation Amendment Bill 2018 at meetings in the past three weeks.

The proposed legislation was presented to state parliament in February, after the Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission recommended councils’ roles in emergency management needed reviewing.

The proposed changes aim to improve emergency management planning, response, relief and recovery at local government and state levels.

The changes to legislation is part of a larger project – Councils and Emergencies – designed to build council’s capacity to meet their emergency management obligations.

Horsham council technical services director John Martin said among the changes were new requirements for community engagement in emergency management planning.

“Consideration will be required on how the engagement achieved through existing fire committees will occur under these new arrangements,” he said.

Mr Martin said council was concerned about the bill’s financial consequences, and the strain on council resources the changes could cause.

“Council receives funding from the state government to much of its emergency planning activities. This is pooled through the funding received by the neighbouring shires Hindmarsh, West Wimmera and Yarriambiack under the Wimmera Emergency Management Resource Sharing Partnership,” he said.

“Much of council’s response to emergency events is resourced by council officers, who are taken off-line from their normal roles to undertake emergency activities when events occur.”

Cr David Grimble – who served as the Country Fire Authority’s Brimpaen captain and Grampians Group officer – said he was worried the bill would cause community voices to be shut out.

“One of the concerns I have is that the bill doesn’t have the same volunteer involvement – it’s rather top-heavy,” he said.

“We don’t want to see a reduced level of input from local people – that’s something that needs to be monitored.

“There needs to be assurances that volunteers have a seat at the table when it comes to planning and decision-making.”

Cr Grimble said he wanted to know how the changes would affect councils from a resource perspective.

“In the past, councils had a good working relationship to do what they needed to do to support the community,” he said. 

“It comes down to being a resourcing issue and council can spend weeks on end dealing with the aftermath of emergencies.”

Hindmarsh council infrastructure services director Shane Brown said the bill focused on mitigation.

However he said the potential financial implications for mitigation infrastructure such as levy banks in the shire were unknown at this stage.

Mr Brown said the next step in the Councils and Emergencies project would involve Local Government Victoria assessing each Victorian council’s ability to meet their emergency management obligations and expectations.

This is due to happen in the 2018-19 financial year.

Yarriambiack councillors will discuss the bill at a meeting on Tuesday. Parliament is not due to sit on the bill until at least May.