Victoria’s Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) is seeking federal approval for its forest fire management works, with a strategic assessment underway.
An agreement for the assessment was signed by the federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) in mid-December 2025 and the terms of reference were released for public consultation on 8 January.
Kinglake Friends of the Forest (KFF) are criticising the move however, claiming it is an effort to bypass the scrutiny of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act), due to an ongoing legal challenge brought against DEECA by the Warburton Environment group.
KFF spokesperson Sue McKinnon said it will be like putting the fox in charge of the hen house again.
“The state government has a long history of failing to regulate itself, we’ve seen court cases showing illegal logging by VicForests under similar State – Federal agreements called ‘Regional Forests Agreements’ or RFA’s,” she said.
“The discredited exemption for the native forest logging industry from EPBC Act scrutiny will now be copied for the native forest burning and fuel break construction industry.
“The RFAs, which exempted the state owned native forest logging company from national regulation, were shown in court to be failures. Self regulation leads to expansion without safeguards and ultimately conflict, environmental damage and expensive and socially devastating collapse.”
RFAs ceased in Victoria when native forest logging was phased out at the start of 2024, but were criticised by enviornmentalists when numerous species throughout Australia in RFA areas became more threatened.
Local groups like KFF and Warburton Enviornment have been vigilantly monitoring the works of Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMVic), which is managed by DEECA, in recent years, criticisng the organisation for allegedly failing to survey or monitor for endangered species such as the greater glider or native plants during planned burns or the construction of fuel breaks.
A DEECA spokesperson said they are focused on protecting local communities and our unique natural environment from bushfires and reduce their impact across Victoria.
“The strategic assessment will give Victorians confidence that DEECA will continue to meet their legal obligations to protect wildlife and plants while we reduce bushfire risk,” they said.
“DEECA’s bushfire risk reduction program is supported by a robust evidence base drawing on our deep knowledge of the Victorian bush and our communities, world-leading science and continued investment in monitoring and improvement.”
The strategic assessment, which will be done by DEECA and provided to Minister for Environment and Water Murray Watt, will aim to take a landscape-scale approach to protecting plants, animals and ecosystems, and heritage locations of national significance under the EPBC Act.
A DCCEEW spokesperson said strategic assessments provide long-term, program-level environmental approval for routine or ongoing actions that impact on matters of national environmental significance.
“The terms of reference will guide the development of the impact assessment report which informs the assessment of a Victorian program of planned bushfire management works under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act),” they said.
“Approval based on a strategic assessment ensures impacts are minimised and acceptable.
Under the EPBC Act, the Commonwealth Minister for the Environment can endorse a program which avoids and manages impacts to matters of national environmental significance. The Minister can also approve activities to be taken under an endorsed program.”
A consultation on the draft terms of reference is open on the DCCEEW website from 8 January to 6 February 2026, which can be found here: consult.dcceew.gov.au/draft-tor-strat-assessment-vic-forest-fire-mngt.
There will also be a public consultation on the assessment report later this year once it is completed.
DEECA is legally required to dowork to prevent bushfires on public land, such as state forests, national parks and protected public land, which is done through a combination of managing fuel loads (clearing excess grass, leaves, bark, shrubs and small fallen branches) and maintaining infrastructure like fire towers and remote water points.The strategic assessment will consider any and all activities for the planned prevention of fire and use of fire (eg: planned burns) for land management purposes and all associated preparatory works.
DEECA anticipates if the strategic assessment is agreed to, it will ‘streamline approvals for bushfire management activities, give the community more clarity about how DEECA manages impacts on MNES (Matters of National Environmental Significance) and support the delivery of timely planned bushfire management activities.’
