Country Fire Authority Regulations 2014
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Regulatory Impact Statement Country Fire Authority Regulations 2014 August2014 Prepared forthe Department of Justice by Jaguar Consulting Pty Ltd www.jaguarconsulting.com.au 1 Summary The Country Fire Authority Regulations 2004 (existing regulations) are due to sunset on 26 January 2015. The proposed Country Fire Authority Regulations 2014 (proposed regulations) will replace the existing regulations with limited amendments. Broadly speaking, the content of the existing and proposed regulations can be divided into two parts. Firstly, the regulations cover a wide range of administrative matters in connection with the operation of the Country Fire Authority (CFA or 'the Authority'). Secondly, the regulations prescribe requirements for the fire danger period; also authorising the CFA to charge the prescribed fee for emergency attendances, and to determine and charge fees in connection with services it provides, which fall outside its core fire prevention and suppression functions. Specifically, the regulations broadly contain: 1. Matters relating to the internal management of CFA employees and members These matters include the registration and functioning of brigades including forestry industry brigades; a range of disciplinary processes, such as the establishment of disciplinary offences and penalties, processes for hearings in relation to alleged offences and appeals against findings. They also include provisions for compensation of volunteers for personal injury and/or property losses incurred while undertaking service as a member of the CFA. 2. Matters relating to fire prevention and suppression functions and the ability to charge fees for CFA services These matters include prescribing fire danger period requirements and the issuing of fire prevention notices, while regulations also authorise fees to be charged for the provision of services, including for fire protection, property protection and loss mitigation, road accident rescue and emergency attendances. In three cases, the regulations authorise the CFA to determine fees administratively. In the fourth case, a specific fee is prescribed in the regulations for emergency attendances. Overview of the regulations Administrative regulations Parts 1 and 2 of the proposed regulations are preliminary in nature, while parts 3 to 6 deal with internal administration of the CFA and administration of forestry industry brigades. Specifically: • Part 3 deals with employee management; • Part 4 deals with forming and administering brigades; and • Part 6 deals with paying compensation to volunteers. The Department of Justice considers that the elements of the regulations that deal with the management of CFA employees and volunteer members do not impose significant costs on the 2 community, except for the Part 5 requirements on forestry plantation owners to form forestry industry brigades. Rather, the regulations relating to these matters simply specific aspects of management practice. For example, Part 3 establishes certain disciplinary offences and specifies processes for investigating possible offences, laying of charges, conducting hearings, levying penalties, and hearing appeals. Part 6 ensures that volunteers who suffer injury or loss to property while working with the CFA receive compensation. These regulatory aspects are intended to contribute to the CFA's efficient operation, and ensure employees and members are treated fairly. Fair treatment of volunteers is important to ensure people continue to be willing to volunteer their time and that the CFA continues to benefit from the ability to deploy these additional resources. Treating employees and members fairly also contributes to organisational efficiency and effectiveness. Therefore, these administrative regulations aim to ensure the operational effectiveness of the organisation and indirectly benefit the community it serves. Such matters are usually dealt with within organisations via internal policies and/or industrial agreements, however the Country Fire Authority Act 1958 (CFA Act) clearly envisages that these matters are to be specified in regulation so requirements are as transparent as possible and consistently applied. Given the legislative basis for these matters to be specified in regulation, failure to include them in the scope of the regulations may inhibit the ability of the CFA to carry out its functions effectively and efficiently. For example, the Act does not go into detail about the governance arrangements for the CFA and unless these matters are prescribed in regulation, there is no certainty as to what constitutes the boundaries of the CFA's legal authority and giving effect to the Act would be difficult. There was no formal consultation on these aspects of the regulations prior to publication of this RIS. However, no significant concerns with the operation of the current regulations have been identified or raised by CFA members, or employees or their representatives. As a consequence, the RIS acknowledges the availability of alternatives to the existing administrative regulations but no formal assessment of alternatives was undertaken. Stakeholder views are invited to assist in identifying any feasible alternatives to improve the operation of the administrativeregulations, as described above. Given the lack of formal consultation on this issue prior to the publication of the RIS, stakeholder views are particularly invited on: • The disciplinaryarrangements established in the current regulations and replicated substantively in Part 3 of the proposed regulations. • Thearrangements established in the current regulations and replicated substantively in Part 4 of the proposed regulations regarding forming and administering brigades. • Thecurrent compensation arrangements, substantively retained in the proposed regulations, and whether any specific improvements can be identified. Forestry industry brigades Part 5 of the proposed regulations deals with the formation of forestry industry brigades. The CFA Act empowers the Authority to designate areas of the country Victoria in which it is appropriate for forestry plantation owners to form forestry industry brigades. The Act also empowers the CFA to 3 require forestry plantation owners to establish brigades and equip them at their own expense. Within this context, the proposed regulations for establishing forestry brigades primarily deals with two matters: 1. Setting out criteria to determine when forestry industry brigades must be formed -the proposed regulations maintain the existing threshold of 500 ha , and where no other firefighting resources are available to adequately protect the plantation holdings; and 2. Prescribing the equipment and staffing requirements on relevant owners in establishing forestry industry brigades. The proposed regulations are unchanged from the existing regulations in this area, except to reflect changes to the CFA Act, made through the Justice Legislation Amendment Act 2014, to enable forestry industry brigades to assist the CFA outside of their own plantation holdings for fire prevention. The legislative changes provide appropriate indemnities for forestry industry brigade members and officers when operating outside of their plantation holdings, in accordance with the CFA Act and the regulations. The amendments to the Act were made after forestry industry brigades requested the changes. As discussed below private and public benefits derive from allowing plantation owners to deploy their resources outside their plantations at the request of the CFA. Setting criteria to establish forestry industry brigades could be considered cost-reducing (in relation to the legislative requirement) because it limits the scope of the use of this power and the costs that can be imposed. Conversely, the regulatory requirement in relation to staff and equipment provision may impose costs on private landholders, but these are expected to be relatively small considering the significant private incentives landowners have to resource an appropriate firefighting capability. No specific consultation was undertaken before publishing this RIS on the appropriateness of the current thresholds for potentially establishing a forestry industry brigade, or in relation to current staff and equipment requirements, though as indicated above, forestry industry brigades have sought the ability to assist the CFA outside of their forestry plantations with fire prevention and suppression activities. Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria (VFBV), was consulted on the legislative changes described above, as the peak body for volunteer members. VFBV indicated that the legislative changes appeared to be a logical reform to the arrangements. Further comments from stakeholders are invited on alternative approaches to Part 5 of the proposed regulations1 to improve the future administration of forestryindustry brigades under the regulations. Stakeholder comment is particularly invited on whether consideration should be given to adopting a different minimum plantation size threshold for formation of a forestry industry brigade and1 if so1 what would be the key justifications forsuch change. Stakeholder comment is also sought on the appropriateness of the proposed regulations related to minimum apparatus (equipment) requirements. Fees regulations The fee setting provisions of the Act enable the CFA to provide a number of services outside its core remit of fire prevention and suppression, on a 'fee for service' basis. These include recovering costs for emergency callouts from false alarms