Public fire refuges a sticky wicket for Royal Commission

Municipal Association of Victoria CEO Rob Spence, told the current enquiry that most had been decommissioned because of onerous legal liability for local government.
He said refuges had become a legal nightmare for local government because the state government had refused to take over substantial potential financial liabilities in the event of a refuge tragedy. That meant local government would become liable for those people sheltering from fires.
Spence said, The risk to councils is that, if an incident occurs and a number of people are killed or injured in one of those facilities, then the council has basically an exposure that we were trying to remove. The capacity of councils and the communities to establish the number of facilities and meet the standards that have been specified, is incredibly onerous.
He said the MAV had suggested legal indemnity for local government in the provision of refuges in 2000, but this was rejected by the State Government on the grounds that the government did not indemnify local councils which it deemed to be service providers.
Spence said. I think it was a pretty mean-spirited response from the state.
The Commission also heard that emergency management plans, including the location of refuges, were not properly communicated to threatened communities.
The hearing into the February 7 Black Saturday bushfires continues.