Fire services reform program
The Victorian Government released its Year One Fire Services Reform Implementation Plan in October 2020 that set out 54 actions to support the implementation of the new fire services model. The Fire Services Implementation Monitor Annual Report 2020-21 (FSIM Annual Report) provides an assessment of the first eight months of implementation progress of Victoria’s fire services reforms against activities included in this plan.
The Year One Plan concluded in October 2021 and the Year Two to Five Fire Services Reform Implementation Plan (Year Two to Five Plan) came into effect in November 2021. The Year Two to Five Plan transitions the focus of the reform from initiation towards strategic and future focused actions while continuing to operationalise and embed reform priorities. FSIM has a legislated role to monitor progress and effectiveness of agencies in delivering against actions outlined in this Year Two to Five Plan and to measure progress towards reform outcomes.
Year Two to Five Outcomes Frameworks
CFA and FRV published their respective Year Two Outcomes Frameworks1 in October 2021 as an action arising from the Year One Plan. As noted in the Year Two to Five Plan, strong mechanisms to monitor and measure performance against the outcomes of the reform are critical. Effective monitoring holds agencies to account to ensure their service delivery priorities align with agreed outcomes. The agencies’ outcomes frameworks will continue to mature and are a critical tool to measure agency progress towards reform outcomes and operational performance.
Data sets to support indicators under the Year Two Outcomes Frameworks have not yet been finalised by the agencies. As an interim approach, CFA and FRV have reported data against Year One Outcomes Framework indicators for this FY 2021-22 Q1 quarterly report while they finalise the data that supports the year two indicators.
FSIM anticipates that both CFA and FRV will report against their respective Year Two Outcomes Framework indicators in Q2. Moving to reporting against the Year Two Outcomes Frameworks is a critical step to enable effective monitoring of fire service performance over the longer term.
Where particular outcomes or trends from the Year One Outcomes Frameworks have raised concerns for FSIM and are not included in the Year Two Outcomes Frameworks, FSIM may request agencies to provide additional information or data relating to year one indicators in future reports.
1 Access CFA’s Year Two Outcomes Framework. Access FRV’s Year Two Outcomes Framework.
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