Breaking: Bushfire inquiry delivers report into devastating 2026 Victorian fires

Bushfire inquiry delivers report into devastating 2026 Victorian summer fires Tue 28 Jul 2026 at 2:42pm , updatedTue 28 Jul 2026 at 2:47pm In short: A Legislative Council Environment and Planning Committee report into the devastating 2026 Victorian bushfires has been tabled in parliament. The committee had been looking into a number of issues surrounding the summer fires that burned through 440,000 hectares across the state. What's next? The inquiry made 80 recommendations, and the government will now have six months to respond. A Victorian parliament committee looking into the 2026 Victorian summer fires has tabled its report, with 80 recommendations. Around 440,000 hectares was burned by the January fires, including more than 130,000 hectares in the Longwood fire, and more than 120,000 hectares in the Walwa fire. The report confirmed 451 homes were lost, along with 1,110 other outbuildings, and 45,000 livestock deaths. Seventy-four homes were also lost in the fire that quickly swept through the central Victorian town of Harcourt. The report, compiled by the Legislative Council Environment and Planning Committee, looked into a number of issues relating to the cause of the fires, and emergency services response. Some of the terms of reference for the committee included considering "preparation and planning by government" and other agencies and the community, "funding, equipment and appliances" for firefighters, "resilience of critical services and infrastructure", and the "prevalence of misinformation" ahead of the fire season. The inquiry was also tasked with reviewing findings from "previous inquiries, reports and Royal Commissions" and looking at what progress had been made. A total of 480 submissions were made to the inquiry, which also held a number of public hearings throughout the state. 'Systemic shortcomings' The report found that operational CFA volunteers had declined by 26 per cent over a decade and recommended the Emergency Management Commissioner commission an external review into declining volunteer numbers. It also highlighted "systemic shortcomings" with "fuel management, emergency communications, animal welfare response, infrastructure resilience, volunteer support, recovery coordination and community recovery". The committee also called for the government to commit to an "accelerated replacement of all CFA single‑cab frontline firefighting tankers", finding that 802 single-cab tankers were still operational and 650 of those tankers carried members in rear seating that exposed them to the elements. Another key finding was that some residents who stayed to defend their properties had become ineligible for government assistance. The report also found that the process for people accessing relief payments was "complex and administratively burdensome" and called on the government to review the support packages and eligibility requirements for disaster payments. The committee heard that residents who had lost their properties had become separated from their communities, and found there were limited accommodation options for those people to remain near their homes. The report recommended the government provide temporary modular housing to support those still recovering from the fires and provide that accommodation until their homes were rebuilt. The VicEmergency app was found to be "highly effective" as a mass communication tool, and the committee suggested it may have contributed to the low fatality numbers from the fires. However, the committee also found that inconsistencies in the app's messaging, along with usability issues, "contributed to community confusion", and called on Emergency Management Victoria to prioritise updates. The Victorian government now has six months to respond to the report. Loading