Happy new year, Victoria.

I hope your 2026 is one full of hope, happiness and good health.

Personally? I am thrilled by a summer that has not yet delivered the harsh conditions we might have anticipated; that we have remained largely unscathed by the threat of bushfires; and that our people have had some chance for downtime as we reset for another busy year.

But I am also cautious about what might lie ahead and want to urge caution and continued vigilance in these ‘lazy, hazy, crazy’ days – these latter months of summer.

How you can prepare

Bushfire management is a shared responsibility.

It is one we (FFMVic) share with other agencies (such as CFA), but it is also one we share with you.

There are some simple steps you can take to help reduce your risk from bushfire.

1. Visit the CFA website to help you get started on a Bushfire Plan so you know what you will do in case of fire.

2. Download and get to know the VicEmergency app – then set up ‘watch zones’ and turn on notifications to be kept up to date wherever you are.

3. Get to know the Australian Fire Danger Ratings System – and work out what fire danger rating will trigger your Bushfire Plan.

4. Plan your travel – head to Explore Outdoors to help you stay safe when visiting state forests.

5. Never leave a campfire unattended – if they are cool to touch, they are safe to leave. And always put your campfires out with water, not soil.

6. Understand our Essential Water Replacement policy. In a bushfire, FFMVic and CFA may take water from private land to help us fight fires. You can request any essential water be replaced. Check out the Public Land Recovery page on the FFMVic website to see our policy and download the form if you need it.

How we are prepared

Of course, I want you to know we are prepared too; that FFMVic works year-round to ensure we are well positioned to protect communities, assets and the environment from the threat of bushfire.

We have more than 1800 personnel on the frontline, including year-round and seasonal firefighters, fire lookout observers and support officers, together with hundreds of emergency and incident management staff, firefighting equipment (including hundreds of ultralight and heavy tankers, and more than 1000 additional plant and trucks, including dozers, tractors, graders, loaders, forklifts and excavators); as well as support from the state’s aerial firefighting fleet, comprising a mix of firebombing aircraft, air supervision and information-gathering aircraft.

Our program of bushfire risk reduction includes planned burns, mowing, mulching, slashing and spraying – ‘fuel management’.

Fuel management reduces the amount of vegetation (e.g. grass, leaves, bark, shrubs and small fallen branches) available to ‘fuel’ a fire, thereby reducing the likely speed or intensity of a bushfire.

These qualities can help fire crews to respond to and put out fires while they are still small – before they can impact on communities, assets, infrastructure and the environment.

But fuel management is not our whole program to reduce risk.

We work closely with our emergency sector partners to reduce risk in many ways.

Chris Hardman AFSM, Chief Fire Officer, Forest Fire Management Victoria

E-bicycles, e-scooters need own category

The Motorcycle Riders Association Australia (MRAA) supports registering e-bicycles and e-scooters in their own category.

E-bicycles and e-scooters were introduced to Australia to make money for overseas companies.

The cost to Australia in damage, injuries and deaths is not acceptable.

Currently, casualties and offences of riders on unregistered e-bicycles and e-scooters capable of 25kph and more, are put in the registered motorcycle and scooter category. Victoria excepted.

Crash/offence data for registered motorcycles and scooters has been inflated with unregistered e-bicycle and e-scooter data.

This has led to distorted and misleading crash/offence data for law abiding, compulsory third party insurance (CTPI) paying motorcyclists.

All road users who pay CTPI premiums are subsidising unregistered e-bicycle and e-scooter users who are involved in crashes.

Hospitals and ambulance services are under-resourced.

E-bicycle and e-scooter riders are putting a significant, unnecessary burden on our emergency response systems.

Damien Codognotto OAM, Motorcycle Riders Association Australia