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Methodology

This chapter elaborates on the scope of the Fire Services Implementation Monitor’s Year 4 monitoring activities and the approach to assessing progress.

Scope of FSIM’s Year Four monitoring activities

FSIM reports on actions taken by CFA, FRV, DJCS and the FRB from 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024 to deliver against the revised actions and deliverables of the Year 2-5 Implementation Plan. The Year 2-5 Implementation Plan was revised as part of a DJCS-led review, which received in-principle support in early 2024 and formal Ministerial approval in July 2024.

The DJCS review of the Year 2-5 Implementation Plan (May 2023 update) followed FSIM’s recommendation in its Year 3 annual report that the plan be reviewed to reflect achievable timeframes and leverage learnings from the last three years of reform activity.

The review was conducted in consultation with CFA, FRV and the FRB, with agencies proposing varying degrees of changes to the actions. Notable changes include revisions to:

  • completion dates to be pragmatic and achievable
  • action descriptors and / or action objectives to better align with reform objectives
  • the lead agency for actions that require greater cross-agency collaboration (e.g. actions 3.8 and 5.1)
  • action deliverables to better align with the intent of the revised action descriptor and objectives.

The Minister for Emergency Services approved this change request in July 2024. The July 2024 update of the Year 2-5 Implementation Plan provides the basis for FSIM’s monitoring and assessment activities in this Year 4 report. Table 1 outlines the changes made to the actions in the Year 2-5 Implementation Plan as part of this change request.

FSIM notes that the updated Year 2-5 Implementation Plan provides a revised pathway for agencies to deliver joint actions (e.g. actions 3.8, 3.9 and 5.1). The review also resulted in several actions moving to business-as-usual and therefore outside FSIM’s scope to monitor for the purpose of this year’s report. FSIM will undertake effectiveness assessments of some of these completed actions in Year 5 to examine implementation progress and early outcomes.

Further, in Year 4, FSIM paused its function to monitor the fire services reform’s impact on the financial sustainability of FRV and CFA in line with section 131(1)(a)(iii) of the FRV Act. This was following advice received from the Minister in March 2024 that DJCS has portfolio responsibility for working with CFA and FRV in respect to both agencies’ financial sustainability and that the ongoing responsibility for this work falls outside the scope for this reform.

FSIM’s Year 4 annual report therefore provides an update on actions 5.7 and 5.8 in the Year 2-5 Implementation Plan to formally close off reporting on financial sustainability. Financial sustainability will not be a focus in future reporting by FSIM.

FSIM’s approach to monitoring and assessing progress

FSIM’s assessment of agencies’ progress in delivering relevant actions was informed by:

  • meetings with key stakeholders in CFA, FRV, DJCS, the Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria (VFBV), Victoria’s Emergency Management Commissioner and the United Firefighters’ Union (UFU)
  • observations made in governance meetings, including at weekly CFA and FRV Heads of Agency (HoA) meetings and monthly Fire Services Reform Strategic Executive Committee (FSR SEC) meetings
  • a thorough and critical review of information and evidence provided by agencies demonstrating progress towards delivering a relevant action.

FSIM has triangulated evidence from these sources to develop a comprehensive understanding of agencies’ progress against relevant actions and to ensure FSIM’s assessment of progress is based on accurate and reliable information. FSIM also engaged with agencies to provide explanations for delays in relevant actions and mitigation strategies in place to address these delays.

Table 1: Comparison table for actions updated as part of the July 2024 change request

Updated

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