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Between September 2010 and March 2011 Victoria experienced severe flooding, affecting 70 of the 79 Victorian local governments and resulting in relief and recovery costs estimated to total $971 million. This report finds that the governance response model chosen resulted in a fragmented approach to relief and recovery creating a lack of consistent flood recovery projects and whole-of-government flood response evaluation.
Summary:
The audit assessed the effectiveness and efficiency of the state’s relief and recovery arrangements in the aftermath of the 2010-11 floods.The audit found a siloed approach and the governance model chosen by the government resulted in a fragmented approach to relief and recovery. This approach saw 45 separate programs, offered by the nine fund-holding departments, creating confusion in communities and constraints on the oversight committee’s ability to lead intervene and change what departments were doing.
There was a lack of consistent flood recovery project and whole-of-government flood response evaluation.
The 15 relief and recovery programs examined in the audit provided adequate coverage of social, economic and environmental needs. Relationships and shared knowledge at a local government level played a very powerful role in determining success of flood relief and recovery in affected communities.
