The Victorian Auditor-General has issued a report on the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action’s (DEECA) (formerly the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning) and the Environment Protection Authority Victoria’s (EPA) publicly available contaminated land data and whether it was accurate, current and fit for purpose.
According to Auditor-General, Andrew Greaves, following a 2016 inquiry, the Government committed to developing a public database of potentially contaminated sites, and in response, DEECA launched Victoria Unearthed (VU) in partnership with EPA in 2019.
In his report, the Auditor General concluded that VU fulfilled the inquiry’s recommendation to create a Statewide database of potentially contaminated sites.
However, he also concluded VU needs to meet its full potential to provide accurate, current and fit-for-purpose data about contaminated land.
Mr Greaves said the Office made two recommendations to DEECA and one to EPA.
“We made two recommendations to the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action and one recommendation to the Environment Protection Authority Victoria about evaluating Victoria Unearthed and communicating about its data quality,” said Auditor General Greaves.
“The relevant agencies have accepted these recommendations,” he said.
The Office said contaminated land could significantly affect the health and environment of the community and the Government and Victorians need to know where it is so they can plan how to use and develop land management and address contamination risks.
Aspect to the Auditor-General’s full report can be found at this PS News link.
