Fire services’ $1bn vehicle shortfall

By the Editorial Team · Thursday, October 15, 2026

Victoria’s fire services face a funding gap of over $1 billion for firefighting vehicle replacements and upgrades due to government-imposed budget cuts, leading to significant maintenance shortfalls and safety risks across emergency fleets. Despite these challenges, the government has pledged to invest in 150 new fire trucks and accepted audit recommendations to improve fleet management and maintenance practices.

Victoria’s fire services face a critical shortfall of more than $1 billion needed to replace and upgrade firefighting vehicles, according to a recent audit that revealed significant funding cuts and maintenance challenges across the state’s emergency fleets.

The audit, conducted by Auditor-General Andrew Greaves and presented to parliament on Wednesday, found that the Country Fire Authority (CFA) and Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) had substantially reduced their budget requests following directives from the state government to limit funding bids. Despite identifying growing risks related to vehicle reliability and firefighter safety, the agencies were only allocated about one quarter of the $1.5 billion estimated as necessary between 2024-25 and 2033-34 to address fleet renewal.

FRV’s initial funding proposals for new trucks in the 2024-25 and 2025-26 budgets were slashed by approximately 90 per cent, from $158.9 million to $14.1 million and from $167.5 million to $19.3 million, respectively. In 2026-27, FRV opted not to submit a full funding request for the $222.5 million it had identified, instead putting forward a reduced bid of $20.7 million focused on the most critical vehicle replacements. Overall, the fire services received just 12.1 per cent of their estimated replacement and upgrade needs for the three-year period, rising to only about 25 per cent when including capital funding and grants.

The audit highlighted pressing safety concerns, notably within the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA), which operates fire trucks including overloaded G-Wagen vehicles and Unimogs with cracked structural frames. These defects forced the department to remove 54.4 per cent of its fleet from service ahead of the 2025-26 fire season. Although a repair program restored enough capacity to meet statewide coverage requirements by January, ongoing cracking revealed the repairs were only certified for temporary summer use.

Maintenance standards were found lacking across all agencies. Since 2021, FRV had completed 67.9 per cent of scheduled maintenance tasks, DEECA 85.5 per cent, and CFA 94.9 per cent. Furthermore, only 58.2 per cent of maintenance work across these services was conducted on time.

Premier Ben Carroll acknowledged the audit’s findings, saying he had been briefed on the report shortly before its tabling and emphasized the government’s commitment to improving the firefighting fleet. The premier recently announced an investment in 150 new fire trucks for CFA and FRV, noting that more than 36 trucks were already in production and additional vehicles were being delivered weekly.

Opposition Leader Jess Wilson criticised the government’s handling of fire service funding, asserting that volunteer and professional firefighters had long been underfunded.

The agencies involved have accepted the audit’s six recommendations, which include enhancing maintenance processes, improving fleet management planning, and providing clearer advice to government on funding requirements and associated risks to firefighter safety.

This article was reported by synthesizing coverage from multiple independent news outlets to present a balanced, unbiased account. Read about our editorial standards. Spotted an error? Let us know.