When it comes to bushfire recovery, the border between Victoria and NSW does not exist.
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Bushfire Recovery Victoria chief executive Lee Miezis gave evidence on Friday at the National Natural Disaster Arrangements Royal Commission, saying cross-border towns were not separated during community support.
He said in establishing a community recovery committee in the Upper Murray, people at Walwa were very clear that Jingelic should also be included.
"Whilst I know and understand in the initial relief there was some barriers that were experienced, we've worked very quickly ... to make sure that we've got community at the centre of what we're doing, rather than saying 'sorry, Walwa, we know your major service centre might be Jingellic but, hey, we can't help you there', he said.
"It's just a practical approach that says how do we best work with NSW to meet the needs of those communities."
We've worked very quickly to make sure that we've got community at the centre of what we're doing.
- Bushfire Recovery Victoria chief executive Lee Miezis
Bushfire Recovery Victoria has established community recovery hubs in the Upper Murray and Alpine areas.
Mr Miezis said one of the key improvements he would like to see was allowing more local workers to be involved in the clean up process.
Only 52 per cent of those employed were from areas where the bushfires occurred because there were challenges in getting the Class A licence, required due to asbestos concerns.
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"In regional areas, there are often a small number of contractors that have those Class A classifications - we would have liked to have had more local content," Mr Miezis said.
"We will continue to work with WorkSafe as the regulator on some of those changes we might be able to make - changes to that system that don't compromise safety, recognising that there is asbestos at 30 of these sites, but at the same time we are able to better meet our objectives for maximising local employment opportunities."
Commissioner Andrew Macintosh also asked why it had taken an extra three months for council areas not directly affected by the fires, including Indigo and Wangaratta, to be made eligible for the $10,000 small business bushfire support grant.
"Pragmatically, we wanted to make sure that the system was working and, in fact, that the program was meeting the need before we looked at expansion," Mr Miezis said.