Mt Macedon will again be a hub for emergency services training when a remodelled Victorian Emergency Management Institute opens its doors.
Emergency services minister James Merlino toured the institute site on Saturday – the home of the former Australian Emergency Management Institute, which was closed by the Abbott government in 2014 despite calls to keep it open, and a backlash over job losses.
The training centre is set on 2.6 hectares and includes accommodation and training facilities for about 60 people, a large theatre with tiered seating, and a simulation centre.
The site will be reborn as Victoria’s emergency management training centre with an overhaul of the accommodation facilities, the installation of new technology, and specific safety upgrades.
Mr Merlino said the decision to close the national training facility at Mount Macedon had hit the community hard.
“We’re providing a safe, state-of-the-art training facility for our emergency services staff and volunteers.
“We’re proud to step in and take over the site, to boost local jobs and the economy.”
He said the new institute will also fill the gap left by the closure of the contaminated Fiskville CFA training campus.
The state government permanently closed the Fiskville site last year following the detection of cancer-causing chemicals that put firefighters’ health, and lives, at risk.
Macedon MP Mary-Anne Thomas said the move to reopen the institute was a “big win for the Mount Macedon community”.
“Emergency services training is back where it belongs – on Mount Macedon.”
“It will build leadership capabilities across our emergency services, driving change and encouraging diversity in the sector, through education and training,” Ms Thomas said.
Work on the upgrades will start this year, with emergency management training due to start early next year.
