The Victorian Auditor-General's office released its report, "Improving Victoria's Air Quality" in March last year. The 93-page study heavily criticised EPA.
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It said: “Contrary to the intent of its 2001 Ambient Air Quality NEPM Monitoring Plan Victoria (Monitoring Plan), EPA has failed to provide a better understanding of air quality outside the Port Phillip and Latrobe Valley regions.
“It has not updated nor adjusted the plan over the last 17 years to reflect the changing risk profiles that accompany both considerable population growth and changes in industrial activities across the state.”
The report also highlighted EPA’s “inaccurate assessments”, which overstated air quality – although it said mistakes were infrequent.
It included recommendations for EPA to update its knowledge of Victoria's air quality, improve its analysis and produce easily accessible annual reports.
The Victorian Government then began consulting on its new clean air strategy in May 2018 and held a summit in August. The release of a Victorian Air Quality Strategy is due later this year.
