The Victorian Government has appointed a taskforce to fast-track the investigation into flammable cladding on the state's buildings in the wake of the deadly London tower fire.

The taskforce — co-chaired by former Liberal premier Ted Baillieu and former Labor deputy premier John Thwaites — will audit buildings to ensure they adhere to safety standards.

In 2014, aluminium composite cladding, similar to that found on the Grenfell tower in London that burnt down last month, was found to have contributed to the spread of a huge fire at the Lacrosse building in Melbourne's Docklands.

Since then, the Victorian Building Authority (VBA) has audited more than 200 city properties for the combustible material.

The audit was recently expanded to include Port Melbourne but dozens of other Melbourne suburbs have not been examined.

Mr Thwaites said the State Government was concerned the building codes were not working and action was not happening fast enough.

"What I know is that [Planning] Minister [Richard Wynne] has asked this taskforce to accelerate action. He's concerned that action isn't taking place fast enough," Mr Thwaites told ABC Radio Melbourne.

"The advice from various fire authorities is that there is, right around Australia, widespread non-compliance with the building code.

"There has to be a system of compliance or people aren't going to be safe."

Department moves to reassure public housing tenants

On June 19, Melbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle said 17 buildings in the City of Melbourne identified in the VBA audit remained "non-compliant".

Non-compliant buildings can still be considered safe to live in if safety measures such as automatic sprinklers are put in place, according to the VBA.

Cladding contributed to a massive blaze at the Lacrosse building in Melbourne's Docklands. ( Audience submitted: Wade Savage )

The Senate's economic committee is carrying out its own investigation into the use of cladding material in Australia, which will be headed by Labor senator Chris Ketter.

The Department of Health and Human Service (DHHS) will conduct more fire safety audits on high-rise public housing buildings.

In a letter seen by the ABC, residents in high-rise housing estates were assured the buildings met "relevant fire safety measures" and the buildings were built differently to the Grenfell Tower.

However, the DHHS said it would conduct further fire safety audits and review its fire management practices.

Residents concerned about lack of sprinklers, exits

John Lowndes and Felice Vaiani are worried about fire safety at Park Towers. ( ABC News: Peter Drought )

Earlier this year, a fire at the Park Towers high rise in South Melbourne led to three floors being evacuated.

Damage inside the Park Towers high rise in South Melbourne after a fire this year. ( Supplied: John Lowndes )

A similar fire also led to mass evacuations at a Fitzroy public housing high rise.

President of the Park Towers tenant management John Lowndes said recent events had left residents very anxious, as there were no sprinklers or smoke alarms in the common areas of the building, and there was a lack of fire doors on two fire escapes.

"The fire was in a common area on the 24th floor and there are no detectors there," he said.

"It was a severe fire and we were told we were lucky no-one died. It's really simple stuff, it can be made even safer."

Resident Felice Vaiani has cerebral palsy and worries how she would get out of the building in the event of a big fire.

"They don't have a layout of [people's] mobility needs in each flat. They won't know who needs help if a big fire happens," she said.

The DHHS has informed residents to stay in their units, which do have fitted sprinklers, if there is a fire.