The Lacrosse building in Melbourne's Docklands was hit by fire in 2014. Credit:Scott Barbour Mr Baillieu, an architect, said the cladding threat was a community safety matter that authorities needed to get a handle on as quickly as possible. "As we have seen in London and as we saw with Lacrosse [tower in Docklands], these are really important issues," he said. In addition to identifying dangerous cladding, the taskforce will oversee any rectification work and make recommendations about how to improve industry compliance with building standards. Its establishment follows warnings that combustible panels similar to those installed on London's Grenfell Tower are widely used across the country, and that people could be living in Melbourne apartment towers unaware the buildings are constructed with combustible cladding.

The burnt Grenfell Tower in London. Credit:Frank Augstein The Victorian Building Authority has already assessed about 260 inner-city buildings as part of a two-year audit sparked by the Lacrosse fire in 2014. But the process has been moving much more slowly than work by British officials. In less than a month after 80 people were killed in the Grenfell Tower blaze, the British government has tested 149 buildings, which all failed safety tests. Former premier Ted Baillieu. Credit:Louie Douvis Former planning minister John Thwaites, now chairman of the Australian Building Codes Board, said the taskforce would urgently consider if it could speed up cladding identification and testing in Victoria.

"The minister has set the taskforce up because he wants us to accelerate action," Professor Thwaites said. "[But] the sheer number of buildings involved means that any testing is going to be a major challenge, to have enough people with expertise etc". Professor Thwaites said there could be thousands of Australian buildings with flammable cladding, and others with different serious fire safety flaws, such as insufficient fire separation. "Many of the buildings will be able to be rectified and made safe, but others may require more stringent actions," he said. The taskforce could also re-examine the danger posed by the Lacrosse building in Docklands, which has been declared safe by the City of Melbourne's building surveyor for hundreds of residents, despite warnings from numerous experts.

Former Metropolitan Fire Brigade chief officer Peter Rau said he would not allow his family to live in the building, which was damaged by fire in 2014 and is still fitted with flammable cladding, because "it's just too big a risk in its current state". The taskforce's findings could eventually lead to prosecutions, although without any special powers, any action would have to be taken using existing laws and authorities. Government agencies including the Victorian Building Authority, Metropolitan Fire Brigade and Emergency Management Victoria will be represented on the taskforce, which meets for the first time this week. The announcement has been welcomed by a number of industry groups, including the CFMEU and the Fire Protection Association Australia. The association's chief executive, Scott Williams, said the government needed to consider paying for removal of flammable cladding if apartment owners could not afford repair bills, likely to be tens of thousands of dollars each.

"Otherwise we are accepting that buildings are going to be continued to be occupied while being unsafe," Mr Williams said. Planning Minister Richard Wynne said the government was taking swift and decisive action "to address the critical issue of cladding and fire safety. "There's nothing more important than public safety, and for people to have confidence that Victoria's buildings are constructed properly."