Lawyers assisting Victoria’s Black Saturday inquiry have added their voice to growing calls for the fire services levy (FSL) to be abolished.

Appearing before the Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission on Friday, counsel assisting the inquiry Lisa Nichols said the FSL is inequitable and lacks transparency, and urged the commission to adopt a property-based funding system.

She says that with at least 75% of fire services funding provided by those who take out property and contents insurance, the funding burden is “disproportionately shared” and imposes “an unreasonable tax burden on householders”.

With both insurers and the community benefiting from fire services, Ms Nichols argued the costs of providing these services should be shared evenly among the community benefiting from them.

Ms Nichols says the FSL operates as “an indirect collection of a tax by the private sector”, with a lack of accountability for the amount collected and how it is dealt with by insurance companies.

“On the evidence and on the basis of prior enquiries, we submit that the commission should recommend a move to a property-based model,” she said.

Evidence previously given to the commission has highlighted the success of property-based levies in WA and SA in improving resources and reducing premiums.