Flags on government buildings flew at half-mast and a minute's silence was also observed in government offices on the third anniversary of the worst natural disaster in Australia's history.

''Many people and many communities continue to suffer,'' Premier Ted Baillieu said in Parliament yesterday.

''We must never forget. We must never let go. We must be there to support these communities.''

Deputy Premier Peter Ryan recalled receiving reports at his home in Gippsland about the devastation the fires were wreaking across the state.

''I suppose the most awful of them was that late that evening I did receive a call to the effect that, as the expression was used, Marysville was gone,'' Mr Ryan said.

''It was a terrible, terrible day, a terrible day, a shocking chapter in the history of Victoria.''