Inquiry Search
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
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REC324-4304 | 1 - Land-use and building regs | Landholders can access information on previous disasters: That, to ensure there is a single source of ground truth to prepare for and respond to emergencies, and to provide people with a better understanding of their individual property and community risk exposure, an online visualisation tool be developed to display, for all land parcels (land titles) in NSW, the extent of known disasters that have affected each piece of land in NSW in the past. This information should be made available through the Planning Portal and, particularly in light of climate change, the data involved should be revised and updated at least every two years and after each major natural disaster. |
REC324-4315 | 36 - Volunteers | The Community First Responders Program: That, to better coordinate community efforts to save life and property during a disaster, Government create a ‘Community First Responders Program’, funding appropriate community equipment and training, particularly in high-risk catchments along the east coast of NSW. This training would be delivered by combat and/or other appropriate government agencies. This program could support and empower community led initiatives such as disaster response, evacuation centres and the provision of services such as psychological first aid. |
REC324-4296 | 1 - Land-use and building regs | Caravan parks and manufactured home estates: That, to ensure that permanent residents of caravan parks and mobile housing estates are protected from flood, Government: • prohibit permanent residency in caravan parks and mobile housing estates situated below the risk-based flood planning level. Caravan parks for holiday makers could still be on the floodplain with the provision that, if a flood is imminent, they need to be evacuated • address the issues raised in the 2015 Discussion Paper (Improving the regulation of manufactured homes, caravan parks, manufactured home estates and camping grounds). |
REC324-4299 | 1 - Land-use and building regs | Relocating communities most at risk with good homes and amenities: That, to empower vulnerable people and communities to relocate, Government through the NSWRA: |
REC324-4300 | 1 - Land-use and building regs | Simplify the planning system disaster provisions: That, to simplify and improve the state planning processes especially when anticipating and recovering from a disaster, Government: |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
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REC297-1252 | 13 - Mapping and data quality | That SES uploads current flood studies and plans to the Common Operating Platform as a flood plan layer and that councils, subject to resolving licence restrictions, arrange to have appropriate access. |
REC297-1263 | 13 - Mapping and data quality | Subject to funding, that the Flood Warning Consultative Committee investigates the hydrological matters and advice received during this Review and detailed in this Report in Sections 4.1.9 and 4.1.11. |
REC297-1272 | 1 - Land-use and building regs | That, to provide greater clarity for building development, design and approval within tolerable risk levels, the Tasmanian Planning Scheme, including a relevant Riverine Flood Hazard Code, is finalised and approved as soon as practicable. |
REC297-1262 | 13 - Mapping and data quality | That the Flood Warning Consultative Committee considers the merits of delineating the Ouse River as a separate catchment from the Derwent River Basin. |
REC297-1271 | 1 - Land-use and building regs | That the organisations responsible for construction, maintenance and ownership of bridges review their design guidelines and, if necessary, update them to specifically include consideration of debris and flood impacts on bridge design. A review of existing bridges by the responsible organisations could also be undertaken to highlight any potential issues. |
REC297-1255 | 24 - Govt responsibility | That Government establishes a central flood policy unit responsible for coordinating flood policy across all government agencies, including Government Businesses, and ensures that such a unit has a whole-of-government and community focus. |
REC297-1270 | 24 - Govt responsibility | That, in the event of a major emergency such as the June floods, a government department (DPAC or State Growth) be appointed to coordinate infrastructure repair, to the extent that funding allows, for the whole state. Individual entities will still have the right and responsibility to repair and maintain their own assets, but some central oversight and coordination is, in our view, likely to be beneficial. |
REC297-1254 | 13 - Mapping and data quality | That Government: |
REC297-1268 | 24 - Govt responsibility | That DPAC becomes the Management Authority for recovery in Tasmania. |
REC297-1253 | 13 - Mapping and data quality | That agencies undertaking flood studies adopt a standardised approach, based on Australia Handbook 7, maintain public ownership of underlying data sets to support future modelling, and ensure open access to these studies. |
REC297-1265 | 13 - Mapping and data quality | That BoM and the Flood Warning Consultative Committee, in consultation with gauge owners, review flood gauges and develop a program to update data used to support hydrologic modelling. This should include reviewing gauge maintenance before and after floods. |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
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REC295-1288 | 24 - Govt responsibility | That Attorney General’s Department explore options to overcome fatigue and welfare issues of SAGRN staff associated with emergency events of extended duration. |
REC295-1312 | 24 - Govt responsibility | That the Department of Education and Child Development be included as a member of State Emergency Management Council and represented in the State Emergency Centre. |
REC295-1308 | 24 - Govt responsibility | That the Department of the Premier and Cabinet revise the ministerial documents relating to emergency management. |
REC295-1326 | 14 - Incident Mgt Teams | Establish a State-wide resourcing capability to support incident management teams, regional coordination centres, zone emergency centres, relief centres, recovery centres and State control centres. some of the features of such a capability should include: a) multi-agency, cross-government, State-wide pool of incident management and emergency management personnel building on the State incident management team concept currently facilitated by the Country Fire Service, and expanded to include all hazards, multiagency teams with a roster that provides year-round coverage b) a system that enables staff and volunteers from any agency to identify their availability for upcoming shifts c) a rostering system that enables one or more incident management teams, staging areas, regional coordination centres, State control centres and relief centres to develop, maintain and distribute rosters and structure charts in a more coordinated manner d) identifying areas of expertise for key incident and emergency management functions (e.g. public information, alerts and warning, media liaison, logistics and resource management) that would benefit from a coordinated and resource pooling approach and take steps to implement (consider the Mapping Functional Support Group model as a potential service delivery model). |
REC295-1294 | 13 - Mapping and data quality | That consideration and resources be given to support the implementation of recommendations in the report prepared on behalf of Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources (Australian Water Environments, 2016), for flood warning classification of stream gauges and other locations. |
REC295-1319 | 24 - Govt responsibility | That a single emergency service multi-agency control centre be established with sufficient capacity and capability to deal with all types of emergency incidents in SA. Also consider Police and State Emergency Centre. |
REC295-1293 | 13 - Mapping and data quality | That the Flood Reform Task Group identify an appropriate mechanism for stakeholder agencies (including the State Emergency Service, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Bureau of Meteorology and SA Water, as a minimum) to share data and information and develop plans and strategies for management of water levels in reservoirs and spill management during floods in South Australian water catchments |
REC295-1318 | 24 - Govt responsibility | That the recommendation made following the Pinery bushfire, ‘to review control facilities at State, region and incident level’, be expanded to include all emergency services facilities that will be utilised for major incidents other than bushfire e.g. flood and earthquake and to also be extended into metropolitan areas, and implemented. |
REC295-1291 | 24 - Govt responsibility | That the Flood Reform Task Group, as proposed by the Department |
REC295-1316 | 24 - Govt responsibility | That the position of Deputy Director, Office for Digital Government is dedicated to the Office for Digital Government; and that people throughout DPC are identified and trained to perform appropriate roles within the State Crisis Centre |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
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REC256-1570 | 1 - Land-use and building regs | All governments should put in place best-practice institutional and governance arrangements for the provision of public infrastructure, including road infrastructure. These should include: |
REC256-1561 | 24 - Govt responsibility | State and territory governments should be required to report on the following accountability requirements: |
REC256-1568 | 24 - Govt responsibility | State governments, where they have not already done so, should provide local governments with statutory protection from liability for releasing natural hazard information and making changes to local planning schemes where such actions have been taken ‘in good faith’ and in accordance with state planning policy and legislation. |
REC256-1567 | 24 - Govt responsibility | State and territory governments should: |
REC256-1566 | 24 - Govt responsibility | State and territory governments should prioritise and accelerate implementation of the Enhancing Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment Roadmap, including reviewing the regulatory components of vendor disclosure statements. The Land Use Planning and Building Codes Taskforce should be tasked to identify and consider options for regular, low-cost dissemination of hazard information to households by governments and insurers. |
REC256-1575 | 24 - Govt responsibility | State and territory governments should develop benchmark prices for the reconstruction of essential public assets and submit these to the Australian Government for approval within one year. In developing these prices, they should consult with local governments and relevant experts, and draw on asset management plans. The prices should be reviewed and updated over time. |
REC256-1565 | 13 - Mapping and data quality | Governments should task the Australia–New Zealand Emergency Management Committee with leading the development of guidelines for the collection and dissemination of natural hazard mapping, modelling and metadata. Guidelines should be developed for all hazards that need to be modelled and mapped at the local/regional level and where consistency across regions is desirable. |
REC256-1571 | 24 - Govt responsibility | State and territory taxes and levies on general insurance should be phased out and replaced with less distortionary taxes. |
REC256-1563 | 13 - Mapping and data quality | Governments at all levels should make new and currently held natural hazard data publicly available in accordance with open public sector information principles. When collecting new natural hazard data or undertaking modelling, all levels of government should: |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
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REC244-2621 | 36 - Volunteers | Greater attention needs to be given to the recruitment and retention of volunteers in alignment with the National Emergency Management Volunteer Action Plan. |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
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REC239-2679 | 24 - Govt responsibility | To remove the Queensland Ambulance Service and Queensland Corrective Services from the Department of Community Safety—we recommend that it be renamed the Department of Fire and Emergency Services and be led by a Commissioner. |
REC239-2746 | 36 - Volunteers | That volunteers should be engaged to assist in determining what constitutes ‘fit for task’ and how that should be implemented. |
REC239-2700 | 24 - Govt responsibility | That the position of Inspector General Emergency Management (in addition to some of the responsibilities of the chief executive officer under the current Disaster Management Act 2003) will: |
REC239-2721 | 24 - Govt responsibility | That the Chief Executive Officer Portfolio Business collaborate with the two portfolio Commissioners to: |
REC239-2655 | 24 - Govt responsibility | That the Queensland Ambulance Service is transferred to Queensland Health by a machinery-of-Government change as soon as is practicable and that the Commissioner report directly to the Director General Queensland Health. |
REC239-2678 | 24 - Govt responsibility | That probation and parole should continue to work together with the Queensland Police Service to reduce the risk of reoffending and reduce crime. |
REC239-2739 | 36 - Volunteers | That the Queensland Police Service and the Department of Community Safety develop intuitive, easily accessible systems that reduce the administrative burden on volunteers and their time. Greater exploitation of technology to deliver intuitive, simple and practical systems is required. |
REC239-2699 | 24 - Govt responsibility | That the Minister establish a public sector office to be headed by an Inspector General of Emergency Management. The Inspector General of Emergency Management will be responsible for most of the functions listed under part 16A of the current Disaster Management Act 2003. |
REC239-2712 | 24 - Govt responsibility | That Emergency Management Queensland be integrated with the current Queensland Fire and Rescue to become the Department of Fire and Emergency Services. |
REC239-2662 | 24 - Govt responsibility | That responsibility for prisoner transport and non-managerial roles within the larger watch-houses is transferred to Queensland Corrective Service. |
REC239-2738 | 36 - Volunteers | That the current employer and family recognition practices be reviewed with a view to meet the needs of volunteers, their families and their employers. |
REC239-2687 | 24 - Govt responsibility | That funding, staffing and responsibility associated with administration of the NDRP be transferred from Emergency Management Queensland to the Department of Local Government, Community Recovery and Resilience. |
REC239-2782 | 24 - Govt responsibility | That transparency of the Ministerial direction be achieved through publishing and monitoring for effectiveness. |
REC239-2710 | 13 - Mapping and data quality | That all agencies participating in these activities should, as far as legally possible, share data sets whether or not the relevance is immediately obvious. |
REC239-2736 | 36 - Volunteers | That training for volunteers be reviewed to determine which courses require national standardisation. Organisational training should then address the remaining training needs. The review should take into account the risk exposure to government agencies if changes are to be made. |
REC239-2661 | 24 - Govt responsibility | That Queensland Corrective Service remains a separate program within the Department of Justice and Attorney-General so that while opportunities for improved services and efficacy can be realised, there is a clear separation from the youth justice services. |
REC239-2686 | 24 - Govt responsibility | That primacy of control should rest with the State Disaster Coordinator. This position should, by default, be the Deputy Commissioner, Regional Operations, Queensland Police Service. |
REC239-2759 | 24 - Govt responsibility | That the new Chief Executive Officer Portfolio Business be accountable for delivering the reformed Communications Centre arrangement by the 2017–18 financial year in time for the Commonwealth Games of 2018. |
REC239-2708 | 24 - Govt responsibility | That the role of the Inspector General Emergency Management not extend to conducting reviews on behalf of agencies and that the role consider the effectiveness of all agencies and how their work contributes to a whole of Government response. |
REC239-2732 | 24 - Govt responsibility | There be a formation of an Office of Portfolio Business, providing support and governance across a range of corporate functions, which are essential to the delivery of frontline services. The Review team considers that the functions of the Operations Business and Strategy Directorate should become part of that Office and that any exception should be carefully considered by those charged with implementation of approved recommendations. |
REC239-2660 | 24 - Govt responsibility | That Queensland Corrective Services be transferred to the Department of Justice and Attorney-General by a machinery-of-Government change as soon as is practicable. |
REC239-2685 | 24 - Govt responsibility | That primacy of control for disaster operations remains with the Queensland Police Service and be reinforced. |
REC239-2749 | 24 - Govt responsibility | That the Prostitution Licensing Authority be moved to the Department of Justice and Attorney General Office of Fair Trading. |
REC239-2701 | 24 - Govt responsibility | That the Inspector General Emergency Management provide continuing advice to Government on the level of interoperability in disaster management arrangements, as well as the level of interoperability being achieved within the new portfolio. |
REC239-2723 | 1 - Land-use and building regs | That the Queensland Fire and Rescue Service examine alternative contractual arrangements with building owners which would reduce the need for physical attendance at alarm activations. |
REC239-2657 | 24 - Govt responsibility | That negotiation takes place between Queensland Health and the Queensland Ambulance Service to determine the broad governance requirements of any such arrangements. |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
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REC237-0825 | 1 - Land-use and building regs | That the NSW Rural Fire Service hold discussions with the Department of Planning and Infrastructure and Local Government NSW on ways to improve compliance with development consents under section 76A of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979. |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
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REC207-2885 | 13 - Mapping and data quality | Increased automation and outsourcing of observations |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
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REC205-1899 | 24 - Govt responsibility | Local governments’ uncertainty about their legal liability is a barrier to effective climate change adaptation. State governments should clarify the legal liability of councils with respect to climate change adaptation matters and the processes required to manage that liability. |
REC205-1898 | 24 - Govt responsibility | To help clarify roles and responsibilities of local government for climate change adaptation, the state and Northern Territory governments should publish and maintain a comprehensive list of laws that delegate regulatory roles to local governments. This would assist both state and local governments to assess whether local governments have the capacity to discharge their roles effectively. |
REC205-1896 | 24 - Govt responsibility | Australian governments should implement policies that help the community deal with the current climate by improving the flexibility of the economy. This would also build adaptive capacity to deal with future climate change. This includes reforms to: |
REC205-1904 | 24 - Govt responsibility | State and territory taxes and levies on general insurance constitute a barrier to effective adaptation to climate change. State and territory governments should phase out these taxes and replace them with less distortionary taxes. |
REC205-1901 | 1 - Land-use and building regs | The Council of Australian Governments’ Building Ministers’ Forum should provide formal direction to the Australian Building Codes Board to: |
REC205-1900 | 1 - Land-use and building regs | As a priority, state and territory governments should ensure that land-use planning systems are sufficiently flexible to enable a risk management approach to incorporating climate change risks into planning decisions at the state, territory, regional and local government levels. Consideration should be given to: |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
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REC199-0485 | 1 - Land-use and building regs | the state: • adopt a strategy to expedite incorporation of updated flood mapping or modelling into planning schemes • reconsider in what circumstances the ‘1 in 100 year event’ is the appropriate design event • actively support the Australian Building Code Board in its development of a new national standard for residential buildings in flood prone areas. Until such time as any new standard is incorporated into Victorian law, provide advice to householders about appropriate building materials for flood prone areas and ways that houses can be designed or adapted to mitigate flood risk; and • retain the ability of a Catchment Management Authority to require a council to refuse a planning permit or impose particular conditions when the Catchment Management Authority considers the flooding risk to be unacceptable. |
REC199-0406 | 24 - Govt responsibility | the state expand the Regional Water Monitoring Partnerships model to include all flood warning gauges. |
REC199-0422 | 36 - Volunteers | the state establish a process for volunteer community member accreditation to allow volunteers to provide flood information to the control agency during a flood event. This process should establish a base competency standard and provide appropriate emergency management and Australasian Inter-service Incident Management System training to accredited community volunteers. |
REC199-0481 | 24 - Govt responsibility | the state (consistent with recommendation 46) develop a model for determining the capability and capacity of departments and agencies with roles and responsibilities in large scale or protracted emergencies. The issues of capability and capacity should be addressed at all levels of emergency management planning. |
REC199-0400 | 24 - Govt responsibility | The state take the necessary measures to clarify roles, responsibilities and cost-sharing arrangements for flood warning systems, including tasking state and regional bodies to be responsible for the flood warning system. This will require engaging with the commonwealth to amend the 2001 arrangements, updating the 1998 floodplain management strategy accordingly and continuing to support commonwealth initiatives designed to improve flood mapping standards and associated issues. |
REC199-0420 | 13 - Mapping and data quality | the state establish standards for flood mapping to ensure they are kept contemporary and meet the purposes of landuse risk planning and emergency response. In doing so, maps should extend where appropriate to include Probable Maximum Flood, over a range of Annual Exceedence Probability levels and be explicitly linked to a stream gauge. |
REC199-0466 | 24 - Govt responsibility | the Departments of Health and Human Services finalise the definition of ‘vulnerable person’ and the list of facility types where vulnerable people are located and ensure that the definition and associated policy(ies) are applicable across ‘all hazards’. |
REC199-0417 | 13 - Mapping and data quality | the state ensure that regional and local flood plans incorporate all available flood mapping and intelligence, including assessments of levees and flood consequence information. |
REC199-0465 | 24 - Govt responsibility | the state undertake major reform of Victoria’s emergency management arrangements to bring about an effective ‘all hazards, all agencies’ approach, incorporating: • clarity of command and control in all emergencies • common operating platforms, including communications and information technology • interoperability between all agencies • regular joint training and exercising by all agencies • the development and implementation of performance standards for each emergency management agency • the development and maintenance of effective planning arrangements at all levels of emergency management • a meaningful monitoring and audit regime for designated standards and planning requirements; and • an effective accountability mechanism to support the maintenance of legislative and other agency obligations. |
REC199-0413 | 14 - Incident Mgt Teams | the state clarify the role of intelligence cell staff (for example, hydrologists and/or Catchment Management Authority) who are utilised in Incident Control Centres during flood events |
REC199-0455 | 24 - Govt responsibility | the state conduct an ‘all hazards’ needs analysis to determine requirements for level 3 Incident Control Centres with a focus on ‘all hazards’ and multi-agency capability. Following this analysis, the state take steps to ensure the availability of sufficient and functional level 3 Incident Control Centres across the state with an ‘all hazards’ and multi-agency capability |
REC199-0408 | 13 - Mapping and data quality | the state, in consultation with Bureau of Meteorology and Melbourne Water, take the necessary action to ensure that all flood warnings issued are linked to the geographical location of the gauge the data was derived from. |
REC199-0429 | 13 - Mapping and data quality | the state take into account any outcomes from the Commonwealth Government’s flood mapping reviews in the continual development of the Victorian flood database and to incorporate into the database flood data currently held by Melbourne Water. |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
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REC165-0098 | 24 - Govt responsibility | The SDMG take into account key improvement initiatives and change processes suggested when deciding on an effective implementation strategy for agreed recommendations. |
REC165-0097 | 24 - Govt responsibility | Revised governance arrangements be implemented involving Disaster Management Groups at the three levels supported by EMQ as outlined in this report to achieve continuous improvement in the Disaster Management arrangements in the State. A new provision in Section 5 emphasise the discretion available to all involved in the Disaster Management system to take action to prevent impending loss of life even if contrary to the agreed arrangements. |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
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REC161-3028 | 24 - Govt responsibility | That Ministerial Council on Mineral and Petroleum Resources continue to support a duty of care safety case regime for best practice offshore petroleum industry regulation augmented to include regulation of integrity. Since the safety case is at the centre of the duty of care co-regulatory regime, we consider that the requirement for the implementation of the safety case at facilities involved in the exploitation of petroleum resources should be provided for within the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 itself. |
REC161-3035 | 24 - Govt responsibility | That Ministerial Council on Mineral and Petroleum Resources liaise with Ministers with environmental and planning responsibilities, and if necessary Council of Australian Governments, to ensure that environmental requirements for oil and gas projects are not imposed subsequent to safety assessments and do not increase the risk of major accident events. |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
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REC151-3109 | 36 - Volunteers | As a matter of priority, SAFECOM examine what further measures can be taken to provide support and protection for volunteers as potential witnesses in public enquiries. |
REC151-3108 | 36 - Volunteers | Liability and immunity as these provisions apply in Section 127 be reassessed in terms of burden of proof so as to ensure the best protection for volunteers. |
REC151-3095 | 24 - Govt responsibility | SAFECOM re-evaluate and determine a more meaningful definition of fire districts. |
REC151-3071 | 24 - Govt responsibility | The comprehensive prevention, preparedness, response and recovery (PPRR) approach to the management of bushfires as recommended by the Ministerial Review of Bushfire Management in South Australia is supported: its implementation should consider issues raised by councils and should also be considerate of the recommendations of the Wangary Coronial Inquest. |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
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REC140-3575 | 24 - Govt responsibility | The preferred model for the Tasmanian Medical Retrieval Services is to have TMRS and NETS staff based in RHH. The fixed wing would remain based in Launceston (for the present) with the helicopter to remain based in Hobart. |
REC140-3573 | 13 - Mapping and data quality | Databases with a common minimum data set complete with incident monitoring should be established for TAS Air Ambulance, TMRS and NETS missions. |