Inquiry Search
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
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REC327-4349 | 38 - Agency/Department Reporting | By December 2023, the Rural Fire Service should: develop performance measures to assess the performance and capabilities of the fleet in each RFS District by recording and publicly reporting on: fire response times and fire response outcomes; and, completions of fire hazard reduction works. |
REC327-4350 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | By December 2023, the Rural Fire Service should: develop a fleet enhancement framework and strategy that is informed by an assessment of current fleet capability to respond to fire incidents, and research into the most appropriate technologies and appliances to address emerging and future fire risks across NSW. |
REC327-4345 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | By December 2023, the Rural Fire Service should: review and improve processes for timely recording of fleet asset movements, locations, and maintenance status. |
REC327-4346 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | By December 2023, the Rural Fire Service should: establish a fleet maintenance framework to ensure regular update of District Service Agreements with local councils. |
REC327-4348 | 38 - Agency/Department Reporting | By December 2023, the Rural Fire Service should: report annually on fleet allocations to RFS Districts, and identify the ways in which fleet resources align with district-level fire risks |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
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REC322-4241 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | The Inspector-General Emergency Management recommends Queensland Fire and Emergency Services consider expanding specialist Remote Area Firefighting Team capability to assist in responding to significant bushfire events which occur in rugged or inaccessible terrain. |
REC322-4233 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | The Inspector-General Emergency Management recommends Queensland Fire and Emergency Services and the Department of Environment and Science review the current description of Level 1, 2, and 3 bushfire incidents and the implied meaning of property in the Queensland Bushfire Plan. This review should identify and agree on clear criteria and decision points for the transfer of control and develop a standard process and templates. |
REC322-4247 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | The Inspector-General Emergency Management recommends a collaborative review of firelines, tracks and trails on K’gari be undertaken by the Department of Environment and Science, in collaboration with the Locality Specific Area Fire Management Group and the Butchulla people, to ensure an adequate network is agreed by relevant stakeholders, and roles and responsibilities for maintenance are agreed and documented. |
REC322-4234 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | The Inspector-General Emergency Management recommends the Department of Environment and Science review its suite of operational doctrine to ensure arrangements for situational reporting and requests for assistance are aligned to recognised multi-agency practices used in disaster management. |
REC322-4236 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | The Inspector-General Emergency Management recommends the arrangements and requirements for situational reporting when an incident is under the control of the Department of Environment and Science be detailed in the Queensland Bushfire Plan. These arrangements should also be outlined in relevant joint entity agreements and operational doctrine. |
REC322-4225 | 8 - Communications and warnings | The Inspector-General Emergency Management recommends the Maryborough District Disaster Management Group works with the Fraser Coast Local Disaster Management Group to prepare and exercise a communications sub-plan with all responsible agencies, to clarify the roles, responsibilities and communication channels used for restricting access to K’gari. |
REC322-4237 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | The Inspector-General Emergency Management recommends the Department of Environment and Science develop and implement a Wildfire Response Plan for Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service Coastal and Islands Region, to be included in the region’s Disaster Management Operations Plan. |
REC322-4228 | 8 - Communications and warnings | The Inspector-General Emergency Management recommends a public information resource be developed by Queensland Fire and Emergency Services to inform the community and stakeholders about aerial assets utilised in bushfire response. |
REC322-4238 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | The Inspector-General Emergency Management recommends the Department of Environment and Science ensure that all Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service regions develop a Disaster Management Operations Plan based on a standardised format. The plans should include provision for annual review to ensure they remain contemporary, interoperable with relevant disaster management plans and aligned to the Department of Environment and Science Emergency Management Plan. |
REC322-4231 | 8 - Communications and warnings | The Inspector-General Emergency Management recommends Queensland Fire and Emergency Services examines the use of predictive service capability to inform prevention and preparedness in addition to response activities. |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
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REC315-3805 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | That, to strengthen cross-agency accountability and deliver improved bush fire risk management outcomes: |
REC315-3844 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | That, in order to enhance fire fighting strategies in severe conditions, the NSW RFS implements the following in respect to backburning: |
REC315-3804 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | That the NSW RFS Commissioner consult with the Fire and Rescue NSW Commissioner and other emergency services to develop a protocol in the event that simultaneous emergency events necessitate the re-allocation of resources while a Section 44 declaration is in place. |
REC315-3832 | 8 - Communications and warnings | That, in order to improve the provision of evidence-based public health messaging about air quality during bush fire events, Government develop a public education campaign and supporting systems before the next bush fire season. This should include: |
REC315-3820 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | That Government amend the Rural Fires Act 1997 so that all public land management agencies be required to forward complaints received about bush fire hazards to the Commissioner of the NSW RFS. As an interim measure, heads of agencies should commence this practice immediately. |
REC315-3811 | 8 - Communications and warnings | That in order to provide greater consistency in public information and warnings, especially in border areas: |
REC315-3865 | 8 - Communications and warnings | That the NSW RFS include the following priorities in the Fires Near Me improvements roadmap: |
REC315-3809 | 37 - Funding | That Government work with other Australian governments to provide long-term funding certainty to AFAC, including the National Resource Sharing Centre (NRSC) and the National Aerial Firefighting Centre (NAFC). |
REC315-3862 | 8 - Communications and warnings | That, in order to improve information flows and increase public awareness of ABC emergency broadcasts, Government: |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
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REC307-2434 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | Given an increasing risk of intense fires, the framework of legislation relating to vegetation management, bushfire mitigation and preparation priorities should be re-assessed. The re-assessment should aim to enable more appropriate and flexible means at the local level for the reduction of intense fires. |
REC307-2443 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | Planning for response to bushfire risk should identify all stakeholders to be engaged in the response phase and their roles and responsibilities should be clearly documented. |
REC307-2432 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | Legislation at state and local level requiring landholders to reduce fire risk on their property should be actively applied |
REC307-2442 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | Hazard-specific plans and guidelines should be published on external websites for access by relevant stakeholders. |
REC307-2427 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | Wherever possible, the antecedents that will lead to catastrophic fire weather conditions existing for a particular area should be identified and documented within fire management plan relevant to the area. |
REC307-2441 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | Hazard-specific and disaster management guidelines and plans should explain the circumstances and process for hazard-specific activation of the disaster management arrangements in support of an incident. They should be relevant to local authorities and local and district groups, and used during events. |
REC307-2426 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | Queensland's plans and arrangements for heatwave should be reviewed to provide for an intergrated multi-agency approach to their management. A single agency should lead and oversee this process. |
REC307-2440 | 8 - Communications and warnings | Communications protocols about hazard-specific events should be developed to clarify responsibilities and the principles for the release of information and warnings. They should be included in all related hazard-specific plans and published on relevant websites, and used during events. |
REC307-2438 | 8 - Communications and warnings | The national messages for catastrophic fire danger ratings should be integrated with all existing and new community bushfire safety information. |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
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REC302-2395 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | Remove those policies, guidelines, memoranda of understanding and committees that are made redundant as a result of adopting recommendation #2 while updating any remaining policies that are considered to still be relevant |
REC302-2404 | 8 - Communications and warnings | Review the effectiveness of emergency public information arrangements, and give consideration to embedding an ABC Manager (not a journalist) into the RFS headquarters during emergencies to broadcast warnings to the community that can be pooled to commercial media outlets |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
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REC280-1389 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | That the NSW Government, as a matter of urgency, amend the Rural Fires Act 1997 to codify the current interim arrangements for command and notification requirements for class 1 and class 2 fires, which clarify that the NSW Rural Fire Service or Fire and Rescue NSW: |
REC280-1403 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | That the Ministry for Police and Emergency Services urgently review its policies for the provision of disaster welfare services to ensure that in the event of a bush fire emergency and the declaration of a fire under section 44 of the Rural Fires Act 1997, adequate funding and services, especially recovery centres and mental health services, are provided for an adequate length of time, with gradual transition to normal service delivery when those services are no longer required. |
REC280-1397 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | That the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service adopt an interim fencing agreement in the immediate aftermath of a fire. This will enable emergency and interim works to commence, but features such as length, fencing components and site of the fence line are not binding. A final fencing agreement would be negotiated no earlier than six months following a major national park fire. |
REC280-1395 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | That the NSW Rural Fire Service reassess the protection of pastoral assets during bush fires to ensure that priority for protection is not simply afforded to the homestead, and that land holders are, within reason, able to request which of their own assets are protected. |
REC280-1391 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | That the NSW Rural Fire Service review its procedures, systems and infrastructure for notifying community members of bush fires, both when a fire has broken out and as it proceeds, to ensure the provision of timely and adequate information. |
REC280-1390 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | That the NSW Government consider enabling the default position during catastrophic and extreme fire danger periods to be the same as for section 44 fires, so that fire control centres have the same systems and resources ready to deploy should a fire break out. |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
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REC261-1492 | 37 - Funding | That the NSW Government commit to and fund a long term program of prescribed burning based on the recommendation of the 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission of an annual rolling target of a minimum of five per cent of public land per year, and that the NSW Government commit to extending the funding for the National Parks and Wildlife Service five year hazard reduction program past 2016. |
REC261-1516 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | That the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service remove from its boundary fencing policy and standard contract the condition that requires adjoining land owners to maintain a fence that has been damaged by trees falling from national park land. |
REC261-1512 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | That the NSW Rural Fire Service reassess the protection of pastoral assets during bush fires to ensure that priority for protection is not simply afforded to the homestead, and that land holders are, within reason, able to request which of their own assets are protected. |
REC261-1506 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | That the NSW Government, as a matter of urgency, amend the Rural Fires Act 1997 to codify the current interim arrangements for command and notification requirements for class 1 and class 2 fires, which clarify that the NSW Rural Fire Service or Fire and Rescue NSW: |
REC261-1497 | 8 - Communications and warnings | That the NSW Rural Fire Service investigate mechanisms to enhance the predictability of megafires and how this information is communicated easily to the public. |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
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REC260-1056 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | That the Rural Fire Service and National Parks and Wildlife Service consider adopting the approach to fire classification suggested by Mr Conway that “classification and resourcing of the fire ground response and incident management capability should reflect the potential of the fire rather than observed fire behaviour. |
REC260-1051 | 8 - Communications and warnings | That the Rural Fire Service consider redrafting the disclaimer in its fire predictions to make abundantly clear where the potential errors or omissions may affect the prediction and how to detect them if they are there (for example, by comparing them with linescans) and what other factors (such as VLS) may affect the predictions and in what way. |
REC260-1069 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | That NPWS conduct a review of its hazard reduction policies to ensure all assets within and on the boundary of the Park are clearly identified and an adequate policy or management plan exists for the protection of all assets, including a procedure pursuant to which progress in meeting hazard reduction targets is regularly and comprehensively assessed. |
REC260-1065 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | That the National Parks and Wildlife Service review its procedures for monitoring Class 1 fires occurring in ‘severe’ or worse fire conditions that cannot be reconnoitred at ground level adequately due to terrain or dangerous conditions, and consider including aerial surveillance (if reasonably practicable) as a standard procedure in such circumstances. |
REC260-1064 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | That the National Parks and Wildlife Service review its protocols for control of Class 1 fires under its control to ensure that incident controllers managing fires in ‘severe’ or worse fire conditions receive as much incident management planning support as is reasonably practicable in the circumstances. |
REC260-1059 | 8 - Communications and warnings | That the Rural Fire Service and National Parks and Wildlife Service consider amending their protocols for upgrading advices to higher levels to emphasise the significance and urgency of raising warning levels as soon as the potential dangers of fire to lives or property materially increase. |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
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REC259-1048 | 8 - Communications and warnings | That State and Local Government agencies maximise communication to the residents owning bushfire prone properties to be aware of their level of exposure by having access to the BAL relevant to their property. |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
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REC241-1033 | 37 - Funding | When a local Rural Fire Brigade requests an equipment and maintenance levy from a local government authority, that authority will either supply the brigade’s equipment and maintenance costs or raise the requested levy. The amount to be collected is to be agreed between the local Brigade and the local government authority. |
REC241-1032 | 37 - Funding | That the current Urban Fire Levy be changed to the Queensland Fire Levy. |
REC241-1031 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | That the State Government recognises the legal status of rural fire brigades as per Crown Law advice and addressed by Recommendations from this Review. |
REC241-1013 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | That Rural Fire Service Queensland undertake a risk management process for rural fire Brigade profiles across Queensland based on the principles in the Rural Fire Brigade Risk Management Guide, July 1999, and updated as necessary. |
REC241-1035 | 37 - Funding | That the State Government contribution towards the purchase of operational vehicles is to be retained at 80 percent but that the District Inspector can recommend full Government subsidy of vehicles for Brigades experiencing financial hardship. |
REC241-1011 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | That the focus of Rural Fire Service Queensland will be the protection of life, property and the environment from the threat and impact of wildfire. |
REC241-1034 | 37 - Funding | That the State Government contribution towards the construction of Brigade sheds be changed from $10,000 to a maximum of 25 percent, subject to the approval of the Deputy Chief Officer, Rural Fire Service Queensland. |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
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REC191-0274 | 37 - Funding | that the for Minister for Police, Corrective Services and Emergency Services undertake a thorough review, including consultation with rural fire brigades, regarding the proposed formula for distribution of funding. |
REC191-0273 | 37 - Funding | that the for Minister for Police, Corrective Services and Emergency Services implement system of fire levies for landholders situated in urban, iZone and village brigade areas. |
REC191-0266 | 37 - Funding | that QFRS cover the cost of annual vehicle inspection certificates for rural fire brigade registered vehicles. |
REC191-0275 | 37 - Funding | that the for Minister for Police, Corrective Services and Emergency Services ensure that the formula for distribution of funding as recommended above allows rural fire brigades to control any donation or sponsorship funding raised by individual brigades. |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
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REC150-3115 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | QFRS establish a structured risk management process for rural fire management, which involves regional and area offices, to enhance decision making processes and ensure opportunities are maximised and losses are minimised. This process should be linked to forward planning and incorporate existing processes such as: |
REC150-3125 | 38 - Agency/Department Reporting | QFRS introduce a system to collate and analyse performance information for use in management reporting and to support effective decision making processes. |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
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REC129-3629 | 8 - Communications and warnings | We recommend that NSW Health continue with its good work and continue to improve communication mechanisms with those, such as GPs, likely to be affected in major infectious disease outbreaks. |
REC129-3625 | 38 - Agency/Department Reporting | We recommend that NSW Health continue with its good work and establish a performance management framework with targets and indicators to assess progress in preparing for infectious disease emergencies. |
REC129-3621 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | We recommend that NSW Health continue with its good work and establish a time table to finalise all emergency and contingency plans. |
REC129-3632 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | We recommend that NSW Health continue with its good work and develop distinct surge capacity plans within each Area Health Service to manage emergency staffing needs, isolation facilities, intensive care units, assisted ventilation services, hospital beds and medical supplies. |
REC129-3631 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | We recommend that NSW Health continue with its good work and continue to develop plans to respond to the surge in demand for diagnostic tests and for laboratory personnel. |
REC129-3630 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | We recommend that NSW Health continue with its good work and continue to develop systems to bring all the information relevant to the surge in demand for health resources together in real time. |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
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REC128-3603 | 37 - Funding | That the Department of Primary Industries consider applying discretion to the use of user charging policies for testing in times when farm incomes are affected by external circumstances such as widespread drought. |
REC128-3616 | 37 - Funding | That the Department of Primary Industries continue to pursue improvements to consultation with industry and accountability mechanisms to further build trust between industry and government, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of the OJD Program. |
REC128-3602 | 38 - Agency/Department Reporting | That the Department’s performance against tactical and strategic benchmarks be regularly reported in annual reports or animal and plant health emergency evaluation reports and compared to other jurisdictions where possible. |
REC128-3614 | 37 - Funding | The Committee encourages the Department and the Rural Land Protection Boards to discuss the need for funding of poultry surveillance activities in the context of reviewing the Memorandum of Understanding between the two parties. |
REC128-3601 | 38 - Agency/Department Reporting | That, as a matter of principle, the NSW Government provide public reports on the lessons learned from emergency exercises which it manages or in which it participates. If necessary, such reports should exclude material which might jeopardise security. |
REC128-3610 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | That the Minister for Primary Industries consider amending the Stock Diseases Act 1923 to ban the supply of waste swill to pig owners by food retailing businesses such as bakeries, restaurants and supermarkets. |
REC128-3619 | 38 - Agency/Department Reporting | That the Department of Primary Industries should ensure the roles and capacities of Rural Lands Protection Boards and industry are effectively monitored to enable assessment of the effectiveness of animal health programs. |
REC128-3599 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | In order to improve the response to animal health emergencies, that the Department of Primary Industries prioritise the finalisation of Memoranda of Understanding with the four jurisdictions bordering New South Wales. |
REC128-3605 | 38 - Agency/Department Reporting | That the Department of Primary Industries make every effort to meet its targets for the TSE program and encourage public and private sector veterinarians across the State to submit samples. The Department should include reports on its performance against these targets in annual reports. |
REC128-3618 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | That the Department of Primary Industries should complete a review of the Memorandum of Understanding and ensure the roles of the Department and Rural Lands Protection Boards are more clearly identified outlined for effective delivery of animal health programs. |
REC128-3604 | 37 - Funding | That the Department of Primary Industries restore the level of discretionary testing funds provided to District Veterinarians to previous levels and maintain these in the future in real terms. |
REC128-3617 | 37 - Funding | That the Department of Primary Industries should provide specific information on levies to contributing producers through a separate document, rather than rely on standard audit documents and annual reporting requirements. |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
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REC013_3979 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | That burning off by "occupiers" on any lands be regulated by permit or by regulation. |
REC013_3977 | 8 - Communications and warnings | To arrange with settlers who live on hills or have a clear view, and are connected by telephone, to act as " look-outs ", and to communicate with the brigade in the case of fire. |