The Australian Government, in consultation with consumers and other relevant federal, state and territory agencies, develop a national communication strategy for consumers to be used in the event of an infectious disease outbreak.

The National Health and Medical Research Council, in conjunction with key stakeholders, work collaboratively to provide more support for initiatives to increase international infectious disease research collaborations and build research capacity, particularly with neighbouring countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

The state government establish a well coordinated and formalised system for the reading of river gauges by local people, including flood wardens. Furthermore, the knowledge of local people in predicting flood heights and impacts should be considered by emergency management agencies when predicting floods.

Flood studies will be undertaken to determine the flood extent on the basis of a greater than 1 in 100 ARI, where appropriate:
• The Water Act 1989 to be amended.

Local knowledge on the management and ongoing maintenance of waterways, including vegetation clearing and debris removal, needs to be incorporated in the development of regional flood mitigation strategies and local flood plans. Specifically:
• the process of flood risk assessment must include community consultation, and these views will inform development of both floodplain management studies, and floodplain implementation plans;
• in the absence of a formal planning process, councils and authorities undertaking significant ad hoc works on waterways for flood mitigation and protection must involve the local community; and
• the revised Victoria Flood Management Strategy and Victorian River Health Strategy will clearly articulate this process.

Public authorities such as councils and CMAs should continue to seek local knowledge in relation to flood management issues. In particular, councils will collaborate with VICSES and other key stakeholders in reviewing the system of flood wardens. Roles and responsibilities of flood wardens, and the process for their recruitment, should be formalised and clearly articulated in relevant flood management plans.

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.

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.

The Department of Primary Industries continue to consult local community about emergency planning and sites for disposal to retain confidence in the event of a genuine emergency.

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.

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.