The Inspector-General Emergency Management recommends the Department of Environment and Science review the resourcing model to ensure surge capacity is available to support incident management functions during response operations. This includes processes to request assistance from other departments and entities with responsibilities for fire and incident management.

The Inspector-General Emergency Management recommends the Department of Environment and Science identify opportunities to increase Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service’s capability in incident management and multi-agency fire response, through exercising plans and procedures in collaboration with other stakeholders, including disaster and fire management groups at all levels.

The Inspector-General Emergency Management recommends the Department of Environment and Science establish pre-determined financial delegations and authority for Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service Incident Controllers.

Significant effort should be invested to provide disaster decision-makers at every level with a shared understanding of risks, the situation, and capability, so that they can agree on the best decisions for the communities they serve. 

Coordinated arrangements for liaison officer deployment should be considered and documented by disaster management groups across the full spectrum of risk identified for their area of responsibility, and not rely on a singular inflexible approach.