Inquiry Search
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
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REC317-4053 | 24 - Govt responsibility | Australian, state and territory governments should restructure and reinvigorate ministerial forums with a view to enabling timely and informed strategic decision-making in respect of: |
REC317-4091 | 11 - Evacuation and shelters | State and territory governments should provide further community education on the function and limitations of different sheltering facilities, including evacuation centres, Neighbourhood Safer Places, places of last resort and natural disaster shelters. This education should be nationally consistent. |
REC317-4061 | 39 - Disaster Risk Management | Australian, state and territory governments should support the implementation of the National Disaster Risk Information Services Capability and aligned climate adaptation initiatives. |
REC317-4113 | 6 - Insurance and legal liability | The insurance industry, as represented by the Insurance Council of Australia, working with state and territory governments and other relevant stakeholders, should produce and communicate to consumers clear guidance on individual-level natural hazard risk mitigation actions insurers will recognise in setting insurance premiums. |
REC317-4075 | 6 - Insurance and legal liability | The Australian Government should afford appropriate legal protections from civil and criminal liability to Australian Defence Force members when conducting activities under an authorisation to prepare for, respond to and recover from natural disasters. |
REC317-4090 | 11 - Evacuation and shelters | State and territory governments should, as a priority, adopt nationally consistent terminology and functions for the different sheltering facilities, including evacuation centres, Neighbourhood Safer Places, places of last resort and natural disaster shelters. |
REC317-4058 | 24 - Govt responsibility | The Australian Government should enhance national preparedness for, and response to, natural disasters, building on the responsibilities of Emergency Management Australia, to include facilitating resource sharing decisions of governments and stress testing national disaster plans. |
REC317-4103 | 39 - Disaster Risk Management | Australian, state and territory governments should develop arrangements that facilitate greater inclusion of primary healthcare providers in disaster management, including: representation on relevant disaster committees and plans and providing training, education and other supports. |
REC317-4073 | 24 - Govt responsibility | State and territory governments should take steps to ensure that there is better interaction, planning and ongoing understanding of Australian Defence Force capabilities and processes by state and territory fire and emergency service agencies and local governments. |
REC317-4089 | 11 - Evacuation and shelters | State and territory governments should ensure that those responsible for evacuation planning periodically review those plans, and update them where appropriate, including in relation to: |
REC317-4057 | 39 - Disaster Risk Management | The Australian Government should establish a standing entity that will enhance national natural disaster resilience and recovery, focused on long-term disaster risk reduction. |
REC317-4101 | 24 - Govt responsibility | Australian, state and territory governments should develop national air quality forecasting capabilities, which include broad coverage of population centres and apply to smoke and other airborne pollutants, such as dust and pollen, to predict plume behaviour. |
REC317-4069 | 24 - Govt responsibility | State and territory governments should update and implement the National Framework to Improve Government Radio Communications Interoperability, or otherwise agree a new strategy, to achieve interoperable communications across jurisdictions. |
REC317-4131 | 24 - Govt responsibility | Each state and territory government should establish an independent accountability and assurance mechanism to promote continuous improvement and best practice in natural disaster arrangements. |
REC317-4088 | 11 - Evacuation and shelters | State and territory governments should ensure that those responsible for evacuation planning periodically review those plans, and update them where appropriate, including in relation to: |
REC317-4056 | 24 - Govt responsibility | Australian Government agencies should work together across all phases of disaster management. |
REC317-4093 | 11 - Evacuation and shelters | State and territory governments should ensure those responsible for evacuation planning periodically review those plans, and update where appropriate, to provide for coordination between states and territories in cross border areas and to provide cross-border access to evacuation centres. |
REC317-4067 | 39 - Disaster Risk Management | State and territory governments should have a structured process to regularly assess the capacity and capability requirements of fire and emergency services, in light of both current and future natural disaster risk. |
REC317-4124 | 6 - Insurance and legal liability | In reviewing the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements, Australian, state and territory governments should examine the small disaster criterion, and financial thresholds generally. |
REC317-4079 | 39 - Disaster Risk Management | Australian, state and territory governments, in consultation with local governments and the private sector, should review supply chain risks, and consider options to ensure supply of essential goods in times of natural disasters. |
REC317-4054 | 24 - Govt responsibility | Australian, state and territory governments should establish an authoritative advisory body to consolidate advice on strategic policy and relevant operational considerations for ministers in relation to natural disasters. |
REC317-4092 | 11 - Evacuation and shelters | State and territory governments should ensure those responsible for evacuation planning periodically review these plans, and update them where appropriate, to account for the existence and standard of any evacuation centres and safer places (however described) in the community, including: |
REC317-4062 | 39 - Disaster Risk Management | The National Disaster Risk Information Services Capability should include tools and systems to support operational and strategic decision making, including integrated climate and disaster risk scenarios tailored to various needs of relevant industry sectors and end users. |
REC317-4123 | 24 - Govt responsibility | Australian, state and territory governments should ensure that personal information of individuals affected by a natural disaster is able to be appropriately shared between all levels of government, agencies, insurers, charities and organisations delivering recovery services, taking account of all necessary safeguards to ensure the sharing is only for recovery purposes. |
REC317-4078 | 24 - Govt responsibility | Australian, state and territory governments should adopt procurement and contracting strategies that support and develop a broader Australian-based sovereign aerial firefighting industry. |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
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REC316-4044 | 11 - Evacuation and shelters | A Relocation and Evacuation working group be established from stakeholder organisations to consider and develop an Evacuation and Relocations Sub- Plan. The Sub-Plan should consider the lessons learned this year and address principles, lead agency, WHoG coordination, trigger points etc. This could be the same working group formed for reviewing the Emergencies Act, Plan and sub-plans. |
REC316-4043 | 15 - Inter-service cooperation | NDIA be engaged in regard to information sharing in emergencies as part of the above actions. |
REC316-4034 | 15 - Inter-service cooperation | Efforts be increased to build trust, confidence and a common operating picture across PCS and RFS and seek mechanisms that identifies RFS and PCS as equitable partners in delivery of fire management across the territory. |
REC316-4019 | 15 - Inter-service cooperation | In collaboration with other jurisdictions the ACT share the learnings for this bushfire event and work to officially embedded values officers and RRATs as key elements of bushfire response. |
REC316-4017 | 15 - Inter-service cooperation | The working group (Rec 1) should include relevant stakeholders deciding collectively what the declaration might mean for such things as sub and supporting plans and the relevant community messages and calls to action. |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
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REC257-1547 | 15 - Inter-service cooperation | The Marrangaroo Training Area Regional Environmental Officer confer with the local Rural Fire Service at least annually and determine a hazard reduction regime capable of implementation. It is furter recommended all ranges be reviewed in relation to the same issue, that is, that personnel involved in the management of each range under Defence control be directed to confer with local firefighting authorities on at least an annual basis to assess hazard reduction responses to be pursued for that range in subsequent years. |
REC257-1545 | 15 - Inter-service cooperation | Range Control Officer Marrangaroo Training Area liase with the local Rural Fire Service units to develop a map indicating the areas of the range likely to contain unexploded ordnance. |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
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REC233-1596 | 24 - Govt responsibility | Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy to review the content of the Government’s digital business website at www.digitalbusiness.gov.au and liaise with the Department of Industry, Innovation, Climate Change, Science, Research and Tertiary Education, which manages the www.business.gov.au, to ensure these business advice sites provide appropriate information regarding business continuity planning in the event of telecommunications outages. |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
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REC228-1610 | 24 - Govt responsibility | The Emergency Services Agency should annually review fire management zones and the Territory and Municipal Services Directorate should subsequently update the Regional Fire Management Plans. |
REC228-1605 | 24 - Govt responsibility | The Justice and Community Safety Directorate should continue to review its strategic and accountability indicators and the Territory and Municipal Services Directorate should commence a review of its strategic and accountability indicators. The directorates should consult to develop complementary measures which better assess their bushfire management activities. |
REC228-1623 | 15 - Inter-service cooperation | The Emergency Services Agency and the Territory and Municipal Services Directorate should develop and routinely review a strategic bushfire capability for the ACT. The contribution of ACT Fire and Rescue (including the Community Fire Units) and the ACT Rural Fire Service (including Parks Brigade) should be explicitly stated. |
REC228-1622 | 15 - Inter-service cooperation | The Emergency Services Agency and the Territory and Municipal Services Directorate should continue to improve working arrangements between the ACT Rural Fire Service Parks Brigade and the ACT Rural Fire Service headquarters, by: |
REC228-1618 | 24 - Govt responsibility | The Emergency Services Agency, the Environment and Sustainable Development Directorate and the Territory and Municipal Services Directorate should strengthen across-Government delivery of major projects in the Strategic Bushfire Management Plan and Regional Fire Management Plans by collectively: |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
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REC126-1988 | 39 - Disaster Risk Management | That protocols and arrangements between the ACT and NSW require that each jurisdiction be fully involved in examining and planning for the threat posed by any fire likely to affect one or other jurisdiction and in coordinating the response to that fire |
REC126-1948 | 24 - Govt responsibility | That the Emergency Services Agency be removed from the Department of Justice and Community Safety and transformed into an independent statutory authority reporting directly to the responsible Minister. Note in this regard that Mr McLeod made a similar recommendation, and I endorse it unequivocally. Placing the agency within a government department puts unnecessary layers of bureaucracy between the agency and the responsible Minister, and the bureaucrats concerned usually have no special knowledge of or experience in emergency management, regardless of their seniority in the bureaucracy |
REC126-1976 | 24 - Govt responsibility | That the Emergency Services Agency have authority over the land management agencies and other landholders in order to implement preparedness and prevention measures – including fuel-reduction works where there are failures in compliance |
REC126-1986 | 39 - Disaster Risk Management | That the ACT and NSW authorities conduct a comprehensive risk analysis based on the most up to date knowledge relating to fire behaviour and spread in order to establish the degree of risk to each others' jurisdiction from fires ignitting in the other jurisdiction and to ensure that both jurisdictions remain fully informed and participate in risk assessments, the development of suppression strategies, and the development and dissemination of community information messages or warnings |
REC126-1942 | 24 - Govt responsibility | That the ACT Attorney-General and the ACT Government - in consulation with the Chief Justice of the ACT and the ACT Chief Magistrate - take legislative action that would have the effect of funds being directly appropriated annually to the courts, preferable along the lines of the Commonwealth model as it applies to the High Court of Australia, the Federal Court of Australia, the Family Court of Australia and the Federal Magistrates Court. Alternatively, the funds could be appropriated in accordance with the South Australian model, which has a seperate Courts Administartion Authority. |
REC126-1962 | 24 - Govt responsibility | That, because of the small jurisdiction of the ACT (equivalent to one fire district in NSW) the ACT Government consider all possible options for the provision of fire services to the ACT, among them: |
REC126-1985 | 24 - Govt responsibility | That the Emergency Services Agency, with the suport of the ACT Government, seek to establish with the NSW Department of Environment and Conservation and the NSW Rural Fire Service a protocol that will provide for the establishment of a joint incident management team as part of unified control arrangements based on adoption of the following principles: |
REC126-2012 | 24 - Govt responsibility | If they are willing and available to participate, that the taskforce's membership include Mr Phil Cheney, Mr Tony Bartlett, Mr Val Jeffery and Mr John Lowe |
REC126-1956 | 15 - Inter-service cooperation | That courses and programs be conducted to increase the level of Incident Control System training and augment the expertise of people who are likely to perform functions in an incident management team |
REC126-1984 | 24 - Govt responsibility | That the Emergency Services Agency, with the support of the ACT Government, develop a single, new memorandum of understanding with the NSW Department of Environment and Conservation and the NSW Rural Fire Service, providing for liaison and joint operations as soon as it becomes apparent to whichever jurisdiction is managing a fire that the fire will probably affect the other jurisdiction. Joint operations should not be limited to when an incident occurs on both sides of the border, as is the current arrangement |
REC126-2009 | 24 - Govt responsibility | That a taskforce be established to give effect to the recommendations in this report |
REC126-1954 | 15 - Inter-service cooperation | That senior officers of the Emergency Services Agency give greater recognition to the skills, knowledge and experience of people from other agencies – particularly the land management agencies – as well as rural residents and private individuals and use these people in roles commensurate with their skills and experience |
REC126-1981 | 15 - Inter-service cooperation | That senior officers in the Australian Federal Police and the Emergency Services Agency maintain regular and meaningful contact during fire emergencies, to ensure full dissemination of information and thus facilitate the making of good operational decisions |
REC126-2006 | 24 - Govt responsibility | I recommend that, as appropriate, the ACT cooperate with the Commonwealth in the implementation of the committee's recommendations and, in particular, give careful consideration to adoption of the following recommendations: |
REC126-1950 | 39 - Disaster Risk Management | That the Emergency Services Agency adopt a more rigorous risk management approach to incident management and prediction – with particular emphasis on the development of improved community information strategies and protocols |
REC126-1979 | 24 - Govt responsibility | That the policy and practice just recommended be the subject of a memorandum of understanding between the Emergency Services Agency and the Department of Territory and Municipal Services (previously the Department of Urban Services) or other relevant department or agency, so as to ensure that the land management agency on whose land a fire starts has responsibility to respond immediately to that fire in accordance with the applicable standards for weight of response. Further, the land management agency should be responsible for efforts to suppress fire until such time as it becomes clear that the suppression task is beyond capacity of the agency, at which point the ACT Rural Fire Service should assume direct responsibility for coordinating the ongoing response |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
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REC098-2157 | 6 - Insurance and legal liability | The Committee recommends that the Commonwealth Government work with Australasian Fire Authorities Council to review the insurance cover provided to volunteer fire fighters in all states and territories and ensure that cover is adequate for loss of life or injury and related loss of income and property lost in the line of duty. |
REC098-2183 | 6 - Insurance and legal liability | Further to recommendation 21 in Chapter 4, the Committee recommends that the Commonwealth seeks to ensure that the proposed Council of Australian Governments review of the bushfire management, initiate |
REC098-2131 | 24 - Govt responsibility | The Committee recommends that the Commonwealth through the Council of Australian Governments ensure that states and territories have adequate controls to ensure that local governments implement required fuel management standards on private property and land under their control. |
REC098-2181 | 11 - Evacuation and shelters | The Committee recommends that the Australasian Fire Authorities Council’s suggested evacuation protocol be adopted by all of the Australian States and Territories. |
REC098-2177 | 39 - Disaster Risk Management | The Committee recommends that state and territory governments be required to regularly perform risk assessments to the land within their jurisdictions to ensure that bushfire prone areas are accurately identified |
REC098-2175 | 6 - Insurance and legal liability | The Committee recommends that insurance companies ensure that potential and existing policyholders are aware of the need to regularly review their insurance policies to prevent undervaluing. This could be done through renewal notices and quarterly reminders. This should include a list of bushfire risk reduction measures that policyholders can implement to decrease the cost of their premium. |
REC098-2172 | 6 - Insurance and legal liability | The Committee recommends that taxes on insurance premiums be calculated only on the premium in order to eliminate the current cascading cost. |