REC324-4313 |
8 - Communications and warnings
8 - Communications and warnings
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NSW disaster app: That, to improve community confidence in government messaging and warnings, the SEOCON and DCS develop a single ‘NSW disaster app’. This:
• will consolidate individual agencies warning apps
• have a simple interface that is accessible via mobile devices
• provide real time flood warnings and information, both raw information from gauges and processed information from publicly available models
• allow citizens to provide information during a flood to help authorities and community, including flood imagery and local knowledge observations in the lead into, during and immediately after flood events. Further, the SEOCON and DCS develop a single impact assessment tool accessible by DCS/Service NSW to expediate grants for and insurance claims on homes and businesses.
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REC324-4314 |
8 - Communications and warnings
8 - Communications and warnings
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PIFAC function: That, to ensure the community can better understand the threat of flood, storm and tsunami activity, the Department of Customer Service (DCS) be made accountable for PIFAC in all emergencies. This will improve access to clear, reliable and consistent messaging prior to and during emergencies. This transfers the PIFAC role from NSW Police Force to Service NSW. Under this PIFAC function, DCS would be responsible for:
• proactively assessing community sentiment and working with agencies to effectively disseminate key disaster information to all communities including vulnerable, culturally, linguistically, and religiously diverse communities
• coordinating clear, consistent, reliable messaging from all government agencies, especially during a disaster
• working with the SEMC, the Bureau of Meteorology, the new NSWRA and SEOCON to provide public statements evaluating the likely risk of flooding and the effectiveness of planning and preparation for the upcoming season. This should be based on sophisticated monitoring of key risk factors and signals for extreme flood events. It should form the basis for clear public communication about these risks on a regional basis and the actions that the Government proposes in preparation.
• working with the NSWRA and SEOCON to deliver a single communication tool for riverine floods, flash floods and dam warnings which uses all available inputs (such as information from the Bureau, real-time river and rain observations data and citizen science data) and provides an assessment of antecedent conditions (such as saturated catchments, soil moisture and water storage capacity). This information should be available to communities and individuals in real-time, on live warning signs in town centres (using satellite connections so they are not reliant on local telecommunications infrastructure)
• recognising that community will revert to social media platforms to self organise when government is unable to respond, the NSW Government should also consider how to work with social media companies and online communities to ensure consistent messaging during an emergency. This may include directing individual users to Government platforms for updated information.
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REC324-4315 |
36 - Volunteers
36 - Volunteers
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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.
To plan for volunteerism into the future, the State Emergency Management Committee (SEMC) commission a review of volunteerism in NSW, acknowledging it is essential to the state’s emergency response to protect life and property. This review needs to recommend a way forward for emergency volunteer agencies to respond to declining formal volunteerism and to make better use of Community First Responders.
Further, to ensure Indigenous communities are included in emergency planning and preparation, emergency management processes incorporate the needs of Indigenous communities including for evacuation procedures and centres by:
• developing an Indigenous first responders program working with Aboriginal communities in flood affected regions to understand what is needed, and resourcing this program appropriately, and
• ensuring Aboriginal Community Liaison Officers (ACLO) form part of the Local Emergency Management Committees and are present at evacuation centres during a disaster to better serve Indigenous communities.
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REC324-4294 |
34 - Local knowledge
34 - Local knowledge
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Environment: That, to maximise protection for the environment in and around floodplains, Government, working with local communities especially Indigenous communities, the NSWRA, other agencies and local councils ensure Indigenous voices are well heard in land use planning and natural resource management by:
• developing an Indigenous led cultural landscape restoration strategy for the Northern Rivers for nature-based flood mitigation and adaptation which would see large-scale native revegetation and wetland restoration across the Richmond River catchment, including the Tuckean swamp • supporting Indigenous people to engage in cultural stewardship practices to build the resilience of people and Country, including the Jagun Alliance “Healing our River Country for Community and Landscape Resilience” proposal
• establishing a NSW Indigenous Natural Hazards Trust for research into and development of Aboriginal caring for Country and ‘green’ infrastructure to build back resilience in nature and community
• embedding Indigenous voices and representation in governance structures for the NSW Reconstruction Authority.
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REC324-4295 |
11 - Evacuation and shelters
11 - Evacuation and shelters
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Roads: That, to improve the planning and protection of road infrastructure and to ensure communities, freight movers, combat agencies and emergency services have appropriate access and egress during and following a flood event, Government, through TfNSW and NSWRA and working with combat agencies and local and federal governments as needed, should:
• develop a state-wide road evacuation plan to establish a coordinated view of evacuation routes to ensure they are well-maintained and, particularly working with the Commonwealth Government, ensure that funding is coordinated and prioritised to target upgrades where it is most needed to increase flood resilience. This plan should be informed by catchment-wide flood risk modelling
• identify and prioritise communities at high risk of flooding where access and egress will be affected (for example rural communities connected by a single road affected by landslips) to coordinate logistics options to sustain communities isolated as a result of flooding.
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REC324-4310 |
41 - Emergency Management exercises
41 - Emergency Management exercises
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Task Force Hawk: That, to ensure disaster readiness, Government establish a high-level Government standing committee, Task Force ‘Hawk’, comprising key Cabinet Ministers, Secretaries and Commissioners that meets, trains and exercises to ensure Government is prepared to respond to any emergency. Task Force ‘Hawk’ should resonate with the community in difficult times to ensure the highest level of confidence in Government’s response.
Further, to improve the preparation for and timely response to disasters, and to ensure the emergency management systems and plans are fit for purpose, effective and appropriate, within 12 months Government, via the SEOCON, ensure all emergency management processes and plans have been updated and implemented.
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