Risk-based approach to calculating flood planning: That, to take account of greater knowledge of climate change, Government reinforce its adoption of a risk-based approach to calculating the flood planning level for planning purposes and, through the NSWRA, immediately start a process of revising all flood planning level calculations in the state’s high-risk catchments. Flood planning level re-determinations for all high-risk catchments should be completed within 3 years. These revised flood planning levels will need to be factored into all development applications (in-progress and new) in those high-risk catchments. The risk profile of high-risk catchments should be revisited at appropriate time intervals to check that levels are current. A review should take place if there has been a significant trigger event (i.e. changed rainfall, development) or at least every 5 years. As well as reviewing the flood planning level, this 5-yearly review should include reviewing any floodplain lease conditions and adjusting them as necessary in the light of better knowledge of climate change impacts. In working out a tolerable, risk-based flood planning level, consideration should be given to the PMF, 1% AEP, 0.02% AEP, existing development, approved but not yet constructed developments, and existing and approved but not yet constructed evacuation routes.
In coordinating this flood planning level re-determination process, NSWRA should work closely with local councils, DPE, communities, state water authorities and state and national engineering and research organisations. In doing so, the NSWRA should also:
• extend and then maintain the DPE state-wide flood database and associated visualisation interface. This database, which should link to LandiQ, would support:
— monitoring of the flood warning and sensing environment
— monitoring of trends in rainfall activity and impacts, including timing, cause, extent and intensity
— tracking trends and identifying patterns in associated weather and climate signals that contribute to severe floods
— evaluation of the cost and effectiveness of risk mitigation efforts, including land preparation, planning use and management, to enable a better understanding of what works
— simulation of extreme rainfall events and resultant flooding
— identification of ‘at risk’ river and catchment systems for flash flooding
— rapid and effective deployment of resources during a flash flood event
• act as the main coordination point for all NSW hydrological modelling, working with local government, other state agencies, universities, professional bodies (e.g. Engineers Australia) and the Australian Government (especially the Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO) to improve future NSW flood risk assessment (and hence accuracy and timeliness of flood prediction) by building more formal connections between the extensive existing physical hydrological modelling (done by various NSW agencies) with the Bureau’s meteorological and climatological research and riverine flood models
• support local councils to improve modelling of and ensure adequate and appropriate alarm systems for flash flooding.

Landholders can access information on previous disasters: That, to ensure there is a single source of ground truth to prepare for and respond to emergencies, and to provide people with a better understanding of their individual property and community risk exposure, an online visualisation tool be developed to display, for all land parcels (land titles) in NSW, the extent of known disasters that have affected each piece of land in NSW in the past. This information should be made available through the Planning Portal and, particularly in light of climate change, the data involved should be revised and updated at least every two years and after each major natural disaster.

Caravan parks and manufactured home estates: That, to ensure that permanent residents of caravan parks and mobile housing estates are protected from flood, Government: • prohibit permanent residency in caravan parks and mobile housing estates situated below the risk-based flood planning level. Caravan parks for holiday makers could still be on the floodplain with the provision that, if a flood is imminent, they need to be evacuated • address the issues raised in the 2015 Discussion Paper (Improving the regulation of manufactured homes, caravan parks, manufactured home estates and camping grounds).

Cost benefit framework:That, to enable a more systematic prioritisation of investment options in risk mitigation before, during and immediately following a natural disaster event, Government adopt and utilise a Disaster Cost Benefit Framework. This Framework will enable Government to estimate the investment required for any given disaster, starting with flood events, and will enable the fast allocation of funding based on detailed and rapid analysis of flood and property modification, mitigation, preparation, response and finance related options including:
• flood modification measures/flood defence (including dams/ water management; levees; waterway or floodplain modifications; etc)
• property modification measures/flood risk mitigation (including land filling; flood proofing; house raising; optimum zoning; removal of development (buy back schemes/relocation))
• response modification measures/flood preparation (including flood warnings; upgrading evacuation routes; evacuation planning; emergency response and education programs; flood data collection and sharing; etc)
• finance related options (including building standard reforms; restructure and reduction of stamp duty; direct subsidies; government reinsurance pools; etc)
The Framework should build on the preliminary version developed by NSW Treasury and provided to this Inquiry. To support this Framework, Government should also use the NSW Adaptation Fund that can be drawn on during or immediately following a flood event.

Housing , especially social housing: That, to ease housing stress in flood prone areas and ensure new development is resilient and community-centred, Government pursue a multi-pronged, decadal strategy through:
• ensuring flood-displaced residents in emergency housing who have no safe return to home options are re-homed in more permanent settlements where community can be re-established, and that emergency housing clusters do not take on de facto permanency
• providing authoritative advice on how to reclaim and restore flood damaged houses affected by mould. This includes providing detailed advice on who is at risk from living in mould-infected houses (the immunocompromised and those with lung damage plus certain other groups) and what constitutes safe living conditions for this group
• ensuring building standards are adopted for build back after floods so that new housing stock is as flood proof and flood recoverable as possible
• investing additional state, Commonwealth and private sector monies to grow the stock of social and affordable housing
• accelerating investment by the community housing and private sectors in new social and affordable housing projects through a Government run co-contribution grant funding program
• planning for and encouraging collaborative public and private sector investment in innovative mixed-use developments in flood prone regional cities and towns that are built above ground level to be flood
• resilient, are centrally located, and increase housing diversity by providing smaller social, affordable and market dwellings
• the Government’s Expert Housing Advisory Panel providing advice on additional market interventions to improve rental affordability and ease vacancy shortages to reverse homelessness and take pressure off social housing waitlists
• fast-tracking the approval and servicing of new village developments beyond the current footprint of Lismore and other Northern Rivers towns on existing cleared agricultural land above the re-calculated flood planning level, ensuring all infrastructure including transport, retail, schools, public space and other community facilities are in situ prior to occupation
• fast-tracking planning approvals and the provision of enabling infrastructure to accelerate delivery of Aboriginal housing on Local Aboriginal Land Council land and lands owned by Native Title corporations that respects culture and kinship and supports stable accommodation pathways
• partnering with the development and community housing sectors to relocate flood prone social and affordable housing on the Hawkesbury-Nepean floodplain to new and attractive multi-use, medium density developments within the CBDs of Mount Druitt, Blacktown and other Western Sydney city centres
• under the leadership of the NSW Building Commissioner, developing a code for flood resilient, environmentally sustainable building that accounts for current and likely future supply chain disruptions and extends to modular and manufactured homes
• working with the Greater Cities Commission and regional councils to ensure future local housing strategies factor in the need for natural disaster emergency housing and promote resilient housing systems
• encouraging financial institutions and insurance companies to use pricing structures to incentivise the construction of more safely situated and resilient buildings
• supporting building industry skills growth and making building material supply chains more robust to insulate the economy from future natural disaster and other exogenous shocks
• ensuring building industry occupational health and safety regulations are enforced in the flood-affected areas rebuilding programs.

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.

Relocating communities most at risk with good homes and amenities: That, to empower vulnerable people and communities to relocate, Government through the NSWRA:
• identify and prioritise those communities most at risk from future disasters, and for whom relocation may be appropriate or necessary
• leverage the work done through Government’s homes, cities, manufacturing and skills policies, to collaborate and work with these communities in examining, designing, building and installing affordable, attractive and insurable housing options (e.g. locally fabricated high quality modular homes, or utilising local builders to retrofit and/or relocate existing homes to safer ground) and to enable small housing developments with capacity to grow organically over time
• utilise best-practice policy for rapid urbanism and community-building to establish new settlements. This should include:
— an enquiry-by-design or charrette process led by the Government Architect to ensure that new settlements reflect the aspirations and vernacular of the local community, whilst meeting the technical needs of establishing settlements and delivering infrastructure at low cost. This should also include considering how to repurpose floodplains for community use and benefit, i.e. recreation, sports and energy production as part of the process of returning land below the flood planning level to Government ownership. It should also consider the role of locally manufactured, well-designed and regulated modular housing solutions
— promoting a sense of community by ensuring appropriate amenity (e.g. schools, shops, and services) is available to relocating people and communities at the time of moving to their new settlements
— working with the financial and philanthropic sectors to investigate a special purpose fund to provide continuing support for these communities as they transit through re-establishment.

Transition initiatives: That, to improve the community’s experience during immediate disaster recovery phase, Government through the SEOCON, NSWRA, DCS/Service NSW and other state agencies as required provide greater support (financial, health [including mental health], temporary accommodation, administrative and other support services) to affected communities by:
• minimising the number of times a person is required to relive their trauma by providing evidence or narrative of their disaster impact (for the purposes of accessing relief and support services). This includes consistent and effective referral pathways and follow up mechanisms
• looking at information sharing arrangements with the Australian Government to streamline grant identification and delivery
• partnering with affected communities and individuals to navigate and access support as soon as possible during or immediately following disaster events
• where possible, merging evacuation and recovery centres for the first 30 days post disaster. Where co location is not possible, DCS/Service NSW must have a representative present at both evacuation and recovery centres.
The Inquiry notes that clear transition initiatives are required dependent on the phase of recovery and lead agency associated – for example, the transition between the SEOCON (including DCS/Service NSW) in the immediate recovery phase to the NSWRA for the longer-term recovery. Functions that may require transition include, but are not limited to, administering grants and funding, and managing infrastructure and housing projects.

Simplify the planning system disaster provisions: That, to simplify and improve the state planning processes especially when anticipating and recovering from a disaster, Government:
• ensure there is a clear line of sight directing councils and planning authorities to include disaster response and resilient settlement outcomes in long term strategic plans (Regional and District Plans as well as Local Strategic Planning Statements). This may require more prominence to be given to Planning for a more resilient NSW: A strategic guide to planning for natural hazards (Department of Planning, Industry and the Environment) as well as a clear link to the risk-based approach to hazard identification and the disaster adaptation plans
• ensure the NSWRA provides the necessary tools and advice to enable planning authorities to incorporate cumulative impacts of potential natural disasters into strategic plans. These tools should ensure the disaster adaptation plans can be given real effect in strategic plans for settlement and local planning controls
• ensure that Ministerial Directions on hazard and natural disasters (directions 4.1 and 4.6 inclusive) are updated to reflect the new risk-based approach to flood planning levels and deliver the disaster adaptation plans to the zoning process
• create specific flood planning provisions as a new chapter in the SEPP (Resilience and Hazards). These provisions would draw the existing flood planning clauses (5.21 and 5.22 in the standard instrument) up into the SEPP
• put the natural disaster clause (5.9 in the standard instrument) into a new chapter in the SEPP Resilience and Hazards, along with objectives to assist councils to use the clause to build back to more resilient standards
• update planning guidance so that wherever possible community facilities, such as might be used for evacuation centres, are located above the probable maximum flood and essential services are located above the flood planning level
• ensure that the strategic land use frameworks and related controls permit new developments only in line with the evacuation capacity both individually and cumulatively
• ensure that the strategic land use frameworks enable higher density flood resilient precincts to locate more development at or above the PMF and use a higher flood planning level to avoid catastrophic costs from extreme flooding, as well as deliver cost-effective controls for individual structures.

That the NSW Government overhaul the way in which it conducts its grants process as it frustrated applicants and further traumatised them by repeatedly re-interviewing them and making them prove that they were flooded. 

That the NSW Government ensure that all emergency and recovery plans, including state plans, local emergency management plans and functional area plans, are reviewed and updated regularly and provide clarity on the role of non-government partners.

That the NSW Government provide an increased level of targeted support to flood affected communities contending with widespread mould. 

That the NSW Government develop a more proactive, rapid response to manage animal welfare following natural disasters which includes improved collaboration and communication with local veterinarians and animal welfare organisations.

That the NSW Government embed into its emergency plans the appointment of a senior police officer with combat experience to lead recovery efforts following natural disasters.

That the NSW Government review the provision of temporary and long term housing options provided to those affected by the February-March 2022 floods, with a view to: • ensuring a range of options are identified and embedded within emergency and recovery plans, so that solutions can be implemented as soon as possible after a natural disaster • ensuring that housing options meet individual and community needs • removing planning impediments that prevent those from accessing more safe and secure housing in times of crisis. 

That the NSW Government consider investing in supporting relocations, land swaps and providing fair and adequate compensation for landowners who wish to relocate from severely flood-impacted areas. 

That the NSW Government address the mental health needs of local communities following the February-March 2022 floods by: • embedding within state emergency and recovery plans a strategy that provides surge capacity for mental health and social workers by: • prioritising funding for community groups that are currently providing social and mental health support to their local communities • ensuring all flood-impacted communities receive the mental health support they need to fully recover. 

That the NSW Government work with local government, industry and sustainable planning experts, including the Government Architect, on policy initiatives in the New South Wales planning system that will help deliver more resilient and sustainable homes, buildings and places. 

That Service NSW establish teams of assessors that can be on the ground to assess and approve grant applications. 

That the NSW Government significantly increase its investment in flood mitigation and preparation, including its support of local governments to do the same, by: • increasing ongoing, long term funding and access to technical guidance and assistance for local councils • ensuring that land-use planning and development takes a risk-based approach. 

Improve regional transport infrastructure to address current and projected flood evacuation capacity constraints and timelines.

Develop a NSW Planning Policy and Guideline to improve land use planning practices on flood prone land.

Ensure future road infrastructure planning considers flood evacuation requirements throughout the Hawkesbury-Nepean floodplain.

Review the adequacy of current arrangements for infrastructure reconstruction following a major flood event in the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley.

Develop a Hawkesbury-Nepean Flood Recovery Plan, which identifies strategies and arrangement for recovery from severe floods in the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley.

Ensure appropriate consideration of flood risk in regional and subregional planning

Establish a dedicated group or body within an existing agency to provide a more integrated, coordinated and regional approach to land use, infrastructure and evacuation planning and flood modelling in the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley.

Provide improved land use planning tools for managing flood prone land.

I recommend that the AFP takes steps to ensure that there are on Christmas Island at all times appropriately trained AFP officers who have completed the National Police Search and Rescue Manager’s Course and that upskilling should be ongoing to establish a cadre of trained search and rescue personnel. 

There must be compatibility of communications systems throughout the rail network. It is essential that all train drivers, train controllers, signallers, train guards and supervisors of trackside work gangs in New South Wales be able to communicate using the same technology.

The RMC should be equipped by RailCorp with a transcriber system, or mimic board, or such other system as is necessary to enable identification of the precise location at any time of any train on the RailCorp network.

The ITSRR should conduct its own risk assessment in relation to the risk of any such high consequence, low probability accident and, if necessary, direct RailCorp to conduct a further risk assessment to reduce the level of residual risk to a level ITSRR regards as acceptable.

A dedicated telephone line should be established by RailCorp between the RMC and any Emergency Services Control Centre for use during any emergency.

RailCorp should undertake risk assessments of each of its activities as follows:
(a) identify the features of the system, subsystem or activities that are to be risk assessed and managed, to determine what makes the system work in terms of equipment, infrastructure and human factors;
(b) identify all hazards that may exist within the particular system, subsystem or activity, whether it is a driver safety system, passenger safety system, engineering design system, train maintenance system or involves human factors or performance;
(c) identify what controls are in place to eliminate or minimise the risks associated with any identified hazard;
(d) test the validity of the controls to ensure that the risk is eliminated or reduced to an acceptable level and, if not, institute additional or further control measures;
(e) specify, in safety documentation, the level of any residual risk;
(f) in the case of low probability, high consequence risks retain the services of an independent verifier of the risk assessments and controls to certify that all risks of such potentially catastrophic accidents have either been eliminated, or controlled to the extent identified by the independent expert;
(g) the Board of RailCorp certify that it regards any residual risk of a high consequence, low probability accident as acceptable, notwithstanding the severity of the consequences, by reason of the cost of further measures to control the risk; and
(h) provide to ITSRR records of the processes of hazard identification, risk assessment, risk control, independent verification and certification, and any Board certification relating to any high consequence, low probability accident.

The ITSRR should have permanent access to the RailCorp intranet.

Regular field training exercises should be conducted by RailCorp with the emergency services to ensure that the incident command system and rail displan are able to be fully implemented as quickly as possible and are reviewed and improved.

Maintenance plans on all trains should be revised annually.

The location of the command post for site control at the scene of any rail accident should be identified by NSW Police by a distinctive flashing light.

There should be interoperability of communications equipment between all trains operating on the New South Wales rail network.

All signal telephones must be maintained by RailCorp in proper working order.