Inquiry Search
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
---|---|---|
REC324-4302 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | Disaster adaptation plans for all towns: That, to establish realistic expectations of safe spaces to live and deliver much needed housing quickly, Government through NSWRA working with local government: |
REC324-4307 | 9 - Community education | Flood education: That, to build disaster resilience in future generations as floods and other natural disasters are a fact of Australian life, the Department of Education should design, implement and deliver an evidence-based, targeted education campaign (like sun exposure) in schools (new disaster curriculum). |
REC324-4311 | 33 - Relief and recovery | 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: |
REC324-4317 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | Flood rescue capability: That, to help improve the protection of life across NSW in flood events: |
REC324-4297 | 33 - Relief and recovery | 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: |
REC324-4301 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | Floodplains as assets: That, to establish the capacity and maximise the economic, social and environmental potential and consequently unlock the value of NSW floodplains, Government adopt the following guiding principles for floodplain management: |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
---|---|---|
REC316-4042 | 25 - Inquiry, audit, lessons management and after action review | ACT Government undertake a detailed legislative review to ensure that information regarding vulnerable community members can be appropriately accessed, provided and used during an emergency event. |
REC316-4051 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | The Emergencies Act 2004 be amended so that the powers, including delegations, available to an EC be granted on their appointment and remain in place under the same section of the Act for the duration of their appointment rather than being drawn from different sections of the Act that are dependent on the existing alert state for the specified event. |
REC316-4024 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | The Government consider amendments to the Emergencies Act to include provision for a Deputy ESA Commissioner. |
REC316-4041 | 9 - Community education | The ESA Community Education and Engagement program be adapted to include an expanded role for RFS volunteers and include a wider set of stakeholders who are more vulnerable to the impact of bushfire. A plan would require wider involvement across stakeholder organisations such as Directorates who have existing relationships with vulnerable groups. |
REC316-4050 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | The Emergencies Act 2004 be amended to allow for the provision for a Deputy Emergency Controller to be appointed, independent of the initial appointment of an EC. The powers and functions of this appointment to be contingent on the absence of the EC. |
REC316-4021 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | The Emergency Plan be amended to better reflect the intent of the Emergencies Act in the establishment of a Management Executive, separate to SEMSOG, on the appointment of an EC. It should describe the role of SEMSOG and the Management Executive as distinct in the emergency management architecture. |
REC316-4038 | 25 - Inquiry, audit, lessons management and after action review | The CCIP be reviewed in conjunction with the review of the Emergency Plan and the two synchronised. A workable approach to delivering operational emergency communications and strategic WhoG communications is developed with simple and clear reporting arrangements. |
REC316-4049 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | The Emergencies Act 2004 be amended to allow for the appointment of the EC to be made for a discretionary time period of up to 28 days with the requirement for a legislated review of the appointment to be removed. Alternatively, a period of review should fall within the Chief Ministers discretion for up to seven (7) days following appointment. |
REC316-4018 | 25 - Inquiry, audit, lessons management and after action review | The five year review of the Emergencies Act examine amendments to better define the rationale for a State of Alert / State of Emergency whilst ensuring that the relevant Minister / Chief Minister still has sufficient discretion to make a declaration based on advice from relevant Government officials and committees. |
REC316-4035 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | Review, refine and implement the joint ESA/EPSDD Arrangement for Fire Management in the ACT with the previous recommendation in mind. |
REC316-4046 | 33 - Relief and recovery | Emergency Plan and Recovery sub-plans should be amended to better define recovery mechanisms and responsibilities, including hand over points to recovery authorities and community engagement for the delivery of long term recovery mechanisms. |
REC316-4014 | 25 - Inquiry, audit, lessons management and after action review | That Justice and Community Safety Directorate (JACS) lead a working group from across relevant organisations to undertake the five year review of the Emergencies Act in conjunction with a wholistic review of the Emergency Plan and relevant sub-plans; and recommendations from this review, to the extent they are accepted by Government. Bringing together a small Taskforce of staff from across government for a set period would assist the working group in delivering the work needed to address these and other recommendations. |
REC316-4033 | 25 - Inquiry, audit, lessons management and after action review | The BFC Terms of Reference be reviewed to ensure they are contemporary and reflect learnings from this and recent bushfire seasons. |
REC316-4045 | 42 - Culture and Heritage | WHoG desktop exercise should be conducted to test and support relocation and evacuation planning. |
REC316-4052 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | The ACT Emergencies Act 2004 be amended to clarify that the powers of the EC encompass the power to direct agencies and directorates to share personal information for the preservation of life and protection of Canberrans. |
REC316-4025 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | The Emergency Plan and ECC Ops Plan be amended to better articulate the delivery of emergency management vs the delivery of the emergency plan. The Plan should facilitate principles for emergency management and clear role delineations whilst allowing flexibility in how the mechanisms are structured. |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
---|---|---|
REC315-3858 | 25 - Inquiry, audit, lessons management and after action review | That, in order to improve cross-agency communication and coordination during bush fires, the NSW RFS review Fire Control Centres (FCCs) in areas that were heavily affected by fire. The results should be combined with the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) Facilities Review to identify areas that would benefit from a purpose-built FCC, enabling co-location with the EOC. |
REC315-3869 | 42 - Culture and Heritage | That, in order to ensure Aboriginal people can access appropriate support during evacuation, Resilience NSW work with Local Emergency Management Committees and Aboriginal Affairs to ensure: |
REC315-3812 | 25 - Inquiry, audit, lessons management and after action review | That Government commit to: |
REC315-3844 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | That, in order to enhance fire fighting strategies in severe conditions, the NSW RFS implements the following in respect to backburning: |
REC315-3868 | 33 - Relief and recovery | That, in order to ensure people only need to tell their story once to access government agency support following an emergency, Resilience NSW and Service NSW jointly design an inclusive, person-centred approach to information collection at evacuation centres. This should be supported by an opt-in scheme enabling personal information to be shared between NSW government agencies, local councils and non-governmental organisations administering support services for disaster-affected people. |
REC315-3805 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | That, to strengthen cross-agency accountability and deliver improved bush fire risk management outcomes: |
REC315-3828 | 9 - Community education | That, in order to improve bush fire planning and protection of road infrastructure and to ensure communities, freight movers and fire fighting agencies have appropriate access and egress in a bush fire event, Government, working with local government as needed: |
REC315-3864 | 9 - Community education | That, in order to ensure people can access clear information on cross-border fires, the NSW RFS: |
REC315-3804 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | That the NSW RFS Commissioner consult with the Fire and Rescue NSW Commissioner and other emergency services to develop a protocol in the event that simultaneous emergency events necessitate the re-allocation of resources while a Section 44 declaration is in place. |
REC315-3823 | 42 - Culture and Heritage | That, in order to increase the respectful, collaborative and effective use of Aboriginal land management practices in planning and preparing for bush fire, Government commit to pursuing greater application of Aboriginal land management, including cultural burning, through a program to be coordinated by Aboriginal Affairs and Department of Planning, Industry and Environment working in partnership with Aboriginal communities. This should be accompanied by a program of evaluation alongside the scaled-up application of these techniques. |
REC315-3860 | 25 - Inquiry, audit, lessons management and after action review | That, in order to ensure the guiding principles and approval processes are contemporary, streamlined and more flexible, the NSW and Commonwealth Governments review the Defence Assistance to the Civil Community (DACC) arrangements. This review should include the circumstances in which the State can request Commonwealth assistance, and the level of information provided by the ADF to the State on available resources and capabilities. |
REC315-3799 | 9 - Community education | That at the start of each fire season, based on advice from the Bush Fire Coordinating Committee, Government provide a public statement with an evaluation of the likely fire season risk and the effectiveness of the planning and preparation for the upcoming season. This should be based on sophisticated monitoring of the key risk factors and signals for an extreme fire season. It should form the basis for clear public communication about these risks on a regional basis and the actions that Government proposes in preparation. |
REC315-3822 | 42 - Culture and Heritage | That Government adopt the principle that cultural burning is one component of a broader practice of traditional Aboriginal land management and is an important cultural practice, not simply another technique of hazard reduction burning. |
REC315-3859 | 25 - Inquiry, audit, lessons management and after action review | That, in order to ensure State Emergency Operations Centre (SEOC) interoperability during all natural disasters, Resilience NSW review the current SEOC arrangements and location including responsibilities for ongoing resourcing and maintenance. |
REC315-3798 | 25 - Inquiry, audit, lessons management and after action review | That, in order to ensure recommendations accepted by the Government are implemented in a timely and transparent manner, Government establish a central accountability mechanism to track implementation of recommendations from bush fire-related reviews and inquiries and consider expanding this to other policy areas. |
REC315-3873 | 25 - Inquiry, audit, lessons management and after action review | That Resilience NSW review existing functional area arrangements to ensure they are closely aligned to agencies responsible for direct service delivery. |
REC315-3820 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | That Government amend the Rural Fires Act 1997 so that all public land management agencies be required to forward complaints received about bush fire hazards to the Commissioner of the NSW RFS. As an interim measure, heads of agencies should commence this practice immediately. |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
---|---|---|
REC302-2395 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | Remove those policies, guidelines, memoranda of understanding and committees that are made redundant as a result of adopting recommendation #2 while updating any remaining policies that are considered to still be relevant |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
---|---|---|
REC237-0830 | 9 - Community education | That Bush Fire Risk Management Plans be tabled at Local Emergency Management Committees for comment. |
REC237-0818 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | That section 9(4)(b) of the Rural Fires Act 1997, which sets out the functions of the NSW Rural Fire Service, be amended to include protecting infrastructure, environmental, economic, cultural, agricultural and social assets from damage. |
REC237-0823 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | That section 74 of the Rural Fires Act 1997 be amended to require public authorities to report monthly to the Commissioner of the NSW Rural Fire Service on activities undertaken to reduce bush fire hazards on managed land during the preceding month and the reasons why any planned activities did not take place. |
REC237-0829 | 9 - Community education | That Bush Fire Risk Management Plans be posted on the NSW Rural Fire Service website. |
REC237-0817 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | That section 3(c) of the Rural Fires Act 1997, which sets out the objects of the Act, be extended to include protecting infrastructure, environmental, economic, cultural, agricultural and social assets from damage. |
REC237-0822 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | That section 74 of the Rural Fires Act 1997 be amended to require public authorities to report to the Commissioner of the NSW Rural Fire Service within one month of the end of the financial year on activities undertaken to reduce bush fire hazards on managed land during the preceding financial year. |
REC237-0828 | 9 - Community education | That the NSW Rural Fire Service develop a strategy to better inform the community and NSW Rural Fire Service members about the NSW bush fire management system and its components. |
REC237-0821 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | That the definition of “bush fire hazard reduction work” in the Dictionary of the Rural Fires Act 1997 be amended to include the establishment or maintenance of fire trails. |
REC237-0827 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | The Panel notes and endorses the NSW bush fire management system based on a multi-agency, tenure blind approach using locally focused Bush Fire Management Committees, Bush Fire Management Plans and the Bush Fire Environmental Assessment Code as best practice. |
REC237-0832 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | That the NSW Rural Fire Service investigate use of appropriate modelling, such as PHOENIX RapidFire and the Bayesian Network analysis, to quantify the level of bush fire risk to critical values and assets. |
REC237-0820 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | That the Rural Fires Act 1997 be amended to allow the Commissioner of the NSW Rural Fire Service to carry out hazard reduction on land without the consent of the owner after reasonable attempts to contact the landowner have failed, without serving a notice under section 66 of the Rural Fires Act. |
REC237-0826 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | That the NSW Rural Fire Service hold discussions with the Commonwealth Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities about hazard reduction and roadside vegetation, including potential changes to the NSW Bush Fire Environmental Assessment Code. |
REC237-0831 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | That Bush Fire Management Committees be required to take into account fuel age and fire frequency thresholds when developing Bush Fire Risk Management Plans |
REC237-0819 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | That section 56 of the Rural Fires Act 1997 be amended to give the Commissioner of the NSW Rural Fire Service the power to direct a Bush Fire Management Committee to amend its Bush Fire Risk Management Plan if it is inadequate, in the opinion of the Commissioner. |
REC237-0824 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | That section 100I of the Rural Fires Act 1997 be amended to allow hazard reduction certificates to be issued for annual low impact works for a period of three years, where appropriate. |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
---|---|---|
REC164-0072 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | SERCon consider that the proposed State Recovery Committee review the recommended considerations arising from |
REC164-0071 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | SERCon consider the establishment of a body, such as a State Recovery Committee, with responsibility for the |
REC164-0077 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | SERCon consider the continued development of a State Recovery Sub-Plan (including complementary local and district |
REC164-0076 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | SERCon consider meeting with the State Emergency Management Committee, Directors General and agency heads to |
REC164-0074 | 9 - Community education | SERCon consider a review of existing community-based educational programs, with a view to informing the community |
REC164-0073 | 25 - Inquiry, audit, lessons management and after action review | SERCon consider that the proposed State Recovery Committee provide an interim report to government on these and |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
---|---|---|
REC121-3768 | 25 - Inquiry, audit, lessons management and after action review | The ITSRR, when considering a re-application for accreditation, should conduct a field audit of the organisation to ensure that it is carrying on its activities in accordance with the basis upon which it seeks accreditation. |
REC121-3668 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | The RailCorp emergency response plan should include action checklists of the steps that each employee is required to take, and the order for specific employees to follow in case of emergency. |
REC121-3705 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | The ITSRR should develop standards for periodic medical examinations which include the following: |
REC121-3730 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | Legislation should be enacted and any necessary arrangements made, to enable the ATSB to review any reports of any investigation by a rail organisation or the OTSI into any serious incident or accident in New South Wales. |
REC121-3773 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | The ITSRR should ensure that RailCorp establishes a safety management system containing the 29 elements identified in the SMSEP report, and ensure the ongoing monitoring and improvement of the safety management system established. |
REC121-3686 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | The standard in relation to the collection and use of data from data loggers should provide that such information must be accessed in the circumstances of any accident or incident and can be accessed to monitor driver performance generally. |
REC121-3758 | 25 - Inquiry, audit, lessons management and after action review | Following completion of any external audit, a corrective action plan to remedy any identified safety deficiencies should be developed by RailCorp, implemented and followed up within the business groups affected, to ensure appropriate and timely completion of the action plan, by a formal examination of the effectiveness of the controls put in place. Senior management personnel should certify that the corrective action plan has been implemented and is effective. Senior management personnel should be accountable for any such certification. |
REC121-3655 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | Procedures should be put in place by RailCorp to ensure that electrical power supply to the area of an accident can be immediately isolated, if necessary, in the event of a rail accident, so as to reduce any risk of exposure of emergency response personnel to injury or harm. |
REC121-3693 | 25 - Inquiry, audit, lessons management and after action review | ITSRR should ensure that, as a condition of accreditation, each of these recommendations is carried into effect and should audit against them to enforce compliance. |
REC121-3765 | 25 - Inquiry, audit, lessons management and after action review | The ITSRR should conduct field audits to satisfy itself that all accredited rail organisations conduct their activities in accordance with the safety management system on the basis of which each was accredited. |
REC121-3667 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | RailCorp should develop and implement an emergency response plan for management of all rail accidents. Such a plan should be subsumed by the rail displan in the case of serious accidents or incidents. |
REC121-3701 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | Train inspections should be carried out at the time of stabling RailCorp trains, as well as a part of train preparation prior to entering service. |
REC121-3728 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | Any barriers to communication between OTSI and ITSRR should be removed, so as to ensure that any findings made by OTSI in relation to any investigation it conducts are reported immediately to ITSRR. |
REC121-3772 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | RailCorp should establish a safety management system containing the 29 elements identified in the SMSEP report which is in volume 2 of this report. |
REC121-3685 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | The ITSRR should impose a standard in relation to the collection and use of data from data loggers. |
REC121-3757 | 25 - Inquiry, audit, lessons management and after action review | RailCorp should conduct internal and external safety audits to evaluate the adequacy of its safety management system and to ensure that any risk control measures are effective. |
REC121-3692 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | Communications protocols and procedures should be standardised and mandated by regulations making them a condition of accreditation. |
REC121-3763 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | The ITSRR should publish guidelines to be followed by accredited organisations. |
REC121-3662 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | The rail displan should provide for the site controller to have complete control of the site, with other agencies co-ordinating with and supporting him or her, until the rescue phase of the emergency response has been completed. |
REC121-3699 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | All reported train defects should be certified by a person in a supervisory position in RailCorp as having been rectified. |
REC121-3771 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | RailCorp should establish an integrated safety management system which includes the following: |
REC121-3679 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | The rail safety regulator should set standards for the design, manufacture, testing and commissioning of rolling stock to ensure that the rolling stock is fit for its purpose. |
REC121-3727 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | The relevant legislation should be amended to provide expressly that OTSI and the Chief Investigator have the power to initiate a rail accident or incident investigation. |
REC121-3753 | 25 - Inquiry, audit, lessons management and after action review | The RailCorp Board should establish independent external safety auditing processes to regularly audit and report to the Board on the implementation of an integrated safety management system by RailCorp and on safety performance generally. |
REC121-3691 | 25 - Inquiry, audit, lessons management and after action review | The ITSRR should audit the RMC to ensure communications protocols are being followed. The sanction for non-compliance with communications protocols should be identical to that in the aviation industry and involve immediate removal from duty. Any RailCorp employee not following communications protocols should be required to undertake further training. If, following return to duties after such training, the officer continues to fail to comply with communications protocols, that officer is not to be employed in communications related work. |
REC121-3762 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | The Chief Executive of ITSRR should have sole accountability and responsibility for the regulation of rail safety in New South Wales. |
REC121-3661 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | The rail displan should include provision for the appointment of a rail emergency management co-ordinator at the RMC, and an on-site rail commander with the sole function of assisting and supporting the emergency services during the rescue phase of the emergency response. |
REC121-3698 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | No RailCorp train should enter into revenue service or remain in service if, in the opinion of the driver in charge of that train, any defect in it creates a risk of injury. |
REC121-3770 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | A safety management system regulation should be promulgated, specifying the requirements of safety management systems in all accredited organisations, using Annexure I to this report as a guide |
REC121-3674 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | Uniform verbal descriptions identifying that power has been isolated should be developed by RailCorp and utilised by all railway personnel, electrical service providers and all emergency response personnel. |
REC121-3726 | 25 - Inquiry, audit, lessons management and after action review | The OTSI should continue to conduct rail accident investigations on behalf of ITSRR and report directly to the Chief Executive of ITSRR. |
REC121-3750 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | ITSRR should initiate and/or participate in the development of a national standard for crashworthiness of all passenger trains. |
REC121-3690 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | All communications protocols must be strictly enforced by all accredited rail organisations. |
REC121-3761 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | Legislative changes should be enacted to ensure the complete independence of ITSRR from the Minister for Transport Services. |
REC121-3660 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | The rail displan should include the use by all emergency response personnel of a uniform incident command system, involving procedures for such matters as the establishment of inner and outer perimeters, control of access to the site, orderly evacuation of injured passengers and the establishment of a staging area remote from the accident site, in a unified command structure with the site controller co-ordinating the various emergency services through representatives of each service. |
REC121-3696 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | Defects reporting, recording and rectification should be integrated with the RailCorp regimes for train maintenance. |
REC121-3769 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | The ITSRR should continue to participate in the development of a national system for rail safety regulation, provided that any ultimate agreement between the States and Territories and the Australian Government does not produce a safety outcome for New South Wales that is less than would be achieved by the implementation of all the recommendations contained in this report. |
REC121-3671 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | The RailCorp emergency response plan should include a requirement for the debriefing of all senior rail and emergency response personnel involved in any rail accident, so as to determine the way or ways in which emergency response arrangements for rail accidents can be continually improved, and thereafter implement such improvements. |
REC121-3713 | 25 - Inquiry, audit, lessons management and after action review | Recommendations one to seven of the final report of the Special Commission of Inquiry into the Glenbrook Rail Accident should be fully implemented, save that the random auditing referred to in recommendations five and seven should be carried out by ITSRR. |
REC121-3736 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | The RailCorp passenger containment policy must be abandoned. |
REC121-3688 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | Communications procedures must be standardised throughout the rail network, so that all railway employees describe the same subject matter in an identical way. |
REC121-3760 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | The Advisory Board established under the Transport Legislation Amendment (Safety and Reliability) Act 2003 must be abolished. |
REC121-3659 | 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform | A railway disaster plan, or rail displan, should be developed by RailCorp and the emergency services to ensure co-ordinated inter-agency response to rail accidents and incidents on the RailCorp network. |
REC121-3694 | 25 - Inquiry, audit, lessons management and after action review | The ITSRR should conduct random audits of accredited rail organisations for compliance with communications protocols. |