REC315-3852 |
7 - Inter-agency communication
7 - Inter-agency communication
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That, in order to improve fireground communications between NSW agencies and interstate personnel: a) Government ensure all NSW fire authority personnel and vehicles can access and utilise the Public Safety Network (PSN). This should include access to NSW RFS Private Mobile Radio networks where PSN coverage is not yet available.
b) the NSW Telco Authority review cross-border communications availability and planning and advise NSW fire authorities on next steps to enable multi-state interoperability for wide area communications.
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REC315-3868 |
33 - Relief and recovery
33 - Relief and recovery
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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.
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REC315-3828 |
9 - Community education
9 - Community education
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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:
- develop a formal bush fire risk assessment process for all State roads and bridges, to
identify:
* ‘high-risk’ communities where access and egress in the event of a fire will be
affected, for example rural communities connected by a single road surrounded by bushland, and ensure community bush fire planning processes (i.e. Bush Fire Risk Management Plans (BFRMPs) or Community Protection Plans) include plans to ‘leave early’ or enforce mandatory evacuation orders
* how waterways can be integrated better into the transport network as evacuation routes or places of shelter when road and rail transport is unavailable – waterways should be included in regional emergency management plans
* route options for rapid identification of needed road closures in the event of fire
* key sections of the State’s road network for future upgrade to ensure whole corridors
are resilient to fire impacts, regardless of who manages the asset
- audit, through the NSW RFS Audit Unit (to be established) the inclusion of critical road
infrastructure in BFRMPs prepared by Bush Fire Management Committees (ensuring that appropriate transport representation is provided to BFMCs) and Local Emergency Management Committees across the State.
In support of these measures, it will be critical that the community is given early warning of bush fire events and has ample time to evacuate prior to or during an emergency.
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REC315-3864 |
9 - Community education
9 - Community education
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That, in order to ensure people can access clear information on cross-border fires, the NSW RFS:
a) incorporate information on fires in neighbouring states and territories into Fires Near Me NSW
b) collaborate with other states and territories to develop a national app as part of the Australian Warning System being developed through the AFAC Warnings Group.
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REC315-3817 |
5 - Hazard reduction burns
5 - Hazard reduction burns
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That Government, noting that hazard reduction targeted in proximity to assets is on balance more likely to provide help than hinder, should:
a) support local councils and partner agencies to implement more comprehensive hazard
reduction at a local level around towns/cities, communities and local infrastructure assets, and provide incentives for communities to organise themselves to prioritise and implement local hazard reduction initiatives. This will involve a suite of hazard reduction techniques depending on the landscape including prescribed burning, clearing, mowing, and mechanical treatments, and easy disposal of green waste into processors turning it into bioenergy or biofuels
b) beyond the local level priorities for hazard reduction, prioritise prescribed burning in parts of the landscape where fuel treatment may help reduce probability of fires escalating quickly and where terrain and potential atmospheric interactions are likely to escalate fires into fire-generated thunderstorms. This will likely involve a proactive program of treating ridge tops that are prone to dry lightning where reduced fuels may help reduce speed of spread when the fire first starts, or particular windward or lee-slopes that are susceptible to generating extreme fire behaviour and drive fire towards towns.
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REC315-3855 |
7 - Inter-agency communication
7 - Inter-agency communication
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That, in order to ensure all agencies have a clear understanding of cross-border communication channels during bush fires, all MoUs between state or territory agencies include an agreed protocol about how agencies will communicate across borders and that these are reflected in Incident Action Plans.
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REC315-3816 |
5 - Hazard reduction burns
5 - Hazard reduction burns
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That Government re-commit to the current, regionally based approach to planning and coordinating hazard reduction activities across all tenures through Bush Fire Management Committees but ensure that it is actually being implemented at a high-level of quality across NSW. Getting it to a high-level of quality requires:
a) implementing the Inquiry’s recommendation about performance auditing of Bush Fire Risk Management Plans
b) prioritising implementation of revised processes for bush fire risk management planning that incorporate new modelling and methods for quantifying risk and the residual risk profile as a result of proposed hazard reduction works
c) ensuring regional priorities for hazard reduction, and how they are determined, are communicated clearly to the community, and their implementation is reported on transparently. This will include being very clear about the objectives of hazard reduction activities and communicating that hazard reduction does not eliminate the risk of fire affecting properties
d) the methodology for assessing and planning for risk reduction becomes an ongoing area of research and the frameworks are formally reviewed every three years.
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REC315-3854 |
7 - Inter-agency communication
7 - Inter-agency communication
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That, in order to ensure emergency response agencies can communicate across state and territory borders, the Commonwealth Government allocate 10 + 10 MHz as a dedicated spectrum for Public Safety Mobile Broadband (PSMB) at no cost to states and territories.
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REC315-3799 |
9 - Community education
9 - Community education
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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.
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REC315-3853 |
7 - Inter-agency communication
7 - Inter-agency communication
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That, in order to ensure the State Emergency Operations Centre (SEOC) can maintain communications during emergencies, the Government provide the SEOC with independent Public Safety Network functionality.
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