Inquiry Search
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
---|---|---|
REC317-4068 | 13 - Mapping and data quality | Australian, state and territory governments should establish a national register of fire and emergency services personnel, equipment and aerial assets. |
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. |
REC317-4059 | 13 - Mapping and data quality | Australian, state and territory governments should prioritise the implementation of harmonised data governance and national data standards. |
REC317-4105 | 13 - Mapping and data quality | Australian, state and territory governments should agree to: |
REC317-4066 | 2 - Emergency powers | The Australian Government should make provision, in legislation, for a declaration of a state of national emergency. The declaration should include the following components: |
REC317-4132 | 26 - Research | The material published as part of this Royal Commission should remain available and accessible on a long-term basis for the benefit of individuals, communities, organisations, businesses and all levels of government. |
REC317-4065 | 13 - Mapping and data quality | Australian, state and territory governments should continue to develop a greater capacity to collect and share standardised and comprehensive natural disaster impact data. |
REC317-4111 | 42 - Culture and Heritage | Australian, state, territory and local governments should explore further opportunities to leverage Indigenous land and fire management insights, in the development, planning and execution of public land management activities. |
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: |
REC317-4093 | 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. |
REC317-4063 | 23 - Climate Change | Australian, state and territory governments should produce downscaled climate |
REC317-4110 | 42 - Culture and Heritage | Australian, state, territory and local governments should engage further with Traditional Owners to explore the relationship between Indigenous land and fire management and natural disaster resilience. |
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: |
REC317-4092 | 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: |
REC317-4060 | 13 - Mapping and data quality | Australian, state and territory governments should create common information platforms and share technologies to enable collaboration in the production, analysis, access, and exchange of information, data and knowledge about climate and disaster risks. |
REC317-4109 | 13 - Mapping and data quality | Australian, state and territory governments should develop consistent processes for the classification, recording and sharing of fuel load data. |
REC317-4077 | 26 - Research | Australian, state and territory governments should support ongoing research and evaluation into aerial firefighting. This research and evaluation should include: |
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. |
REC317-4106 | 13 - Mapping and data quality | Australian, state and territory governments should ensure greater consistency and collaboration in the collation, storage, access and provision of data on the distribution and conservation status of Australian flora and fauna. |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
---|---|---|
REC299-1339 | 26 - Research | That Government provide support in the form of funding for the Return to the Firestick project, and that a formal pilot scheme be established where data can be collected, collated and analysed and the effectiveness of this approach be compared against current burning practices. |
REC299-1346 | 26 - Research | DELWP and its partner agencies, in conjunction with the Department of Health and Human Services, should undertake research into the specific effects on health of people affected by planned burns and the information should be made public. The study should include the direct impact of smoke on affected populations and impacts on water, food supplies and livestock. |
REC299-1345 | 36 - Volunteers | That issues of animal welfare be given a higher practical priority in the planned burning process on the ground, including: |
REC299-1340 | 26 - Research | That any such pilot program ought to be managed by the relevant indigenous organisations, with support provided by DELWP and its partner agencies and the development and the evaluation of any pilot program should be overseen by an independent and reputable academic or research institution. |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
---|---|---|
REC278-1221 | 26 - Research | The committee recommends that the Australian Government, in cooperation with the Tasmanian Government: • recognise the need to identify the ecological and biodiversity impacts of fire on fire sensitive vegetation communities, organic soils and endemic fauna species in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area; and • allocate long-teerm funding to the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation and/or the Tasmanian Government to assist with the development of fire assessment and modelling specifically suited to the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
---|---|---|
REC236-2783 | 2 - Emergency powers | The committee recommends that the Australian Transport Safety Bureau retrieve VH-NGA flight data recorders without further delay. |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
---|---|---|
REC232-2821 | 26 - Research | The National Health and Medical Research Council, in conjunction with key stakeholders, work collaboratively to provide more support for initiatives to increase international infectious disease research collaborations and build research capacity, particularly with neighbouring countries in the Asia-Pacific region. |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
---|---|---|
REC229-2838 | 26 - Research | The committee notes the linkage between climate change and extreme weather events and recommends that the Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO conduct further research to increase understanding in the areas of: |
REC229-2837 | 26 - Research | The committee recommends that the Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO continue to improve projections and forecasts of extreme weather events at a more local level. |
REC229-2836 | 26 - Research | The committee recommends that the Commonwealth government, through the Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO, continues to support data collection and research to improve forecasting of extreme weather events, especially early warning capabilities. |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
---|---|---|
REC217-1836 | 26 - Research | Flood studies will be undertaken to determine the flood extent on the basis of a greater than 1 in 100 ARI, where appropriate: |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
---|---|---|
REC186-0395 | 17 - Assets and technology | The committee further recommends that any allocation of broadband spectrum to emergency service organisations (ESOs) for PPDR must be provided on the basis of interoperability amongst Australian ESOs and with ESO counterparts overseas. |
REC186-0394 | 17 - Assets and technology | The committee recommends the Commonwealth Government allocate sufficient spectrum for dedicated broadband public protection and disaster relief (PPDR) radiocommunications in Australia. |
REC186-0393 | 17 - Assets and technology | The committee recommends that interoperability of narrowband voice radiocommunications between federal, state and territory emergency service organisations is achieved as soon as practicable and that all services attending major incidents be compelled to maintain a common emergency communications platform to ensure seamless real time communication from and to the Incident Controller. |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
---|---|---|
REC181-0166 | 13 - Mapping and data quality | The Country Fire Authority and the Department of Sustainability and Environment improve mapping support in the following ways: ■ DSE providing mapping data free of charge to emergency response agencies; ■ greatly increasing the CFA’s ‘write’ access to FireMap for incident management team staff; ■ establishing a joint DSE–CFA training program to ensure that mapping officers in level 2 and 3 incident management teams are fully trained in using FireMap, including in producing fire prediction maps; ■ requiring before the 2010–11 fire season that FireMap be used for joint incidents. |
REC181-0204 | 2 - Emergency powers | The State amend the Country Fire Authority Act 1958 to enable the Chief Officer to delegate the power to issue fire prevention notices. |
REC181-0154 | 11 - Evacuation and shelters | The State introduce a comprehensive approach to shelter options that includes the following: ■ developing standards for community refuges as a matter of priority and replacing the 2005 Fire Refuges in Victoria: Policy and Practice; ■ designating community refuges—particularly in areas of very high risk—where other bushfire safety options are limited; ■ working with municipal councils to ensure that appropriate criteria are used for bushfire shelters, so that people are not discouraged from using a bushfire shelter if there is no better option available; ■ acknowledging personal shelters around their homes as a fallback option for individuals. |
REC181-0193 | 13 - Mapping and data quality | The Department of Sustainability and Environment conduct biodiversity mapping identifying flora, fauna and any threatened species throughout Victoria and make the results publicly available. The format used should be compatible with that used for Bushfire-prone Area mapping. |
REC181-0155 | 11 - Evacuation and shelters | The State introduce a comprehensive approach to evacuation, so that this option is planned, considered and implemented when it is likely to offer a higher level of protection than other contingency options. The approach should: ■ encourage individuals—especially vulnerable people—to relocate early; ■ include consideration of plans for assisted evacuation of vulnerable people; ■ include consideration of plans for assisted evacuation of vulnerable people. |
REC181-0187 | 13 - Mapping and data quality | The State identify a central point of responsibility for and expertise in mapping bushfire risk to: ■ review urgently the mapping criteria at present used by the Country Fire Authority to map the Wildfire Management Overlay, to ensure that the mapping used to determine building and planning controls is based on the best available science and takes account of all relevant aspects of bushfire risk; ■ map and designate Bushfire-prone Areas for the purposes of planning and building controls, in consultation with municipal councils and fire agencies; ■ finalise the alignment of site-assessment methods for planning and building purposes, taking into account bushfire risk to human safety as well as to property. |
REC181-0171 | 17 - Assets and technology | The State, in conjunction with Emergency Management Australia and the Department of Defence, develop an agreement that allows Commonwealth aerial resources that are suitable for firefighting and support activities to be incorporated in preparedness plans and used on days of high fire risk. |
REC181-0215 | 26 - Research | The Commonwealth establish a national centre for bushfire research in collaboration with other Australian jurisdictions to support pure, applied and long-term research in the physical, biological and social sciences relevant to bushfires and to promote continuing research and scholarship in related disciplines. |
REC181-0170 | 17 - Assets and technology | The Country Fire Authority and the Department of Sustainability and Environment amend their policies on aerial preparedness and standby arrangements, their dispatch protocols and the management of aircraft in order to do the following: ■ require that at locations that attract the risk assessment or preparedness level A on code red days all personnel needed for air operations must be on standby by 10.00 am; ■ establish a system that enables the dispatch of aircraft to fires in high-risk areas without requiring a request from an Incident Controller or the State Duty Officer. |
REC181-0208 | 13 - Mapping and data quality | The Department of Sustainability and Environment significantly upgrade its program of long-term data collection to monitor and model the effects of its prescribed burning programs and of bushfires on biodiversity in Victoria. |
REC181-0151 | 11 - Evacuation and shelters | The State revise its bushfire safety policy. While adopting the national Prepare. Act. Survive. framework in Victoria, the policy should do the following: ■ enhance the role of warnings—including providing for timely and informative advice about the predicted passage of a fire and the actions to be taken by people in areas potentially in its path; ■ emphasise that all fires are different in ways that require an awareness of fire conditions, local circumstances and personal capacity; ■ recognise that the heightened risk on the worst days demands a different response; ■ retain those elements of the existing bushfire policy that have proved effective; ■ strengthen the range of options available in the face of fire, including community refuges, bushfire shelters and evacuation; ■ ensure that local solutions are tailored and known to communities through local bushfire planning; ■ improve advice on the nature of fire and house defendability, taking account of broader landscape risks. |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
---|---|---|
REC176-0150 | 17 - Assets and technology | The committee recommends that the Commonwealth co-ordinate a national approach to the pooling of ground fire fighting resources across agencies and jurisdictions to maximise the efficiency of their use. |
REC176-0149 | 26 - Research | The Productivity Commission be tasked to assess the economic effects of recent major bushfires on the Australian economy to determine the cost effectiveness of prescribed burning as a mitigation strategy. |
REC176-0148 | 26 - Research | At the conclusion of the current Bushfire CRC funding agreement the Commonwealth establish a new permanent bushfire research institute. |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
---|---|---|
REC155-3472 | 26 - Research | That the Department of Sustainability and Environment and its partner agencies conduct or commission research, and a possible trial study, to determine the potential of thinning and other silvicultural practices – whether alone or in combination with prescribed burning – as a means of reducing fuel loads and as a bushfire management strategy in Victoria’s forests. |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
---|---|---|
REC145-3229 | 26 - Research | The Committee recommends that the Australian Government urgently commission further research on socioeconomic vulnerability to climate change impacts, particularly in coastal communities. |
REC145-3196 | 26 - Research | The Committee recommends that the Australian Government increase its investment in coastal based climate change research on: |
REC145-3205 | 17 - Assets and technology | The Committee recommends that, following the completion of the ‘first pass’ National Coastal Vulnerability Assessment, the Australian Government consider the resourcing and financing of second and third pass assessments, in conjunction with state, territory and local government authorities. |
REC145-3228 | 42 - Culture and Heritage | The Committee recommends that the Australian Government, in consultation with Indigenous Australians and other coastal stakeholders, commission work to provide a national repository identifying Indigenous and non-Indigenous cultural heritage sites in vulnerable coastal areas. |
REC145-3194 | 26 - Research | The Committee recommends that the Australian Government commission a study on international coastal zone governance arrangements, policies and programs for addressing coastal climate change impacts, and adaptation strategies. The completed study should be made public. |
REC145-3204 | 13 - Mapping and data quality | The Committee recommends that the Australian Government establish a National Coastal Zone Database to improve access to and consistency of information relevant to coastal zone adaptation. The National Coastal Zone Database should be an online portal that allows ready access to: |
REC145-3218 | 13 - Mapping and data quality | The Committee recommends that the Australian Government, through the Australian Bureau of Statistics, ensure that: |
REC145-3202 | 26 - Research | The Committee recommends that the Australian Government establish a coastal zone research network within the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility and that it complete a coastal zone research plan. |
REC145-3216 | 26 - Research | Noting the gap in research on legal issues and climate change impacts on the coastal zone, the Committee recommends that the Australian Government request that the Australian Law Reform Commission undertake an urgent inquiry into this area, with particular focus on: |
REC145-3201 | 13 - Mapping and data quality | The Committee recommends that the Department of Climate Change share all data collected through vulnerability assessments undertaken as part of the Australian Government Local Adaptation Pathways Program on the proposed National Coastal Zone Database (see also recommendation 42). |
REC145-3211 | 26 - Research | The Committee recommends that the Australian Government give the five recommendations calling for information, studies and data, as proposed by the Torres Strait Regional Authority, early and urgent consideration with a view to their implementation. |
REC145-3235 | 13 - Mapping and data quality | The Committee recommends that the National Coastal Zone Database be expanded over time to include information on environmental data and management and planning information relevant to the coastal zone. |
REC145-3198 | 26 - Research | The Committee recommends that the Department of Climate Change continue to fund research to: |
REC145-3206 | 26 - Research | The Committee recommends that the Australian Government take urgent action to protect Australians from the threats of dengue fever and chikungunya virus. The knowledge gaps identified by the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility research plan with regards to the relationship between climate variation and vector-borne disease should be urgently addressed. The Australian Government should: |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
---|---|---|
REC098-2144 | 26 - Research | The Committee acknowledges community concerns about smoke pollution as a result of prescribed burning and recommends that the Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre pursue its proposed study into smoke modelling. |
REC098-2160 | 13 - Mapping and data quality | The Committee recommends that Geoscience Australia take responsibility, in conjunction with Emergency Management Australia, for developing a national spatial data policy to coordinate the development of data systems, the collection of data and the sharing of data between all the emergency response agencies across Australia, and that both agencies participate in the development and delivery of spatial information |
REC098-2130 | 26 - Research | The Committee recommends that the Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre establish, as part of its program to implement a single fuel classification system, a national database that provides information on current levels and rates of accumulation of fuel loads that takes into account vegetation type and climate across all tenures of land, including private land where data is available. |
REC098-2179 | 26 - Research | The Committee recommends that Program D of the Commonwealth Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre examines the (pending) outcome of the ABCB’s review of the existing Building Code of Australia bushfire |
REC098-2143 | 26 - Research | The Committee recommends that, as part of its study into improving the effectiveness of prescribed burning, the Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre establish a national database that includes areas targeted for fuel reduction, the area of fuel reduction achieved based on a specified standard of on ground verification and the season in which the reduction was achieved. The Committee also recommends that in developing this database the Cooperative Research Centre develop a national standard of fire mapping, which accurately maps the extent, intensity, spread and overall pattern of prescribed and wildfires in Australia. |
REC098-2156 | 36 - Volunteers | The Committee recommends that: |
REC098-2173 | 36 - Volunteers | The Committee suggests that registered volunteer fire fighters be exempt from paying Fire Levy tax to help offset some of the expense they incur during active duty. The exemption could be for a period of 12 months |
REC098-2139 | 17 - Assets and technology | The Committee recommends that the Commonwealth seeks to ensure that the Council of Australian Governments initiate consideration of the relaxation of restrictions on the movement of fire fighting equipment |
REC098-2188 | 26 - Research | The Committee recommends that Program E of the Bushfire Cooperative Centre, which is tasked with the development of the next generation of fire researchers and dissemination of the Centre’s work, be tasked further to collect and respond to feedback, particularly from the on ground volunteer levels of fire brigades, on the practicality of its outputs and their future requirements. |
REC098-2147 | 26 - Research | The Committee recommends that the Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre conduct further research on the impact of weeds on the flammability of land and the most economically and environmentally appropriate way to remove weeds after fire events. |
REC098-2168 | 2 - Emergency powers | The Committee recommends that the Commonwealth investigate, and where necessary, require the urgent enhancement of the provision of emergency power and telecommunications services for the purpose of |
REC098-2137 | 26 - Research | The Committee recommends that the Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre establish a minimum national standard that is common across all tenures of land for water access and availability for bushfire fighting. |
REC098-2182 | 26 - Research | The Committee recommends that the Commonwealth Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre’s research and recommend property protection products and programs under Program D. |
REC098-2146 | 26 - Research | The Committee recommends that the Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre conduct further research into the long term effects and effectiveness of grazing as a fire mitigation practice. |
REC098-2162 | 13 - Mapping and data quality | The Committee recommends that the 1:100,000 national mapping program be accelerated to achieve an average life of no greater than 10 years with priority given to those areas most susceptible to national disasters. |
REC098-2134 | 26 - Research | The Committee recommends that the Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre determine a minimum national standard, taking into account topography and vegetation type, for adequate access to all public lands |
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. |
REC098-2145 | 26 - Research | The Committee recommends that the Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre monitor the effect of grazing on mitigating the return of woody weeds to recently fire effected areas across various landscapes including |
REC098-2161 | 13 - Mapping and data quality | The Committee recommends that Emergency Management Australia be required to participate in the development and delivery of spatial information systems as part of a national approach to emergency planning and management data. The first priority in policy development and of systems should be related to bushfire hazards. |
REC098-2132 | 26 - Research | The Committee recommends that the Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre establish, as part of its program to implement a single fuel classification system, standards which take into account local conditions including topography and vegetation type, for determining appropriate dimensions for asset protection zones. |
REC098-2180 | 26 - Research | The Committee recommends that (under Programs C and E) the Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre considers the following items as part of a national education program. |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
---|---|---|
REC016_3949 | 17 - Assets and technology | It is recommended that the A.R.P. dams or earth tanks be kept filled during possible danger periods. |
Rec-ID | Code | Recommendation |
---|---|---|
REC004-3994 | 17 - Assets and technology | That the Railway Department, while gradually reducing the number of different types of locomotives, should steadily keep in view the adoption of English and American railway practice, by providing engines with larger boilers, fire boxers, and smoke-boxes, and with wide blast-pipes, in order to insure ample steaming power with a minimum of forced draught. |
REC004-3992 | 17 - Assets and technology | That the use of a spark-arrester and cinder-arrester by the Railway Department shall not constitute a defence to an action for damage caused by fire escaping from a locomotive, unless the Department proves that such spark-arrester and cinder-arrester were in a thoroughly efficient condition when the fire took place. |
REC004-3996 | 17 - Assets and technology | That the standard pattern of cinder arrester be affixed to the ash-pans in all locomotives during the summer months. |