The Department of Sustainability and Environment to review ownership of Grampians Wimmera Mallee Water’s Yarriambiack Creek levee, with a view to the appointment of a more suitable public managing authority/authorities.

The state government implement the Victorian Floods Review recommendation 8, to review the flood gauging network.

Where flood investigations show positive and cost effective outcomes, infrastructure providers, such as VicRoads, will consider enhancing their infrastructure to act as levees.

Flood studies will be undertaken to determine the flood extent on the basis of a greater than 1 in 100 ARI, where appropriate:
• The Water Act 1989 to be amended.

The state government will work with Grampians Wimmera Mallee Water and stakeholders to determine ongoing ownership and associated responsibilities for redundant channel infrastructure in the Wimmera and the Mallee.

Significant modification of waterways in urban or rural areas will only be considered after the completion of a flood risk management process, undertaken in consultation with members of the community.

The Victorian Government should work with the New South Wales Government and the Murray Darling Basin Authority to establish an appropriate floodplain management committee and to develop a floodplain management strategy for the Murray River.

The revised Victoria Flood Management Strategy should clearly identify authorities and assign responsibilities for stream blockage and debris removal in waterways posing a high risk to public infrastructure both during and after a flood:

Local knowledge on the management and ongoing maintenance of waterways, including vegetation clearing and debris removal, needs to be incorporated in the development of regional flood mitigation strategies and local flood plans. Specifically:

That the Department of Sustainability and Environment continue to invest in the auditing of Victoria’s levee systems, both public and private, so that the Victoria Flood Database contains reliable and up to date data, including information on levees’ location, height, condition and ongoing viabil

The Victorian Government to implement the recommendations of the Victorian Floods Review in relation to the development and implementation of appropriate flood mitigation and protection strategies for essential services.

The state government establish a well coordinated and formalised system for the reading of river gauges by local people, including flood wardens.

A revised Victoria Flood Management Strategy should identify and assign roles and responsibilities for the management and ongoing maintenance of Victoria’s waterways, for the purposes of flood protection and flood mitigation:

In consultation with local communities, local councils will develop flood response plans as subplans to their current Municipal Emergency Management Plans.

The role of flood risk management planning rests with CMAs and Melbourne Water (under the Water Act 1989), and is a shared responsibility with local government. Shared responsibilities for flood risk management planning and implementation will be consistently reflected in government policy.

Public authorities such as councils and CMAs should continue to seek local knowledge in relation to flood management issues. In particular, councils will collaborate with VICSES and other key stakeholders in reviewing the system of flood wardens.

The Department of Sustainability and Environment will develop guidelines for the management of levees in emergencies, during and after a flood event, which can be incorporated into local flood response plans.

The funding model for works on levees and their ongoing maintenance be revised, to be primarily based on the beneficiary pays principle. The state government should give consideration to wholly funding, or contributing to, the initial upgrade of high priority levees to an agreed standard.

When developing flood mitigation options in lowland areas, local governments should give consideration to the use of temporary levees as an alternative or addition to permanent structures.

Within the jurisdiction of Melbourne Water, it shares with local councils the responsibility to manage local drainage systems as outlined under the Water Act 1989 and the Local Government Act 1989 respectively:

Management of community expectations: better understanding of what different groups within a community expect.

Efficient and effective supporting tools and processes: developing tools and workflows to quickly and reliably transform technical data into intelligence that can be used to construct messages for community information that are timely, relevant, tailored and effective.

Management of community expectations: continued community education.

Efficient and effective supporting tools and processes: streamlining the authorisation processes for urgent warnings.

Management of community expectations: further development of tools that would allow the community to more easily
access accurate and time-critical information.

Agency incident management preparedness: provide clarity and certainty in specific roles and responsibilities for each agency.

Agency incident management preparedness: refining IT tools to process the intelligence.

Efficient and effective supporting tools and processes: high-quality local/municipal planning.

Agency incident management preparedness: a more comprehensive approach to planning, including the number of personnel, their training and better use of on-the-ground intelligence in the affected areas that enables immediate and strategic decision-making to be concurrent processes.

Regulators can help to achieve improved outcomes by considering the issues identified by this review

Landfill operators must be encouraged to achieve greater compliance with the required outcomes relating to fire that are set out in the BPEM guidelines, particularly with regard to water supplies

Regulators can help to achieve improved outcomes by involving fire services in the planning and licensing processes

Fire services can improve outcomes by using a pre-planned response to provide appropriate resources

Fire services can improve outcomes by implementing standard procedures that ensure the welfare and safety of crews and the public are not compromised

Regulators can help to achieve improved outcomes by acknowledging that changes to legislation and the BPEM guidelines may be required to help address the identified issues

Fire services can improve outcomes by implementing standard procedures that ensure the welfare and safety of crews and the public are not compromised

Fire services can improve outcomes by working with EPA as the regulator and licensing authority to achieve improved compliance with the required outcomes specified in the BPEM guidelines

Fire services can improve outcomes by seeking input to decisions about siting, design and fire water systems as part of the planning and licensing processes

Regulators can help to achieve improved outcomes by auditing compliance with the BPEM guidelines on a regular basis

Fire services can improve outcomes by developing a checklist for use by incident controllers

Fire services can improve outcomes by initiating discussions with landfill operators about fire management planning and emphasising the critical importance of water supplies and early intervention

Electricity distributors should consider installing connection points for generators to provide electricity supply to non-flooded areas that have had their supply cut during floods.

The fire service should ensure that station officers are familiar with the procedure for contacting management when requesting the calling in of additional staff; and, in particular, that they have available to them the names and current telephone numbers of the officers to be contacted in the fi

Emergency Management Queensland should simplify the process by which SES members gain recognition for prior qualifications so that unnecessary duplication of training can be avoided.

The Queensland Government should seek information about the size, features and condition of abandoned mines, including whether the mine or its surrounding environment were adversely affected by flood, from private landholders who have abandoned mines on their properties.

If the Queensland Government does not include such a code in the model flood planning controls, councils should include in their planning schemes a flood overlay code that consolidates assessment criteria relating to flood.

Councils should consider implementing a property buy-back program in areas that are particularly vulnerable to regular flooding, as part of a broader floodplain management strategy, where possible obtaining funding from the Natural Disaster Resilience Program for this purpose.

The Queensland Government should ensure that all flood mitigation manuals include the requirement that those operating the dam during flood events hold current registrations as professional engineers.

Prior to each wet season, the Department of Environment and Resource Management should audit the compliance of each owner of a referable dam with the obligation to have an emergency action plan approved by the Queensland Government.

Seqwater should ensure that the Somerset Dam gallery is not susceptible to flooding during overtopping events.

The Queensland Government should consider amending the Sustainable Planning Act 2009 to require that consideration be given to the risk of flooding in the preparation or revision of a regional plan.

The Department of Environment and Resource Management should ensure that, when applications for a material change of use for an environmentally relevant activity are approved by the department, the details of those activities, including their nature and location, are provided to the council withi

Authorities responsible for the construction of sewerage infrastructure should, when embarking on new works, undertake risk and cost/benefit assessments to determine the level at which electrical infrastructure that may be vulnerable to inundation should be placed.

The Queensland Government should consider implementing mandatory requirements to ensure that all conduits for the purpose of providing electrical supply below the applicable defined flood level are sealed to prevent floodwaters from entering them or flowing into them.

Emergency Management Queensland, in consultation with councils, should develop a directive that makes clear the authority of an officer of that agency to command a major SES operation.

Wide Bay Water should, in addition to its usual wet season preparations and maintenance, undertake the following activities in advance of each wet season: Queensland Floods Commission of Inquiry | Final Report 29 Complete list of Final Report recommendations • conduct training for personnel on da

The Queensland Government should legislate to clarify the purposes for which a transitional environmental program can be granted.

The Queensland Government should resolve the discrepancy in recorded peak river height for the January 2011 flood of the Brisbane River between the Brisbane City and Port Office gauges.

If the Queensland Government does not include such assessment criteria in model flood planning controls, councils should include assessment criteria in their planning schemes that require community infrastructure (including the types of community infrastructure which are identified in the Sustain

Toowoomba Regional Council should engage external consultants to carry out failure impact assessments on the detention basins along East Creek.

The Queensland Government should consider whether North Pine Dam should be operated as a flood mitigation dam when it considers possible operating strategies and full supply levels as part of the longer term review of the Manual of Operational Procedures for Flood Mitigation at North Pine Dam.

The Department of Environment and Resource Management should prioritise dam safety audits according to risk.

The Queensland Government should draft model flood planning controls, using a similar format and structure to that in the Queensland Planning Provisions, that councils can adapt for local conditions. The Queensland Government should require these controls to be reflected in new planning schemes.

The Queensland Government should draft assessment criteria to be included in the model flood planning controls that require that: a.

Authorities responsible for the management of sewerage infrastructure should conduct a review of their existing infrastructure to identify electrical infrastructure that may be vulnerable to inundation and perform risk and cost/benefit assessments to determine if it should be relocated to a highe

CS Energy should put in place contingency measures to ensure email and telephone communications at Wivenhoe Power Station are not entirely dependent on a network located off-site.

Emergency Management Queensland should ensure its staff, SES members and disaster managers are familiar with the directive when it is developed.

The Department of Environment and Resource Management should conduct periodic dam safety information and education sessions with emergency management personnel including those from Emergency Management Queensland, local and district disaster management groups and local councils.

The Queensland Government should consider amending the Environmental Protection Act 1994 so that it allows for the relaxation of environmental authority conditions, by transitional environmental program or otherwise, as to discharge of water: • pre-emptively, in advance of rainfall or flooding ev

The steering committees of the Wivenhoe Dam and Somerset Dam Optimisation Study and the North Pine Dam Optimisation Study should consider removing the water supply security investigation from each study.

If the Queensland Government does not include such assessment criteria in the model flood planning controls, councils should include assessment criteria in their planning schemes that require the impact of flood on commercial property to be minimised.

Toowoomba Regional Council and the Department of Environment and Resource Management should continue to co-operate to assess the referable dam status of existing detention basins and any future detention basins constructed in the West Creek and East Creek catchment areas.

The Queensland Government should continue to assess and review the adequacy of work procedures DS 5.1 and 5.3, having regard to the need for flood mitigation manuals to reflect the will of the executive.

The Queensland Government should include in the model flood planning controls a requirement that councils have a flood overlay map in their planning schemes.

The Queensland Government should review the code for development applications for prescribed tidal work in the Coastal Protection and Management Regulation 2003 to consider whether the design and construction standards should be made more stringent than the existing standards.

The Department of Environment and Resource Management should review the Queensland Urban Drainage Manual to determine whether it requires updating or improvement, in particular, to reflect the current law and to take into account insights gained from the 2010/2011 floods.

Emergency Management Queensland, in consultation with councils, should develop clear directives about: • the communication and reporting that should take place between the SES and disaster managers, including in relation to task allocation and completion, once disaster management groups have been

The Queensland Government should consider amending the Environmental Protection Act 1994 to provide a definition of the term ‘emergency’ for the purposes of section 468 of that Act.

The steering committee of the North Pine Dam Optimisation Study should consider whether it would be beneficial for the floodplain management investigation to be removed from the North Pine Dam Optimisation Study.

Carriers, councils and the Australian Communications and Media Authority should take into account the risk of flooding when considering the placement of telecommunications facilities.

Councils should ensure that, when applications for environmentally relevant activities are approved by a council, the details of those activities, including their nature and location, are provided to the Department of Environment and Resource Management.

The Queensland Government should endeavour to ensure that Queensland conditions are appropriately considered in the National Flood Risk Advisory Group’s review of best practice principles.

Prior to approving a flood mitigation manual, the Queensland Government should be satisfied that its terms are expressed in a manner that allows a determination of compliance with it to be made by reference to objective standards.

The Queensland Government should include in the model flood planning controls a model flood overlay code that consolidates assessment criteria relating to flood.

The Queensland Government should consider drafting assessment criteria to be included in the model flood planning controls which require that works in a floodplain: • do not reduce on-site flood storage capacity • counteract any changes the works will cause to flood behaviour of all floods up to

Councils should consider amending their planning schemes to include provisions directed to consideration of the flood resilience of basements as a factor in determining the appropriateness of a material change of use.

Emergency Management Queensland should ensure its staff, SES members and disaster managers are familiar with the directives it develops in relation to these matters.

The Queensland Government should amend the Environmental Protection Act 1994 so as to permit an emergency direction to be given orally where it is not practicable to provide the direction in writing, with provision for its subsequent confirmation in writing

The conditions for the use of a particular strategy in all flood mitigation manuals should reflect objective standards.

If the Queensland Government does not include such assessment criteria in the model flood planning controls, councils should include assessment criteria in their planning schemes that require that: a.

In the event that the review does not adequately account for Queensland conditions, the Queensland Government should produce a document that provides appropriate guidelines for floodplain management in the Queensland context.

The Department of Environment and Resource Management should prepare formal work procedures for the review of flood event reports created under emergency action plans and flood mitigation manuals.

The Queensland Government should include in the model flood planning controls a model planning scheme policy that: • for development proposed on land susceptible to flooding, outlines what additional information an applicant should provide to the assessment manager as part of the development appl

The Queensland Government should consider amending the Sustainable Planning Regulation 2009 so that operational work or plumbing or drainage work (including maintenance and repair work) carried out by or on behalf of a public sector entity authorised under a state law to carry out the work is not

In assessing and determining development applications for material change of use in areas susceptible to flood, councils should consider whether the new developments locate essential services infrastructure above basement level, or, alternatively, whether essential services infrastructure located

The Disaster Management Act 2003 should be amended to give the chief executive of the department administering the Act (or his or her delegate) the authority to appoint an officer of Emergency Management Queensland to direct SES operations in extraordinary circumstances

Emergency Management Queensland should pursue the execution of the ‘Local Arrangements’ with councils where a Memorandum of Agreement is in place. The contents of the arrangements should be reviewed and updated regularly

The steering committee of the Wivenhoe Dam and Somerset Dam Optimisation Study should consider whether it would be more effective for the floodplain management investigation to be removed from the Wivenhoe Dam and Somerset Dam Optimisation Study.

The Department of Environment and Resource Management should require Wide Bay Water, in advance of every wet season, to provide details of its expectation as to the operability of the crest gates if a flood occurs, until such time as all gates have been demonstrated to work as designed.

When approving applications for development which involve the manufacture or storage of hazardous materials, councils should not restrict the conditions imposed to ones which are solely reliant on human intervention to remove the materials in the event of flood.