That, in order to enhance NSW’s ability to improve situational awareness, Government expand FRNSW’s Remotely Piloted Aerial Systems (RPAS) capability (both capital assets and trained operators) to major regional centres and ensure the NSW RFS and other NSW government agencies can access this capa

That Government commission further research on the potential risks and benefits of backburning during severe, extreme and catastrophic conditions and/or in particular terrain, and that the NSW RFS use this research to inform future backburning protocols and training.

Better coordinate public information and warnings including evacuation plans and provide a single source of information about, the location and direction of fires, how and when to use Safer Places, Places of Last Resort, relief and recovery centres and directed evacuations.

Consider amending the Fire and Emergency Services Act 2005 to align SAFECOM Board operations with accepted governance standards with the Minister appointing an Independent Chair of the SAFECOM Board.

Consider removing stamp duty from home insurance to encourage a wider section of the community to take out insurance. South Australian government agencies should share their risk modelling data with the Insurance Council of Australia.

Invest in fireground leadership and incident management training for CFS, SES and MFS personnel to improve safety on the fireground.

Prepare to ‘scale up’ capability during major bushfire events with senior representatives (including BoM staff) in the SEC 24/7, ensure adequate facilities for IMTs, base camps (e.g. Humanihuts) and recovery centres.

Collate data and research the impact of bushfires upon communities, firefighters and animals (both native and domestic) to identify appropriate medium and long-term welfare and support requirements.

Engage with the Australian Defence Force (ADF) once or twice a year to understand the capabilities that could potentially be deployed. Educate IMTs about how to deploy ADF assistance effectively and develop a streamlined ‘call out’ procedure.

Incorporate Farm Firefighting Units (FFUs) into the Australasian Inter Service Incident Management System (AIIMS) so that IMTs are aware of their presence on the fireground and their welfare and risks are understood.

Implement previous review recommendations for bushfire management including those relating to the 2009 amendments to the Fire and Emergency Services Act 2005, State Bushfire Coordination Committee operation, State Bushfire Management Plan, as well as urgent completion of Codes of Practice for fue

Align risk assessment tools and processes to Risk Management Standard ISO 31000 and the National Emergency Risk Assessment Guidelines (NERAG) and communicate these on public-facing platforms.

Invest in upgrading and integrating ICT platforms to eliminate manual data transfers, and ensure IT and radio communication interoperability across the agencies, together with a dedicated focus on the development of a coordinated risk intelligence capability to provide all stakeholders with a com

Develop and practice procedures for the CFS, DEW and local governments to access and deploy heavy plant and machinery for fuel reduction operations both before and during bushfires.

Clarify business continuity and restoration of critical infrastructure in the planning and response phases to facilitate water replenishment, fireground remediation and access to businesses (including farming properties).

Review the use of aviation assets including facilities to operate them given the increased pressure from extended fire seasons on northern and southern hemisphere resources.

Clarify and streamline processes and educate the community about their roles and responsibilities in managing native vegetation to improve hazard reduction on both public and private land.

Regularly reviewing these plans to ensure that they reflect the current operating environment.

Developing detailed recovery procedures.

Assessing the availability and skillsets of the resources needed to respond to a major disaster recovery event.

Documenting disaster recovery risks in agency risk registers, along with controls and treatment plans. 

Developing, approving and implementing disaster recovery plans for all key business systems.

Defining recovery time objectives and recovery point objectives for key business systems.

Documenting results and recommendations from disaster recovery tests.

Scheduling disaster recovery tests for key business systems regularly, in line with their importance.

Conducting a risk assessment of disaster recovery plans for key business systems.

Upskilling IT resources through disaster recovery testing or formal training.

The chairpersons of disaster management groups within the Townsville Disaster District, supported by the Queensland Police Service, Queensland Fire and Emergency Services and the Queensland Reconstruction Authority develop a district action plan based on the capability enhancement strategy. 

To enable entities in the sector to proactively work to achieve better results for the community, the recommendations and lessons of this review should be evaluated through the lessons management processes of entities involved in dam safety for their value and relevance. 

To ensure enhanced capability integration and enable timely community messaging Bundaberg LDMG in consultation with Sunwater develop additional Emergency Alerts and associated polygons for a Paradise Dam failure and load these on to the disaster management portal. 

This report be returned to the InspectorGeneral Emergency Management to monitor, evaluate and report on progress and implementation of the recommendation(s) that are accepted in whole or in part by government. 

To enable a shared understanding of the risk, changes in the risk profile of referable dams be clearly communicated by entities that own dams to stakeholders and the community likely to be affected.

To increase understanding of hazards and manage risks, dam failure for Paradise Dam be included as a separate risk within the Bundaberg LDMP. 

To enable the community to have a shared understanding of risks and enhance community engagement, flood scenarios in Emergency Action Plans be published, and in a format that can be utilised by public mapping systems. 

To enhance shared capacity and collaboratively manage risk, the Chair of the Bundaberg LDMG use the Queensland Emergency Risk Management Framework (QERMF) process to determine if dam failure for Paradise Dam should be reported as a residual risk to the Bundaberg DDMG in this instance due to known

To enable the community to make informed choices about disaster management, Bundaberg and North Burnett regional councils and Sunwater undertake a community-informed audible test of the Paradise Dam siren. 

To increase shared understanding of risks, enable coordinated plans and collaboratively engage with downstream community members, residents listed within a dam EAP be identified by the Local Government Area (LGA) they reside in. 

To enable the community to make informed choices about disaster management, and act on them, a joint Sunwater/council community engagement program be conducted to prepare the community downstream from Paradise Dam for events in the 2019/2020 storm and cyclone season, including the possibility of

To increase shared understanding of risks and enhance capability integration and collaborative planning, both Local Disaster Management Group (LDMG) participate in the exercising of the Paradise Dam Emergency Action Plan. 

To enable the community to make informed choices about disaster management, and act on them, Sunwater develop and deliver a sustainable long-term communication strategy on the community safety issues and
risk profile connected with Paradise Dam. This is to be:

To enable the casual/itinerant worker and tourism sector, including those who do not have English as a first language, to make informed choices about disaster management, community engagement and communication strategies about Paradise Dam and floods in the Burnett river system be tailored to thi

To enable entities to have a shared understanding of forecast information for dam failure events during a flood, including flood wave travel time, speed and height, Emergency Action Plans contain protocols and responsibilities of relevant stakeholders for these aspects. 

To increase understanding of hazards and manage risks, dam failure for Paradise Dam be included as a separate risk within the North Burnett Local Disaster Management Plan (LDMP). 

To increase shared understanding of risks, ensure the coordination of plans and manage risks, dam failure for Paradise Dam be included as a separate risk within the Bundaberg District Disaster Management Plan (DDMP). 

To enhance shared capacity and collaboratively manage risk, the Chair of the Bundaberg DDMG use the QERMF process to determine if dam failure for Paradise Dam should be reported as a residual risk in this instance due to known changes in the risk profile to:

There remains a need to maximise the effect of all offers of assistance to recovering communities. This recommendation presents an opportunity to resolve any outstanding aspects of Recommendation 4 and Actions in Response from the Cyclone Debbie Review Action Plan:

Recovery plans at all levels should include transition arrangements. They should be implemented during recovery. The arrangements should:
a. allow for the fluid and overlapping nature of phases of disaster management.

The basic capacity needs of each functional recovery group and how this can be scaled up should be identified.

Practical guidance on what community-led recovery means, and how it can be best implemented should be captured and shared with all who have responsibility for it.

09-Community education/engagement/preparedness

State arrangements for on-the-ground support to recovering local governments should be in line with Queensland’s disaster management arrangements, and ensure the best balance between local relationships, suitable capability and sufficient capacity.

Greater clarity about responsibilities for recovery at the community, local, and district levels should be considered in any future review of the Disaster Management Act (2003).

The state’s arrangements for disaster management, including recovery, are articulated in the Disaster Management Act (2003), the Queensland Reconstruction Authority Act (2011), the State Disaster Management Plan and the Queensland Recovery Plan.

Further work be undertaken to develop effective public flood risk messaging and community education materials that are easy to understand and tested with the community to ensure flood risk is understood. 

Entities with disaster management responsibilities need to integrate the eight priorities identified within the Emergency Management Sector Adaptation Plan for Climate Change into their disaster management planning cycle.

The Department of Housing and Public Works should be included within Local Disaster Management Group evacuation centre planning and plans and assist with decision making around the relocation of evacuees from evacuation centres.

Councils, with the support of stakeholders, continue to develop and promote local disaster dashboards as the ‘point of truth’ for community information and messaging during disaster events. Greater use during recovery should be considered. 

Councils should formalise arrangements with entities that have the skills, capability and capacity to effectively manage spontaneous volunteers. These should be documented and integrated into planning and exercising.

Local groups should plan for and establish clear arrangements to effectively manage offers of assistance including the management of goods, services and volunteers. 

A single point of truth be established for accurately capturing and reporting on disaster management group activation levels for any given timeframe. 

Greater emphasis be placed on pre-planned and pre-determined arrangements between the Australian Defence Force and State and local agencies.

As part of the annual Emergency Action Plan review for the Ross River Dam, consideration should be given to the potential impacts of operating the gate outside automatic mode and whether this event has provided any new information and learnings which can be incorporated into the Emergency Action

Evacuation centre plans be revised to better manage vulnerable persons, including the safe storage of medications and providing alternate arrangements for evacuees with additional needs. (e.g. evacuation centre for aged persons). 

Energy Queensland and local groups consider establishing formal arrangements that embed measures that assist evacuation plans to increase levels of safety. 

The provision of system-wide tools, education, guidance and testing for requests for assistance is strengthened to enhance understanding and outcomes.

The progress of recovery for this event be reviewed incrementally over the next 2 to 3 years, with a formal, independent report provided on the effectiveness of the recovery after 3 years.

State Government agencies with key roles and responsibilities around disaster recovery provide increased support in the development of recovery at the local level (pre-event). 

Significant effort should be invested to provide disaster decision-makers at every level with a shared understanding of risks, the situation, and capability, so that they can agree on the best decisions for the communities they serve. 

A Local Government Association of Queensland representative should be included on the Crisis Communications Network to enhance the delivery of consistent information across and between levels of government.

Local disaster management groups should focus on the business continuity of local critical infrastructure and its integration with other plans.

Fatigue management strategies and guidance should be improved to ensure sustainable staffing practices are incorporated into disaster management planning.

The operation and maintenance of flood gauges should be developed and planned for on a catchment basis.

Exercising should focus on vertical integration and include all levels of the system. A strategic program of exercises should be developed and implemented.

The Queensland Chief Health Officer should work with the Office of the Inspector-General Emergency Management to raise, with the Commonwealth, the need for all aged care providers to plan and exercise for evacuation to a similar safe establishment.

Queensland should examine the feasibility of the installation of storm tide markers in prominent public places and the exploration of new technology to highlight storm tide risk to the community and its visitors. 

Relevant authorities should work with the tourism sector to clarify future arrangements for evacuation. In particular they should look closely at differentiating voluntary and directed evacuations in their messaging,

Business continuity planning should feature permanently in disaster management doctrine.

Planning and warnings for storm tide should be based on modelling that shows the chances of an event occurring (probabilistic).

Efforts are made to improve the timeliness, accuracy and targeting of Emergency Alert messaging by:
 • educating the sector about how Emergency Alert works in detail, and involving them in its testing.

Principles, applicable to all tourist budgets, covering liabilities for costs and shelter in the event of evacuation should be developed and promulgated as part of tourism marketing.

The Queensland Offers of Assistance Policy, particularly for corporate donations, should be updated and exercised prior to the next season. 

A strategy should be developed to improve the availability of information to decision-makers and other audiences. Information should be searchable, more specific, timely, and allow stake-holders to find what they want.

The provision of system-wide education, guidance and testing to enhance requests for Assistance is strengthened.

A strategy should be developed between the key tourism and transport operators, and local and state government. It should address the arrival of visitors and tourists after a disaster, and should ensure that their arrival matches communities’ needs for recovery and return to normal business.

Queensland should implement and maintain a system-wide lesson management program.

Clear public messaging regarding risks (if any) from the use of suppressants, including to 'organic' producers, should be developed and socialised before the next fire season and be readily available for dissemination when needed.

Targeted education about the short- and long-term effects of chemical suppressants should reach those likely to be exposed to them before aerial chemical suppressants are used in Queensland again.

Queensland's plans and arrangements for heatwave should be reviewed to provide for an intergrated multi-agency approach to their management. A single agency should lead and oversee this process.

Wherever possible, the antecedents that will lead to catastrophic fire weather conditions existing for a particular area should be identified and documented within fire management plan relevant to the area.  

Legislation at state and local level requiring landholders to reduce fire risk on their property should be actively applied

Given an increasing risk of intense fires, the framework of legislation relating to vegetation management, bushfire mitigation and preparation priorities should be re-assessed.

Hazard-specific and disaster management guidelines and plans should explain the circumstances and process for hazard-specific activation of the disaster management arrangements in support of an incident.

All disaster management groups should run an exercise that has full involvement of a hazard-specific primary agency in the next 12 months and regularly thereafter.

Hazard-specific plans and guidelines should be published on external websites for access by relevant stakeholders.

The future risk of bushfires to Queensland communities should be re-evaluated as part of the 2020 State Risk Assessment in light of recent and emerging science, events and lessons.

The national messages for catastrophic fire danger ratings should be integrated with all existing and new community bushfire safety information. 

Planning for response to bushfire risk should identify all stakeholders to be engaged in the response phase and their roles and responsibilities should be clearly documented.

The outputs of these capabilities should be shared and actively inform the disaster management sector, including response operations and the creation of warnings and public messaging.

Communications protocols about hazard-specific events should be developed to clarify responsibilities and the principles for the release of information and warnings. They should be included in all related hazard-specific plans and published on relevant websites, and used during events.

Building capacity in fire simulation and predictive capabilities, including the capability of people to read and interpret these products through training, should be investigated and considered.