INQ228

The Justice and Community Safety Directorate should continue to review its strategic and accountability indicators and the Territory and Municipal Services Directorate should commence a review of its strategic and accountability indicators.

The Emergency Services Agency, the Environment and Sustainable Development Directorate and the Territory and Municipal Services Directorate should strengthen across-Government delivery of major projects in the Strategic Bushfire Management Plan and Regional Fire Management Plans by collectively:<

The Territory and Municipal Services Directorate, in consultation with the Emergency Services Agency, should improve its management of Land Management Agreements, with respect to rural leaseholders’ fire management responsibilities, by:

The Emergency Services Agency, in consultation with the Territory and Municipal Services Directorate, should review the Farm FireWise Program, including:
a) its purpose;
b) to whom it applies;
c) the relationship between this Program and Land Management Agreements; and

The Emergency Services Agency should improve its management of the Community Fire Unit Program by:
a) developing governance and administrative documentation for the planning, management, administration and evaluation of the Program;

The Emergency Services Agency and the Territory and Municipal Services Directorate should continue to improve working arrangements between the ACT Rural Fire Service Parks Brigade and the ACT Rural Fire Service headquarters, by:

The Emergency Services Agency and the Territory and Municipal Services Directorate should develop and routinely review a strategic bushfire capability for the ACT.

The Emergency Services Agency should:
a) review the ACT Rural Fire Service’s target for its members holding recognised units of competency, and the timeframe for achieving the target level of competency;

The Emergency Services Agency and the Territory and Municipal Services Directorate should improve information capture and sharing by:
a) recording accurately and efficiently personnel information and capabilities in relation to bushfire management; and

The Emergency Services Agency and the Territory and Municipal Services Directorate should clarify the timing of the requirement for meeting firefighter fitness requirements, as set out in ACT Rural Fire Service operating procedures and the Territory and Municipal Directorate’s Enterprise Agreemen

The Emergency Services Agency (ACT Rural Fire Service headquarters) should implement a system to provide assurance to the Chief Officer of the ACT Rural Fire Service that personnel and equipment readiness meets requirements.

The Territory and Municipal Services Directorate should annually (and on a cumulative basis) track and report on funds allocated for, and spent on, its Bushfire Operations Plan to the Minister for Police and Emergency Services.

The Territory and Municipal Services Directorate should enhance internal monitoring of its implementation of bushfire management activities and spending under the Bushfire Operations Plan by routinely reconciling figures in this plan with those in the Directorate’s corporate financial system.

The Emergency Services Agency should comply with the Emergencies Act 2004 requirements for the Strategic Bushfire Management Plan by including in this Plan an explicit statement of all resources needed to meet the objectives of the Plan.

The Justice and Community Safety Directorate, in managing future amendments to the Emergencies Act 2004, should propose amendments which require the Emergency Services Agency to maintain information on privately-owned assets of public interest that are vulnerable to bushfire without the need to i

The Emergency Services Agency should review the operations of the Strategic Bushfire Management Plan Implementation Working Group to determine if it is the most appropriate mechanism for ‘monitoring the scope and effectiveness’ of the Strategic Bushfire Management Plan.

The Emergency Services Agency should undertake audits to meet the requirements in the Strategic Bushfire Management Plan for the preparation, sharing and publication of annual progress reports. Annual progress reports should be made available to the ACT Bushfire Council.

The Emergency Services Agency should annually review fire management zones and the Territory and Municipal Services Directorate should subsequently update the Regional Fire Management Plans.

The Emergency Services Agency should specify preparation and approval requirements for bushfire operational plans, particularly those for lands in the Bushfire Abatement Zone.

The Emergency Services Agency should develop a strategy for monitoring the development and implementation of all Government land managers’ operational plans.

The Emergency Services Agency should continue to work with National Land managers and develop a National Land bushfire management framework to address bushfire risks on National Land.

The Emergency Services Agency, in consultation with the ACT Bushfire Council, should conduct a review of the ACT Bushfire Council against its recently developed terms of reference (July 2013) within two years.

The Territory and Municipal Services Directorate, as part of its Bushfire Operations Plan monitoring and reporting, should assess and publicly report on cumulative progress against broader outcomes identified in the Regional Fire Management Plans and the Strategic Bushfire Management Plan.

The Emergency Services Agency should develop and test administrative procedures for the communications systems used for the distribution of public warning and emergency alerts.