That the NSW Government investigate the establishment of a centralised source for all government held planning data accessible to all councils across New South Wales, including:
- flood, coastal inundation and fire
- biodiversity
- climate modelling
- any other relevant data.

The Committee recommends that the ACT Government include detailed data on progress against the EPSDD BOP for that financial year in either the EPSDD or JACS Annual Reports that breaks down the data by:
- The overarching type or class of activity (e.g. fuel management, access management, infrastructure, training, audit and monitoring);
- Activity (e.g. grazing, physical removal, prescribed burning, etc);
- The area (hectares), length (kilometres) or number of activities, courses or projects actually completed, as relevant, together with the planned number; and
- The percentage of completion for each over-arching activity class/type and activity.

Distribution businesses annually attest to the Minister for Energy and Resources. The attestation should include specific reference to, but not limited to: Adoption and operation of State Emergency Management Priorities including ‘make safe’.

The Victorian Government and energy sector work with The Energy Charter #BetterTogether Life Support Customer Initiative to support and implement in Victoria a national approach to achieve better outcomes for life support customers that meets strong standards of consumer protection.

As part of its review of the Energy Retail Code of Practice, the ESC should include requirements for energy retailers to collect the phone and email contact details of customers and others in the household for the purpose of sharing with distributors to facilitate information about power outages. Retailers should be required to check data quality and share with distribution businesses regularly.

DEECA in conjunction with Emergency Management Victoria design and run a networkwide, multi-sector emergency exercise to test implementation of lessons learnt following the 13 February event and identify and remove barriers to effective coordination and response by September 2025

Distribution businesses annually attest to the Minister for Energy and Resources. The attestation should include specific reference to, but not limited to: Capacity and capability to connect main streets and key community assets in areas at high risk of prolonged power outages to temporary generation within 12 hours of an event. Information on location of temporary generation sites, network connection points and key access routes should be included in Regional Emergency Management Planning Committees and Municipal Emergency Management Planning Committees.

Distribution businesses annually attest to the Minister for Energy and Resources. The attestation should include specific reference to, but not limited to: Capability and capacity to achieve effective management of events and timely restoration of customers.

Distribution businesses annually attest to the Minister for Energy and Resources. The attestation should include specific reference to, but not limited to: Processes to report timely and accurate information about status to restore services and confirm ‘safe’ infrastructure to emergency services and communities.

The committee recommends that the Australian Climate Service and the National Emergency Management Agency work with all levels of government and industry to establish and maintain a national disaster risk map and database, covering all types of natural disasters in Australia, which is accessible to the public.

The committee recommends that Treasury develop options for a levy on coal and gas extraction companies, based on the annual energy content they have extracted, from which the funds raised would be invested in disaster mitigation and resilience measures, and the cost of rising insurance.

The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet:
- provide stronger guidance to entities in their development and updating of entity level and relevant national level crisis management policies and plans; and
- provide a formal response to the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit that outlines actions taken to address recommendation three from Report 494: Inquiry into the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's crisis management and arrangements

That the Victorian Government provide Victorians with access to appropriate data contained within the FloodZoom platform

That Melbourne Water and other floodplain management authorities review flood models every five years and update the models at least every 10 years and after the occurrence of a major flood.

That the Victorian Government ensure that future flood mitigation efforts include updated and rigorous hydraulic modelling before implementation, ensuring the effectiveness of compensatory measures. Additionally, these strategies should undergo independent peer review to validate their expected performance.

That the Victorian Government fund floodplain managers to develop maps modelling scenarios demonstrating the impact on landholders of specified levee breeches.

That the Victorian Government work with floodplain management authorities and climate scientists to understand how flood modelling can be used to better predict the impact of climate change on flooding and update its flood management policies in line with this understanding.

That the National Climate Service establish and grow a knowledge brokering service that assists users to find the data, information and advice needed to resolve their climate questions and understand the uncertainty inherent in climate models.

That the Australian Government develop a long-term national strategy and funding approach for computational infrastructure and data storage for climate data and modelling.

That the Australian Government establish the National Climate Service within the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, and consider opportunities for resource and systems sharing, potentially integrating its back office data and computational systems with Environment Information Australia.

That the National Climate Service 5.2 establish a portal for climate information, products and services sourced from across a range of quality assured providers that:
5.2.1. gradually builds over time a library of open-source climate information products and services
5.2.2. provides publicly available, up-to-date climate information for Australia (including states and territory regions and coastal zones, Australia’s oceanic Exclusive Economic Zone and external territories)
5.2.3. presents information in easy-to-understand ways with a variety of formats for download and visualisation
5.2.4. includes external, reputable information from up-to-date sources domestically and around the world, including from other national and transnational climate services.

That the National Climate Service develop robust quality assurance processes for data, tools, information and services provided by the National Climate Service and made available on the climate information portal.

That the Australian Government Establish the National Climate Service, which will be available to serve all Australian governments (Commonwealth, state, territory, local) and, over time, provide information to all Australians. The National Climate Service should absorb the remaining Australian Climate Service functions (which are not transferred to the National Emergency Management Agency), and should be able to broaden its services to new users with agreement from the responsible Minister.

That the National Climate Service conduct a gap analysis of Australia’s climate data and information needs and user literacy and refresh this regularly.

That the National Climate Service promote data standards to integrate and connect data from different fields, aligned with international best practice.

That the Australian Government require, and fund as necessary, the responsible agencies to uplift natural hazard data inputs to a level required by the National Climate Service and the National Emergency Management Agency, with co-ordination of data for emergency management (e.g. hazard extent mapping, forecasting and tracking of historical events) to be managed by National Emergency Management Agency and hazard projections to be co-ordinated by the National Climate Service.

That the Australian Government allow the National Emergency Management Agency to make judgements about how to best meet its needs, including by managing its own tasking, data and analysis, with the ability to draw on external sources.

That the Australian Government require the National Emergency Management Agency make its data and products opensource and accessible to government and the public wherever possible.

That the Australian Government signal to partners and suppliers that the National Climate Service is open to collaborating and data sharing

That the Australian Government require all publicly funded climate models to be published on the National Computing Infrastructure with minimal restrictions, to encourage wide reuse and scientific scrutiny.

That the Australian Government transfer responsibility for operational support services for emergency management (as set out in the Australian Climate Service Operational Support Services – Service Level Agreement 2023-24) from the Australian Climate Service to the National Emergency Management Agency, to reinforce the real time connection of information and decision-making on emergency responses.

That the National Climate Service Improve access and usability of climate information by making Commonwealth-funded products free and open-source by default.

That the Australian Government establish an appropriate data solution (e.g. a data platform) to publish climate and hazard data; enable federated data curation including for domain data; support access for a broad range of data providers and public; create data insights and publish information as needed.

That the Australian Government establish the National Climate Service within the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water with arrangements that encourage the development of a separate and strong public profile.

The Committee recommends that the Australian Government investigate mechanisms to require insurers to more clearly communicate the basis for the price of premiums. This could include:
- at a high level, highlighting the nature of risk for the property for each major peril type (for example, a traffic light rating system)
- last year’s premium alongside the current year’s premium, along with a descriptive analysis of why there has been a change if it is material (for example, over 10 per cent). The analysis could include highlighting different factors that may influence pricing such as changes in building costs or changes in the assessment of one or more perils, or the impact of household or community level mitigation, without attaching numerical estimates to each factor.

The Committee recommends that the Australian Government ultimately move towards a national, centralised, public-facing portal containing flood risk data at the household level for:
- all households and small businesses across Australia, and
- all land being considered for release for development and all land that has been released for development, but not yet developed.
Agencies tasked with developing the portal should reflect upon governments’ past efforts to develop similar portals and lessons learnt. The portal should be easily accessible, user friendly and display high-quality flood risk information in a way that is readily understandable to communities. That before data is released on such a portal for existing properties (residential and small business), that the entity creating the flood study release that data through a staged process involving appropriate community consultation and engagement.

The Committee recommends the Australian Government consider appropriate regulatory or other mechanisms to reduce the instances of third-party builders and other contractors making changes to properties without the policyholder’s consent, including the practice of gaining entry, removing property (strip-outs) or conducting repairs without the policyholder’s knowledge or consent. Solutions should take into account the unique circumstances and challenges created by catastrophic flood events.

The Committee recommends that the Australian Government work with state and territory governments to ensure flood maps are produced to a high standard across the nation, regardless of the size of the local government area producing the modelling. This may require:
- increased funding for local government areas and water authorities, and
- the development of agreed standards to ensure that flood mapping is completed to at least an agreed minimum standard.
That, over time, this higher quality flood modelling be made freely accessible to homeowners and the general public along with easy to understand information about flood risk exposures at each property. This may be best undertaken in the first instance by local councils and/or water authorities responsible for generating the flood modelling, consistent with Recommendation 3 of the Actuaries Institute’s Funding for Flood Costs report (August 2023).

The Committee recommends the Australian Securities and Investments Commission consider seeking data from insurers on their performance based on the metrics recommended in Recommendation 51:
- Quarterly, for business-as-usual operations
- Monthly, for each declared event.

The Committee recommends that the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and the General Insurance Code Governance Committee share data so that it is possible to evaluate breaches of the General Insurance Code of Practice in the context of an insurers’ overall claims profile.

The Committee recommends the Australian Government and Insurance Council of Australia explore measures to facilitate the exchange of substantiated information about the resilience of a property to insurers, including new mitigation measures undertaken through state-based grant and loan programs.

The Committee recommends that the General Insurance Code Governance Committee publish aggregate data on code breaches by clause, individual insurer, and brand.

The Committee recommends that legislation provide the Australian Securities and Investments Commission with sufficient data-gathering powers to obtain the information required to monitor and report on the metrics recommended in Recommendation 51.

The Committee recommends that the Australian Government continue to work with the insurance industry through the Hazards Insurance Partnership to collate:
- data contained in the National Flood Information Database, and
- household-level data held by insurers (de-identified where appropriate).

The committee recommends that the Australian Government establish a national disaster mental health hub to coordinate and provide mental health resources, training, and support for first responders and communities affected by disasters across the nation. This hub should serve as a comprehensive resource centre for addressing the mental health needs of all stakeholders involved in disaster response and recovery efforts.

The committee recommends that the Australian Government consider how it can further support Disaster Relief Australia, and other similar organisations, not only with funding beyond 2026, but also how the Australian Government can further incorporate Disaster Relief Australia into its national disaster response arrangements and boost its numbers through partnerships with the Australian Defence Force and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs.

The committee recommends that the Australian Government convene a disaster resilience mental health summit to hear from all related agencies and stakeholders to identify solutions to the mental health impacts of disaster.

The committee recommends that the Australian Government design and implement consistent national trauma-informed care principles, ensuring that first responders—both professional and volunteer—receive training and support in these national principles to better address the mental health and well-being of disaster-affected individuals and communities.

The Commonwealth should prioritise its data coordination efforts, including the provision of timely decision relevant information to assist decision makers to manage their risks and satisfy their disaster management objectives.
- Relevant data includes disaster risk information, climate hazard impact, capability and capacity information and vulnerability data.
-The data provided should be in a format that is usable by decision makers across all levels of government.

The Commonwealth should develop a capability, with agreed accountability measures, to capture and track all Commonwealth expenditure relating to natural disasters.
- This capability should be digitally enabled and provide the supporting architecture for the Commonwealth to collate all disaster-relevant program information and report progress against the Outcomes Policy.
- The capability should be informed by existing Department of Finance data collection arrangements.

The Commonwealth should conduct a stocktake to map existing partnerships in natural disaster management across various sectors including but not limited to, construction, healthcare, infrastructure, logistics, technology, philanthropy and the charitable sector.
- This mapping should inform membership of the Disaster Management Advisory Council (Recommendation 8).

The Commonwealth should implement an enhanced national training and exercise regime that tests local capabilities, but also encourages better information sharing, continual improvement, cross-Local Government Area (LGA) and jurisdiction collaboration, and the identification of gaps or weaknesses in local disaster management capability and capacity.
- Capability and capacity should be aligned with the requirements of the Nation-wide Natural Disaster Risk Profile (Risk Profile) and the National Natural Disaster Outcomes Policy (Outcomes Policy).

The Commonwealth should seek to establish enhanced relationships with key nongovernment and private sector partners as part of reforms to the disaster management system.

The Commonwealth, via NEMA, should work with state and territory governments to adopt a leadership and oversight role in ensuring adequate capability, capacity and/or investment exists across Australia for local government and communities to adequately respond to natural disaster events, and to engage with appropriate support and funding structures.

The Commonwealth should develop a National Natural Disaster Outcomes Policy (Outcomes Policy) that describes the outcomes the Commonwealth is seeking to achieve through its disaster funding.

The capability and capacity of NEMA should be aligned with the reforms proposed by the Review.
-This includes, but is not limited to, capabilities related to policy and program design, data collection and reporting, program assurance, monitoring and evaluation and program administration.

The Commonwealth should convene a Disaster Management Advisory Council to provide a constructive view of the Commonwealth’s current disaster arrangements, outcomes, and funding options. This Council should report directly to the Minister for Emergency Management and meet regularly (minimum twice per annum) but not be considered part of the decision making or administrative process.
- A primary purpose of the Disaster Management Advisory Council should include advising on priority projects identified through the Risk Profile, and on how national outcomes could be better achieved.
- The Advisory Council should be chaired by the Coordinator-General, NEMA and be supported by a secretariat within NEMA.
- The Advisory Council should be comprised of a representative mix of government and non-government members.
- Non-government members should be representative of a broad range of knowledge holders: industry, the not-for-profit sector, academia and representation of those groups who are disproportionately impacted by disaster.
- First Nations should also be represented, with that representation drawn from existing First Nations’ governance structures, or as otherwise nominated by First Nations communities.

The committee recommends that the Australian Government ensure that future releases of modelling are provided well in advance of key dates in the ongoing roll-out of the Cyclone Reinsurance Pool.

The committee recommends that the Australian Government announce a position on the inclusion of marine insurance in the Cyclone Reinsurance Pool.

The Committee recommends that the Australian Government consider development opportunities between the Australian Volunteers Program for Samoa and the Australian Engineers Association mentoring program and other relevant Australian mentoring programs.

The Committee recommends that the Australian Government highlight opportunities for Australian partnerships with Samoa through Austrade and communicate opportunities for joint ventures with Australian organisations.

The Committee recommends that the Australian Government strengthen bilateral ties with New Zealand and Samoa, particularly in relation to disaster management and infrastructure issues.

The Committee recommends that the Australian Government work with state, territory and local governments and road agencies, including Austroads and the National Transport Research Organisation, to address existing road asset data gaps by developing a comprehensive understanding of the road network condition and standardised road asset dataset, with agreement on the following:
- a common definition of road asset data
- a consistent format across road asset data collection and storage.

The Committee recommends that the Australian Government consider options for a formal exchange program between the New Zealand National Emergency Management Agency and the Australian National Emergency Management Agency.

For future emergency response programs, the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water develop requirements for service provider reporting that enables output and outcome data to be compared or aggregated to provide assessment of progress at the program level.

Melbourne Water should have a protocol that enables flood forecasting at intervals at less than two hours when prudent to do so by reason of the responsiveness of the catchment for significant events.

Melbourne Water needs to ensure that rainfall runoff and flood models are calibrated to observed flood information.

Melbourne Water should immediately update the Mid Maribyrnong flood model with a modern two dimensional flood model developed in accordance with Melbourne Water guidelines and use this model to set new design flood levels.

Melbourne Water should review their flood models every five years and update them at least every 10 years and after the occurrence of a major flood.

Melbourne Water should commission an independent expert review and audit of their forecasting system with the aim of identifying areas where forecast accuracy, warning times and model run times could be improved.

Melbourne Water should use the hydraulic model being developed (expected to become available in April 2024) to determine (and be subjected to independent peer review) the impact of the Flemington Floodwall and the efficacy of the associated downstream compensatory works.

Melbourne Water should adopt forecasting tools which enable forecasts to be made within a total of no more than 60 minutes.

Melbourne Water should ensure that their rating curves, which represent the relationships between river levels and corresponding river flows, extend also to rare and extreme flood events and have been derived using established bestpractice.

ICA data capture To provide greater transparency on the industry’s response to catastrophes, the ICA should develop a data dictionary to enhance industry-wide reporting and investigate the feasibility of extending data capture to other claim outcome measures such as closure rates, quality and complaints.

Insurers should improve data capture, modelling and reporting to assist with identifying and mitigating against factors that impact their ability to progress claims in response to a catastrophe, including bottlenecks (e.g. hydrology reports).

The Commonwealth Government should direct the Secretaries Board to ensure the overall coherence and efficiency of the Government’s resilience efforts, spanning both the climate adaptation/disaster risk reduction and the national security domains. A Secretaries Sub-committee on Resilience should be established to support this work.

The National Cabinet should task Ministerial Councils to include resilience activities in their annual reporting, with the NEMMM contribution focussing on natural hazards.

The National Cabinet should take a leadership role in coordinating resilience initatives across the Federation

It is appropriate that NEMA should be able to draw on its administered funding to support implementation across jurisdictions of projects associated with delivering the five national priorities for action. NEMA should explore this option.

The Commonwealth should identify the longer-term resourcing and organisational requirements to build coordination capacity for relief and early recovery.

We recommend that DELWP enhances bushfire modelling by: - exploring multiple bushfire modelling tools to lower the uncertainty and limitations associated with using a single modelling tool - applying more detailed fire-severity data - validating and updating fuel accumulation curves - establishing and regularly updating an archive of well-documented fire events and using this to systematically test it against a broad range of burning and fuel conditions - establishing and implementing processes to routinely review and update its underlying datasets.

We recommend that DELWP improves the Powerline Bushfire Safety Program's transparency by publicly reporting on activities, costs and risk-reduction outcomes.

We recommend that DELWP investigates incentives and advises government on options to accelerate burying and insulating the remaining high-voltage bare-wire powerlines in the 33 highest risk areas.

The Inspector-General for Emergency Management recommends that Emergency Management Victoria – in consultation with relevant agencies – develop a system to manage personnel and asset deployments to all tiers of incident management to meet the needs of the emergency and support the health and wellbeing of personnel. Where appropriate and within occupational health and safety requirements, this may include:
a) standardised shift rosters across agencies and incident management tiers
b) a single or integrated platform to allow consistent recording of shift times and locations
c) records of accreditation, qualification, training and currency. 

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. 

Australian, state and territory governments should agree to: 
(1) develop consistent and compatible methods and metrics to measure health impacts related to natural disasters, including mental health, and 
(2) take steps to ensure the appropriate sharing of health and mental health datasets. 

The Australian Government should work with state and territory governments and critical infrastructure operators to improve information flows during and in response to natural disasters:
(1) between critical infrastructure operators, and
(2) between critical infrastructure operators and government. 

Australian, state and territory governments should establish a national register of fire and emergency services personnel, equipment and aerial assets. 

The Australian Government, working with state and territory governments and critical infrastructure operators, should lead a process to:
(1) identify critical infrastructure
(2) assess key risks to identified critical infrastructure from natural disasters
of national scale or consequence
(3) identify steps needed to mitigate these risks
(4) identify steps to make the critical infrastructure more resilient, and
(5) track achievement against an agreed plan. 

Australian, state and territory governments should continue to develop a greater capacity to collect and share standardised and comprehensive natural disaster impact data. 

Australian, state and territory governments should expedite the delivery of a Public Safety Mobile Broadband capability. 

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. 

The Australian Government should establish accountability and assurance mechanisms to promote continuous improvement and best practice in natural disaster arrangements. 

Australian, state and territory governments should develop consistent processes for the classification, recording and sharing of fuel load data. 

Australian, state and territory governments should prioritise the implementation of harmonised data governance and national data standards. 

That, in order to improve response times to Triple Zero calls, the NSW RFS implements the integrated dispatch system before the 2020-21 fire season commences.

That, to ensure mobile generators are sourced and distributed on a priority basis during natural disasters, the EUSFAC work with the NSW Telco Authority, relevant NSW government agencies and commercial stakeholders to develop a mobile asset deployment strategy. The strategy should reduce duplication in purchasing, maintaining and housing mobile generators and improve agility in deployment.

That, in order to minimise communication outages and extend basic communication coverage during bush fires, the NSW Government work directly, or together with other Australian governments and/or their relevant power and telecommunications regulatory, policy and market bodies, to:
- ensure there are sufficient redundancy options available (e.g. backup diesel generators, deployed temporary telecommunications facilities, etc.) to supply power to essential telecommunication infrastructure or alternative telecommunications infrastructure
- ensure that the telecommunication entities’ and electricity network providers’ Bush Fire Risk Management Plans are updated annually and reported on in the NSW RFS Commissioner’s annual statement to Parliament on the upcoming bush fire season and include details of all actions taken to mitigate those risks including maintenance of APZs and access roads
- ensure there is appropriate auditing of distributors’ preparedness for risks arising from network assets being affected by bush fire, as well as the risk of networks initiating a bush fire
- facilitate cross-carrier roaming arrangements between carriers and the public for basic text, voice and data during the period of emergency in areas directly affected by fire
- enable NSW RFS to require carriers to provide regular information on the status of outages and areas affected by fire.

That, as part of the spatial technology acceleration program, Government support deployment of remote sensing and picture processing technologies to monitor and audit how well Asset Protection Zones and defendable space are being maintained, especially around towns.

That, in order to maximise the protection of critical infrastructure in a bush fire, Australian governments revise the regulatory framework for the provision to government authorities of information about all critical infrastructure (public and private) including a possible change to compel the owners of critical assets to provide all needed metadata, updated annually, for appropriate planning, preparation and response for bush fire. This would include information about location, ownership, access, details of service the infrastructure supports, and fire treatments of building and surrounding zones.

That, in order to improve capability to detect ignitions and monitor accurately all fire edge intensity and progression automatically across the State in near real time, Government establish a spatial technology acceleration program to maximise the information available from the various remote sensing technologies currently in use and to plan for inclusion of new remote sensing systems that can sense precisely and rapidly through heavy smoke, cloud, fog and dust. This will require work within the State and with partners nationally and internationally.

That the NSW Government, along with other Australian governments, ask AFAC to establish a national bush fire database. This database would enable:
- monitoring of trends in bush fire activity and impacts, including timing, cause, extent and intensity across all land tenures and vegetation types
- tracking trends and identifying patterns in associated weather and climate signals that contribute to severe bush fires
- evaluation of the cost and effectiveness of risk mitigation efforts, including hazard reduction, and fire suppression activities so we have a better understanding of what works.

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).

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 common operating picture and rapid damage assessments.

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 changes in the risk profile. 

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 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. The communication process starts immediately after the change is identified, is tailored to its audience, makes clear the scale of the change, and is documented so that stakeholders and the community can make informed decisions for managing risks. 

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.

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

The ability to share, analyse, interrogate and display information from disparate entities should be progressed as a matter of some urgency.

That agencies undertaking flood studies adopt a standardised approach, based on Australia Handbook 7, maintain public ownership of underlying data sets to support future modelling, and ensure open access to these studies.

That SES uploads current flood studies and plans to the Common Operating Platform as a flood plan layer and that councils, subject to resolving licence restrictions, arrange to have appropriate access.

That BoM and the Flood Warning Consultative Committee, in consultation with gauge owners, review flood gauges and develop a program to update data used to support hydrologic modelling. This should include reviewing gauge maintenance before and after floods.

Subject to funding, that the Flood Warning Consultative Committee investigates the hydrological matters and advice received during this Review and detailed in this Report in Sections 4.1.9 and 4.1.11.

That the Flood Warning Consultative Committee considers the merits of delineating the Ouse River as a separate catchment from the Derwent River Basin.

That Government:
• undertakes a comprehensive assessment of flood mapping in Tasmania with a view to identifying data gaps, quality and currency, and works collaboratively with councils to identify funding to improve current statewide flood data; and • explores the feasibility of undertaking a comprehensive flood mapping of Tasmania, using LiDAR or other contemporary technology, with the objective of identifying which parts of our State are, and are not, prone to riverine flooding.

Regular annual testing at 100% on a load bank needs to be scheduled into a maintenance schedule.

If the existing generator is capable of providing the current essential power requirements then the generator needs a major inspection and overhaul all items that may need to be replaced due to age and condition. This includes checking compression, oil pressure, coolant pumping and all other critical components and may actually require providing a temporary generator while the Hospital generator receives a major inspection and possible re build. A ball park figure to do this would be $50,000.00 plus cranage and transport to Detroit workshop probably another $10,000.00 then a temporary generator would need to be hired and installed which could run into $10’s of thousands of dollars depending on how long the engine was out of service. For the money that would be spent checking and rebuilding the existing engine it would be recommended to replace the generator with a new generator.

Due to the age of the generator, reliability and reparability risk due to age and the apparent under capacity of the generator it is recommend to replace the generator with a new generator and associated control system designed for the current load requirements and allowance for some future expansion.

A monthly testing regime needs to be developed that will allow the generator to be tested at full essential load capacity and to ensure that 4 hour monthly testing can be done every month.

Monthly test results need to be accurately recorded.

Carry out a detailed audit of the current Hospital essential loads to determine the current load requirements of the Hospital.

From the above assessment determine the existing generator load requirements and provide a new generator to meet those loads.

Accurate records need to be provided as to what is done for each service.

Prepare and carry out a testing regime and testing strategy and ensure testing of the generator is done every month for 4 hours over that month and under full Hospital load with test result recorded every 15 minutes.

Remove any loads that do not need to be on essential power.

Replacement of all original pipes and hoses not yet done.

Carry out regular load bank testing on the generator with a load bank large enough to fully load the generator to 110% which will clean out the engine and also identify whether the generator is capable of providing full load for a sustained length of time.

Conduct an assessment of the current essential loads and determine if there are loads that should not be on essential power.

Monthly and annual maintenance servicing needs to be scheduled for the generator to DPTI or CHSA schedule requirements.

Renegotiate the maintenance contract at the end of the current contract and have DPTI through AGFMA take on the maintenance contract.

That the Attorney General’s Department consult with local government regarding potential for them to provide logistical support associated with backup power supply to SA Government Radio Network towers in the event of an emergency.

That consideration and resources be given to support the implementation of recommendations in the report prepared on behalf of Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources (Australian Water Environments, 2016), for flood warning classification of stream gauges and other locations.

Install UPS on traffic lights on main Central Business District (CBD) and arterial roads to allow an effective movement of traffic during a loss of power.

That the Flood Reform Task Group identify an appropriate mechanism for stakeholder agencies (including the State Emergency Service, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Bureau of Meteorology and SA Water, as a minimum) to share data and information and develop plans and strategies for management of water levels in reservoirs and spill management during floods in South Australian water catchments

The development of an integrated intelligence system that allows police officers secure access to all information platforms should also provide for the recording of all command decisions, the reasons for them, and the dissemination of those decisions.

I recommend that: the Commonwealth Attorney-General and ASIO confer with the Australian Psychological Society regarding the restrictions in clause A 5 2 of the Code of Ethics (2007) with respect to radicalisation, terrorism and politically motivated violence; and the Australian Psychological Society consider amending clause A 5 2 of the Code of Ethics (2007) to enable psychologists to report risks of a terrorist nature.

I recommend that the Commonwealth Attorney-General liaise with ASIO to develop a policy to ensure that where correspondence is received by a government agency, minister or public office holder, from a non government entity, and that correspondence is relevant to the security assessments of the author, the correspondence be referred to: ASIO; and a Fixated Threat Assessment Centre.

I recommend that ASIO liaise with the Fixated Threat Assessment Centre with a view to both agencies cooperating in the identification, assessment and management of fixated, radicalised individuals.

Establish emergency services ICT redundancy arrangements for damage loss of communications infrastructure.

Improve information about electricity demand during heatwaves.

Develop a statewide flood hazard map for use within the Tasmanian Planning System.

Improve beach morphology mapping to understand coastal inundation, including post-event surveys.

Make coastal mapping available to public.

Extend current tsunami maritime hazard modelling project to deliver coastal inundation modelling.

Deliver updated inundation mapping.

The electrical master plan for the site should be updated to include planning for the scheduled replacement or refurbishment of those parts of the infrastructure that have not been renewed in the last 10 years. This planning to consider other upgrades or plans for the FMC overall.

Review control system for the main generator normal/essential changeover system and ensure that it has effective backup/manual or redundant operations, and suitable testing facilities. The Essential board that supplies the main generator power to Blocks A, B, C (except theatres), D, E (except certain critical engineering plant) (MD-1-4P-10E), is a potential single point of failure of a significant portion of the emergency power system and as part of the Master Plan update should be considered as a priority.

Review all generator locations for arrangements for temporary generator installation, including design of modifications as required for electrical connections and spatial requirements at installation locations, to be documented in an emergency procedure.

Provide walls around critical electrical infrastructure within the main plant area to provide security and protection from catastrophic water system failures.

Improvements to installation to be implemented as follows: - Lighting within the generator enclosure and immediately adjacent to be emergency battery-backed type. - Improvements to the spatial layout within the main generator enclosure should be investigated, including allowance for the control panel door to open 180o (only 90o currently); moving the fuel pumps to a more accessible location, and ensuring clear access to the day tank for manual filling if required. - Improvements to communications facilities between critical areas, including fixed phone line connections between the main control room, main generator control panel in the P (energy) Building, and the generator enclosure, and allowing link to offsite specialist advice. - Where generator maintenance requires operations outdoors (not applicable to main generator, but applicable to others), a shelter over the relevant area should be provided to allow safe work during wet or hot weather. - Written emergency procedures to be prepared covering credible failure scenarios with step by step checklists and recommended actions.

Review generator installations details as noted in report and implement physical improvements where possible.

Add to generator test procedure a checklist at the end of testing which includes checking that all systems are back to normal positions and includes a requirement to leave the day tank full where there is a bulk tank/day tank arrangement.

As part of the electrical master plan update recommended above, a complete and consistent set of single line diagrams describing the electrical distribution network be prepared. Relevant diagrams to be laminated and displayed in the main substations. Labelling to all main electrical equipment be reviewed and updated in accordance with the final documents. 

A detailed review of the fuel control and BMS systems (for all generators) be carried out and actions taken to: 1) Ensure that the fuel alarm system is operational and properly calibrated, and ensure that the alarms are connected to the BMS. 2) Ensure that the BMS transmits these alarms effectively to the maintenance staff. 3) If this review demonstrates risk of fuel control systems not adequately reporting alarms, consider an independent day tank level switch to be installed in each generator fuel tank, directly connected to the BMS. 4) Consider the feasibility of adding a “fuel system not in auto” or “fuel system fault/fail safe watchdog” or “pre-alarm identifying that the generator is about to shut down without intervention” feature to current systems – subject to details of each individual generator system.

Generator dual redundant starter systems should be considered.

Impact Assessment Data Collection: The Office of Emergency Management continues to progress the Impact Assessment Data Collection Project and: · incorporate recovery schema in Rapid Impact Assessments · review procedures for collection of Rapid Impact Assessment Data · review and combine current templates into one, single template for Impact Assessment Reports that is used by all agencies · further develop Impact Assessment Guidelines for agency personnel undertaking impact assessments

That the NSW Rural Fire Service investigate mechanisms to enhance the predictability of megafires and how this information is communicated easily to the public.

The committee recommends that the Australian Government: • recognise that climate change has increased fire conditions in south-eastern Australia and the risk to natural and cultural values in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area; and • report annually to the World Heritage Committee on the state of conservation in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area.

The committee recommends that the Australian Government recognise the need to enhance protection and conservation efforts in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area by allocating increased funding:
• to the Parks and Wildlife Service, Tasmania, for appropriate management activities and resources; and
• for research projects aimed at providing qualitative and quantitative data specific to climate-related and ecological threats to the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (such as dry lightning strike).

The committee recommends that the Australian Government commit to long-term funding for the the National Aerial Firefighting Centre of an amount that is at least equal to government's current contribution, rising in line with the Consumer Price Index

The committee recommends that the Australian Government, in conjunction with state and territory governments, investigate a national remote area firefighting capability, to support Australian fire agencies.

SACFS and the BoM review current weather, fuel loads and curing rates to determine the most appropriate and accurate forecast is prepared, issued and validated against current conditions.

In accordance with recommendations of the BMT WBM report, the Banana Shire Council, SunWater, and the Bureau of Meteorology, under the stewardship of the Department of Natural Resources and Mines, jointly identify the requirements for a suitable gauge network for the Callide Valley to allow meaningful and timely flood warnings. The review should identify key stakeholders, examine potential funding sources and include a cost benefit analysis.

Telecommunications and Power Infrastructure
Noting the high reliance within the community on power and telecommunications
infrastructure, there would be benefit for Governments at both State and Federal level to
work with power providers and telecommunications companies to better define disaster
response and recovery responsibilities, and to identify options for increasing redundancies in
networks in order to improve surety of service

Impact Assessment Data Sharing Project
There is a clear need to train and raise awareness amongst Local and Regional Emergency
Management Committees (LEMC / REMC), as well as community and non-government
agencies about how important impact assessment data is to recovery planning. The Impact
Assessment Data Sharing Project should continue in development, exploiting opportunities
to improve efficiency and effectiveness of response and recovery decision making.

To provide improved oversight and assurance in its administration of the Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements, the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) recommends that the Attorney‐General’s Department:
(a) obtain project level information from states and territories to enable more informed analysis of claim amounts; and
(b) implement a risk‐based approach to examining the eligibility and value for money of a sample of recovery and reconstruction projects.

The Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) recommends that the Attorney‐General’s Department significantly improve the administration of disaster relief and recovery funding by:
(a) adopting more timely processes for developing, finalising and promulgating disaster funding guidelines and advisories; and
(b) implementing administrative arrangements that provide it with greater details of the amounts included in expenditure claims, including project specific information.

GDF Suez establish enhanced back-up power supply arrangements that do not depend wholly on mains power, to: • ensure that the Emergency Command Centre can continue to operate if mains power is lost; and • ensure that the reticulated fre services water system can operate with minimal disruption if mains power is lost.

The State equip itself to undertake rapid air quality monitoring in any location in Victoria, to: • collect all relevant data, including data on PM , carbon monoxide and ozone; and 2.5 • ensure this data is used to inform decision-making within 24 hours of the incident occurring.

That the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority reclassifies its State Emergency Communications Centres as critical national infrastructure.

That the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority critically reviews:
- the current Computer Aided Dispatch 9.1 upgrade project against business case objectives, including system and network reliability and system redundancy, once the project is completed
- the ESTA Triple Zero telephony platform telecommunications upgrade project against business case objectives, including system and network reliability once the project is completed.

That the NSW Government improve the protection of media and telecommunications towers around New South Wales by:
- increasing the asset protection zone around the towers on Mt Cenn Cruaich and other comparable sites to a radius of at least 100 metres
- conducting an audit of all New South Wales media and telecommunications sites to examine their fire safety in respect of land clearance, fire trails and fuel loads
- implementing a strategy to ensure that licensees of these sites fulfil all their hazard reduction obligations.

Alternatively, I recommend that the RFS consider developing such capacity to deploy weather balloons itself, in conjunction with mobile weather stations, for this purpose.

That the Rural Fire Service consider proposing an arrangement with the Bureau of Meteorology to deploy weather balloons specifically for the purpose of assessing atmospheric instability during periods of severe to catastrophic fire danger in locations most likely to be severely affected, for example, areas in which a very high C-Haines index reading is registered and local fires have been identified.

Within three years, the Australian Government should develop and implement a framework for untied grants for community recovery assistance to state and territory governments. This framework should take into account factors such as the type, location and scale of a disaster, and the number of people affected.

Governments should task the Australia–New Zealand Emergency Management Committee with leading the development of guidelines for the collection and dissemination of natural hazard mapping, modelling and metadata. Guidelines should be developed for all hazards that need to be modelled and mapped at the local/regional level and where consistency across regions is desirable.

Governments at all levels should make new and currently held natural hazard data publicly available in accordance with open public sector information principles. When collecting new natural hazard data or undertaking modelling, all levels of government should:
• make information publicly available unless it would not be in the public interest to do so
• use private-sector providers where cost effective, and use licencing arrangements that allow for public dissemination. Where there are costs involved in obtaining intellectual property rights for existing data, governments should weigh up these costs against the public benefits of making the data freely accessible
• apply cost recovery where governments are best placed to collect or analyse specialist data for which the benefits accrue mostly to private sector users.

That Tasmania Fire Service establishes suitable systems and practices for recording fire management objectives and tactics.

That if a sound business case is developed, the Emergency Information Management and Sharing Project be supported.

That police and other emergency service agencies establish and maintain effective recording systems for emergency operations.

That the Department of Infrastructure Energy and Resources consult Aurora Energy on the use of wooden poles for overhead infrastructure with a view to mitigating the risk in bushfires.

TFS should take steps to obtain cell transmission coverage maps for LBS-based EA messages and take note of the need for training of staff to ensure that messages are drafted carefully and appropriately so as to take cell transmission coverage into account.

That Government agencies work closely with the Bureau of Meteorology and radio stations that broadcast emergency service announcements, to ensure the earliest possible determination of, and communications about, dangerous bushfire conditions.

That the RFSQ central office undertake a review of Firecom procedures in relation to Rural Fire Service callouts. Each Rural Fire Service Queensland district office should also undertake a review of the Firecom data sets/callout information for their district to establish call out protocols are correct.

That Rural Fire Service Queensland develops a simple data collection system to record the activities of brigades.

The Manager of the Geographic Information Systems unit conduct an audit of the Firecom mapping system to ensure that rural Brigade and road addressing is up to date.

That the Rural Fire Service Queensland upgrades its subscription to technology for the Brigade Mapping Toolset to make it available to all Brigades who want it.

That the Department of Health facilitates the sharing of hospital patient outcome data with Queensland Ambulance Service to help measure the effect of pre-hospital care on patient outcomesThat the Department of Health facilitates the sharing of hospital patient outcome data with Queensland Ambulance Service to help measure the effect of pre-hospital care on patient outcomes.

That all agencies participating in these activities should, as far as legally possible, share data sets whether or not the relevance is immediately obvious.

The Australian Government coordinate the development of a highly skilled workforce which can respond effectively to a sustained pandemic in Australia.

The Commonwealth Government support the growth of vaccine development and production capacity for vaccines in Australia, to enhance Australia’s preparedness to respond to outbreaks of infectious disease in Australia, and in particular, pandemic influenza.

Having regard to the terms of the Torres Strait Treaty, the Department of Health and Ageing, Queensland Health, AusAID and the Papua New Guinea Government:
- establish a set of protocols and procedures for the identification and treatment of tuberculosis and other infectious diseases in Papua New Guinea and the Torres Strait Islands; and
- consider what clinical services should be available in both Papua New Guinea and Australia for the identification and treatment of tuberculosis and other infectious diseases.

The Australian Government work with the state and territory governments to assess the viability of providing a centralised refugee and migrant health service in each state and territory, which would automatically refer people who move from immigration detention into the wider Australian community.

The committee recommends that the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy issue a Ministerial Direction to the Australian Communications and Media Authority to allocate 20 MHz of contiguous spectrum in the 700 MHz band for the purposes of a public safety mobile broadband network.

If recommendation 1 is not supported by the Australian Government, the committee recommends that the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy issue a Ministerial Direction to the Australian Communications and Media Authority to allocate as a minimum requirement, 20 MHz in the 800 MHz band for the purposes of a public safety mobile broadband network.

The committee recommends that the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy take appropriate measures to secure, for public service agencies, priority access to an additional 10 MHz of spectrum in the 700 MHz band for public safety purposes.

I recommend that the Commonwealth ensure that there is a mooring buoy which will enable the mooring of SIEVs to take place and free up the Christmas Island response vessel for ongoing surveillance duties. 

I recommend that the Commonwealth liaise closely with representatives of the Christmas Island VMRS prior to purchasing or replacing any vessels for the VMRS in the future. 

I recommend that the Commonwealth prioritise completion of a hydrographic survey of Christmas Island and ensure that such a survey is completed in the near future. 

I recommend that the Commonwealth and the Shire of Christmas Island take steps to ensure that the Ethel Beach boat ramp is significantly upgraded, that it should be provided with shelter in the form of a rock groyne or similar buffer and that provision should be made so that a person can walk beside the ramp on a stable footing; or If this is not considered likely to be effective in providing an appropriate means of deploying a rescue vessel in adverse conditions, such other action be taken as is necessary to ensure that there is a means of deploying a rescue vessel in adverse conditions. 

Better maps are required for urban/rural interface fires

Fuel loads on private property need to be identified and included in understanding fire behaviour in determine the contribution they make to the burn risk assessment.

Maps prepared for prescribed burns should address the fuel type and burn history of the burn area as well as surrounding areas. Predicted rates of spread under prescribed and other conditions should recognise the complexity of coastal heathlands.

The Minister for Emergency Services ensure that a Statewide fuel load database that includes data from Western Power, the Department of Fire and Emergency Services and the Department of Environment and Conservation be established before the 2013-14 bushfire season.

The Minister for Emergency Services should urgently review the technical issues with the Western Australia Emergency Radio Network  program that is forcing the State’s firefighters to revert to their older radio networks.

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 viability for flood protection.

Councils should, resources allowing, maintain flood maps and overland flow path maps for use in development assessment. For urban areas these maps should be based on hydraulic modelling; the model should be designed to allow it to be easily updated as new information (such as information about further development) becomes available.

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

Seqwater should consider engaging a technical writer to develop completely new manuals after the operational strategies for Wivenhoe, Somerset and North Pine dams are set by the Queensland Government.

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.

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.

All councils should, resources allowing, map the overland flow paths of their urban areas.

The Queensland Government should consider measures to ensure that requirements are included in the designation of land for community infrastructure under the Sustainable Planning Act 2009 to ensure that critical infrastructure for operating works under the Electricity Act is built to remain operational during and immediately after a flood of a particular magnitude. That magnitude should be determined by an appropriate risk assessment.

Councils should make their flood and overland flow maps and models available to applicants for development approvals, and to consultants engaged by applicants.

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.

CS Energy should supplement physical monitoring of Splityard Creek Dam with visual monitoring by installing surveillance cameras or similar devices.

Upgrade to the Bureau’s supercomputing capacity:
(a) Status quo
(b) Step change
(c) Further enhancements

Boost the Bureau’s flood warning capacity by:
(a) Increasing the number of frontline hydrologists
(b) Upgrading the flood monitoring system

Cease or reduce the Ionospheric Prediction Service or offer it as a commercial service.

Additional frontline meteorologists and specialised centres and systems:
(a) Enhanced severe weather units
(b) National extreme weather centres
(c) Integrated all-hazards decision system
(d) Enhanced observation network

Boost the number of frontline meteorologists to build response capacity in regional forecasting centres.

Centralise media services and establish protocols for media activity.

Lower yield options identified by the Bureau:
(a) Reduce staffing at remote observing stations
(b) Close the training facility at Broadmeadows, Victoria
(c) Consolidate forecasting functions for Northern Queensland
(d) Outsource the Bureau’s library

Explore options to limit forecaster intervention in site-specific web forecasts.

Lower yield options identified by the Bureau:
(a) Reduce staffing at remote observing stations
(b) Close the training facility at Broadmeadows, Victoria
(c) Consolidate forecasting functions for Northern Queensland
(d) Outsource the Bureau’s library

Increased automation and outsourcing of observations

Explore use of social media to enhance data gathering from authorised and informal sources and to disseminate weather information

Complete workforce planning project and succession plans as a matter of urgency.

Fund delivery of improved seasonal forecasting services by:
(c) Identifying potential offsets from government beneficiaries of any additional investment in seasonal forecasting services
(d) Undertaking market research to establish industry willingness to pay for enhanced seasonal forecasting services

Improved seasonal forecasting capabilities: 
(a) Improved presentation of existing products
(b) Enhanced capability – keeping pace with international standards

Focus the Bureau’s evolving environmental information role on natural hazards in the first instance.

Phase out seasonal prediction development and modelling and rely on products generated elsewhere

The Committee recommends that the Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation immediately establish a joint industry-Government action group to address evidence of the rising costs and market failure of insurance premiums across Australia.

The Committee recommends that the Australian Government investigate ways to reduce the cost of calling 1300 numbers from mobile telephones in areas of natural disasters.

The Committee recommends that the Australian Government work with the Insurance Council of Australia to make the following amendments to the General Insurance Code of Practice by 1 July 2012:
- remove the clauses that set aside the Code standards in times of disasters;
- require insurers to refrain from advising policyholders against making a claim under their insurance policy, and incorporate a ‘right to claim’ so that policyholders who contact their insurer about their eligibility to make a claim are offered the opportunity to lodge a claim and have it assessed fully;
- ensure that a full explanation of the claims-handling process, including the right to escalate decisions to internal dispute and external dispute resolution systems, is given when policyholders lodge a claim;
- ensure that an acknowledgement of the claims lodgement, contact details of the claims officer, and expected timeframes for the claims-handling process are provided to policyholders in writing;
- require that copies of external expert reports used in the determination of a claim to be provided to claimants within 10 days of request; and
- introduce the following minimum standards for claims handling in times of exceptional circumstances such as declared disasters:
⇒ a timeframe for informing claimants of the progress of the claim;
⇒ a timeframe for advising claimants if an external expert has been appointed;
⇒ assurance that external experts are fully qualified to undertake assessments;
⇒ an undertaking to provide claimants with information about the qualifications, employer, and role of external experts that are appointed to assist with their claim;
⇒ a maximum timeframe of 12 weeks for external experts to provide reports;
⇒ a maximum timeframe for accepting or denying a claim;
⇒ a timeframe for responding to requests for information;
⇒ an undertaking to communicate all decisions about insurance claims to the claimant in writing with clear and explicit reasons relating to their particular claim; and
⇒ a timeframe for informing claimants of the progress of their complaint or dispute.

The Minister for Emergency Services, with advice from the Interagency Bushfire Management Committee Fuel Load Management sub-committee, report to Parliament by May 2012 on the estimated cost of developing one fuel load information system across all lands in Western Australia, no matter who manages it. This system’s information should be readily accessible and easily understood by all stakeholders, including the public.

The Western Australian Local Government Association explore the feasibility of local governments utilising aerial and satellite imagery to monitor firebreaks and fuel loads on private property.

The Fire and Emergency Services Authority and local governments ensure that the ability to: measure and map fuel loads maintain fuel load databases draw up prescriptions for, and oversee controlled burns are included as key competencies in any future recruitment of Chief Bushfire Control Officers and Community and Emergency Services Managers.

FESA and local governments jointly review radio communications capability prior to the 2011/12 bushfire season with a view to improving the current delivery of service to firefighters.

The State Government ensure that the continued development of the Fire and Emergency Service Authority’s Integrated Bushfire Risk Management System is dependent on an independent comparative assessment of its functionality and cost effectiveness against the Spatial Support System used by the Department of Environment and Conservation.

The Fire and Emergency Services Authority, the Department of Environment and Conservation and local governments jointly develop a single, integrated system for fuel load assessment and management. The system should enable public access to allow members of the community to access information about the fuel load in a given locality.

the state and commonwealth undertake a review into the appropriate institutional arrangements for the forecasting and predictions function currently undertaken by Melbourne Water for the Port Phillip and Westernport region.

the Bureau of Meteorology adjust its flood prediction models to incorporate water storage conditions (to enable it to issue more timely and useful flood predictions for communities based downstream of water storages).

the state establish standards for flood mapping to ensure they are kept contemporary and meet the purposes of landuse risk planning and emergency response. In doing so, maps should extend where appropriate to include Probable Maximum Flood, over a range of Annual Exceedence Probability levels and be explicitly linked to a stream gauge.

the Bureau of Meteorology undertake a review of its radar coverage in the context of flash and riverine flood warnings for Victoria, with a particular focus on known gap areas such as the Horsham/Nhill region.

the state review the potential for National Registration and Inquiry System 6 to provide a single point of information collection to both register individuals and plan the delivery of recovery services. If the review determines National Registration and Inquiry System 6 is unable to fulfil this function, the state should work with the commonwealth and other states to implement the necessary changes to National Registration and Inquiry System 6. If National Registration and Inquiry System 6 is unable to be developed as a single information collection system: the state should develop and implement a single point of information collection system, including how information obtained from outreach activities can be incorporated into this system and how such information may be linked into the Rapid Impact Assessment process.

the state ensure that regional and local flood plans incorporate all available flood mapping and intelligence, including assessments of levees and flood consequence information.

the Bureau of Meteorology should present water levels in both local datum and Australian Height Datum (gauge zero) for all its published information and warnings

the commonwealth consider including (as part of its review of standards for aged care services) requirements for: • robust ‘all hazards’ evacuation plans that include current after-hour contact details of people who are able to make authoritative decisions during an emergency; and • rehearsal of those plans.

the state, in consultation with Bureau of Meteorology and Melbourne Water, take the necessary action to ensure that all flood warnings issued are linked to the geographical location of the gauge the data was derived from.

the state and the Bureau of Meteorology liaise to ensure the existence of appropriate quality control processes for gauges and contingency measures in the event that gauges are damaged during flood events.

the Bureau of Meteorology expand its volunteer amateur weather watch groups to enhance its weather and flood information gathering procedures.

the state engage with the Bureau of Meteorology to establish a joint initiative to review existing flash flood warning systems in Victoria and identify where additional systems are needed, with a particular focus on urban centres with a history of flash flooding. This review should seek to achieve outcomes similar to those implemented in NSW. Subject to those outcomes being implemented, the state should determine which agency is responsible for flash flood warnings.

the Bureau of Meteorology provide Incident Control Centres with real-time access to flood data held by the Bureau of Meteorology. This will require Bureau of Meteorology staff making themselves available to respond to enquiries from Incident Control Centres during a flood event.

the state take into account any outcomes from the Commonwealth Government’s flood mapping reviews in the continual development of the Victorian flood database and to incorporate into the database flood data currently held by Melbourne Water.

The Fire Services Commissioner requests the Federal Government to revise the National SEWS Guidelines

The Fire Services develop a program that enables all communication mediums, including social media and agency websites, to be monitored in real time to provide quality assurance for outgoing messages and additional sources of information and intelligence relating to an emergency

Energy Safe Victoria ensures that the standards for vegetation clearance around power lines consider the impact of fire on electrical infrastructure and the risk of loss of electricity supply to the community.

The Committee recommends that Parliament establish a standing committee for natural disasters. The purpose of this committee would be to ensure that Government agencies and emergency services are fully prepared to deal with natural disasters and to provide an opportunity for Members of Parliament, as opposed to Cabinet, to have input into disaster management.

that QFRS undertake a thorough review of Firecom’s systems, including data integrity and dispatch procedures.

NOPSA should:
a) maintain effective policies and procedures that ensure that NOPSA inspectors and other decision makers interpret and apply the OPGGS legislation and NOPSA’s policies fairly and consistently in similar circumstances; and
b) periodically examine consistency in regulatory decision making and the exercise of regulatory powers, for example, by audits or surveys.

To ensure that NOPSEMA is in a strong position to perform its functions effectively:
a) NOPSA (and NOPSEMA) should continue and strengthen ongoing, constructive engagement, directly and through their representatives, with the industry and the offshore workforce;
b) agreed legislative changes should be given priority attention, including the issues of when its jurisdiction ceases to apply and the proposed updating of the compliance tools available to it under the legislation;
c) consideration should be given to providing for the recovery of costs for NOPSA’s work undertaken on a safety case that is formally submitted but (a) withdrawn before a decision is made on it, or (b) rejected.

In order to improve the effectiveness of National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA), with similar benefits for State or Territory regulators, attention should be given to the following actions.
a) Ministers should consider developing an overarching national understanding under which Commonwealth and State or NT regulators are expected to work cooperatively in respect of a large or complex Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (OPGGS) project or activity that requires their regulatory attention in their respective jurisdictions.
b) The aim of that cooperation would be to ensure that, as far as possible:
i. information about such projects is shared,
ii. regulatory actions are co-ordinated under a regulatory plan relating to the project or activity;
iii. approvals and other necessary steps in each jurisdiction occur speedily, 
iv. possible regulatory gaps or inconsistencies arising from the crossjurisdictional nature of the project or activity are identified and addressed; and
v. there is continuous improvement in the cooperative regulatory inter-action.
c) The understanding would provide a framework for MOUs or similar arrangements between regulators and provide accountability by requiring annual reporting to Ministers on:
i. the OPGGS projects or activities that had come within the scope and application of the MOUs or similar arrangement;
ii. how well the MOUs or other arrangements were working;
iii. what action had been taken or should be taken to improve regulatory cooperation;
iv. whether any significant regulatory gaps or inconsistencies had been identified.
d) To allow for a smooth transition to the Ministerial understanding and supporting regulatory cooperation, the understanding should be developed for early consideration by Ministers.

In developing and improving its policies and practices for stakeholder engagement, NOPSA should ensure that:
a) they are underpinned by a clearly stated commitment to representative, tripartite and consultative engagement (this could be included in a service charter 5);
b) a clear program for stakeholder engagement be developed and implemented as part of NOPSA’s Annual Operating Plan, with appropriate preliminary scoping of stakeholder needs and issues and the outcomes of such engagement analysed and reported to the Advisory Board

That a national agency sponsored by the Commonwealth Government be established to undertake national coordination of flood risk management and to operate the system of premium discounts and the flood risk reinsurance facility. The Agency would:
• coordinate flood mapping across the country (while leaving responsibility for undertaking flood mapping in the hands of State and Territory governments and local authorities);
• introduce national guidelines for flood risk mapping and classifications, prepared in consultation with producers and users of flood risk information;
• act as a national repository of flood risk information, primarily through collating and analysing information collected by others;
• continue development of the Insurance Council of Australia’s National Flood Information Database or an equivalent developed by the Agency;
• monitor the effectiveness of flood risk mitigation initiatives across the country and advise on priorities for flood risk mitigation;
• publish and disseminate flood risk information in forms appropriate to various groups of users; and
• oversee the quality of flood risk information.

That an agency sponsored by the Commonwealth Government be created to manage the national coordination of flood risk management and to operate a system of premium discounts and a flood risk reinsurance facility, supported by a funding guarantee from the Commonwealth.

The committee recommends the Commonwealth Government require guaranteed access to emergency call services for people with a disability at all times.

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.

The State amend the regulatory framework for electricity safety to require that distribution businesses adopt, as part of their management plans, measures to reduce the risks posed by hazard trees—that is, trees that are outside the clearance zone but that could come into contact with an electric power line having regard to foreseeable local conditions.

The State amend the regulatory framework for electricity safety to strengthen Energy Safe Victoria’s mandate in relation to the prevention and mitigation of electricity-caused bushfires and to require it to fulfil that mandate.

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.

The State (through Energy Safe Victoria) require distribution businesses to review and modify their current practices, standards and procedures for the training and auditing of asset inspectors to ensure that registered training organisations provide adequate theoretical and practical training for asset inspectors.

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.

The State (through Energy Safe Victoria) require distribution businesses to change their asset inspection standards and procedures to require that all SWER lines and all 22-kilovolt feeders in areas of high bushfire risk are inspected at least every three years.

The State (through Energy Safe Victoria) require distribution businesses to do the following: ■ fit spreaders to any lines with a history of clashing or the potential to do so; ■ fit or retrofit all spans that are more than 300 metres long with vibration dampers as soon as is reasonably practicable.

The Commonwealth, states and territories continue to pursue the National Action Plan to Reduce Bushfire Arson in Australia, giving priority to producing a nationally consistent framework for data collection and evaluating current and proposed programs in order to identify and share best-practice approaches.

The State amend the Regulations under Victoria’s Electricity Safety Act 1998 and otherwise take such steps as may be required to give effect to the following: ■ the progressive replacement of all SWER (single-wire earth return) power lines in Victoria with aerial bundled cable, underground cabling or other technology that delivers greatly reduced bushfire risk. The replacement program should be completed in the areas of highest bushfire risk within 10 years and should continue in areas of lower bushfire risk as the lines reach the end of their engineering lives; ■ the progressive replacement of all 22-kilovolt distribution feeders with aerial bundled cable, underground cabling or other technology that delivers greatly reduced bushfire risk as the feeders reach the end of their engineering lives. Priority should be given to distribution feeders in the areas of highest bushfire risk.

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.

The State (through Energy Safe Victoria) require distribution businesses to do the following: ■ disable the reclose function on the automatic circuit reclosers on all SWER lines for the six weeks of greatest risk in every fire season; ■ adjust the reclose function on the automatic circuit reclosers on all 22-kilovolt feeders on all total fire ban days to permit only one reclose attempt before lockout.

The Government should examine the scope for a single environment plan to meet the regulatory requirements of both the OPGGS Act and the EPBC Act. This could possibly be achieved by way of bilateral agreements and accreditation arrangements and/or legislative amendment.

The proposal of the Productivity Commission’s Research Report (Review of Regulatory Burden on the Upstream Petroleum (Oil and Gas) Sector, April 2009) to establish a NOPR should be pursued at a minimum.

The body established to undertake a central coordination and facilitation role in the event of any future blowout in Commonwealth waters should undertake to make all relevant information publically available from one, authoritative and easy to access source.

A single, independent regulatory body should be created, looking after safety as a primary objective, well integrity and environmental approvals. Industry policy and resource development and promotion activities should reside in government departments and not with the regulatory agency. The regulatory agency should be empowered (if that is necessary) to pass relevant petroleum information to government departments to assist them to perform the policy roles.

In any future similar blowout or offshore emergency situation, the Minister appoint (through either a NOPR or the relevant Department) a senior public servant to establish and oversight a central coordinating body that will facilitate interaction between regulators, industry, AMSA and the owner/operator. Primary responsibility for stopping a blowout should remain with the owner/operator but should be subject to direction from the central coordinating body in consultation with stakeholders (including the owner/operator).

In carrying out a review of PTTEPAA’s permit and licence, the Minister should have regard to this Report, particularly (i) the adverse findings set out in this Chapter; and (ii) the extent to which PTTEPAA has implemented the Action Plan submitted to the Inquiry, or otherwise addressed the matters canvassed in this Report.

The Minister should appoint a senior policy adviser to investigate and report on the best means to implement the recommendations contained in this Chapter 3 of this report.

In the future, and in the interests of ensuring that all possible well control options are comprehensively pursued to exhaustion, decisions as to well control response options should be the result of collaboration between the regulator and the operator rather than leaving one party to make unilateral judgements as to the appropriateness of various well control operations. The regulator should provide transparent and contemporaneous explanations to the public of all well control options under consideration at any particular time.

For the purposes of that review, the Minister should issue a ‘show cause’ notice to PTTEPAA under s 276 of the OPGGS Act.

In the meantime, the Minister should:
a. consider revoking the existing delegation to the Director of Energy, NT DoR providing the functions and powers of the DA under the OPGGS Act and Regulations specified in item 1 of the Schedule to that instrument (the Minister’s DA powers and functions) and transferring this delegation to either NOPSA, RET, or a DA from another state;
b. enquire into whether the other DAs to whom he has delegated his functions and powers relating to well integrity are adequately fulfilling their roles; and
c. consider amendments to the OPGGS Act to enable DAs to be given direction as to the performance of their regulatory roles.

OSCPs should be endorsed by AMSA prior to regulatory approval to ensure that they align with the National Plan. Once field operations commence, the capability of operators should be assessed against their plans, and exercises conducted to ensure the plans remain effective.

Responsibility for well integrity should be moved to NOPSA (as also proposed by the Productivity Commission).

The Commonwealth co-ordinate a standing national arson forum between fire and law enforcement agencies to be held every two years.

Subject to the findings of the Productivity Commission, the Commonwealth examine options for the funding of replacement of power infrastructure that presents an unacceptable bushfire risk.

The Commonwealth Government examine potential new arrangements for Commonwealth involvement in the development and implementation of a national policy for bushfire management.

The Productivity Commission undertake an examination of bushfire risk from ageing power infrastructure, including an assessment of replacement costs and likely suppression costs from bushfires caused by defective infrastructure.

The Commonwealth publish all fuel reduction plans and related audit findings on a national database.

Add an ‘Aviation’ map to the standard set of incident maps. The standard for this map will need to be developed by subject matter experts from the Air Ops group.

The ANAO recommends that Centrelink develop and promulgate a business continuity plan (BCP) template and require business units to develop BCPs that identify:
(a) risks to the business/service and their impact, based on the respective business impact analysis; and
(b) risk treatments and business resumption tasks to manage these risks, which can then be tested on a regular basis.

To improve the governance arrangements for business continuity management (BCM) in Centrelink ,the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO)
recommends that:
(a) the recently constituted Business Continuity, Crisis Management and Security Sub committee be provided with regular reports on IT business continuity
issues; and
(b) Centrelink review existing BC and risk management planning and implementation activities to identify areas where coordination and collaboration could be further improved.

Energy Safe Victoria finalise the development of the passport system to improve interstate mutual aid arrangements allowing operator access to qualified interstate power restoration personnel.

Electricity distribution businesses develop and implement alternative arrangements for monitoring fallen powerlines.

The Bureau of Meteorology contact list for severe weather warning be strategically managed in consultation with Emergency Service Organisations, to identify critical contacts. The Bureau of Meteorology must ensure the detail for these critical contacts remains up to date.

The Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority, in partnership with Telstra, consider technological solutions to streamline the handover process for Triple Zero calls.

Biosecurity Victoria should enhance controls to provide assurance regarding data integrity. This process should include:
• working with local government to provide accurate and complete property data across the state
• enhancing processes for ensuring consistent notification of disease events across regions
• reviewing all processes related to the collation, input, processing, output and protection of data to improve the integrity of the system.

The role of the advisory Board, namely to give advice to Ministers and NOPSA when asked, should be made clear to Board members and all stakeholders. The Board and NOPSA should consider the need for a clear description of who does what based on the legislated responsibilities of the NOPSA CEO.

That facilities for the unloading and transferring of horses at Tullamarine Airport in Melbourne be constructed urgently, upon advice of experts in biosecurity containment, to enable adequate biosecurity precautions to be taken effectively and to minimise the risk of injury to horses and those handling them.

That each government controlled and operated quarantine station have sufficient staff to carry out properly all activities and measures required by the current operating procedures dealing with the quarantine of horses.

That the facilities for unloading and transferring of horses at Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport be upgraded without delay, following the advice of experts in biosecurity containment, so as to enable appropriate biosecurity precautions to be taken effectively and to minimise the risk of injury to horses and those handling them. The facilities should include at least one padded box or stall sound-proofed to the extent that it is reasonable to do so.

That, in the absence of other satisfactory government controlled and operated post-arrival quarantine stations becoming available before the options to renew the leases of Eastern Creek and Spotswood Quarantine Stations expire, those options be exercised.

That the person holding the position of Inspector General of Horse Importation may be removed in the following circumstances only:
(a) automatically
(i) on bankruptcy or on an application to take the benefit of a law for
the relief of bankruptcy
(ii) on conviction for an indictable offence
or
(iii) on loss or suspension of any licence or authority to practise his or her regular profession
(b) by dismissal by the Governor-General in Council for proved misconduct in or relating directly or indirectly to the performance of his or her duties
(c) by resignation in writing to the Minister responsible for quarantine
(d) on certification by two medical practitioners of mental or physical
incapacity to perform the duties of Inspector General.

That there continue to be in Australia government controlled and operated post-arrival quarantine stations for horses.

That the person holding the position of Inspector General of Horse
Importation:
(a) be appointed by the Governor-General in Council following public advertisement
(b) be appointed for a term of five years only or for such lesser term as may remain at the time of appointment
(c) receive such remuneration and other benefits as fixed or recommended by the Remuneration Tribunal
(d) be a person with expertise in equine affairs and with such other qualifications and experience as the Governor-General in Council considers appropriate
(e) not hold or take other employment or consultancies that might give rise to an actual or perceived conflict of interest with the duties of Inspector General
(f) be obliged to submit to any medical examination reasonably required by the Minister responsible for quarantine before or during the term of appointment for the purpose of assessing his or her suitability for the position
(g) shall not be, or have been within the two years immediately preceding the appointment, employed or engaged by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.

That there be similar facilities for the unloading and transfer of horses at any other airport in Australia that might receive horses imported from places other than New Zealand.

That the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry designate, without delay, a Senior Executive Service officer to be primarily responsible and accountable for the importation of horses into Australia and to that end to have the power to exercise all necessary authority.

That there be provided without delay at Sydney (Kingsford Smith) and Tullamarine Airports facilities to enable people who might have had contact with imported horses to shower and change their clothes, under supervision, before leaving the airport.

The committee recommends the Australian Government strengthen CASA's governance framework and administrative capability by:
• introducing a small board of up to five members to provide enhanced oversight and strategic direction for CASA; and
• undertaking a review of CASA's funding arrangements to ensure CASA is equipped to deal with new regulatory challenges.

The Committee recommends that the Australian Government, through the Australian Bureau of Statistics, ensure that:
- accurate and consistent methods of measuring the numbers and the impact of tourists and other non-residents in coastal areas are undertaken to enable resources to be better matched with demand for infrastructure and services
- improved data on long-term demographic trends in coastal areas is made available to assist in coastal zone planning and management

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:
- ‘first pass’ National Coastal Vulnerability Assessment data
- state and local Digital Elevation Modelling
- National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility reports
- federal Local Adaptation Pathways Program reports
- state and local coastal vulnerability assessment results

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).

The Committee notes the importance of mitigation measures in addressing climate change impacts and accordingly recommends that the Australian Government continue to take urgent action to ensure that Australia can best contribute to a reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions.

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.

Databases with a common minimum data set complete with incident monitoring should be established for TAS Air Ambulance, TMRS and NETS missions.

Accordingly I recommend that the Federal Minister for Transport, consider engaging an external consultant to assess whether high level intervention is warranted. 

To improve the management of the National Medical Stockpile, the ANAO recommends that the Department of Health and Ageing incorporate into its governance framework:
(a) an assessment of the risks associated with the Stockpile in a risk management plan that is periodically reviewed; and
(b) a performance management and reporting framework for the Stockpile.

That an appropriate geographic information systems capability be maintained to enable the production of fire-specific maps as the need arises and that personnel from the Emergency Services Agency and other agencies be trained in the operation of map production systems, so that 9maps can be modified to include fire-specific information as required

That the Emergency Services Agency introduce a program with land management agencies in the ACT to ensure that maps of all public and private land in the ACT are subjected to regular review and amendment as required. Maps of a scale sufficient to facilitate fire management operations should be available in printed form and maintained on an electronic database capable of modification to add relevant features during a firefighting operation

There must be compatibility of communications systems throughout the rail network. It is essential that all train drivers, train controllers, signallers, train guards and supervisors of trackside work gangs in New South Wales be able to communicate using the same technology.

The data and information management system should be compatible with any data and information management system established by the ATSB for the designated interstate rail network, provided that the establishment of a compatible system does not reduce the amount or quality of the information obtained by ITSRR below the optimum levels which it needs to conduct trend analysis, and otherwise properly manage the safety of rail operations in New South Wales.

All signal telephones must be maintained by RailCorp in proper working order.

The ITSRR should establish a data and information management system, containing all data and information that it requires, to continually monitor the safety of the New South Wales rail system.

The RMC should be equipped by RailCorp with a transcriber system, or mimic board, or such other system as is necessary to enable identification of the precise location at any time of any train on the RailCorp network.

A dedicated telephone line should be established by RailCorp between the RMC and any Emergency Services Control Centre for use during any emergency.

There should be interoperability of communications equipment between all trains operating on the New South Wales rail network.

That the Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council requests that the Australian Government, through the Australian Emergency Management Committee, develops an effective pathway to incorporate hazard science into emergency management policy.

Consolidate the Australian Government decision to establish an Australian Tsunami Warning System through a long-term government commitment to ensure a sustainable and effective national tsunami warning system beyond the current four-year initiative.

The Working Group recommends that State/Territory emergency management plans should explicitly take the need for rapid assessment of damaged physical infrastructure into account. The importance of rapid physical infrastructure assessment in ensuring the supply of utilities including sewerage and drainage, electricity, water and gas to residential structures and other types should be recognised and considered. 

Related to recommendation 16, the Working Group recommends that the likelihood and consequences be systematically assessed by appropriate agencies that would include Geoscience Australia, the Bureau of Meteorology, CSIRO and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry among others. The range of hazards to be considered should include but not be limited to;
• Tsunami
• Bushfire (working with the Bushfire CRC)
• Severe storm
• Flood
• Cyclonic wind and storm surge
• Earthquake
• Temperature extremes and the impact of climatic change
• Disease threat – human, animal and flora/fauna 

Firefighting organisations should: resolve existing telecommunication problems and work with other emergency service organisations to establish compatible telecommunications systems.

That DPI upgrades the Crop Health Services diagnostic database so that it alerts PSB and PIRVIC to the receipt of samples from nearby areas with similar symptoms and can be linked to other PIRVIC diagnostic databases.

That DPI establishes a system to ensure the security of all samples at all times, but particularly during their handling and transport.

That DSE institute additional routine data storage and analysis to supplement current climate records with at least daily 3 pm values for the Grassland and Forest Fire Danger Index, and Keetch-Byram Drought Index, for selected high quality stations representing a cross-section of environments throughout Victoria. 

That Government review legislation for utilities operating within the State to ensure their involvement in regional fire preparedness and mitigation planning.

That Government acknowledge the importance of spatial information as a key element of planning, operations and program evaluation, and support the Geospatial Emergency Information Network as a means of ensuring integrated and co-ordinated information management on a whole-ofGovernment basis.

That all emergency service agencies, CFA and DSE in particular, give greater priority to information management – especially the collection, maintenance and quality control of base data sets necessary for planning, operations and program evaluation.

That DSE and CFA map all unplanned fires greater than four hectares on public and private land in order to further develop an understanding of the risk to rural Victoria from unplanned fires.

That DSE and CFA, recognising that the Bureau of Meteorology does not routinely store all variables required to produce the calculations and indices necessary for research and planning into fire occurrence and behaviour, develop appropriate systems to ensure that such current and historical information is readily available and accessible.

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.

The Committee recommends that Emergency Management Australia and the Australian Communications Authority, in conjunction with the respective state and territory governments, ensure the survivability of essential communication installations during fire incidents by strategic fuel management around the assets.

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.

The Committee recommends that Emergency Management Australia and the Australian Communications Authority jointly with the Australasian Fire Authorities Council:
- Initiate an urgent review on a district basis, of the suitability of the current allocated radio spectrum to ensure that as far as possible, fire fighter safety is not being compromised through inadequate communications.
- Commit to the development, in conjunction with representative bodies of all emergency services, to a National Strategic Radio System.
- That the coordination of the deliberations be assigned to Emergency Management Australia.

The Committee recommends in acknowledgement of the expertise that the Commonwealth can bring to the Australasian Fire Authorities Council and of funding already supplied to the Council for the development of a National Aerial Firefighting Strategy, that the current status of Emergency Management Australia on AFAC as an associate member be upgraded to full membership and that full membership also be extended to the Department of Defence.

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
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.

The Committee recommends that the Commonwealth seeks to ensure that the Council of Australian Governments resolve to increase water access points for bushfire fighting on public land to the minimum national standard.

The Committee recommends that the functions and administration of Emergency Management Australia be reviewed to develop an organisation that is proactive and involved in the development and implementation of national policy on emergency response.

The Commonwealth Government be asked to complete as far as practicable, the connection of telephones to outlying country centres before the end of 1961.

A sub-committee of telecommunication officers and representatives of the Bush Fires Board be appointed to investigate and encourage the development of a modern system of radio equipment for bush fire brigades. 

It is recommended that the State Electricity Commission adopt a policy of conciliation and good will towards its closer neighbours. It is not suggested that its policy has been essentially otherwise. In future that policy can best be assured of success by time conferring of material benefit upon its neighbours at some monetary cost to the Commission. It is suggested, with conviction, that it would prove to be of great advantage to time Commission if it were to take an active part in the clearing and bettering of its neighbours’ scrub and timber country at time cost of the Commission. The settler whose land is fully cleared and in production, or who knows that his land will be cleared for him, has no incentive to burn illegally or carelessly. If this suggestion should he adopted, it would be necessary that it should be carried out in all cases in accordance with the settler’s convenience, that he himself should take an active part in the operations, and that he should be left, not with a financial obligation, but with a definite material advantage.

It is recommended that the water pressure be improved so that a greater volume and jet may be available for the suppression of fires on the faces and also for the purpose of wetting the berms more widely and thoroughly when necessary. It is suggested that there should be variable control of the pressure so that production need not be adversely affected in times of normal danger.

It is recommended that a more constant, running revision of the main and sprinkler system be maintained in future so that the service which it is intended to convey shall be closely and efficiently available to all parts of the berms and faces. It is emphasized that the reticulation system in the berms is fixed and stationary, whereas the faces are continually receding as their surfaces are scraped away by the dredges.

That, in view of the fact that along many of the lines, between the road-bed and the fences, there are numbers of dry inflammable stumps, which, when they catch fire, are very difficult to extinguish, and that the surface of the ground surrounding these stumps is usually chipped by the permanent-way men every summer, thus causing considerable expense without removing the risk of fire, the Railway Department should remove this source of danger, by grabbing them out and burning them as early as may be found practicable.