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 PCS receive adequate funding for the 2023-24 EPSDD BOP to ensure all access maintenance activities listed as Priority 1, and that these activities are completed.

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 to inform DEECA of properties with defect notices to support community recovery planning. DEECA work with peak bodies representing registered electrical contractors to ensure coordinated community recovery planning.

Victorian Government design and implement an Extended Loss of Supply Support Payment Scheme (ELOSS Payment) which requires distribution businesses to financially support customers during prolonged power outages. This will address community feedback about the Victorian Government Prolonged Power Outage Payment (PPOP) Elements of ELOSS are to include:.
a. Timely and daily customer payments after 72 hours up to a per customer maximum amount.
b. Distribution businesses to administer and fund ELOSS up to a maximum amount.
This recommendation should be implemented by June 2025

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.

The committee recommends that the Australian Government increase the Disaster Ready Fund to $400 million per annum for investment in disaster mitigation and resilience measures.

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.

Recovery Arrangements - shore-up recovery structures and systems to better streamline and sustain arrangements during transition by:
4.1 Increasing awareness of the Cairns Local Recovery Plan and associated arrangements - including the LDMG processes that support the transition from response to recovery, the span of authority for these operations (LDC/LRC; IMT or CRC BAU), and processes for the allocation of adequate resoucing - via training and functional exercises
4.2 Reviewing operational resources and information systems that support recovery processes to ensure they are up to date and accessible

That the Victorian Government provide long-term funding contracts for mental health services in flood-affected regions, with a focus to securing dedicated mental health professionals and effective service delivery in communities impacted by natural disasters.

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 ensure regional catchment management authorities, with local councils, are funded and resourced to conduct and implement up to date flood studies on a regular basis.

That the Victorian Government simplify the application process for disaster recovery funding. This could include reducing paperwork, providing hands-on assistance and investigating technology to streamline processes.

That the Victorian Government increase funding to Shepparton and Echuca and Moama Search and Rescue squads to ensure optimal response capabilities in future emergencies.

To assist with ongoing clean-up of flood-affected areas following disasters, that the Victorian Government establish a dedicated financial support program for local businesses involved in debris removal and restoration efforts. This should include reimbursement mechanisms for businesses, such as earthmoving companies, that contributed equipment and personnel to the clean-up but suffered significant financial losses doing so.

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 increase funding for training of volunteers to boost the capacity of State Emergency Service units and Shepparton and Echuca and Moama Search and Rescue squads to respond during emergencies.

That the Victorian Government develop a strategic rescue plan in areas at high risk of flooding, so that they have appropriate resources and expertise for rescues during a crisis event. This plan should include consideration of procurement, expansion of reserve caches and processes for rapid deployment of resources.

That the Victorian Government recognise caravan parks as essential businesses in disaster-prone areas as providers of housing and emergency support and ensure support is available (including grants) under Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements to caravan park operators, including those operating on Crown Land.

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 Victorian Government adapt policies and funding models to prioritise betterment initiatives, including ensuring that financial resources are allocated effectively to meet long-term needs of at-risk communities, and in doing so work with the Commonwealth Government to achieve this goal.

That the Victorian Government review its framework for providing housing support following an environmental disaster. In particular, the Government should assess the application system to ensure that genuinely affected households are provided support in a timelier manner and to mitigate the risk of fraudulent claims.

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

That the Victorian Government prioritise investment in betterment projects to improve the resilience of mitigation infrastructure, and in doing so work with the Commonwealth Government to achieve this goal.

That the Victorian Government pay its bills on time, especially following natural disasters.

That the Victorian Government plan and resource recovery hubs (including online access) sufficiently to fulfil their role in long-term community recovery and resilience building.

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 work with the Commonwealth Government to ensure the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements are not unduly burdensome.

That the Victorian Government evaluate the criteria and funding arrangements for financial assistance post-disaster with a view to:
a. better aligning support with costs of recovery
b. proposing options for quickly deploying support mechanisms according to the scale and complexity of the event.

In line with Recommendation 58, that the Victorian Government, working with local councils, investigate options for emergency funding arrangements to assist operating Emergency Relief Centres and include these arrangements in statewide operating guidelines.

The NSW Reconstruction Authority repurpose the funding previously provided for one-off spontaneous volunteering grants to each local council to support a more comprehensive, targeted approach to building community capability to support informal volunteering comprised of:
a. The provision of training and support to councils in high disaster risk areas to support them to build their capability to coordinate community based informal volunteers.
b. The engagement of an expert, external organisation to coordinate, train and support informal volunteers in the recovery stage of disaster events when it is warranted by the scale of the disaster, volunteer interest and potential risks.
c. Grants to support businesses, non-government organisations and community groups in high disaster risk areas with locally developed initiatives to build community resilience and capability.

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 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 ensure the National Climate Service has adequate budget allocation to reasonably meet escalating needs for a national climate service capability.

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 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 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.

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 consider measures to improve the affordability of flood insurance for existing policyholders with high flood risk properties, including the appropriateness of a government supported reinsurance arrangement. Any interventions to improve the affordability of flood insurance should be pursued in accordance with to the following interdependent principles:
- Affordable cover for even high-risk properties. Flood insurance should be available to all Australian homeowners and body corporate lot owners at an affordable price, but with conditions.
- Price signals. Any assistance to affordable insurance should not compromise price signals against full cost of risk. This could be achieved by partial (but not full) reduction of the premium and/or a gradual phasing out of some assistance.
- Cross-subsidies. Any scheme of reinsurance support or subsidies should minimise cross-subsidisation through premiums where possible as this could raise issues of fairness (for example, low-income households cross-subsiding higher risk high-income households) and could be economically inefficient in that it may create a disincentive to insure.
- Phase-out. That any scheme involving public funding being devoted to a reinsurance pool or subsidies, should be phased out over time in line with ongoing investment in community and household mitigation to reduce the underlying risk over time.
- The underlying risk: no new developments. Governments at all three levels should commit to arrangements (including more public disclosure) to ensure that no new developments occur in high-risk areas.
- The underlying risk: community mitigation. Federal and State governments should commit to ongoing investment in community mitigation. This should include a guaranteed minimum annual investment level and the development of rigorous business cases.
- The underlying risk: household mitigation. Households and small business should be provided with information on mitigation options and their premiums should be reduced immediately when they undertake such mitigation.

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 acknowledges the increased funding for the community legal sector recently announced. While the focus of this funding will be for family violence services, the Committee recommends that an appropriate proportion be dedicated to natural disaster services.

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 the Insurance Council of Australia in consultation with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and state, territory and local governments:
- Develop guidance for policyholders on the actions they can take to clean up their properties following a natural disaster.
- Include in the guidance any actions policyholders should take to document damage to their properties, such as taking photos to assist with their claim.
- Obtain a commitment from insurers that they will have regard for the guidance when assessing claims.
- Distribute the guidance as soon as possible to disaster-impacted local government areas.
- Make the guidance part of information distributed by insurers when a natural disaster occurs, including making the guidance available at recovery hubs in hard copy form.
- Develop debris cleanup guidance for councils.

The Committee recommends a more flexible approach to post-flood grant arrangements, to expand eligibility to include some insured people, including:
- The Australian and state governments, in consultation with local governments and the insurance industry, make design, implementation and communication improvements to recovery programs to avoid future delays due to unanticipated or poorly managed interactions with insurance claims processes.
- The Australian and state governments review eligibility criteria for recovery programs, including grants, to ensure they are fit for purpose. This should include consideration of extending support currently restricted to uninsured people to include some insured people, where justified by local and individual circumstances.
- The Australian Government investigate the advantages and risks of enabling access to the Home Equity Access Scheme for resilience improvements by people who cannot access or afford flood cover.

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 that all large insurers commit to having a physical presence at major emergency hubs in affected communities as soon as possible following a natural disaster.

The Committee recommends that the Australian Government continue to work with the states and territories through National Cabinet to ensure that disaster and resilience funding, and non-financial support, are accessible and adequate for all councils, particularly smaller councils. The Committee recommends that the Government work with the states and territories through National Cabinet to ensure more disaster support can be triggered at the sub-Local Government Area level when needed.

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 that a climate financing framework be developed in relation to government mitigation and adaptation funding. That this framework create the appropriate incentives for both public sector and private sector investment in mitigation and more resilient buildings and infrastructure. This would include:
- Rigorous project evaluation and prioritisation, including cost benefit analysis and the incorporation of climate modelling.
- Strong project governance including reporting, monitoring and evaluation.
- Post-project price monitoring where appropriate.
- The development of resilience financing where feasible and appropriate.
- The exploration of public-private partnerships to coinvest in new or upgraded infrastructure.

The Committee recommends that a new service be offered to support vulnerable cash settlement recipients to project manage rebuilds and major repairs. This could be similar to the Service Navigator role in Queensland’s Resilient Homes Fund.

The Committee recommends that the General Insurance Code of Practice provide that final cash settlements:
- Be provided in a template form that is standardised across all insurers. The template should include a clear itemisation of all key elements of the total sum. The template be designed with input from peak consumer organisations and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
- Should include actionable, comprehensive, and transparent quotes.
- Should clearly identify compensation for unforeseen risks and project management risk (as identified in Recommendation 9).

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 the Australian Government continue to fund community level mitigation, ensuring at least $200 million per year ongoing.

The committee recommends that the Australian Government establish a national asset register to improve the efficiency of the deployment of resources in the aftermath of a disaster. The Government should consider whether it is feasible to include not only federal and state government assets, but also suitable local community, private sector and non-government organisation assets.

The committee recommends that the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements and relevant guidelines be amended to enable funds to be distributed for the purpose of building betterment into recovery and reconstruction, ensuring that this funding is available to all jurisdictions.

The committee recommends that the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements be amended to set aside a proportion of funding to be offered to local governments up-front to help facilitate disaster recovery and resilience to ensure councils do not always have to bear the burden of financing repairs up-front.

The DRF should be underpinned by an investment strategy that is informed by the Risk Profile. This should be done through:
- Prioritising state and territory projects that address needs identified through the Risk Profile.
- Introducing an expanded ‘national projects’ stream that the Commonwealth could use to pursue national risk reduction priorities, as identified by the Risk Profile.
- Linking the desired outcomes of the DRF to the Outcomes Policy.
- Aligning the timing and process of decision-making with state and territory governments to ensure proper prioritisation of agreed risk reduction measures.

The Commonwealth should prioritise nation-wide investment in disaster risk reduction and resilience initiatives.

The Commonwealth should adopt an evidence-informed, risk-based approach to Commonwealth disaster funding.

The Commonwealth should review the existing DRFA cost sharing arrangements with state and territory governments, taking into consideration simplicity, equity and the capacity of the individual state and territory governments. Consideration should be given to the appropriate thresholds, reimbursement rates and whether insurance costs should be taken into consideration when determining thresholds.

The Commonwealth should streamline nationally consistent standardised measures, focused on response and short-term recovery that can be delivered quickly following a disaster event. The standardised measures should:
- Ensure a nationally consistent activation process/decision making framework that is based on impact, consequence and need.
- Create certainty and speed for pre-determined funding.
- Clearly state the eligible activities, their relevant domain/s and the conditions under which the measure can be activated.
- Adopt streamlined audit and assurance, as well as monitoring and evaluation requirements consistent with the Outcomes Policy.

Disaster funding investments should elevate the role of local First Nations leadership in emergency management through formal recognition and resourcing for their actions and decision-making during disasters.

When designing disaster management outcomes for First Nations communities, the Commonwealth should consider flexible funding arrangements to support community self-determination towards disaster preparedness, risk reduction and resilience as part of the Outcomes Policy.
- Existing relevant programs, such as the National Indigenous Australians Agency administered Indigenous Rangers Program, could be expanded to include specific support for disaster risk reduction, resilience and recovery efforts.

The Commonwealth should clarify and more narrowly define an exceptional circumstances consideration (currently Category D). This should include:
- More narrowly and explicitly defining when the exceptional circumstances consideration can be utilised for recovery objectives consistent with a categorisation that acknowledges short-, medium- and long-term recovery.
- Requiring the completion of a comprehensive impact assessment, or noting if a project was identified as a priority through the Risk Profile.
-Aligning longer term recovery initiatives considered as part of the (current) Category D in conjunction with the Risk Profile.

The Commonwealth should prioritise the redirection of AGDRP funding, which occurs because of a refined role, towards natural disaster resilience and risk reduction program/s.
- The DRF could be a vehicle through which any funding redirected from the AGDRP could be used to progress national disaster risk reduction and resilience priorities.

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 ensure that the Outcomes Policy includes outcomes that directly reference disadvantaged or disproportionately impacted groups to ensure their needs are appropriately considered by disaster funding programs.

The Commonwealth should remove existing current DRFA Category A, B, C, and D and negotiate their replacement with a criteria framework that categorises measures into short- (or immediate), medium-, and long-term recovery initiatives and groups initiatives according to their domain (natural, social, economic and built).

The intent of the AGDRP should be refined to clarify its role in the disaster management funding system. This should be achieved through:
- Prioritising a clear intent statement that clarifies the purpose of the AGDRP.
- De-conflicting the AGDRP and existing DRFA hardship payments.
- Considering the AGDRP as part of a holistic package of support to individuals and families, not in addition to existing DRFA provisions. This should include consideration of the Disaster Recovery Allowance (DRA).
- Aligning eligibility with the clarified role and intent of the AGDRP.
- Strengthening eligibility based on criteria including geographic location, impact zones and reducing the eligibility timeframes.

The Outcomes Policy should:
- Outline natural disaster related investment priorities of the Commonwealth and apply to all Commonwealth departments and agencies investment initiatives.
- Ensure appropriate consideration of investment that is scalable, sustainable, effective, equitable, transparent and accessible.
- Give deliberate consideration to funding initiatives across the disaster continuum, and particularly across the four domains: natural, social, economic and built.
- Ensure that all Commonwealth disaster investment is coordinated, monitored and evaluated.

The Commonwealth should clarify the role of the DRFA in the current Commonwealth disaster arrangements. This should be achieved through:
- Reinforcing that the DRFA is a recovery focused funding agreement designed to support state and territory governments to respond to, and for communities to recover from, natural disaster events.
- Acknowledging that the DRFA is not the primary funding mechanism to achieve disaster risk reduction, resilience, and prevention objectives.
- Acknowledging that, wherever possible, recovery measures progressed under the DRFA should still seek to reduce future risk (including betterment provisions) and build future resilience.

The Commonwealth should reconsider, with a view to increasing, the current amount of funding allocated to the DRF, or other similar future programs, to address the disaster risk reduction and resilience priorities identified by the Risk Profile.

The Commonwealth should ensure that all non-self-governing Australian territories are clearly eligible for financial support during and after a natural disaster. Specific reference to external Commonwealth territories should be included in the DRFA, and appropriate triggers for support should be included in all other natural disaster funding related programs.

To the extent possible, where programs are requested to be funded by the Commonwealth that have previously been agreed as part of the Risk Profile, thresholds and administrative arrangements should be streamlined to encourage pre-planning and a risk-based approach.

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 review the funding approval timeframes as part of the joint Australian-State and Territory Government Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements.

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, as part of the development of a Federation Funding Agreements Schedule on transport infrastructure, assess options to improve the alignment and coordination of funding programs and application and approval processes with state and territory partner-funded bodies.

The Committee recommends that the Australian Government strengthen procurement project specifications under the new Federation Funding Agreements Schedule for state and territory government co-funded project proposals to include minimum or preferred requirements for the use of innovative road asset technologies and recyclable materials and methodologies to enable sustainable long-term asset resilience and support a circular economy.

The Committee recommends that the Australian Government review funding allocation to support road asset maintenance works under its Infrastructure Investment Program and consider other measures to incentivise increased investment in maintenance works.

The Committee recommends that the Australian Government strengthen procurement requirements under the new Federation Funding Agreements Schedule on transport infrastructure for state and territory government cofunded project proposals to incorporate resilience design, minimum road construction requirements, and performance specifications to enable sustainable long-term resilience over an asset’s lifecycle.

The Committee recommends that the Australian Government establish a review into the distribution formula of the Financial Assistance Grants road component.

The Committee recommends that the Australian Government investigate options to include flexibility to fund preparedness measures through Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements to assist in mitigating against future disaster events.

The Committee recommends that the Australian Government implement options for greater flexibility for betterment funding for resilient infrastructure builds, where structural, economic or social benefits are identified, through Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements eligibility criteria following natural disaster events

The National Emergency Manaement Agency:
a. clearly and accurately presents Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements related information in its Portfolio Budget Statements; and
b. develops an appropriate set of Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements performance measures that cover the efficiency and effectiveness of the full range of the National Emergency Management Agency's Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements activities

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 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.

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.

To ensure that the LEMA Review leads to improved LEMA processes and outputs that are responsive to the needs and capacity of the WA LG sector, WALGA recommends that the Department of Fire and Emergency Services and SEMC approve and secure funding for a three-year LEMA Improvement Project to implement the LEMA Review improvement actions (August 2023 – August 2026).

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).

Improved coordination between insurers and government is required when access to government disaster funding requires evidence of an insurance claim status. Improvements should focus on removing unnecessary information requirements, agreeing the format and nature of information required, and alignment on timeframes.

The type and level of relief provided to insurers in an Extraordinary Catastrophe should be considered, as should the consequences for fair and efficient claims handling. This includes:
- The timing of the relief – before the event, in the immediate aftermath and up to 12 months following the event.
- Factors other than timeframes that could be subject to relief.
- The minimum commitments insurers are expected to meet; for example, prioritising vulnerable customers, supporting policyholders with emergency situations, including temporary accommodation, and communication standards.

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.

The Inspector-General of Emergency Management recommends the following change to the way that Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements are supported through Queensland’s Disaster Management Arrangements:
a. That the Queensland Reconstruction Authority be Queensland’s lead agency coordinating Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements. Ministerial responsibility for activation of Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements should transfer from the Minister for Police and Corrective Services and Minister for Fire and Emergency Services, to the Minister responsible for the Queensland Reconstruction Authority.

That the Queensland Police Service, Queensland Reconstruction Authority and the Department of State Development, Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning develop an Emergency Relief strategy.

That the term ‘Emergency Supply’ be changed to ‘Emergency Relief’ in the State Disaster Management Plan.

The Commonwealth should allocate a significant budget to ANZEMC to support implementation of the NEMMM’s five priorities for action. The States and Territories should contribute as well, with their support, such as contributions in-kind and other resourcing, proportionate to the size of the jurisdiction.

Jurisdictions should also contribute resourcing to implement the priorities for action, such as contributions in-kind and other funding, proportionate to the size of the jurisdiction. Funding should not be sourced from the Disaster Ready Fund given the dependence local government has on that funding source.

The Commonwealth should allocate a significant program budget to the Ministerial Council to enable effective implementation of its five national priorities for action.
- To achieve this, it should consider, in consultation with the States and Territories, renewing the Disaster Risk Reduction Package (DRRP) fund, which expires in June of next year and includes a major component focused on national-level efforts to reduce disaster risk.
- An allocation on the order of $10m per year would be a reasonable approximation of the level of funding required to support implementation of the NEMMM’s five national priorities for action.

In light of the fact that NEMA is a small agency with far fewer options than much larger government departments to reallocate resources for their Ministerial Council Secretariats, the Commonwealth should consider supplementing NEMA’s funding for this purpose.
- The NEMA Secretariat should be staffed by a well-resourced team with high-level public policy experience across the preparedness and response and recovery and DRR/resilience agendas.
- The Secretariat should be led by a senior executive, with the high-level policy, communication and facilitation skills and experience, as the core function of that person’s job.
- A significant travel budget should be included for the Secretariate to enable regular in- person engagement with the jurisdictions.
- NEMA should identify options, including incentives, to reduce staff turnover in these critical Secretariat functions.

Housing , especially social housing: That, to ease housing stress in flood prone areas and ensure new development is resilient and community-centred, Government pursue a multi-pronged, decadal strategy through:
• ensuring flood-displaced residents in emergency housing who have no safe return to home options are re-homed in more permanent settlements where community can be re-established, and that emergency housing clusters do not take on de facto permanency
• providing authoritative advice on how to reclaim and restore flood damaged houses affected by mould. This includes providing detailed advice on who is at risk from living in mould-infected houses (the immunocompromised and those with lung damage plus certain other groups) and what constitutes safe living conditions for this group
• ensuring building standards are adopted for build back after floods so that new housing stock is as flood proof and flood recoverable as possible
• investing additional state, Commonwealth and private sector monies to grow the stock of social and affordable housing
• accelerating investment by the community housing and private sectors in new social and affordable housing projects through a Government run co-contribution grant funding program
• planning for and encouraging collaborative public and private sector investment in innovative mixed-use developments in flood prone regional cities and towns that are built above ground level to be flood
• resilient, are centrally located, and increase housing diversity by providing smaller social, affordable and market dwellings
• the Government’s Expert Housing Advisory Panel providing advice on additional market interventions to improve rental affordability and ease vacancy shortages to reverse homelessness and take pressure off social housing waitlists
• fast-tracking the approval and servicing of new village developments beyond the current footprint of Lismore and other Northern Rivers towns on existing cleared agricultural land above the re-calculated flood planning level, ensuring all infrastructure including transport, retail, schools, public space and other community facilities are in situ prior to occupation
• fast-tracking planning approvals and the provision of enabling infrastructure to accelerate delivery of Aboriginal housing on Local Aboriginal Land Council land and lands owned by Native Title corporations that respects culture and kinship and supports stable accommodation pathways
• partnering with the development and community housing sectors to relocate flood prone social and affordable housing on the Hawkesbury-Nepean floodplain to new and attractive multi-use, medium density developments within the CBDs of Mount Druitt, Blacktown and other Western Sydney city centres
• under the leadership of the NSW Building Commissioner, developing a code for flood resilient, environmentally sustainable building that accounts for current and likely future supply chain disruptions and extends to modular and manufactured homes
• working with the Greater Cities Commission and regional councils to ensure future local housing strategies factor in the need for natural disaster emergency housing and promote resilient housing systems
• encouraging financial institutions and insurance companies to use pricing structures to incentivise the construction of more safely situated and resilient buildings
• supporting building industry skills growth and making building material supply chains more robust to insulate the economy from future natural disaster and other exogenous shocks
• ensuring building industry occupational health and safety regulations are enforced in the flood-affected areas rebuilding programs.

Housing and development funding options: That, to empower vulnerable people and communities to avoid significant impacts from flood as well as drive broader investment in adaptation, Government through NSWRA:
• consider establishing a NSW Mitigation Fund as a form of secured finance as a lien on title, such as rates-based or utility-based financing, to allow the Government to harness private sector monies to deliver cost-effective flood-resilient retrofits for existing dwellings
• investigate whether trading mechanisms for development rights, renegotiation with developers with existing rights, or uplift value capture to fund buy-outs could reduce existing and anticipated development in areas of greatest flood risks, with an initial focus on the Northern Rivers region and the Hawkesbury-Nepean. In doing so, Government should:
— ensure that tradeable rights facilitate the construction of additional homes in line with regional plans, in particular the Government’s six cities vision developed by the Greater Cities Commission
— fund voluntary property purchases in identified locations through the issuing of tradeable development rights
• work with the insurance industry to ensure that works are undertaken such that they would improve access to lower cost insurance products, improving upon existing guidelines from voluntary house raising schemes
• ensure that local delivery partners provide a seamless consumer experience in a cost-effective manner, whilst meeting community expectations for consumer protection and responsible lending
• consider how the NSW Mitigation Fund mechanism can address other adaptation and mitigation opportunities such as improving flood resilience for structures in areas of extreme risk and reducing emissions and bills whilst improving human health outcomes through energy efficient retrofits and home electrification.

Transition initiatives: That, to improve the community’s experience during immediate disaster recovery phase, Government through the SEOCON, NSWRA, DCS/Service NSW and other state agencies as required provide greater support (financial, health [including mental health], temporary accommodation, administrative and other support services) to affected communities by:
• minimising the number of times a person is required to relive their trauma by providing evidence or narrative of their disaster impact (for the purposes of accessing relief and support services). This includes consistent and effective referral pathways and follow up mechanisms
• looking at information sharing arrangements with the Australian Government to streamline grant identification and delivery
• partnering with affected communities and individuals to navigate and access support as soon as possible during or immediately following disaster events
• where possible, merging evacuation and recovery centres for the first 30 days post disaster. Where co location is not possible, DCS/Service NSW must have a representative present at both evacuation and recovery centres.
The Inquiry notes that clear transition initiatives are required dependent on the phase of recovery and lead agency associated – for example, the transition between the SEOCON (including DCS/Service NSW) in the immediate recovery phase to the NSWRA for the longer-term recovery. Functions that may require transition include, but are not limited to, administering grants and funding, and managing infrastructure and housing projects.

That the NSW Government work with local governments to identify alternative routes to vulnerable roads, and that the NSW and Australian Governments fund the construction of these important routes to improve evacuation and access options in times of disaster.

That the NSW Government provide an increased level of targeted support to flood affected communities contending with widespread mould. 

That the NSW Government advocate through the National Cabinet to widen eligibility under the Disaster Funding Recovery Arrangements to allow local councils to build back better.

That the NSW Government address the mental health needs of local communities following the February-March 2022 floods by: • embedding within state emergency and recovery plans a strategy that provides surge capacity for mental health and social workers by: • prioritising funding for community groups that are currently providing social and mental health support to their local communities • ensuring all flood-impacted communities receive the mental health support they need to fully recover. 

That the NSW Government allocate funding to the improvement of the Pitt Town Evacuation Route and other key possible evacuation routes in Sydney's northwest.

That the NSW Government consider entering into a service agreement with an organisation that has the resources and capacity to manage donations and activate quickly during natural disasters.

That the NSW Government ensure that all emergency and recovery plans, including state plans, local emergency management plans and functional area plans, are reviewed and updated regularly and provide clarity on the role of non-government partners.

That Service NSW establish teams of assessors that can be on the ground to assess and approve grant applications. 

That the NSW Government ensure that flood affected individuals can continue to access financial assistance for as long as there is demonstrated need. 

That the NSW Government overhaul the way in which it conducts its grants process as it frustrated applicants and further traumatised them by repeatedly re-interviewing them and making them prove that they were flooded. 

That the NSW Government develop a more proactive, rapid response to manage animal welfare following natural disasters which includes improved collaboration and communication with local veterinarians and animal welfare organisations.

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.

Recovery governance: The Inspector-General for Emergency Management recommends that the entity referred to in Recommendation 13, or otherwise responsible government department, work with councils, relevant recovery organisations and communities to develop clear roles and responsibilities for: 
(a) the management and coordination of recovery across the continuum of all aspects of recovery (strategy, planning, operational and ongoing) 
(b) recovery service delivery to ensure that local service delivery organisations and community networks can be quickly activated to support individuals, families, businesses and communities.

Donated good: The Inspector-General for Emergency Management recommends that Emergency Management Victoria and the entity referred to in Recommendation 13, or otherwise responsible government department:
(a) coordinate the development of agreed systems, processes and partnerships that can be activated as soon as potential emergencies are anticipated to ensure greater coordination and management of donated goods
(b) incorporate public communication strategies to mitigate the donation of goods as much as possible and socialise appropriate donating channels as defined in the arrangements.

Relief and recovery funding: The Inspector-General for Emergency Management recommends that the entity referred to in Recommendation 13, or otherwise responsible government department, leads the development of a comprehensive, person-centred, trauma-informed recovery financial assistance system that establishes:
(a) clear and transparent overview of grant and financial assistance eligibility requirements
(b) flexibility in the timing of application processes
(c) a streamlined application process for individuals, families, businesses and community recovery groups
(d) proactive outreach from relevant government agencies to affected individuals, families, businesses and community recovery groups to facilitate and encourage receipt of financial assistance where eligible.

Relief and recovery funding: The Inspector-General for Emergency Management recommends that the entity referred to in Recommendation 13, or otherwise responsible government department, works with the emergency management sector to develop a recovery funding model that enables: 
(a) timely estimation of recovery costs based on the impact of the emergency
(b) consistency in government-based recovery support for organisations, councils, communities, businesses and individuals
(c) short, medium and long-term recovery planning and resourcing
(d) immediate local recovery progress by reducing administrative funding impediments for local organisations while retaining appropriate accountability mechanisms for expenditure.

Relief and recovery capability: The Inspector-General for Emergency Management recommends that the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions works with the entity referred to in Recommendation 13, or otherwise responsible government department and/or Municipal Association of Victoria, councils and local relief and recovery organisations to provide centralised capability development opportunities to increase local capability and capacity to plan and deliver on their relief and recovery responsibilities:
(a) for emergencies of variable scale, complexity and duration
(b) in a manner that caters to the needs of diverse communities.

Foundations of emergency management: The Inspector-General for Emergency Management recommends that Emergency Management Victoria and the entity referred to in Recommendation 13, or otherwise responsible government department – in consultation with the emergency management sector – establish policies and platforms to improve operational and personal information sharing between relief and recovery organisations. These policies and platforms should enable: 
(a) timely and comprehensive sharing of data related to impacts and consequences of emergencies
(b) increased ability to provide streamlined and proactive relief and recovery support services and financial assistance to affected individuals, families, businesses and community groups.

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 continue to develop a greater capacity to collect and share standardised and comprehensive natural disaster impact data. 

Australian, state and territory and local governments should evaluate the effectiveness of existing financial assistance measures to inform the development of a suite of pre-effective pre-determined recovery supports. 

Australian, state and territory and local governments should develop greater consistency in the financial support provided to individuals, small businesses and primary producers under the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements. 

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, through the mechanism of the proposed standing national recovery and resilience agency, should convene regular and ongoing national forums for charities, non-government organisations and volunteer groups, with a role in natural disaster recovery, with a view to continuous improvement of coordination of recovery support. 

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. 

Australian, state and territory governments should create a single national scheme for the regulation of charitable fundraising. 

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. 

State and territory governments should develop and implement efficient and effective arrangements to:
(1) educate the public about the challenges associated with donated goods, for example, the storage and distribution of donated goods, and
(2) manage and coordinate donated goods to ensure offers of support are matched with need. 

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. 

Australian, state and territory governments should incorporate the principle of ‘build back better’ more broadly into the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements. 

Australian, state and territory governments should create simpler Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements application processes. 

Governments should create and publish standing policy guidance on whether they will or will not assist to clean-up debris, including contaminated debris, resulting from natural hazards. 

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

Australian, state and territory governments should expedite the development of pre-agreed recovery programs, including those that address social needs, such as legal assistance domestic violence, and also environmental recovery. 

Australian, state and territory governments should broaden Category D of the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements to encompass funding for recovery measures that are focused on resilience, including in circumstances which are not ‘exceptional’. 

Australian, state and territory governments should refine arrangements to support localised planning and the delivery of appropriate mental health services following a natural disaster. 

Government consider adopting a similar model to NSW for the management of emergency costs and reimbursements within ACT Government agencies.

Emergency Plan and Recovery sub-plans should be amended to better define recovery mechanisms and responsibilities, including hand over points to recovery authorities and community engagement for the delivery of long term recovery mechanisms.

Government consider an alternative funding arrangement for extraordinary costs borne by Government agencies in combating emergencies such as bushfires.

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 Government work with other Australian governments to provide long-term funding certainty to AFAC, including the National Resource Sharing Centre (NRSC) and the National Aerial Firefighting Centre (NAFC).

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.

That, in order to ensure people only need to tell their story once to access government agency support following an emergency, Resilience NSW and Service NSW jointly design an inclusive, person-centred approach to information collection at evacuation centres. This should be supported by an opt-in scheme enabling personal information to be shared between NSW government agencies, local councils and non-governmental organisations administering support services for disaster-affected people.

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.

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

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

Developing detailed recovery procedures.

The basic capacity needs of each functional recovery group and how this can be scaled up should be identified. Plans for functional recovery groups should reflect this in clear statements for every level of the system, for all relevant entities about their required function, role and responsibilities during recovery.

Recovery plans at all levels should include transition arrangements. They should be implemented during recovery. The arrangements should:
a. allow for the fluid and overlapping nature of phases of disaster management.
b. show the process to identify conditions for the transition from response and relief activities to recovery, and from recovery to business as usual. Operational plans should set out the conditions.
c. contain protocols for a formal and documented handover of responsibilities and issues.
d. set out how transitions will be clearly communicated to all stakeholders.

There remains a need to maximise the effect of all offers of assistance to recovering communities. This recommendation presents an opportunity to resolve any outstanding aspects of Recommendation 4 and Actions in Response from the Cyclone Debbie Review Action Plan:
The Queensland Offers of Assistance Policy, particularly for corporate donations, should be updated and exercised prior to the next season.

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

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

We recommend that, in the absence of stand-alone catchment management authorities, the Department of Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning as a matter of priority, establish what funding is reasonably required and complete all elements of the Brisbane River Catchment Flood Studies.

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.

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 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.

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

Conduct a review into South Australia’s arrangements for relief and recovery grant, Local Government Disaster Recovery Assistance Arrangements and Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangement claims, the review should include governance coordination and criteria for provision and processing of relief/recovery grants

That SA Health, develop an emergency plan to manage an extended power outage or black system event which, in addition to the requirements outlined in recommendation 16:
a) includes a process for identification and registration of vulnerable persons in the community to ensure an effective support is provided b) enables access to pharmaceutical medicines for at risk persons c) provides for the support of individuals with equipment in their homes to support their own health e.g. oxygen equipment

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.

The Committee recommends the State Fire Commission be fully reimbursed for the costs of the State Emergency Service transfer in years 2014 to 2017.

Deliver updated inundation mapping.

Investigate the costs and benefits of delivering a public education and awareness program.

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

Investigate the costs and benefits in enhancing the current Tsunami warning arrangements with signage and audible warning systems at key exposed locations (e.g. Port Arthur and Kingston Beach).

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

Ensure sufficient investment in controls across the PPRR spectrum with a focus on Prevention and Mitigation.

Make coastal mapping available to public.

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

Investigate the costs and benefits in enhancing the current Tsunami detection buoy network.

Transition from Response to Recovery That the Office of Emergency Management, in consultation with the NSW Police Force Emergency Management Unit develops a template for handover of the Response to Recovery Phase of an emergency.

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

Communicating in Recovery: The Office of Emergency Management: · considers the development of a communications and engagement strategy for major disaster events · progresses the development of the ‘Communicating In Recovery’ Guideline in the Local Recovery Toolkit.

Transition from Response to Recovery: That Region Emergency Management Committees meet post event to: · consider available impact data · determine the need to establish a Recovery Committee · document the rationale for the decision · advise the Office of Emergency Management of the decision.

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

That the Department of Justice & Regulation broadens Budget Paper 3 response time measures to more comprehensively cover emergency responses to fires, rescues and other emergencies.

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.

MP Recovery Reference Group
The creation of the MP Recovery Reference Group enabled a separation of operational
recovery activities, managed by the Recovery Coordinator through the Regional Recovery
Committee, from the discussion of issues at the strategic level by elected representatives. It
also provided a forum for local MPs to raise issues directly with the Government, either via
the Chair, or directly with Ministers. Accordingly, this is a model of engagement that should
be considered for employment in future recovery operations.

Planning for Recovery Centres Recovery Centres are a proven means of providing support to affected communities. More comprehensive recovery planning is needed at local levels, including the identification of potential Recovery Centre sites in Local EM Plans to help facilitate streamlined establishment of the Centres in future events. Consideration should be given to developing a clear set of standard messaging regarding
Recovery Centres to ensure community members are aware of the Centres, the areas they
are servicing, and the support people can expect to receive at the Centres. Consideration
should also be given to the preparation of a generic Recovery Centre infrastructure
requirements statement to complement the Recovery Centre Guidelines, which would serve
as a baseline requirements document to which site specific needs could be added.

Corrections Volunteer Labour Teams
The employment of volunteer Corrections inmates in community support cleanup work was
well received by the community and should not be overlooked in future recovery operations.

VIP Visits
The value of visits by senior Government members and Vice Regal representatives to disaster
affected communities cannot be overstated. On all occasions, the visits lifted community
morale, reminding people that their welfare was important and that they were not forgotten.
Accordingly, they should be encouraged in future recovery operations, but organised in
consultation with the affected communities to ensure that they are not “over-visited”.

Transition from Response to Recovery
The management of the transition from the Response Phase of an emergency event to the
Recovery Phase is important to ensure the continuity of effective management of the event.
The NSW Recovery Plan should be amended to provide more specific requirements for
handover and (ongoing if necessary) intelligence sharing between lead combat agencies and
Recovery at the regional / local level. To support this improvement, MPES should identify and
train additional internal and/or surge staff to take up roles as Recovery Information/Liaison
Officers and pro-actively embed these officers into Incident Control Centres at a Regional and
State level. This would augment recovery operations by allowing not only information
collection and analysis but participation in decision making.
The NSW Recovery Plan should be amended to provide more specific direction on the role,
responsibilities and location of Recovery Information/Liaison Officers

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.

Streamlining NDRRA Grants Processes
Noting the need for financial oversight in assessing NDRRA determinations, these grants are
important to the community and opportunities to streamline the approvals process should
be explored with the Commonwealth in order to minimise delays in the future.

Consultation should be undertaken with agencies and organisations that are engaged in emergency welfare provision to identify more effective ways to provide a consistent message to the community that non-cash donations are not required.

Development of a template contract for the clean-up of affected properties to speed-up the process;

Consultation with the Board of the Lord Mayor’s Distress Relief Fund and other disaster appeal organisers should be undertaken to determine the potential for software development to consolidate the application and approval process, including provision of templates and application forms;

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 NSW Government commit to and fund a long term program of prescribed burning based on the recommendation of the 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission of an annual rolling target of a minimum of five per cent of public land per year, and that the NSW Government commit to extending the funding for the National Parks and Wildlife Service five year hazard reduction program past 2016.

That the Ministry for Police and Emergency Services urgently review its policies for the provision of disaster welfare services to ensure that in the event of a bush fire emergency and the declaration of a fire under section 44 of the Rural Fires Act 1997, adequate funding and services, especially recovery centres and mental health services, are provided for an adequate length of time, with gradual transition to normal service delivery when those services are no longer required.

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.

That a single victim registration form be designed, which captures all relevant details required for use by any support agency both in the Response Phase at Evacuation centres and during the Recovery Phase. That such documents when completed form part of a wider database which can be accessed by all relevant agencies

That prior to the commencement of any major clean-up, firm policy be established and made known to the extent to which material removal will be the responsibility of the home owner, the Council or the State led recovery effort.

The Australian Government should:
• publish estimates (and their confidence ranges) of future costs of natural disasters to its budget in the Statement of Risks. These estimates should be informed by catastrophe loss modelling
• provision for a base level of natural disaster expenditure in the budget forward estimates, in recognition of the fact that there will be some level of Australian Government expenditure on natural disasters each year.

The Australian Government should gradually increase the amount of annual mitigation funding it provides to state and territory governments to $200 million. Initially, this funding should be distributed to state and territory governments in accordance with the allocation under the National Partnership Agreement on Natural Disaster Resilience.

Funding to state and territory governments for community recovery should be provided as untied grants, with a transition period pending the development of a framework to assess community recovery costs. During the transition period, the Australian Government should continue to provide funding for community recovery through a reimbursement model.
Eligible community recovery expenditure during this transition period should be rationalised to counter disaster operations, personal hardship relief and community relief packages. Eligible expenditure should be limited to activities that arise as a direct consequence of a natural disaster and that:
• have widespread community benefits and would be underprovided without government support
• provide targeted longer-term assistance to people who have limited financial resources and have suffered severe losses
• provide personal and financial counselling aimed at alleviating personal hardship and distress arising as a direct result of a natural disaster
• are additional to the normal responsibilities of state, territory and local governments.

Where asset management plans at the local, state or territory level pre-identify and cost betterment of assets (improving asset resilience to natural disasters), the Australian Government should share 50 per cent of the betterment component of reconstruction costs following damage from a (eligible) natural disaster.

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.

The Australian Government should fund natural disaster recovery by:
• cost sharing with state and territory governments for community recovery and reconstruction of essential public assets at a rate of 50 per cent above an annual expenditure threshold
• providing funding based on assessed damages and benchmark prices
• providing an option for state and territory governments to purchase ‘top-up’ fiscal support at an actuarially fair price.
Australian Government involvement should be triggered where an annual (financial year) cumulative expenditure threshold of 0.45 per cent of total state government revenue is met, on an accrued basis. A small disaster criterion of $2 million (indexed over time) should be applied to events at the state or territory level.
The Australian Government should also establish a transparent mechanism for exceptional circumstances fiscal support in the event of extraordinary and catastrophic natural disasters that clearly overwhelm a state or territory’s medium-term fiscal capacity.

The Australian Government should develop a formula for allocating mitigation funding to state and territory governments on the basis of where such funding is likely to achieve the greatest net benefits, taking into account the future risks of natural disasters. This should be completed within five years and in consultation with state and territory governments.

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.

Western Australia Health should collate and centrally monitor financial data including the cost to government of IHPT

Western Australia Health should develop and agree with St John Ambulance a new funding model for emergency ambulance services focusing on standards, performance and allocation of risk

Regional Development Victoria should implement the recommendations from the Department of Planning and Community Development's review of the Community Recovery Fund to improve the delivery of relief and recovery programs in the future.

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

That the resources available to the Parks and Wildlife Service, to manage bushfire risk following the recent increase in land under its tenure, is reviewed.

That suitable facilities are established from which to effectively control and coordinate immediate recovery operations.

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

That the State Emergency Management Committee ensures that a program of debriefing on recovery issues is completed by all relevant agencies and organisations, and detailed plans and operating procedures are established ready for implementation.

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

That the state level structural arrangements for managing recovery operations are reviewed.

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 duplication of infrastructure be costed and taken into account when considering whether to proceed with the Whole of Government network.

That the Government cease drawing from South Australia Police or other Community safety and emergency service budgets to fund the Directorate and instead merge its work and functions with the pre-existing South Australia Fire and Emergency Services Commission for zero total State and other Community safety and emergency service budget impact.

That the Government increase the budgets of all emergency services and community safety organisations, including: i. seeking Federal funding where appropriate (and assisting at no cost volunteer organisations with the grants application process); and ii. considering, with full public and cost benefit analysis, reviewing the effectiveness and efficiency of the Emergency Services Levy; and iii. consider including St John Ambulance Australia SA Ltd in the bodies to benefit from the Emergency services Levy if the funding of other Community Safety and Emergency services providers is improved in line with this recommendation.

That the Government cease drawing from South Australia Police or other Community safety and emergency service budgets to fund the Directorate and instead merge its work and functions with the pre-existing South Australia Fire and Emergency Services Commission for zero total State and other Community safety and emergency service budget impact.

That the Government increase the budgets of all emergency services and community safety organisations, including:
i. seeking Federal funding where appropriate (and assisting at no cost volunteer organisations with the grants application process); and
ii. considering, with full public and cost benefit analysis, reviewing the effectiveness and efficiency of the Emergency Services Levy; and
iii. consider including St John Ambulance Australia SA Ltd in the bodies to benefit from the Emergency services Levy if the funding of other Community Safety and Emergency services providers is improved in line with this recommendation.

That the Government resume funding for the helicopter surveillance service rather than by fixed-wing aircraft along Adelaide, South Coast and other high-risk coastlines during summer recreational periods for monitoring shark and other rescue situations, to bring the State back into line with interstate best practice.

That the Government adequately fund Community Safety and Emergency Services budgets so that fire-bombing aircraft are available on call for rapid deployment throughout Autumn and Spring at short notice to bomb fires at the earliest and safest possible opportunity.

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 the current Urban Fire Levy be changed to the Queensland Fire Levy.

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

That the State Government contribution towards the purchase of operational vehicles is to be retained at 80 percent but that the District Inspector can recommend full Government subsidy of vehicles for Brigades experiencing financial hardship.

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 State Government contribution towards the construction of Brigade sheds be changed from $10,000 to a maximum of 25 percent, subject to the approval of the Deputy Chief Officer, Rural Fire Service Queensland.

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.

When a local Rural Fire Brigade requests an equipment and maintenance levy from a local government authority, that authority will either supply the brigade’s equipment and maintenance costs or raise the requested levy. The amount to be collected is to be agreed between the local Brigade and the local government authority.

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 the proposed Chief Executive Officer Portfolio Business be responsible for developing a cost attribution model for portfolio agencies, including the Queensland Police Service, as a priority.

That the Office of Portfolio Business follows the same budget processes as other agencies.

That a budget based on the desired functional accountabilities should be appropriated to the Portfolio Business as part of the Government budget process.

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

That the funding model for the Portfolio Business is not based on fee- for-service arrangements or notional contributions from the operational services.

That should the Westgate project proceed, that consideration must be given to opportunities to partner the investment with the private and public sectors. The business case should also consider alternative facilities such as Australian Defence Force sites.

That a new business case for Westgate project should be prepared by an independent party.

Develop a Hawkesbury-Nepean Flood Recovery Plan, which identifies strategies and arrangement for recovery from severe floods in the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley.

Review the adequacy of current arrangements for infrastructure reconstruction following a major flood event in the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley.

That the NSW Rural Fire Service and the NSW Treasury explore ways to ensure that unspent hazard reduction funds be carried over to the next financial year in a timely manner and to ensure that hazard reduction funding has a seamless transition from one financial year to the next.

That the NSW Rural Fire Service apply for funding from the NSW Treasury for the development of a multi-agency business case for a BRIMS replacement that includes internal management, risk communication, community engagement capability and publishing activities on websites.

The committee recommends that the government develop a process by which the ATSB can request access to supplementary funding via the minister.

In order to further build on the value for money review work being undertaken by the National Disaster Recovery Taskforce (on behalf of the Australian Government Reconstruction Inspectorate), the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO)  recommends that the Taskforce:
(a) apply greater scrutiny to project cost data, particularly in circumstances where the data provided for review includes lump sums; and
(b) develop the capacity to independently benchmark actual cost data for Queensland reconstruction projects.

The committee recommends that the Australian Government direct an appropriate portion of the proceeds derived from the auction of spectrum to fund the allocation of 20 MHz of spectrum in the 700 MHz band for the purposes of a national public safety mobile broadband network.

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

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

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. 

Procedures to resolve issues surrounding financial assistance need to be reviewed to ensure they are as smooth, fast and transparent as possible possible. Review and streamline current financial relief procedures.

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.

When communities are grieving there is a need to provide special forms of support to affected residents.

An early decision on relief funding enables timely responses. D CP should review their communication of relief arrangements to ensure that they are clear.

Better maps are required for urban/rural interface fires

Shire experiences in managing these traumatic events should be captured and passed into emergency management procedures.

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.

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 Ministers for Emergency Services, Environment and Police provide additional funds in the 2013-14 Budget so that the State’s emergency response agencies can implement a Psychological First Aid approach to preparing staff to deal with critical incidents and disasters, as is used in other Australian jurisdictions.

The state government should provide core, ongoing funding to the responsible authority for the FloodSafe community education program. Funding should be provided for education about prevention, response and recovery phases and include information on rates notices about the height of particular floods.

The state government review the current funding approach used for the operation, maintenance and upgrade of river gauges, with a view to improving the river gauge network.

The funding model for works on levees and their ongoing maintenance be revised, to be primarily based on the beneficiary pays principle. The state government should give consideration to wholly funding, or contributing to, the initial upgrade of high priority levees to an agreed standard. The construction of any new public levees will be the subject of a cost‐benefit analysis to be undertaken by DSE and the public authority, and be supported by a floodplain management study. Levees deemed low priority will be wholly the responsibility of the beneficiaries.

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

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

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.

Emergency Management Queensland should develop and implement a new formula for the distribution of its recurrent SES subsidy, which takes into account relevant factors including the size of a local SES contingent and the population, area and natural hazard risk profile of the local government area concerned.

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

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.

Identify where Australian Government funding is available and apply for funding for integrating weed management, controlled burning, bushfire management and carbon farming initiatives.

That a cost benefit analysis of an integrated ICT desktop and portable capability including iPads and iPhones for all operational personnel be conducted.

A specialist investigation be conducted, using expertise from NT Treasury, to identify more appropriate ways to optimise the use of available funding for bushfire management.

Increased automation and outsourcing of observations

Apply a consistent cost-recovery model to all services delivered to state/territory fire agencies.

Review and rebalance relative investment in long term climate modelling and medium-term seasonal outlook.

Review level of investment in research activities to free up budget and reduce pressure on computing capacity

Firm up approval processes and funding for any departures from provision of the basic product set

Explore opportunities to re-phase investments in large scale projects and programs such as the Strategic Radar Enhancement Program, the NexGen Forecast and Warning System Products and the Improving Water Information Program.

Explore options to obtain revenue from advertising on the Bureau’s website

The Committee recommends that the Australian Government allocate additional and continuing funding in the 2012–2013 budget to the Insurance Law Service to establish a consumer advisory position at the Financial Services Ombudsman. The position should be co-funded by the Insurance Law Service and the insurance industry.

The Committee recommends that the Australian Government and relevant State and territory governments jointly allocate additional and continuing funding in the 2012–13 budget to the Insurance Law Service for the mobilisation of a temporary physical presence in areas of need following natural disasters. The service should be available to all persons in an affected disaster area and not subject to means-testing.

Early resolution and clear communication of the financial and other support measures that will be available to affected residents is an important contributor to community resilience.

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 Department for Child Protection, the Western Australian Police and the Fire and Emergency Services Authority develop improved arrangements for communicating the loss of home and possessions to persons gathered at evacuation centres with a view to increasing privacy.

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 Government move the responsibility for the management and distribution of the Emergency Services Levy to the Department of Finance.

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.

The State Government move the responsibility for the management and distribution of the Emergency Services Levy to the Department of Finance.

the state review the way early outreach occurs and implement changes that will ensure that there is a consistency of approach regardless of which agency undertakes the service.

the state: • ensure that the concerns raised by Victorians regarding the Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements are provided to the national review, including the issues of: – betterment (what it means and how it is applied); and – the 51 per cent income rule for eligibility of businesses for grants. • establish a single point of information (such as the single web portal referred to in recommendation 33) on all emergency related financial assistance available to individuals, businesses and local government. The means of accessing this information should be widely circulated in the community.

the state amend the current protocol governing National Registration and Inquiry System information collection and sharing to: • clarify the role of councils and Centrelink during and after emergencies • ensure the amended protocol is written in plain English and easily understood; and • coordinate, in conjunction with the state and federal privacy commissioners, the development of a new National Registration and Inquiry System information sharing protocol in line with the proposed National Registration and Inquiry System 6 and state or federal privacy legislation.

the state finalise the 2008 review of Victoria’s municipal assistance. This should include addressing: • the provision of upfront funding for local councils for repair of community assets • packages for early relief and recovery to be included in both the Natural Disaster Funding Arrangements and the Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements, including outreach packages; and • the process of reimbursement of local councils after floods.

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 state, in respect of the Rapid Impact Assessment process: • resolve which agency/ies has policy and operational responsibility for this process • define the purpose of Rapid Impact Assessment; and • review the process, in light of the 2010–11 floods, to examine options to improve the efficiency of the collection of information.

the state implement arrangements to improve the support provided to local government on disaster financing before, during and after emergency events.

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 state make available to the public a clear guide of who is responsible for: • clean-up and recovery of various types of infrastructure that straddle the public/private boundary; and • the policies agencies will follow in determining whether to repair infrastructure under their control.

the Department of Human Services develop proactive strategies to provide information and assistance for people applying for emergency grants.

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 state review the legislation and policies that set out clean-up and recovery responsibilities for infrastructure such as crossovers, culverts, drains, bridges and waterways, including consideration of: • whether the entities who are given obligations or powers to undertake clean-up works have the capacity to do so; and • the appropriateness of having different legal regimes for what is essentially the same piece of infrastructure. If the review reveals that the current responsibility matrix is inadequate, the state develop an action plan to address the identified shortcomings.

the state clarify the transition to recovery arrangements including the processes for approving and funding of essential works after transition to recovery has been formalised.

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 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

Funding be sought to enable the State Fire Management Council to take a greater coordination role for bushfire risk management and mitigation.

The Committee recommends the provision of substantial funds to improve road infrastructure in the Mitcham Hills to be spent over the 2010/11, 2011/12, 2012/13 and 2013/14 budgets.

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

that QFRS cover the cost of annual vehicle inspection certificates for rural fire brigade registered vehicles.

that the for Minister for Police, Corrective Services and Emergency Services ensure that the formula for distribution of funding as recommended above allows rural fire brigades to control any donation or sponsorship funding raised by individual brigades.

that the for Minister for Police, Corrective Services and Emergency Services undertake a thorough review, including consultation with rural fire brigades, regarding the proposed formula for distribution of funding.

that the for Minister for Police, Corrective Services and Emergency Services implement system of fire levies for landholders situated in urban, iZone and village brigade areas.

The committee recommends that relevant Commonwealth agencies continue to monitor the wellbeing of their personnel and that counselling and support services should be provided for as long as necessary.

The committee recommends that the Department of Regional Australia and DIAC liaise with the Christmas Island community to explore options for a permanent memorial to be erected on the island, at a site of the residents' choosing, for the victims of the tragedy.

The committee recommends that Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) and its relevant contractors continue to monitor the wellbeing of the survivors and that counselling and support services should be provided for as long as is necessary.

The committee recommends that the Commonwealth Grants Commission ensures that as part of the current redesign of its data request, state and territory governments are required to include their past insurance and reinsurance receipts for natural disaster insurance premiums. These data must be taken into account by the Commission in determining the states' GST share. 

FESA revises its standard operating procedures to provide guidance on the format and timing of post-incident community meetings.

The State replace the Fire Services Levy with a property-based levy and introduce concessions for low-income earners.

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 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 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 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 funding arrangements that support the National Plan should be reviewed to ensure that the costs associated with both preparedness and response capability are equitably shared between the shipping and offshore petroleum industries.

Further Commonwealth funding for bushfire suppression be made conditional on state fire agencies agreeing to the Commonwealth evaluating and auditing their fuel reduction programs.

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 SDMG lead an initiative to deal at all levels with offers of assistance and donations from the general public in the event of disasters.

Current procedures to activate disaster recovery funding arrangements be retained and processes be reinforced.

ESWG recommends investigation of options to fund NGERAC’s on-going activities including through AEMO’s funding model.

That port/channel managers should be able, within the general context of the pricing/cost recovery arrangements established under the Port Services Act 1995 and pricing determinations made by the Essential Services Commission, to recover the reasonable costs of meeting their statutory obligations (as per recommendation 26) through charges for prescribed service applied to port users. 

That emergency services are responsible for funding the development of the emergency services marine emergency response capacity/capability to meet their statutory obligations. 

That port/channel managers are responsible for funding the preparation of marine emergency risk assessments and marine emergency response arrangements and ensuring the availability of identified marine resources in support of response to a marine emergency, to meet their statutory obligations. 

That the Victorian Government provide recurring funding for a significant increase in regionally-based, permanent, or long-tenured, fire management personnel dedicated to the prescribed burning program. The increase in personnel should be consistent with the level required to achieve an annual prescribed burning target of 385,000 hectares.
The pool of available personnel should be suitably diverse and possess a wide variety of disciplines and skill sets, including practical skills. The Department of Sustainability and Environment and its partner agencies should also increase the proportion of personnel with specialist tertiary qualifications, including fire behaviour specialists, forest scientists, landscape ecologists and conservation biologists.
The Department of Environment and Sustainability and its partner agencies should also prioritise the development of programs to reduce the level of staff turnover and the problem of the ageing workforce, through more effective succession planning.

That the Victorian Government establish a five year rolling fund which allows unused prescribed burning monies to be rolled over into future financial years for the purpose of subsequent prescribed burning activities.

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.

That, until the review of those fees has been completed, the fee charged by the government controlled and operated quarantine stations for thoroughbred stallions temporarily imported into Australia be not be less than $165.00 plus GST a day and the fee for all other horses be not less than $65.00 plus GST a day. No discount is to be allowed for the number of horses in a consignment.

That the fees charged in relation to the importation and quarantining of horses be reviewed and fixed without delay having regard to the following factors:
(a) the cost of the drafting, preparation, printing, distribution, publishing, collection, checking, recording and filing of all documents, questionnaires, certificates and forms concerning the importation and quarantining of horses
(b) the cost of employing all people paid by the Commonwealth and engaged in work concerning the importation and quarantining of horses, including the Inspector General and the officer responsible for the importation of horses and their staff
(c) a risk factor that has regard to risks to the Commonwealth, its employees, contractors and all other people, things and animals arising out of, or such as could arise out of, any act or omission for which the Commonwealth might be held liable concerning the importation and quarantining of horses and to the costs that might be incurred by an event or events of the kind that occurred in August 2007
(d) the costs of all drugs, implements, tools, laboratories, establishments, lands, places, buildings and things used or held, licensed or leased or owned by the Commonwealth for or in respect of the importation or quarantining of horses. Depreciation, amortisation, holding and all other costs should be taken into account in calculating these costs
(e) costs and fees charged by other individuals (if any) carrying out the same or similar work to that done by AQIS
(f) any costs of preparing, auditing, reviewing, checking or training in relation to the work instructions and standard operating procedures
(g) an additional and reasonable cost for contingencies of not less than 10 per cent of the sum of all other costs.

That the budgets for airport reception of horses and government controlled and operated quarantine stations be determined so as to be sufficient to fund the operations of the Quarantine Stations in accordance with these recommendations and any further procedures and requirements that are laid down from time to time.

The ANAO recommends that, to ensure that grant conditions are satisfied, EMA enhance procedures to monitor the progress of projects and follow up those behind schedule or not fulfilling funding agreement requirements.

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.

The Committee recommends that the Australian Government provide funding support for the ongoing activities of the Australian Coastal Alliance in providing a national information and communication interface between research organisations and local government authorities and other coastal stakeholders.

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 give consideration to establishing a separate funding program for infrastructure enhancement in coastal areas vulnerable to climate change. Such funding should be provided according to a formula requiring contributions, either financial or in-kind, from state governments and relevant local government authorities.

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

To further enhance Australia’s disaster mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery arrangements in the event of possible major coastal disasters, the Committee recommends that the Australian Government establish a grants program, the Coastal Natural Disaster Mitigation Program, to fund natural disaster mitigation projects in the Australian coastal zone.
The Committee also recommends that the Australian Emergency Management Committee (AEMC) consider the following issues:
- improved data on coastal disaster risk assessment and vulnerable coastal sites
- improved access and evacuation routes for coastal communities
- improved coastal community awareness of and resilience to natural disasters
- improved coordination of coastal disaster mitigation arrangements with other initiatives currently underway, such as reviews of the Australian Building Code and land use planning policies to take into account climate change impacts
- improved early warning systems for coastal areas in the event of an extreme sea level event (storm surge, erosion, flooding)
The Committee further recommends that the AEMC provide a report on these matters to the Ministerial Council for Police and Emergency Management.

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 recommends that the Australian Government:
- continue the Local Adaptation Pathways Program as a competitive funding program
- review the program’s guidelines to secure better outcomes by:
* use of consistent methodology for vulnerability assessments
* evaluation of the outcomes of the projects that are undertaken with the grants
* encouraging regional applications from local councils whenever possible

That, in line with recommendations contained in the 2004 Report to the Council of Australian Governments, greater flexibility should be introduced to WANDRA to enable damaged infrastructure to be upgraded to a more resilient standard where that is both feasible and cost-effective.

That the Department of Treasury and Finance, in consultation with FESA, consider alternative funding arrangements to alleviate the need for FESA to ‘underwrite’ NDRA costs during the year.

That the Professional Assistance Grant is formally extended by WANDRA to include non rural businesses and that it be made available to assist with the clean up of disaster related damage to farms and businesses. (The Committee recognises that the amendments to WANDRA as of March 2007 address this recommendation).

That, in tandem with their consideration of local government cost sharing arrangements under WANDRA (refer Recommendation 1), the Fire and Emergency Services Authority and Main Roads Western Australia also establish ‘exceptional circumstances’ criteria to provide for additional assistance to local government where it may be warranted in order to avoid undue financial pressure caused by delays to secure reimbursement.

That the newly proposed index linked limits for Personal Hardship and Distress Relief Payments as outlined in the paper “National Disaster Relief Arrangements - An Analysis and Recommendations for Personal Hardship Distress Measures” be accepted by government.

That Fire and Emergency Services Authority of Western Australia and Main Roads Western Australia, in consultation with the Western Australian Local Government Association, investigate a more equitable means of calculating the local government contribution to road and infrastructure restoration costs. In particular consideration should be given to regulations applying in the eastern states i.e. Queensland.

That consideration be given to the establishment of a ‘Heritage Reserve Fund’ that might underwrite urgent initial repairs to private heritage listed properties.

That the ‘opportunity cost’ for Local Authorities in meeting the 25% contribution to the restoration of eligible public assets damaged by a natural disaster event be considered when FESA and Main Roads Western Australia, in consultation with Western Australian Local Government Authority, investigate a more equitable means of calculating the local government contribution to road and infrastructure restoration costs as recommended in Recommendation 1.

DHHS fund the equivalent of 2 FTE Consultant positions for retrieval duties (1.5 FTE existing, 0.5 FTE new)

RHH Neonatal Emergency Transport Service receive DHHS funding for a Senior Registrar to assume the responsibilities of retrieval staffing, quality assurance, data collection and reporting demands.
(1 FTE new)

Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to fund 3 Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) Senior Registrar positions at the Royal Hobart Hospital (RHH) for the Tasmanian Medical Retrieval Service (TMRS). One registrar in the Anaesthesia Department, one in the Intensive Care Unit and one in Emergency Department is proposed.
(1.0 Existing, 2.0 FTE new)

The State Medical Retrieval Cost Centre (TMRS and NETS) be formed and be supported by the appropriate administrative and resource accountant expertise. This cost centre should be placed with those responsible for its management.

A uniform retrieval charge to the region of referral should be considered. This should be independent of the mode of transport used.

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

That the Department of Primary Industries continue to pursue improvements to consultation with industry and accountability mechanisms to further build trust between industry and government, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of the OJD Program.
The Committee notes that the new governance arrangements for the OJD Program include the appointment of a Fund Administrator. The same requirement will apply to any future disease control program. The Committee is concerned that producers may have been unable to readily access information regarding the expenditure of levies for the OJD Program and other animal health programs, particularly when multiple sources of funding are involved.

The Committee encourages the Department and the Rural Land Protection Boards to discuss the need for funding of poultry surveillance activities in the context of reviewing the Memorandum of Understanding between the two parties.
While some sectors of the industry are concerned with Government’s expectation that primary producers will contribute funds to the management of animal diseases, the Committee considers this is in accordance with the economic principle that the beneficiaries of services should pay for them. The processes for establishing disease control funds require the consultation and commitment of affected producers and have robust accountability processes.

That the Department of Primary Industries restore the level of discretionary testing funds provided to District Veterinarians to previous levels and maintain these in the future in real terms.

That the Department of Primary Industries consider applying discretion to the use of user charging policies for testing in times when farm incomes are affected by external circumstances such as widespread drought.

That the Department of Primary Industries should provide specific information on levies to contributing producers through a separate document, rather than rely on standard audit documents and annual reporting requirements.

That the ACT Government allocate sufficient funds to enable full-time and volunteer firefighters to participate in relevant courses and programs

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

The Committee recommends that government consider options for assistance (including cost sharing) for farmers to fence native vegetation areas on private property affected by the Wangary fire.

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.

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 ANAO recommends that the Attorney-General’s Department better monitor and account for the expenditure of individual exercise costs under the National Capability Development Exercise Programme, through:
a) the provision of more detailed guidance on, and subsequent monitoring of, the financial reporting required for the exercises; and
b) the provision of committed and actual cost reports for each exercise to the National Counter- Terrorism Committee to allow decisions to be made that will maximise the benefit of the exercise programme for the moneys expended.

The Working Group recommends that States/Territories consider their ability to house large numbers of domestic pets, and where necessary, develop plans and arrangements that facilitate this need. 

The Working Group recommends that the National Recovery Coordinators Group considers the issue of emergency relief centres in the context of catastrophic disaster with a view to assisting jurisdictions to plan for the need to accommodate thousands of people following a disaster. 

The Working Group recommends that potential shortfalls in the capacity to deal with large numbers of unprotected children and other special needs groups in a catastrophic event be referred to the Disaster Recovery Sub Committee of Community Services Ministers’ Advisory Council (CSMAC) for consideration and report back. 

The Working Group recommends that jurisdictions plan for the logistics of supply and delivery of meals to large numbers of homebound persons in an attempt to identify possible ways of resolving existing shortcomings. 

That DPI prepares guidelines, both internally and externally with Treasury, about funding arrangements for an outbreak.

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 Government reviews the funding for DSE for the 2004-2005 fire season to ensure that appropriate resources are available for fire prevention planning and preparedness.

That VicRoads and Municipal Councils review procedures and processes to ensure that the identification and delivery of remedial works on State and Council roads following emergency events are as efficient as possible. 

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 DHS, in conjunction with Local Government, Government departments and the nongovernment sector, modify recovery planning at all levels to include a case management approach supported by an appropriate information system to be activated at the time of an emergency.

That the financial arrangements incorporate full cost recovery for prescribed burning to be undertaken over a number of weekends utilising Project Firefighters, CFA volunteers and MFESB members.

That DPI actively promote as widely as possible within the community, the agricultural recovery service available during emergencies to ensure that all farmers are aware of the services provided.

When the research into prescribed burning and optimum fire protection described in Chapter 11, and the financial analysis of appropriate funding levels for prevention and suppression recommended in Chapter 15, are completed, DSE should develop a business case with Department of Treasury and Finance for assured funding to an agreed level over a three-year rolling cycle.

That Government review the emergency relief and financial assistance policy, and develop and communicate a predictable, consistent and equitable policy designed to assist the community to recover from emergencies, including natural disasters.

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 the financial models incorporate changes in public land use, particularly ‘Our Forests Our Future’, and the subsequent changes in fire management priorities.

That Government funding for Community Development Officers engaged in community support and rebuilding incorporates flexible resources to enable the purchase of services from a range of providers to ensure choice for those requiring support.

That all agencies engaged in recovery participate in community briefings prior to and during emergency events, to ensure recovery issues are reinforced and communities are informed of the processes established to assist individuals – including matters that are not the responsibility of Victoria, such as Centrelink payments.

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 Government supports the immediate development of financial models to analyse and determine the appropriate level of investment in fire management planning, preparedness and suppression on public land.

That DSE includes the cost of tracks, as above, in the development of financial models to analyse and determine the appropriate level of investment in fire management planning, preparedness and suppression on public land.

That recovery is recognised as commencing at the same time as response and that recovery planning and delivery is an integral part of the operations of the Municipal Emergency Co-ordination Centres.

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 assesses the environmental and monetary cost of establishment and rehabilitation of temporary tracks, per 100 km, constructed during firefighting operations, and compare this with the recurrent costs of a program of maintaining existing tracks.

That the Victorian Government recommend to the Commonwealth Government that it reviews eligibility for those without employment who may or may not be engaged in an emergency response, and are unable to access the appropriate infrastructure to register for financial assistance.

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.

That the State Emergency Recovery Committee explore opportunities to establish a 'one-stop shop’ approach wherever practicable following emergencies, including a single telephone number to connect a person to all agencies involved in the recovery process.

The Committee recommends that the Commonwealth should commit funding for aerial fire fighting beyond the 2003–04 season on the proviso that the Australasian Fire Authorities Council and the state and territory governments make a commitment to:
- Rapid initial attack of all wildfires during the bush fire season regardless of tenure.
- Deployment on long term contracts of a mix of aircraft, including fixed wing.
- Deployment of aircraft on a nationally coordinated risk analysis basis to be updated as each fire season unfolds.
- Provision of nationally coordinated full ground support.
- Development of training arrangements for air crews, ground support crews, incident management teams and fire fighters to a national standard.
- Development of systems of effective aerial control of fire bombing operations.

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 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 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 strongly recommends that the New South Wales, Victorian and Tasmanian Governments abolish the Fire Levy tax they impose on home and business insurance premiums (wherever applicable), making it payable through household rates instead. Any cost savings gained by the insurance industry through relief from collecting Fire Levies should be passed on to policyholders through reduced premiums. At the same time the Committee urges the Insurance Council of Australia to run ongoing education campaigns to increase public awareness on bushfire preparedness, including the need for insurance.

The Committee recommends that, for the purpose of communications for the police, ambulance and fire brigades, any rental costs associated with the use of radio sites under the care, control or management of the Commonwealth, state, territory or local government be waived, other than for the ongoing cost associated with the use of power at the site.

That the cost of a Bureau of Emergency Services Telecommunications centre be recovered through user charges.

That the cost of a Bureau of Emergency Services Telecommunications centre be recovered through user charges.

The Committee recommends that any change to the funding system reflect in a reduction of the total price charged to consumers through premiums by the insurance industry.

The Committee recommends that any change to the funding system reflect in a reduction of the total price charged to consumers through premiums by the insurance industry.

The Committee recommends that an equitable funding system be implemented which relates premiums to:
• Risk covered; and
• Standard of Fire Cover.

The Committee recommends that an equitable funding system be implemented which relates premiums to:
• Risk covered; and
• Standard of Fire Cover.

The Committee recommends that the Government act urgently to make the existing system of funding the fire services fair and equitable to all Victorians.

The Committee recommends that the Government act urgently to make the existing system of funding the fire services fair and equitable to all Victorians.

A fund be established to subsidise the purchase of equipment for bush fire brigades but that the granting of subsidies depend upon a certificate being received from the Bush Fires Board that the brigade in question is of a standard that will be available at all times for effective use and that adequate facilities are available for its storage and maintenance at a centre suitable for the brigade.

It is recommended that the Forests Commission recognize and provide for the efficient exercise of three major functions, namely those of Commerce, Reclamation and Rehabilitation.

It is recommended that an annual grant be made to the Association for distribution among the brigades for the purposes of purchase of equipment of which the brigades are in urgent need.

Australian, state and territory governments should refine arrangements to support localised planning and the delivery of appropriate mental health services following a natural disaster.