An explanation of the Rural Fires Amendment Bill 2010

Have you heard talk about, or mention in the media of, the Rural Fires Amendment Bill 2010?

Do you know what it is?

Do you know what it means?

In simple terms a bill is a proposed law under consideration. A bill does not become law until it is approved or passed by Parliament. Once a bill has been enacted into law, it is called an act or a statute.

The Rural Fires Amendment Bill 2010 has progressed through Parliament and was passed on Tuesday 7 December 2010. The changes are for:

1. The issuing of public warnings about bush fires and bush fire threats in NSW for the purpose of protecting life and property.
2. An increase in the number of members on the Bush Fire Co-Coordinating Committee from 13 to 14. It now includes two members of staff from the Department of Industry and Investment when there was previously only one.
3. An instruction that the Bush Fire Management Committee must, when preparing a draft Bush Fire Risk Management plan to consider the number and location of Neighbourhood Safer Places.
4. The designation, inspection, removal of designation, register and signposting of Neighbourhood Safer Places being the responsibility of the NSW Rural Fire Service.

The Rural Fires Amendment Bill 2010 makes changes in two important areas for Community Engagement and Resilience .

The bill formalises the responsibility of the RFS to issue public warnings about bush fires. Some of the most significant recommendations of the Victorian Bush Fires Royal Commission's findings relate to the delivery of information during a bushfire.

Accurate and timely information can assist people in making informed decisions about the actions they need to take in the face of a bushfire threat. The RFS provides a range of ways that people can access information such as our web page where it shows current  Current Fire Activity in NSW, ringing 1800 NSW RFS and by the iPhone application “Fires Near Me”. These are important tools for us to help make information more accessible to the community. To assist them in their decision making during emergencies and should work hand in hand with the revised Bush Fire Survival Plan   where they should have identified trigger point and the actions they will take.

Under the New South Wales State Disaster Plan (Displan), it is the responsibility of the lead agency responding to an emergency to issue warnings to the public. In the case of major bush fires, the lead agency is the Rural Fire Service. The amendment outlined in this bill recognises the current practice in which the New South Wales Rural Fire Service Commissioner ensures that appropriate warnings are issued at times when members of the community are potentially at risk from bush fires. This amendment formalises and enhances this existing function for the commissioner, or his delegate, to ensure that warnings are issued regularly and when necessary.

Neighbourhood Safer Places  have also evolved from the Victorian Royal Commission's recommendations. A neighbourhood safer place is a place of last resort for people during a bushfire as part of a back up plan if their bushfire survival plan has failed or cannot be put into action.

A Neighbourhood Safer Place is an identified building or open space that can provide a higher level of protection from the immediate life-threatening effects of a bushfire—such as exposure to radiant heat, smoke and embers. As the royal commission acknowledged, using this type of refuge still entails some risk, both in moving to the neighbourhood safer place and while sheltering there. They are meant as places of last resort in extreme emergencies only, with the primary purpose of protecting human life.

This bill assigns responsibility to the RFS for identifying and appointing Neighbourhood Safer Places throughout the State on public and private lands, ensuring every effort is made to consult and reach agreement with the owner or occupier of an area identified as a potential Neighbourhood Safer Place prior to it be approved.

The RFS is also now responsible for undertaking an annual review of Neighbourhood Safer Places to ensure they continue to be appropriate as a place of last resort from bush fires, decommissioning Neighbourhood Safer Places where they are no longer considered suitable, and ensuring that Neighbourhood Safer Places are taken into consideration in Bushfire Risk Management Plans, as well as being published on the NSW RFS website.

Local Emergency Management Committees (LEMC) will no longer be responsible for identifying potential locations or approving Neighbourhood Safer Places. Instead, the NSW RFS will assume these responsibilities, recognising that, as the lead agency for bushfire management, it is the best qualified and equipped to do so. To reinforce the bushfire safety of at-risk communities, the Government this month expanded the Neighbourhood Safer Places program with an injection of $3.4 million per year. This will provide the additional resources required to identify, construct, maintain and ensure signage of new and existing neighbourhood safer places.

These are positive steps forward that support our actions to date to provide information to the community and to provide a range of options that they need to consider when completing their Bush Fire Survival Plan.

If you would like to view the document you can view it at Rural Fires Amendment Bill 2010

Thanks all,

Cheers from Lew