Page 1613 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 10 May 2017
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(2) notes that:
(a) changes to the BAZ and BUA have not altered the existing response arrangements, which are that first response to all grass and bush fires in the ACT will be by the nearest available most appropriate resource, irrespective of jurisdiction or Service; and
(b) ACT fire services continue to work together in responding to fires in the bushfire abatement zone; and
(3) calls on the Minister to report to the Assembly by the last sitting day in August:
(a) how the BAZ is controlled in regards to planning and operations and what operational procedures are in place to protect the ACT’s urban and rural areas; and
(b) what planning or actions the ACT Emergency Services Agency is undertaking for when the built-up areas encroach onto the New South Wales border.”.
As members would be aware, the McLeod inquiry into the operational response to the January 2003 bushfires led to the establishment in 2004 of the Emergencies Act 2004. The inception of the Emergencies Act has resulted in the ACT Emergency Services Agency, or ESA, providing the ACT community with emergency management and response services that are amongst the best in Australia. This was evidenced again in the latest report on government services which shows that the ACT leads the nation in response times for ambulance and firefighting personnel.
The current model for the provision of emergency services in the ACT is serving the community very well. It ensures a seamless response across agencies and across services to any emergency incidents faced by the people of the ACT. The adoption of the bushfire abatement zone, or BAZ, was a key recommendation out of the McLeod inquiry and this is currently reflected in the Emergencies Act. The BAZ incorporates rural areas immediately surrounding the built-up area where specific measures may be required to reduce risk to life and property in the built-up area of Canberra from fires occurring in that zone.
I can inform the Assembly that the BAZ remains in place as a land management and planning tool. Changes were made in 2011 to clarify response arrangements, as agreed by the then chief officers of the ACT Fire Brigade and the ACT Rural Fire Service. A further update to clarify response arrangements was made in 2016 in response to the 2015 review into the Emergencies Act 2004, which found that the procedures for determining which service has control over a fire in the BAZ was potentially problematic.
The BAZ was updated again by notifiable instrument in 2017 to include the suburbs of Throsby and Jacka as built-up areas. These updates demonstrate the continued review of practices and legislation undertaken by the Emergency Services Agency so that it can continue to provide best practice emergency services.
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