Committees

Australian Emergency Management Committee

A joint Australian, State and Territory Government organisation, this committee is charged with responsibility for managing national strategic emergency management issues and policies. It has decision making and recommendation authority to Ministers and supports the Augmented Australasian Police Ministers' Council in achieving its objectives to ensure a cross-jurisdictional, whole-of-government effort to manage national strategic emergency management issues and policies.

Chaired by the Secretary of the Attorney-General's Department, its membership includes chairpersons and executive officers of State Emergency Management Committees and the President of the Australian Local Government Association. The State Emergency Management Committees are the peak consultative organisation in each State and Territory and are established to coordinate and advise on emergency management and counter disaster matters.

The Australian Emergency Management Committee meets twice a year to provide advice and direction on the coordination and advancement of Australian, State and Territory Government interests in emergency management issues. It also establishes working parties to examine particular issues as required (Source: EMA website).

Some of the working parties are:

• The National Risk Assessment Advisory Group;
• the Technical Risk Assessment Advisory Committee;
• the National Flood Risk Advisory Group; and
• the National Spatial and Information Management Working Group.

Secretariat

Peter Arnold
Emergency Management Australia
Tel: +61 2 6256 4602; Fax: +61 2 6256 4653
Email: peter.arnold@ema.gov.au

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National Risk Assessment Advisory Group

Acting as a working group and advisory body to the Australian Emergency Management Committee, the National Risk Assessment Advisory Group reports on progress relating to the implementation of Reform Commitment #1 outlined in the Council of Australian Governments report on natural disasters. It also provides information on other recommendations and reform commitments which overlap with risk assessment. It is a national forum for contributing to the improvement of risk management through the development and implementation of risk assessment practice and by focusing on natural disaster risk. In doing so it acknowledges and draws on the approach of each State and Territory to all hazards emergency risk management.

The primary role of the advisory group is to oversee the work necessary to meet Reform Commitment #1, but it also is involved in:

• Engaging key agencies and experts in risk assessment;
• implementing the National Risk Assessment Framework which will form the basis for the development of risk assessment tools and their implementation (Read more);
• providing advice and input to the Australian Emergency Management Committee on all aspects of risk assessment as required;
• developing and implementing strategies for sudden onset natural disasters considered in an all hazards context;
• providing advice and input to the Planning Officials Group of the Local Government and Planning Ministers Council on aspects of risk assessment as required;
• developing and implementing strategies for sudden onset natural disasters which are relevant to the urban planning and disaster mitigation roles of the Planning Officials Group; and
• developing national priorities for risk assessment for sudden onset natural disasters.

The relationship between the National Risk Assessment Advisory Group and other national committees is available here.

Secretariat

Trevor Jones
Geoscience Australia
Tel: +61 2 6249 9559
Email: Trevor.Jones@ga.gov.au

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Technical Risk Assessment Advisory Committee

Established in 2004, the Technical Risk Assessment Advisory Committee is an independent panel of experts providing advice to government on natural hazard risk assessment and on strategies for risk management. It is made up of specialists in all areas of natural hazard and climate change, as well as authorities in key areas of risk mitigation such as building codes, insurance and land use planning.

The advice it provides is aimed at achieving national risk assessment objectives which meet the requirements of the Australian, State and Territory Governments as well as local government and the community. These objectives centre on the Council of Australian Governments reports on natural disasters and on bushfires.

The Technical Risk Assessment Advisory Committee played a key role in establishing the National Risk Assessment Framework and now advises the National Risk Assessment Advisory Group, the Australian Emergency Management Committee and others as required on technical issues related to implementing the framework. However, its terms of reference are currently being revised.

The relationship between the committee and other, related national committees is shown here.

Secretariat

Trevor Jones
Geoscience Australia
Tel: +61 2 6249 9559
Email: Trevor.Jones@ga.gov.au

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National Flood Risk Advisory Group

A primary role of the National Flood Risk Advisory Group is to provide expert advice to the Australian Emergency Management Committee (AEMC) on flood matters. It provides the advice in support of the implementation and subsequent follow-up of the reform commitments and recommendations in the review report, Natural Disasters in Australia: Reforming Mitigation, Relief and Recovery Arrangements. To achieve these objectives, the Group works in collaboration with Australian, State and Territory Government agencies as well as local government and other AEMC working groups.

Its principal role is addressing flood management and providing a national focus for:

• Identifying and promoting nationally consistent best practice flood risk management;
• advising on nationally consistent flood risk management policy;
• providing specialist, expert advice on the implementation of the Council of Australian Governments review recommendations and reform commitments associated with flood risk management;
• promoting community safety with respect to flooding and flood risk in support of the National Community Safety Strategy Group;
• identifying and prioritising research needs for improving the quality of flood risk management; and
• facilitating and improving communication between flood emergency managers, flood risk managers and land use managers.

Joint Secretariat

Jim Elliott
Bureau of Meteorology
Phone: +61 3 9669 4522
Email: j.elliott@bom.gov.au

Miriam Middelmann
Geoscience Australia
Phone: +61 2 6249 9240
Email: Miriam.Middelmann@ga.gov.au

Summary of last meeting, held 11 June 2008

NFRAG has provided support to Engineers Australia since late 2007 in their bid for funding to update Australian Rainfall and Runoff through discussions with the Department of Climate Change and the Australian Emergency Management Committee. The Minister for Climate Change (Senator the Hon Penny Wong) recently announced funding support from her Department for the project.

NFRAG has also engaged with the National Risk Assessment Advisory Group (NRAAG) on two projects – the development of national risk assessment priorities and National Emergency Risk Assessment Guidelines. NFRAG will be leading a workshop in early 2009 in conjunction with NRAAG to develop national flood risk assessment priorities.

NFRAG has also highlighted the need to improve the issue of community safety during floods and will work with the National Community Safety Working Group to address this. Related to this, the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has offered NFRAG the opportunity for input to its upcoming publicity campaign on floods in support of recent initiatives in flood insurance. This campaign is due to start towards the end of 2008.

NFRAG has also been invited by Geoscience Australia to work with them in their review of the Australian Flood Studies Database. More information including a questionnaire will be available at a later stage.

NFRAG continues to lead the revision of the flood manuals in the Australian Emergency Management manual series (published by Emergency Management Australia). The first manual being revised on Flood Warning is nearly completion and will shortly be made available for comment.

Next meeting, February 2009

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National Spatial and Information Management Working Group

Formed in 2007, the National Spatial and Information Management Working Group resulted from the amalgamation of the National Information Management Advisory Group and the National Spatial Information for National Security Working Group. It was set up to enhance decision support capabilities through access to, and use of, relevant information, including spatial information. Its activities will support critical infrastructure protection, counter-terrorism and emergency management within and between the Australian, State and Territory governments and local governments by addressing prevention, preparedness, response and recovery. The group will carry out its functions under the strategic direction of the Australian Emergency Management Committee, the National Committee on Critical Infrastructure Protection and the National Counter-Terrorism Committee.

The working group aims to:

• Identify, propose and promote solutions to administrative, financial, legal, policy, security and technical barriers to collaborative sharing of spatial and other relevant information used to support critical infrastructure protection, counter-terrorism and emergency management activities;
• evaluate and provide strategic advice on spatial and other information requirements for critical infrastructure protection, counter-terrorism and emergency management agencies;
• maintain an inventory of existing and developing spatial information infrastructure and interoperability status;
• examine and make recommendations on:
  • data capture and access, including issues such as licensing, privacy, classification and the release of data;
  • standards, including symbology, technical infrastructure and appropriate models and tools; and
  • capacity building, including awareness raising, education and skills development;
• facilitate the development and maintenance of a spatial information capability as an integral component of all operational management and decision-making which can be used across all jurisdictions and agencies;
• integrate the use and assess the utility of existing critical infrastructure protection, counter-terrorism and emergency management information systems within current capability development activities and operational processes (e.g. exercises); and
• identify existing and emerging relevant information sources for the purpose of data integration and availability to the critical infrastructure protection, counter-terrorism and emergency management community.