The McGowan Government has today released its response to the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements.
Of the 80 recommendations put forward by the Royal Commission, 25 have been supported, 42 supported in principle, and 12 noted as not being applicable to the State Government.
Western Australia recently received $2.18 million in funding from the joint Commonwealth-State National Disaster Risk Reduction grants program to boost the State’s preparedness for disasters.
The Department of Fire and Emergency Services received $1.3 million to develop design requirements for a state-of-the-art public information warning system to replace Emergency WA.
This project will lay the foundations for a new modern, fit-for-purpose warnings platform to support the implementation of the Australian Warning System framework – a key recommendation of the Royal Commission.
WA was also allocated more than $363,000 as part of the national roll-out of the new Australian Fire Danger Rating System, which will be used to educate the community about the changes.
The McGowan Government will now work towards the delivery of a staged implementation plan for the recommendations. The plan will outline reform priorities, timeframes and resourcing options.
A copy of the State Government’s response to the Royal Commission is available at https://www.wa.gov.au/government/publications/wa-government-response-regarding-the-royal-commission-national-natural-disaster-arrangements
As stated by Emergency Services Minister Reece Whitby:
“We’ve seen a number of major disasters in Western Australia recently and the State Government is committed to the continuous improvement of emergency management.
“The State will continue to work with the Commonwealth and other jurisdictions to implement the recommendations as they apply in a Western Australian context.”
