Today marks a major milestone for the implementation of the Bushfire Royal Commission recommendations.
Our national emergency management arrangements will now benefit with the opening of the Australian Climate Service (ACS).
The ACS will support the National Recovery & Resilience Agency and Emergency Management Australia.
The Australian Government has now completed 11 out of its 15 recommendations from the Royal Commission into National Natural Disasters.
Emergency Management Minister David Littleproud said that the Coalition Government is sparing no resources to implement all of the recommendations.
"We have demonstrated that we are not sitting back from the task," Minister Littleproud said
"We are delivering on our commitment and not allowing this Royal Commission's report to sit in the bottom draw.
"Many of the recommendations require collaboration with different levels of government, non-profits and the private sector, and we have been working hard to get results.
"The ACS brings together data and scientific expertise from across Commonwealth agencies, including the Bureau of Meteorology, CSIRO, Australian Bureau of Statistics and Geoscience Australia.
"The information will help to anticipate natural disasters and focus our investment on reducing those risks.
"After the Royal Commission's report, we passed the National Emergency Declaration Act, allowing us to leverage Australian Government capabilities in support of state and territory governments during emergencies."
In line with the Royal Commission's recommendations, the Coalition Government has cut red tape for state governments to gain faster access to disaster recovery packages under the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements.
This includes future call outs of the Australian Defence force, to aid communities recovery needs in times of disaster.
The National Emergency Management Ministers' Meeting is working hard to deliver on priority Royal Commission recommendations for which the Commonwealth and state and territory governments have joint responsibility.
The Government has also committed significant resources for disaster recovery and resilience projects.
- The $600m Preparing Australia Program will open in October, to reduce the impacts of natural disasters and increase resilience for households and the community.
- The Government has increased annual funding to the National Aerial Firefighting Centre to $30m and will secure an additional Large Air Tanker to boost our national aerial firefighting capability.
- We have also recently commenced a proof-of-concept trial, for a national Public Safety Mobile Broadband communications capability for emergency services. This capability will improve access to critical information and real-time situational awareness during emergencies.
- In recognition of our Indigenous communities' intimate knowledge of the land, the Government is committed to leveraging Indigenous insights into land and fire management and natural disaster resilience and creating jobs for Indigenous people in this area.
- To better serve our emergency services workers and volunteers on the frontline, the Government has reviewed legislative frameworks to ensure there are adequate employment protections for fire and emergency services volunteers and has spent $92m from the National Bushfire Recovery Fund on mental health assistance.
