This weekend's Severe Tropical Cyclone Fina provides a powerful reminder of the critical role the Bureau of Meteorology plays in the daily lives of all Australians. It shows the value of the organisation's work - helping Australians prepare for extremes.
My thoughts are with the residents of the Northern Territory who are assessing the impacts and beginning the clean-up, and remote communities in northern Western Australia who are preparing for what's to come.
Since starting at the Bureau, I have seen up close the dedication and expertise of our people working to deliver timely forecasts, warnings, updates and briefings that we all rely on, and I would like to commend BOM staff for their ongoing efforts as Severe Tropical Cyclone Fina continues its movement across the Top End. It is an honour to be at the helm of this important organisation.
As the severe weather season ramps up, I am committed to opening the lines of communication between the BOM and the community.
Inherently, we don't, and won't, always get it perfectly right. But, we are constantly striving to get better.
I've been fully briefed on the new website, the feedback we have received and our response through the updates that have been completed and that are planned.
bom.gov.au is one of Australia's most visited websites. Alongside the BOM Weather app, it's the primary channel we use to provide weather information to Australians. Changes to the website were made for good reasons including stability, security and accessibility.
The total cost of the website is approximately $96.5 million. This includes the previously stated $4.1million required to redesign the front-end of the website. The remaining cost reflects the significant investment required to fully rebuild and test the systems and technology that underpin the website, making sure it is secure and stable and can draw in the huge amounts of data gathered from our observing network and weather models.
Given this investment, it's vital we get it right.
I want to assure you that our dedicated teams are working hard to continue delivering website updates and improvements as quickly as possible.
A scheduled website update, that was due to go live last week, was postponed due to Severe Tropical Cyclone Fina. In this update we are responding directly to community feedback received during the Beta phase and since launch in October, with a focus on making the rain radar and weather map easier to use.
The update will be rescheduled as soon as the severe weather subsides, and we will have more on that when a date is determined.
I understand that the change has been challenging for some, and we are committed to supporting everyone to make the most of the new site through video tutorials, website help and troubleshooting. We have also been directly engaging with key user groups to answer specific questions about the new site.
As the BOM does consistently all year round, I can assure the community that we're working closely with emergency management agencies at all levels preparing for the severe weather season. Our embedded meteorologists and expert hazard preparedness teams provide dedicated and tailored analysis, forecasts and warnings directly to these agencies, and support emergency decision making.
I'm personally committed to ensuring the new site supports all sectors of the community with the information needed to make decisions, both for safety and daily planning.
Thank you to the Australian community for the feedback that enables us to continue to improve our website, and thank you to our people who are making these improvements happen.
I encourage people to send us constructive feedback, to help us continue to deliver trusted service into the future via a secure, stable and resilient site.
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