Progress on implementing recommendations from the Natural Disaster Royal Commission

Approaching the third anniversary of the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements, the Australian Government has joined with all States and Territories to provide an update on the progress made to help communities be better prepared, respond quickly, recover and rebuild from future disaster events.  

Of the 80 recommendations made by the Royal Commission in a report tabled in Parliament on 30 October 2020, the Australian Government assumed primary responsibility for 15, with 12 completed and the remaining three expected to be completed shortly.  

A report to the meeting of National Emergency Management Ministers this week outlined that good progress has also been made on the remaining 65 recommendations, which are the responsibility of state and territory governments either independently or in partnership with the Australian Government. 

Minister for Emergency Management Murray Watt said the large-scale disasters that have continued to devastate communities since the 2019/20 Black Summer bushfires, including the floods throughout much of last year, highlight the need for ongoing reforms. 

“The Royal Commission made it clear that state and territory governments should continue to have primary responsibility and accountability for emergency management within their boundaries,” Minister Watt said. 

“Just as Australia continues to be challenged with extreme weather events due to the effects of climate change, we need to make ongoing improvements across the emergency management continuum to respond to these challenges, and this will continue after the Royal Commission’s recommendations are formally addressed.” 

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) was established on 1 September 2022, as an enduring agency to provide holistic emergency management at the Australian Government level. NEMA brings together the former National Recovery and Resilience Agency and Emergency Management Australia, formerly part of the Department of Home Affairs to provide national end-to-end oversight across the emergency management spectrum, specifically focussing on risk reduction, prevention, preparedness, response and recovery. 

Key measures that have been implemented to address the recommendations of the Royal Commission include the Australian Government’s establishment of the NEMA and the Disaster Ready Fund (DRF). The DRF will provide up to $1 billion over five years, from 1 July 2023, to improve Australia’s disaster resilience. The DRF will bolster Australia’s ability to reduce disaster risk, and curb the devastating impacts of natural hazards by investing in important disaster mitigation projects like flood levees, sea walls, cyclone shelters, evacuation centres, fire breaks and telecommunications improvements.  

Other initiatives to address recommendations of the Royal Commission being implemented include:  

• The Independent Review into Commonwealth Disaster Funding including building additional resilience into Commonwealth programs  
• The review of Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA) to streamline and build additional resilience into joint Commonwealth-State recovery programs  
• The Australian Government’s ambitious 2030 commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 43 per cent below 2005 levels, putting Australia on track to achieve its ‘net zero emissions by 2050’ target  
• The establishment of the Australian Climate Service (ACS) on 1 July 2021 to support better decision-making through improved climate, disaster risk and impact information, services and tools  
• The establishment of the Australian Fire Danger Rating System (AFDRS) on 1 September 2022 to improve fire agencies’ ability to consistently communicate the fire threat across Australia and provide a national decision-making framework that supports operational planning, response and consistent community messaging  
• The development of the Australian Warning System (AWS), to provide nationally consistent warnings for emergencies like bushfire, flood, storm, extreme heat and severe weather. 

In consultation with state and territory governments, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has produced an interim report on the progress of the Royal Commission’s recommendations. It is available on the NEMA website.