Chapter 4 - Warnings - 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission

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2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission—Interim Report 4 WARNINGS 4.241 The Victorian trial of CIWS was a clear success. There were high hopes that the success could be built on and a national telephony-based warning system could be implemented. Regrettably, these hopes did not bear fruit until 2009. 4.242 Since the 2005 trial, Victoria’s position has been that a national community information and warning system should be implemented. Victoria has advocated this position repeatedly and forcefully at the highest level. 306 4.243 For a national warning system to be implemented, a number of matters had to be resolved: ■■ Amendments to the Telecommunications Act 1997 (Cth) to enable access to the IPND for the purpose of issuing warnings were required. 307 There was considerable debate about the need for legislative amendments. For example, Telstra argued initially that they were not required. The Commonwealth disagreed and in the end amendments were made. 308 ■■ Agreement reached among the states and territories as to the model of warning system to be implemented (for example, whether it be opt-in or compulsory). ■■ Funding for the establishment of the warning system needed to be secured. 4.244 The chronology of events that unfolded after 2005 indicates that although steps were taken by governments, sufficient priority and urgency was not given to implementing a national warning system. 4.245 It is not possible to set out every meeting, item of correspondence, event, review and paper that occurred or was produced between 2005 and 2009 on this issue. Suffice to say that despite political will from the Victorian Government and a lot of bureaucratic activity, progress was slow and debate was protracted. 309 4.246 The end result was that: ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ On 23 February, legislative amendments were introduced to permit disclosure of data in the IPND in certain circumstances. The amendment now permits IPND information to be disclosed in the event of an emergency or when an emergency is considered likely. The Telecommunications Amendment (Integrated Public Number Database) Bill 2009, which was hastened as a result of the Victorian bushfires, received Royal Assent on 26 March 2009. 310 On 23 February, a press release was issued announcing $11.3 million of Commonwealth funding to contribute to the development of the warning system. 311 On 20 March, a tender was released for the construction of a database known as the Location Based Number Store, to provide a warning delivery mechanism to the states and territories. Funding for the development of the Location Based Number Store database and the first four years of operation is to be drawn from the $11.3 million Commonwealth contribution announced in February 2009. 312 On 30 April, it was announced that COAG had agreed to develop a national telephone emergency warning system. Further, the Prime Minister and the Attorney-General announced the Commonwealth investment of up to $15 million to assist the states and territories in establishing the national system. 313 4.247 The new national telephone emergency warning system will be operated by the states and territories, and will be developed following an open tender process. The system will send emergency warning alerts by recorded voice and text to landline and mobile phones based on an owner’s billing address. A proposed second stage, sending warnings based on the location of a mobile (rather than its billing address) will be the subject of further research. 314 4.248 It now appears that the first stage of the warning system is capable of being implemented by October 2009. 315 4.249 Victoria is managing the call for tenders for the proposed national Emergency Warning System. On Tuesday 14 July 2009, the Victorian Premier issued a media release Brumby releases national emergency warning system tender ahead of bushfire season. 316 The selective tender apparently involves two major telecommunication providers, Optus and Telstra. Mr Brumby is quoted in the release as saying: 152 With the first milestone in the procurement process complete, we are on track to ensure this critical system is in place in October. 317
Warnings 4.250 The Commission is encouraged by reports that this project is currently ‘on track’ but, the Commission remains cautious given the projects history. The Commission will hear further evidence on the progress of this project during future hearings. THE USE OF SMS ON 2 MARCH 2009 4.251 Another ‘post fire’ event is worth mentioning in this context. On 2 March, Victoria Police and the OESC decided to issue a mass warning message via SMS to warn of predicted severe weather. 318 The message was in the following terms: Msg from Vic Police: Extreme weather in Vic expected Mon night & Tues. High wind & fire risk. Listen to local ABC radio for emergency updates. Do not reply to this message. 4.252 The message did not rely on the amendments to the Telecommunications Act 1997 (Cth), as it was sent before they came into force. Approximately 2.07 million SMS messages were sent out over a number of hours to Telstra mobile phone customers. 319 4.253 Due to time constraints, it was not possible to geo-code Victorian mobiles, that is, to allow warning messages to be sent to all mobiles located in a defined area at the time of the transmission. As a result, some Tasmanian customers received the SMS message. This was known prior to the message being sent, and efforts were made to minimise any confusion that might have resulted. 320 321 4.254 A review of this event revealed a high rate of recall by recipients and ‘success’ in the message delivery. The apparent success of the 2 March SMS message (and the fact that the capacity to send such messages has existed for some time) underscores the utility of a telephony-based warning system. Source: AAP Image 153
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Chapter 4 - Warnings - 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission

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