RSCH.016.001.1136 - 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission

RSCH.016.001.1155
Bushfires 15
· A person recommended by the Local Government Association of NSW, appointed by
the Minister;
· A person recommended by the Shires Association of NSW, appointed by the Minister;
· A Fire Control Officer recommended by the Rural Fire Service Association appointed
by the Minister;
· A person recommended by the Commissioner of Police, appointed by the Minister;
· A person recommended by the Minister for the Environment, appointed by the Minister;
· A person nominated by the Nature Conservation Council of NSW;
· A person recommended by the NSW Farmers Association, appointed by the Minister;
· An Officer of the Department of Community Services nominated by the Minister for
Community Services;
· An Officer of the Department of Land and Water Conservation nominated by the
Director-General of that Department.
The Bush Fire Co-ordinating Committee is responsible for: planning in relation to bush fire
prevention and co-ordinated bush fire fighting; and advising the Commissioner on bush fire
prevention, mitigation and co-ordinated bush fire suppression (section 48).
The Commissioner is not subject to the control and direction of the Bush Fire Coordinating
Committee in exercising his functions, but must take into consideration any relevant bush
fire management plan and, in the case of managed land 36 , any relevant plan of the authority
responsible for the managed land.
The Co-ordinating Committee must constitute a Bush Fire Management Committee for the
whole of the area of any local authority for which a rural fire district is constituted. Each
Management Committee must prepare and submit to the Co-ordinating Committee a draft
plan of operations and a bush fire risk management plan. The bush fire risk management
plan is to be prepared within 12 months after the constitution of the Management
Committee, and then within each successive five year period. The plan of operations must
be prepared each two years following the constitution of the Committee.
The draft plan of operations sets out the procedures to be followed if a bush fire breaks out
in the rural fire district and assumes or is likely to assume such proportions to be incapable
of suppression by the fire fighting authority in that part of the State. The draft plans are
submitted to the Bush Fire Co-ordinating Committee for approval.
The bush fire risk management plan is to set out schemes for the reduction of bush fire
hazards, and may impose functions on the Commissioner, the Fire Brigade, State Forests,
the National Parks and Wildlife Service, or any other person associated with the prevention,
mitigation or suppression of bush fires. The Commissioner may exercise the functions of the
management committee if it has failed to submit a draft bush fire management plan or has
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Managed land is defined in the Act as land vested in the: Forestry Act; National Parks and
Wildlife Act; State Rail Authority or Rail Infrastructure Corporation; land within the catchment
of a water authority; or as prescribed by the regulations.