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The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) has released a new report on all-hazard preparedness in the country. The report was written by the former director general of Emergency Management Australia, David Templeman and ASPI’s research director, Anthony Bergin.
The paper recommends a number of specific measures to build a more resilient Australia including:
* Amalgamate the national counter-terrorism and emergency management protection arrangements into one structure;
* Create a national community information and disaster warning system;
* Factor climate change into emergency planning;
* Examine whether disaster response by the military ought to be regarded as a core mission and what this might mean for selecting equipment and dispersal of military assets around Australia;
* Undertake realistic testing of health assets in mass casualty disasters;
* Draw large business suppliers of goods and services much more into emergency planning;
* Introduce a program that provides some assistance with personal costs or childcare support to emergency volunteers and a national scheme to assist employers of emergency workers, so they might receive compensation if they face difficulties in releasing employees to undertake emergency duty;
* Incorporate robustness and alternative supply options as part of the selection criteria for infrastructure projects by the new advisory body, Infrastructure Australia;
* Designate the ABC as the approved national emergency broadcaster with the ability to interrupt immediately any program to provide community advice on any aspect of a likely or resultant disaster;
* Encourage schools and communities to plan on how they would cope without essentials and for how long.
Obtain the report from
http://www.aspi.org.au/publications/publications_all.aspx
•Date: 15th May 2008• Region: Australia •Type: Article •Topic: Emergency planning
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