This Bill passed through the Queensland legislative assembly on Tuesday 6 May 2014. The Bill represents some significant reforms of emergency service legislation in that State. The Bill gives effect to the recommendations from the Keelty review of Queensland’s emergency management arrangements.

Public Safety Business Agency
The Bill creates the Public Safety Business Agency to provide common administrative and support services to Queensland’s public safety agencies, which are the Queensland Fire and Emergency Service, the government department responsible for administering the Fire and Emergency Services Act 1990, Queensland Police and the Office of the Inspector-General of Emergency Management (Public Safety Business Agency Bill 2014 (Qld) s 5).

Inspector-General of Emergency Management
The Bill amends the Disaster Management Act 2003 by introducing a new Part 1A that creates the office of Inspector-General of Emergency Management. The Inspector-General is, amongst other things, to:

• Review and assess the effectiveness of disaster management arrangements at State, district and local levels;
• Review and assess cooperation between, and the performance of, agencies involved in disaster management including whether systems and procedures are compatible and whether there are opportunities for cooperative partnerships to improve disaster management performance;
• Set disaster management standards;
• Improve disaster management capabilities, including volunteer capabilities;
• Monitor compliance by departments with disaster management responsibilities.

Queensland Fire and Emergency Service
The Bill amends the Fire and Rescue Service Act 1990 (Qld) firstly by changing the name of that Act to the Fire and Emergency Service Act 1990 (Qld). The Bill transfers responsibility for the State Emergency Service from the Department and the old Emergency Management Queensland (EMQ) to the new Fire and Emergency Service.

It is now the responsibility of the Commissioner of the Queensland Fire and Emergency Service (formerly the Queensland Fire and Rescue Service) to establish SES units and appoint members and local controllers. The Act does not, however, provide for district management of the SES. Under Queensland legislation it is local government that are primarily responsible for disaster management within their area (Disaster Management Act 2003 (Qld) ss 29-37). Where a disaster event crosses local government boundaries and the event exceeds the capacity of the local units, and then the Commissioner may appoint an SES coordinator ‘to coordinate the performance of SES functions in the local government areas’. This is a temporary appointment and is terminated ‘if the commissioner considers it is no longer necessary for an SES coordinator to be appointed’. It would appear that this person may be filling the sort of role that in other states would be filled by a region or district controller but there is no provision for a ‘standing’ officer or permanent appointment at that level.

The Commissioner could appoint someone as a regional officer to exercise the commissioner’s powers with respect to the SES units and to avoid him or her having to deal with every unit, but that position would be an administrative and support position rather than an operational position. That person may be the ideal candidate for appointment, as the SES coordinator should the need arise but that operational appointment would be dependent upon the impact of the significant, overwhelming event.

All the other provisions regarding the SES and Emergency Service Units appear to be transferred from the current Disaster Management Act so those services should be able to continue as they have been, just under a different department and commander.

The Bill will allow the Commissioner to charge for fire fighting services. The charges will be set by regulation or by the Commissioner. Where the Commissioner sets a charge it must ‘be reasonable and not more than the actual cost of providing the service’. The person for whose benefit the service is provided and the person who causes the fire or other incident are liable to pay the charges though, presumably, they may be the subject of insurance so if your house catches fire one would expect your household insurer to pick up that charge as well as the cost of repairing the home. The issue will be if you are not insured and for people who ‘cause’ a fire or incident. If the New Zealand model is applied, such charges are not covered by insurance (in New Zealand where the fire is negligently or deliberately lit). The cost of dealing with a fire may well exceed the cost of the damage done, as the fire brigades may be effective in limiting the damage, so these types of provisions can impose a very significant cost on those who ‘cause’ fires or other incidents (see Charging for fire response, 18 February 2013). The Commissioner can waive the charges if he or she is ‘satisfied waiving the charge, or part of the charge, is reasonable in the circumstances’. It will be interesting to see how these provisions are applied both by governments and the courts once the Bill takes effect.

When does the Bill take effect?
The answer to that is not obvious; there is no section that says ‘This Act commences on…’. Presumably therefore the Act will commence operation when it receives Royal Assent (that is when it is approved by the Governor). It will be up to the Government to determine when that occurs so they can hold off, should they wish, the start of the Act to ensure that all the necessary administrative arrangements are in place.