21 minute read
Major projects and activites
from AFAC Annual Report 2021-22
by AFAC
Australian Government engagement
Fundamental to AFAC’s role as a delivery partner and facilitator of national ways of working is our relationship with the Australian Government.
The 2021-22 period saw the relationship with the Australian Government further strengthen for the benefit of our members, and through them, the Australian community.
The key conduit to the relationship was the government’s Emergency Management portfolio, through the Minister for Emergency Management, Emergency Management Australia (EMA) and the National Recovery and Resilience Agency (NRRA). AFAC also continued strong relationships with the Bureau of Meteorology, the CSIRO, and also Geoscience Australia.
As AFAC members, EMA, Parks Australia, and Air Services Australia all contribute to, and benefit from, AFAC’s national and international footprint.
AFAC continued work towards the delivery of several programs of work related to the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Australia’s National Natural Disaster Arrangements. Through AFAC’s extensive collaboration network, common approaches are developed. This year saw the continuation of several significant grant programs including working with the Australian Government to deliver the Australian Fire Danger Rating System, contributions to the National Aerial Firefighting Centre, the implementation of community education for the Australian Warning System, and a new enhanced National Resource Sharing Centre. These all contribute to Australia’s national resilience and represent examples of federal, state and territory governments working together towards common goals.
AFAC was proud to host the Minister for Emergency Management Senator the Hon. Bridget McKenzie at the AFAC office in December 2021 and welcomed the Minister and the Director General of EMA, Mr Joe Buffone, to formally launch of the national large airtanker upon its arrival in Australia.
AFAC remains committed to delivering the Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience on behalf of the Australian Government and look forward watching this evolve with time.
The nature of legislated roles and responsibilities means that coordination between all levels of government is vital. AFAC is committed to supporting these links and providing the opportunity for collective results far greater than can be achieved by any single group.
Industry Doctrine
AFAC’s suite of doctrine publications is one of AFAC’s most integral intellectual property assets. The collection of evidence-based doctrine consisting of technical notes, guidelines and position statements, are regularly reviewed through the AFAC Collaboration Model, guided by a documented life-cycle framework and is the official view of the AFAC National Council.
The AFAC collaboration groups develop doctrine that is relevant, timely and nationally applicable, supporting agency interoperability. It is widely known that while most doctrine does not command action, there is robust reasoning for its adoption. Where no uptake of doctrine’s approach occurs, detailed reasons should be provided.
Comprising over 110 evidence-based publications, the AFAC doctrine collection provides guidance for the consistent utilisation and implementation of practice, training and research. Guidance in the form of positions, frameworks, guidelines and training resources enables our members to operate at the forefront of the sector with a readiness and standard of safety while facing complex issues.
In 2021-22, the following AFAC doctrine activities were undertaken: Doctrine Proposals: ˃ Current Incident Feed (extent) Standard and Data
Dictionary ˃ Ergonomic Emergency Service Vehicle Design New doctrine completed: ˃ Incidents Involving Electric Vehicles ˃ Large Animal Rescue Operations ˃ Fire History Data Dictionary ˃ Fire Safety in Waste Management Facilities ˃ National Community Safety Announcements for Flood
Risk Communication ˃ Guide to Recognition of Prior Learning ˃ Fire and Emergency Aviation Training and Assessment
Framework
Revised doctrine: ˃ Framework for Risk Management and Workplace Health and Safety for Emergency Responders ˃ Landscape Fire Performance Measures Data Dictionary ˃ Safe Work Guideline: Managing Fatigue in Emergency
Response ˃ Use of Personal Fire Shelters in Wildfires ˃ Use of Lookouts, Awareness, Communications, Escape
Routes, Safety Zones (LACES) System for Wildfire
Firefighters Safety on the Fireground ˃ National Position on Prescribed Burning ˃ Compressed Air Foam Systems Guideline
A national bushfire simulator - Spark Operational
The Spark operational development project has been running for 15 months and made considerable progress. Milestone 5 (of 8) has been completed, and the development version 0.1.6 is stable and running on CSIRO cloud servers. The AFAC hosted version is due to be upgraded to V0.1.6 in mid October 2022. The functionality completed for milestone 5 and included in version 0.1.6 comprises a full set of about 70 changes, additions and fixes. This includes known issues at the time of release, most of which will be addressed in the next release. A snapshot of the major features implemented for the latest milestone are: ˃ A ‘supplementary’ disruption layer that allows the operator to input custom disruptions to the spread of the fire. These can represent roads or tracks not represented in the map layer and firebreaks with adjustable width. This functionality could also be used to represent lines of retardant applied by aircraft which in later versions may have a time period set where they are deemed to be effective. On the recommendation of the
Spark science expert group, the custom disruption layer was recommended as a sufficient method to represent suppression until more complex suppression models are developed. This functionality complements the already implemented simple ‘mask’ feature which allows the operator to mark any area as non-combustible. In the next milestone, the mask feature will be extended to be a more general fuel editor, allowing any fuel attribute to be set to any valid value giving much more flexibility to represent modifications to the input fuel layer, and correct for any errors found in the input agency fuel maps. ˃ ROS infrastructure (update to level-set fire spread solver) is an infrastructure update needed to support features in future milestones. ˃ Input fuel condition data from the AFDRS using the full range (23 classes) of AFDRS fuel types and input jurisdictional fuel classification (~ 150 classes per jurisdiction) for at high resolution. As a demonstration, the 10m Tasmanian data is bundled with V0.1.6 with other jurisdictional data to follow. The high-resolution fuel data matches corresponding high resolution topography and other land surface data to demonstrate that Spark can run sensibly at very high resolution.
This gives the most accurate available representation of fuel data but is much higher than intended when fire behaviour models were developed. Discussions are ongoing with the Spark science advisory group to recommend the most appropriate resolution for operations, most likely to be in the range 30-100m. The
‘look-up-table’ and fuel raster method used to manage and interpret jurisdictional fuel data is compatible with fuel data handling in the AFDRS, and is expected work seamlessly across jurisdictions, with South Australian data planned for the next release. Considerable new infrastructure was built into Spark to support this feature. ˃ Ensemble fire simulations, efficiently running multiple simultaneous simulations and generating a summary output, such as the probability that a location will be impacted by the fire. Two templated demonstrations of fire ensembles are bundles with V0.1.6: running predictions with a range of wind directions around the Bureau of Meteorology weather forecast and with windspeeds bracketed around the official prediction. The operator can also manually set up other ensembles, such as running a range of ignitions points where initial ignition location is uncertain. When the Bureau of
Meteorology high resolution ensemble model forecasts are operationally available, running simulations for each of these as an ensemble will be implemented, but this is currently in-scope for phase 4.
The AFAC Strategic Directions 2022-2026 is the third edition developed by AFAC. The strategic directions have been endorsed by the Australia-New Zealand Emergency Management Committee (ANZEMC) and the National Emergency Management Ministers’ Meeting (NEMMM). AFAC reports to these bodies annually on accomplishment.
The AFAC Strategic Directions Achievement Report 2022 is the first report based on the new Strategic Directions, which consist of six priority areas that reflect the mutual commitment and vision and provide opportunity to address shifting environmental circumstances to support safe and resilient communities in Australia and New Zealand.
The 6 Strategic Directions to guide the fire and emergency services sector for 2022–2026 are: 1. Supporting resilient communities through risk reduction 2. Providing a trusted response 3. Using credible and timely information and data 4. Safe, capable and diverse workforce 5. Informed by knowledge, innovation and research 6. Effective and transparent governance. Through 25 selected projects and initiatives, the report demonstrates the work that has been completed in the last 12 months by all jurisdictions in conjunction with AFAC Members and our partner agencies. The report provides just a sample of initiatives undertaken rather than an exhaustive list of all activities relating to the strategic directions.
Together these initiatives support a more disaster resilient Australia and New Zealand by demonstrating a level of national capability, based on operational readiness, and underpinned by the most current qualifications and standards available, lessons management and research utilisation. AFAC facilitates assurance activities for AFAC Members, providing a cost-effective way for fire and emergency service organisations to review aspects of their operations or business, based on industry expertise. AFAC uses its extensive networks of expert fire and emergency service practitioners to source senior industry experts to participate in review panels, so that agencies or governments commissioning AFAC reviews can be confident that these activities will be carried out by people who thoroughly understand the subject matter and have a contemporary appreciation of industry good practice. This in turn means that the review activities themselves are more targeted on the real issues, and recommendations are specific, realistic, and relevant.
During the 2020-21 year, AFAC completed independent reviews of the 2021 Wooroloo fire in Western Australia (for DFES), the 2020 K’gari (Fraser Island) fire (for QPWS), the 2021 NSW flooding event (for NSW SES), and a review of CFA training (for CFA). The Wooroloo fire review was carried out by a hybrid panel, one member of which was based in Western Australia, with the other two members participating remotely owing to COVID restrictions. The CFA training review is the first time that AFAC has been commissioned to provide a review focused primarily on an agency’s activities other than operational response. In addition to providing subject-matter expertise from senior AFAC member personnel, the review benefitted from the extensive experience of AFAC’s own Director, Workforce Development in the field of fire and emergency services learning and development.
Australian Fire Danger Rating System
The Australian Fire Danger Rating System (AFDRS) is a national program that is funded and collaborated by the Australian Government and the states and territories, and delivered by local implementation teams. The AFDRS is coordinated by NSW RFS and AFAC, with support from the Bureau of Meteorology. The AFDRS replaces the previous system that was based on science more than 60 years old and brings a generational change to the way fire danger is calculated and communicated in Australia.
New technology and research have informed the development of the AFDRS and have improved our ability to accurately predict fire behaviour and the potential threat to the community. The AFDRS uses the latest scientific understanding about weather, fuel and how fire behaves in eight different types of vegetation to improve the reliability of fire danger forecasts. This strengthens the ability of those working in emergency services to be better prepared, make improved decisions and provide better advice to the community. The AFDRS is designed to be continuously updatable so that the system can take advantage of improving science, data, and information into the future.
Outcomes during 2021-22 included the final year deliverables of the development and implementation of the new system. They included: ˃ nationally consistent public facing design for fire danger ratings with community action messaging ˃ operational testing during the fire season to enable agencies to become familiar with the new system ˃ delivery of nationally consistent products such as training assets, decision-making framework and communications products ˃ development of an eLearning training course within AFAC ˃ delivery of sample public-facing products and ongoing support for agencies in their local implementation. The final phase also included the development of prototype indices for bushfire impact, suppression likelihood and ignition likelihood that may become important additions to the system in the future. The program was on track to go live by 1 September 2022.
The public-facing fire danger rating design is simple and easy to understand. It includes 4 levels and a ‘no rating’. Across the country, fire and emergency services have applied nationally consistent colours, signs and terminology. This means that wherever you go in Australia, and whatever the season or fuels you’re surrounded by, you can understand the level of threat and what you need to do to stay safe.
Image: NSW RFS
Australian Warning System
In October 2017 the Commissioners and Chief Officers’ Strategic Committee (CCOSC) identified warnings as a national priority and committed to establishing a nationally consistent three-level warning framework across multiple hazards.
Following an extensive social science research project to understand how the community understands and takes action in response to warnings, CCOSC endorsed the Australian Warning System (AWS) in September 2020. The AWS is a 3-level, multi-hazard warning system that applies to bushfire, flood, cyclone, severe storm and heatwave, and can be extended by jurisdictions to other hazards. CCOSC members also endorsed a national community education program to support the implementation of the AWS.
The AWS was subsequently endorsed into policy through ANZEMC in March 2021, and the National Emergency Management Ministers Meeting tasked ANZEMC with developing an action plan and key milestones to progress the implementation of the AWS, as one of seven priorities actions ahead of the 2021-22 severe weather season.
The AWS has been implemented across all Australian bushfire agencies, with other hazards being implemented by jurisdictions in a staggered approach determined by their system requirements and operational priorities. Jurisdictions are also currently working collaboratively to finalise frameworks for hazards. A submission was made to ANZEMC for funding for the AWS community education and engagement program. The submission requested funding to deliver a national community education and engagement program to raise the awareness of all Australian residents and visitors, including CALD and newly arrived community members, tourism operators and other key stakeholders, about the new AWS. The funding application was successful, and the AWS community education and engagement program was launched by the former Minister for Emergency Management on 1 December 2021, under the banner “Know the Signs”.
A range of social media, print and digital assets have been developed for the campaign, which jurisdictions will be able to use as part of their ongoing community education and awareness programs. Rollout of the campaign in states and territories has commenced, aligned to their specific requirements and hazard seasons. The AWS education campaign will also include CALD video and audio resources translated into five key languages: Mandarin, Arabic, Vietnamese, Hindi and Cantonese.
The national education campaign will raise awareness of the AWS for multiple hazards and will increase understanding of the actions that community members should take when they receive a warning. This will empower people to make informed decisions, to take protective action, and reduce potential impacts and consequences of a hazard when they receive a warning.
ADVICE WATCH AND ACT EMERGENCY WARNING
The Australian Warning System
A consistent approach to warnings.
Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition Australia
The Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition Australia (HFSCA) is a partnership of AFAC and Fire Protection Association Australia. The HFSCA informs and advocates the benefits of home fire sprinklers to protect Australian communities from the impact of residential fires and to support the sustainability of the built environment.
HFSCA has continued to build on the momentum and progress of previous years. The coalition secured a third International Fire Suppression Alliance funding grant. These funds are assisting the coalition to finalise sprinkler designer/installer training modules, develop residential sprinkler specifications for additional classes of buildings, and investigate the potential use of residential sprinklers in bushfire prone areas.
A 4 year strategy was developed in 2021, identifying six key areas of influence: advocacy, education, research, capability and capacity building, technical advice and standard setting. The coalition has aligned its priorities to these areas, together with a range of national policies. Some of the projects underway in 2021-22 include the development of a standard for safe, reliable, cost-effective residential fire sprinklers for class 1a homes, and a feasibility study into integrating internal residential fire sprinklers with external bushfire sprinklers for use in bushfire prone areas.
The coalition is continuing to work with fire authorities in a number of jurisdictions to advocate for residential sprinklers in social housing, and the HFSCA has been supporting agencies as they develop proposals to relevant government departments. Recognising the findings from recent residential fire fatality research and AFAC’s Towards Zero strategy, the HFSCA is supporting the mitigation of fire for those community members who are at greatest risk.
Through its continuing engagement with stakeholders, the coalition is adding new supporters. These like-minded organisations have committed to collaborate with HFSCA on different projects through either financial or in-kind contributions.
The Australasian Inter-service Incident Management System (AIIMS) is an integral part of emergency management doctrine for the fire and emergency services industry in Australia. The system enables Australian agencies to come together to resolve incidents through an integrated and effective response.
Traditionally courses in AIIMS have been delivered faceto-face. However, with AFAC’s development of the AIIMS Principles and AIIMS Awareness as online courses, AFAC members and external organisations now have greater flexibility in the delivery of AIIMS training. These online courses have seen an increasing uptake in student numbers since their release in 2020 and 2021 respectively.
The AFAC AIIMS Principles online course, based on the nationally accredited short course 22459VIC Course in the Australasian Inter-service Incident Management System 2017, had 210 enrolments in the 2021-22 financial year.
For the same period, the AIIMS 2017 Awareness online course, based on the nationally accredited short course 22463VIC Course in Awareness of the Australasian InterService Incident Management System, 2017, had 1330 students enrolled from AFAC member agencies and other organisations across Australia.
These enrolment numbers are in addition to the significant face-to-face delivery of these courses that is being undertaken by AFAC members and licensed commercial registered training organisations.
The National Centre for Vocational Education Research data for 1 July 2021–20 June 2022 for the 22463VIC Course in Awareness of the Australasian Inter-Service Incident Management System confirms 1,396 have completed the course. The figure for the 22459VIC Course in the Australasian Inter-service Incident Management System 2017 is 1,410. The availability of these courses online is supporting the face-to-face delivery and uptake of these courses.
Champions of Change
The Fire and Emergency Group’s fourth progress report was released in December 2021. Members achieved or moved closer to gender balance across 60.2% of leadership categories. Women comprised 37.3% of hires across the group and represented in 23.2% of promotions, tracking above the overall women’s representation across the group (21.6%).
80.8% of members have an organisation-wide approach for mainstreaming flexible work. 50% reported that they conducted and took action on a gender pay equity audit at least every two years, increasing from 15.4% in 2020. 53.8% of members reported they have sponsorship in place as a practice expected of all leaders, increasing from 12% in 2020. 96.2% of members have policies or initiatives in place to enable flexible access to parental leave for all parents and 92.3% have initiatives in place to support employees experiencing or supporting family experiencing domestic and family violence.
The Fire and Emergency Group identified the need to engage and activate a broader network of champions for gender equality, diversity and inclusion. In May 2022 ‘everyday respect’ workshops were held with over 100 senior and middle management leaders across member organisations. The workshops focused on practical actions leaders at all levels can take within their sphere of influence to progress gender equality. Building buy-in for gender equality remains an ongoing priority area for the group.
Ongoing thanks is extended to the Fire and Emergency Groups Convenor Kristen Hilton and Champions of Change Coalition Program Directors Lisa Pusey and Somali Cerise who support the group and the Implementation Leaders.
Research
In 2021, the AFAC Research Committee identified the need for a research strategy to provide a high-level view of the role research and development play in the path towards the sector’s strategic directions. Putting a strategy in place supports agencies to identify opportunities for collaboration and allows greater targeting of research to deliver the most important capabilities. It also enables the AFAC Research Committee to better understand the research landscape and work towards stronger alignment of priorities across the AFAC Collaboration Network.
Through workshops with the AFAC Research Committee and representatives from across the Collaboration Network, the AFAC Research Strategy 2022-2027 was developed, drawing on the collective experience and goals of member agencies. The strategy focuses on the role of research in addressing the challenges and opportunities the sector faces, and identifies 7 national priority themes that require further research to better understand their impacts for future policy and practice.
For research outcomes to contribute to the needs of the sector, research needs to target the right areas, ask the right questions and have the appropriate support and resourcing for translation and implementation. The strategy supports the sector to collaborate and invest in research that addresses issues of national importance and enables evidence-based good practice. AFAC intends to apply and trial the AFAC Research Strategy 2022-2027 for 12 months to provide time to socialise it across the Collaboration Network. Progress will be reviewed after 12 months.
Rosalind Houghton from Fire and Emergency New Zealand was appointed by the AFAC Board to Chair the AFAC Research Committee.
Standards
AFAC play a key role in the development and revision of Australian and International Standards which advance and guide the interests of the broader emergency management sector, these include: ˃ Standards Australia
˃ Joint Standards Australia and New Zealand Standards committees (AS/NZS) ˃ International Standards Organisation (ISO) ˃ National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) ˃ Fire Protection Association Australia (FPAA) ˃ National Association of Steel-Framed Housing Inc. (NASH) AFAC and its members have a significant voice to drive progress in the sector through the Standards Network of representatives. All AFAC member agencies are consulted when comment is provided in relation to the development or revision of Australian or International Standards, ensuring the collective view of AFAC member agencies is put forward.
Primarily AFAC participation focuses on: ˃ management of fire related risks ˃ fire protection and fire safety ˃ standards for firefighter’s personal protective equipment ˃ fire protection systems and equipment ˃ fire safety systems and equipment ˃ storage, transportation and handling of dangerous goods/hazardous materials.
SF-04-04 SF-049-05 SF-049-06 SF-049-08 SF -050 SF -052 SF 053 TX 021 TC/94 TC/94 /SC13 TC /94 / SC14 TC / 94 / SC14 SC15 JWG N F P A
SF-049-03 SF-049-02 SF-049-01
SF-049
SF-018
SF-010 SF-006
CH 009 02 CH 009 04 CH 009 05 CH 009 08 ME 002ME015ME017ME057ME-070ME-093ME-030SF-003 CH 009 01 B D 0 5 8
C H 0 0 9 B D 0 6 6 C E 0 0 5 CE 030 CS 062 EL 003 EL 005 EL 042 FP 001 FP 002 FP00201 FP00202 FP-002-03 FP-003 FP-004 FP-004-03 FP-008 FP-009
FP-009-01
M B 0 2 7 I T 2 6 8 MB 025 FP-011
NASH FP-017 FP-018 FP-019 FP-020 FP-022FP-023LG -007LG -011ME -004ME 062 ME 062 01 ME 062 09 FPAA101
AFAC is currently represented on the following committees:
Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience
IT-268 Smart Cities and Communities
MB-025 Security and Resilience
Built Environment and Planning Technical Group
BD-058 Thermal Insulation
BD-066 Prefabricated Concrete Elements
CE-005 CE-030 Explosives Maritime Structures
CS-062 EL-003 Solid Fuel Burning Appliances Electric Cables and Wires
EL-005
EL-042
FP-001
Secondary Batteries Renewable Energy Power Supply Systems and Equipment Maintenance of Fire Protection Equipment FP-002 Fire Detection, Warning, Control and Intercom Systems FP-002-01 Installation Standards FP-002-02 Product/Panel FP-002-03 Network Monitoring FP-003 Fire Extinguishers FP-004 Automatic Fire Sprinkler Installations FP-004-03 Combined Sprinkler & Fire Hydrant Systems FP-008 Fire Pumps & Tanks FP-009 Fire Hydrant Installations FP-009-01 Drafting Subcommittee AS 2419.1 FP-011 Special Hazard Fire Protection Systems FP-017 FP-018 FP-019 Emergency Management Planning – Facilities Fire Safety Passive Fire Protection (Chair)
FP-020 Construction in Bushfire Prone Areas
FP-022
FP-023 LG-007 LG-011 ME-004
Fire prevention and protection for mobile and transportable equipment Tunnel Fire Safety Emergency Lighting in Buildings Photoluminescent Exit Signage Lift Installations ME-062 Ventilation and Airconditioning ME-062-01 Ventilation and Airconditioning ME-062-09 Ventilation and Airconditioning
FPAA101 Automatic Fire Sprinkler Systems Design and Installation
NASH Steel Framed Construction in Bushfire Areas
Community Engagement Technical Group
MB-027
Ageing societies
Hazmat and CBRN Technical Group
CH-009 Safe Handling of Chemicals CH-009-01 Emergency Procedure Guide Working Group 1 CH-009-02 Emergency Procedure Guide Working Group 2 CH-009-04 Emergency Procedure Guide Working Group 4 CH-009-05 Emergency Procedure Guide Working Group 5 CH-009-08 Emergency Procedure Guide Working Group 8 ME-002 Gas Cylinders
ME-015 Storage and Handling - Liquefied Petroleum Gases
ME-017 ME-057 ME-070 Flammable and Combustible Liquids Road Tankers for Hazardous Liquids and Gases Liquefied Natural Gas Storage and Handling
ME-093 Hydrogen Technologies
Operational Equipment Technical Group
ME-030
SF-003 Pumps
PPE Technical Group
Occupational Protective Footwear
SF-006 Eye and Face Protection
SF-010 Occupational Respiratory Protection
SF-018
Occupational Protective Helmets SF-049 Firefighters Personal Protective Equipment SF-049-01 General requirements SF-049-02 Structural firefighting SF-049-03 Wildland firefighting SF-049-04 Hazardous materials SF-049-05 Rescue SF-049-06 CBRN SF-049-08 JWG (SF-010 and SF-049) RPD SF-050 High Visibility Clothing SF-052 Personal Safety – Personal Protective Equipment
SF-053 Protective Clothing
TX-021
Sun Protective Clothing TC/94 Personal Safety - Personal Protective Equipment (Chair)* TC 94/SC13 Protective clothing* TC 94/SC14 Firefighters’ personal equipment (Chair)* TC 94/SC14 -SC15 JWG Respiratory Protective Device (RPD)*
NFPA NFPA Correlating Committee on Fire and Emergency Services PPE*
