Emergency management plans and the laws that underpin them By Sally Connell

Emergency management plans and the laws that underpin them

SALLY CONNELL, SENIOR SOLICITOR, COMMERCIAL, ENVIRONMENT AND NATIVE TITLE SECTION, CROWN SOLICITOR’S OFFICE

The current COVID-19 outbreak has brought to public attention South Australia’s capacity to manage emergencies, by declaring a major emergency and the giving of directions. However, South Australia’s emergency management legislation provides a much broader and multi-faceted framework for managing any emergency.

THE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ACT

South Australia’s emergency management framework is established under the Emergency Management Act 2004 (EM Act). 1 Under the EM Act, an emergency may be declared an identified major incident, a major emergency or a disaster (“emergency declarations” and “declared emergencies”). 2 However, the legislative framework applies to all emergencies, regardless of whether any declaration is made pursuant to the EM Act. The definition of emergency means an event that causes, or threatens to cause: 3 • the death of, or injury or other damage to the health of, any person; • the destruction of, or damage to, any property; • a disruption to essential services or to services usually enjoyed by the community; or • harm to the environment, or to flora or fauna.

The guiding principles under the EM Act require emergency management arrangements to: 4 • address emergency prevention, preparedness, response and recovery; and • reflect the collective responsibility of all sectors of the community; and • recognise that effective arrangements require a co-ordinated approach from all sectors of the community.

The EM Act therefore contemplates emergency management arrangements to include collaboration between State and local government, the business and nongovernment sectors, and individuals. THE STATE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PLAN

The EM Act requires the preparation, maintenance and review of the State Emergency Management Plan (SEMP). The SEMP is prepared, reviewed and maintained by the State Emergency Management Committee (SEMC) and is comprised of four parts and accompanying annexures. The SEMP must include strategies for the prevention of emergencies, the preparedness for emergencies, the containment of emergencies, the co-ordination of response and recovery operations, and the orderly and efficient deployment of resources and services in connection with response and recovery operations. 5

It provides the roles and responsibilities of specified agencies, including the command structure for emergency management.

COMMAND STRUCTURE

The EM Act and the SEMP provide a command structure and specific functions and powers for responding to, and managing emergencies.

The SEMC is established by the EM Act. 6 In addition to its role of preparing, reviewing and maintaining the SEMP, the SEMC maintains oversight of, and provides leadership and advice with respect to, emergency management planning for South Australia.

EMERGENCY CO-ORDINATION

The co-ordination of response and recovery operations during an emergency are the responsibility of the State Coordinator, Assistant State Co-ordinators, the Co-ordinating Agency, and Authorised officers.

The State Co-ordinator is usually the person holding or acting in the position of Commissioner of Police. 7 The State Co-ordinator is responsible for managing and co-ordinating response and recovery operations in accordance with the EM Act and the SEMP. 8 Where an emergency declaration is in force the State Coordinator must implement the SEMP and cause appropriate response and recovery operations to be carried out. 9

The State Co-ordinator may appoint Assistant State Co-ordinators to assist with the exercise of the State Co-ordinator’s functions and powers. Assistant State Coordinators have the functions and powers that are delegated to them by the State Coordinator or assigned by SEMC. 10

The State Co-ordinator may also appoint authorised officers. 11 The State Coordinator may direct authorised officers to take action for the purposes of carrying out recovery operations in accordance with the SEMP. 12

SAPOL is the Co-ordinating Agency for all emergencies except where the SEMP has designated otherwise. 13 During an emergency, the Co-ordinating Agency is responsible for consulting with the Control Agency and facilitating the exercise of functions or powers by the Control Agency.

The State Co-ordinator and authorised officers have significant powers which may be exercised in relation to declared emergencies while the declaration is in force. 14 The powers in section 25 include the power to give directions. Failure to comply with a requirement or direction of the State Co-ordinator or an authorised officer given during a declared emergency is a criminal offence. 15

EMERGENCY CONTROL

The State Controller is the leader of a Control Agency. 16 A Control Agency and a State Controller will have responsibility for a particular emergency. The State Controller of the Control Agency for an emergency provides overall control to the operations at the emergency.

The SEMP assigns to a person or agency the function of exercising control of persons and agencies involved in

response operations relating to a specified kind of emergency. 17 Any such person or agency is then the Control Agency for emergencies of that kind. The SEMP states that “Authority for control carries with it the responsibility for tasking and directing other organisations according to the needs of the situation.” Unless otherwise provided by the EM Act, all other persons and agencies involved in response operations in relation to an emergency are subject to the control of the Control Agency.

The SEMP has assigned particular Government agencies and volunteer organisations as the Control Agency for specified types of emergencies. For example, SAPOL is the control agency for road transport, marine, aircraft and rail accidents, siege or hostage situations, terrorist incidents and bomb threats. SA Health is the Control Agency for food or drinking water contamination and human epidemics. The CFS is the Control Agency for rural fires.

The responsibilities of a Control Agency in resolving an emergency include: 18 • taking control of the response to the emergency (including the appointment of an incident controller and incident management structure); • ensuring a safe working environment; • ensuring effective liaison, communication and cooperation; • continually assessing the situation, identifying risks and sharing information; • developing and sharing plans and strategies that meet the requirements of all agencies responding to the emergency, and implementing and monitoring those plans; • the effective allocation and use of available resources; • ensuring the public is adequately informed and warned to enhance community safety; • facilitating the investigation of the emergency and review of response activities; and • the transition from response to recovery.

EMERGENCY SUPPORT AND PARTICIPATION

The SEMP provides for other organisations to support and assist a Control Agency during an emergency. It states that where a Control Agency is not the Control Agency for a specific emergency, they will be referred to as a Support Agency”. A Support Agency must support the Control Agency for a particular emergency and is subject to direction by the Control Agency for that emergency. The SEMP lists the roles and functions of Support Agencies during a particular emergency when those agencies are not the Control Agency for that emergency. 19

For example, during a fire for which the CFS is the Control Agency, a number of other Control Agencies will be Support Agencies during the emergency. Primary Industries and Regions SA, as the Control Agency for animal, plant & marine disease emergencies, will be the Support Agency responsible for providing immediate animal relief services and rehabilitation assistance to primary producers. The Department of Premier and Cabinet, as the Control Agency for telecommunications crises will be a Support Agency responsible for coordinating any significant disruptions to major telecommunications infrastructure resulting in the loss of telecommunications services to a widespread area. SA Health will be the Support Agency with responsibility for providing hospital, specialist health and medical services required for the treatment and care of casualties. SAPOL will be the Support Agency with responsible for maintaining law and order and protecting life and property.

When a Support Agency is supporting the Control Agency during an emergency, the Support Agency may be assisted by Participating Agencies 20 . The Participating Agencies which may assist a Support Agency are identified in the SEMP and include government, business and volunteer organisations.

The SEMP provides general responsibilities of a Support Agency 21 , which include • supporting and following reasonable direction of the Control Agency and regularly reporting to the Control

Agency; • commanding its own resources and ensuring it can provide staff and resources within its scope of operations to support the Control Agency and recovery operations; planning for and implementing procedures within their agency to be able to deliver the required support in times of an emergency response or recovery; ensuring that any Participating Agencies that work with the Support Agency can provide their services in support of the Control Agency and recovery operations; ensuring that the role of any Participating Agency is clearly defined and supported by appropriate plans and procedures; and maintaining partnerships, and clearly describing the roles undertaken by with Participating Agencies or organisations in the supply of its scope of support.

CONCLUSION

South Australia’s emergency management legislation acknowledges that the effect management of an emergency event may require the expertise and resources of multiple organisations. It therefore provides a framework, which not only sets out levels of command, but which also provides for the effective collaboration between government and non-government organisations for managing any emergency. B

Endnotes: 1 Section 2(1) of the EM Act 2 Part 4 Division 3 of the EM Act 3 Section 3 of the EM Act 4 Section 2(3) of the EM Act 5 Section 5A(1) of the EM Act 6 Section 6 of the EM Act 7 Section 14 of the EM Act 8 Section 15 of the EM Act 9 Section 25(1) of the EM Act 10 Section 16 of the EM Act 11 Section 17 of the EM Act 12 Section 27(1) of the EM Act 13 Section 19 of the EM Act 14 Sections 22-24A of the EM Act 15 Section 28 of the EM Act 16 Section 5.4.1 of the SEMP 17 Section 20 of the EM Act. A Control Agency may be assigned by a particular law or Act or the

SEMP. 18 Section 5.4.3 of the SEMP 19 Section 5.6.1of the SEMP 20 Listed in section 5.6.1 of the SEMP 21 Section 5 of the SEMP