Emergency law
and the
Emergency Management Act
2005 (WA)
Michael Eburn
Senior Lecturer
School of Law
(UNE, Armidale, NSW)
Federal
Role of the Commonwealth
• Provides money (Social Security Act
1991 (Cth))
• Provides resources – military and
commonwealth assets
• May help coordinates interstate and
international assistance (see
COMDISPLAN).
• No direct management responsibility
for EM – terrorism aside.
State
State level
• Primary responsibility for EM
• Establishes the Emergency
Services and Local Governments
and defines their roles.
• The State takes control when the
event is beyond the capacity of
the local or region authorities.
Local
Local
• Most emergencies are local,
managed by local authorities
• Local Government must manage
the recovery of their community,
with assistance from State and
Commonwealth authorities.
The stages of EM
•
•
•
•
Prevent
Prepare
Respond and
Recover
Preparation – the EMC
SEMC
DEMC
LEMC and
Local Govt
The EMC
• Establishes and maintains
effective emergency management
plans (ss 14-20; 32 and 39).
• The SEMC can direct other
authorities and committees and
set State wide policy (s 20).
Prepare – the Coordinator
• State, District and Local Emergency
Coordinator.
• The State Coordinator is the
Commissioner of Police (s 10) – others
don’t need to be police.
• Coordinators, at this stage, assist the
EMC in preparing plans (s 11, 30 and
37(4)). The State Coordinator can
enter into arrangements with those
outside the State to assist when req’d
(s 11(3)).
Response
• Who are the hazard management
agencies?
–Police and
–FESA
Emergency Management Regulation 2006 (WA) s 15.
Police
(a) air crash;
(b) road crash;
(c) persons lost or in distress on land, requiring significant
coordination of search operations;
(d) persons lost or in distress on inland waterways within
the limits of a port or in a fishing vessel or pleasure
craft within the limits of a port or at sea;
(e) radiation escape from nuclear powered warship;
(f) space re-entry debris;
(g) a terrorist act as defined in The Criminal Code section
100.1 set out in the Schedule to the Criminal Code Act
1995 of the Commonwealth.
Emergency Management Regulation 2006 (WA) s 15.
FESA
(a) injury or threat to life of persons trapped by the
collapse of a structure or landform;
(b) cyclone;
(c) earthquake;
(d) flood;
(e) storm;
(f) tsunami;
(g) actual or impending spillage, release or escape of a
chemical, radiological or other substance that is
capable of causing loss of life, injury to a person or
damage to the health of a person, property or the
environment.
Emergency Management Regulation 2006 (WA) s 15.
Response – ‘normal’ hazard
Hazard Management
Agency
Coordinator
Combat Agency
Support Agency
‘Emergency Situation’
• Hazard management authority
may declare an ‘emergency
situation’ (s 50).
• Hazard Management Officers are
then given extra powers to control
the hazard and its impacts (s 55
and Part 6).
Response – State of Emergency
State Coordinator
SECG
Hazard Management
Agency
SDC
Combat Agency
Support Agency
Recover
• This is a key local government
responsibility (s 36(b)).
Local Government – s 36
It is a function of a local government —
(a) subject to this Act, to ensure that
effective local emergency
management arrangements are
prepared and maintained for its
district;
(b) to manage recovery following an
emergency affecting the community
in its district; and
(c) to perform other functions given to
the local government under this
Act.
Other functions
• Be represented on SEMC (s 13(2));
• Perform such roles as allocated by the
SEMC (s 20);
• Be represented on SECG (s 26);
• Be consulted (via LEMC) on chair of
DEMC (s 31(2))
• Develop Emergency Plan (s 41)
• Develop Recovery Plan and appoint
Recovery coordinator (ss 41-43)
In short …
• Local government appoints the
LEMC.
• Coordinates, via the LEMC the
development of emergency plans
– subject to direction by SEMC.
• Coordinates recovery post event.
Consequences?
An action in tort does not lie against
the State, a Minister, the State
Emergency Coordinator, a local
government or an official for
anything done, in good faith, under
this Act. (s 100(1)).
‘anything done’ includes ‘not doing’
something (s 100(5)).
Other tort issues
• You can’t sue government
authorities in negligence if that
would be inconsistent with the
Act.
This Act
• Provides for compensation to
people affected by decisions (ss
78 – 83);
• Extends insurance cover to
include damage done by
responders (s 84)
• Provides for compensation to
volunteers (s 101).
(See Board of Fire Commissioners v Rowland [1960] SR(NSW) 322).
But if you don’t …
• Political
– Repercussions from the Community
– Action under Local Government Act
1995 (WA)
• Other
– Need to explain to the Royal
Commissioner or Coroner
– Your job
Any questions?
• Thank you for your attention.
Michael Eburn
P: (02) 6773 3701
M: 0409 727 054
F: (02) 6773 3602
E: meburn@une.edu.au
W: http://www-personal.une.edu.au/~meburn/