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This is a Bill, not an Act. For current law, see the Acts databases.
New South Wales
Emergency Legislation Amendment
Bill 2012
Contents
Page
1 Name of Act 2
2 Commencement 2
Schedule 1 Amendment of Fire Brigades Act 1989 No 192 3
Schedule 2 Amendment of Rural Fires Act 1997 No 65 5
Schedule 3 Amendment of State Emergency and Rescue
Management Act 1989 No 165 8
Schedule 4 Amendment of State Emergency Service Act 1989
No 164 16
b2012-081-12.d15
New South Wales
Emergency Legislation Amendment
Bill 2012
No , 2012
A Bill for
An Act to amend the Fire Brigades Act 1989, the Rural Fires Act 1997, the State
Emergency and Rescue Management Act 1989 and the State Emergency Service Act
1989 to make further provision in relation to the investigation of fires and State
emergency management; and for other purposes.
Clause 1 Emergency Legislation Amendment Bill 2012
The Legislature of New South Wales enacts: 1
1 Name of Act 2
This Act is the Emergency Legislation Amendment Act 2012. 3
2 Commencement 4
This Act commences on the date of assent to this Act. 5
Page 2
Emergency Legislation Amendment Bill 2012
Amendment of Fire Brigades Act 1989 No 192 Schedule 1
Schedule 1 Amendment of Fire Brigades Act 1989 1
No 192 2
[1] Section 22 Authority to enter land and buildings 3
Insert at the end of the section: 4
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply if entry is made only for the 5
purpose of assisting in the prevention of fires by investigating the 6
cause or origin of a fire. 7
[2] Part 3, Division 2A 8
Insert after Division 2 of Part 3: 9
Division 2A Special powers to enter land to investigate 10
fires 11
22A Object of Division 12
The object of this Division is to assist in the prevention of fires 13
by expressly authorising entry onto land to investigate the cause 14
or origin of a fire. 15
22B Meaning of "land" 16
In this Division, land includes any building on the land and any 17
vessel. 18
22C Power to enter land up to 24 hours after fire 19
(1) The Commissioner may enter and inspect any land for the 20
purposes of investigating the cause or origin of any fire that has 21
occurred on that land or any adjacent land, but only for a period 22
of up to 24 hours after the fire has been put out and the land is safe 23
to enter. 24
(2) The power conferred on the Commissioner under subsection (1) 25
may be exercised with or without the consent of the owner or 26
occupier of the land concerned. 27
(3) This section does not authorise the Commissioner to enter any 28
part of land used only for residential purposes without the 29
authority of a search warrant under section 22D or the consent of 30
the owner or occupier of the land concerned. 31
22D Search warrants 32
(1) The Commissioner may apply to an authorised officer for a 33
search warrant for any land if the Commissioner reasonably 34
Page 3
Emergency Legislation Amendment Bill 2012
Schedule 1 Amendment of Fire Brigades Act 1989 No 192
believes that entry onto the land is necessary for the purposes of 1
the investigation of the cause or origin of any fire that has 2
occurred on that land or any adjacent land. 3
(2) An authorised officer to whom an application is made may, if 4
satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for doing so, issue a 5
search warrant authorising the Commissioner or any other person 6
named in the warrant to enter land for the purposes of the 7
investigation of the cause or origin of any fire that has occurred 8
on that land or any adjacent land. 9
(3) Division 4 of Part 5 of the Law Enforcement (Powers and 10
Responsibilities) Act 2002 applies to a search warrant issued 11
under this section. 12
(4) In this section: 13
authorised officer has the same meaning as in the Law 14
Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002. 15
[3] Schedule 4 Savings and transitional provisions 16
Insert at the end of clause 2 (1): 17
any other Act that amends this Act. 18
Page 4
Emergency Legislation Amendment Bill 2012
Amendment of Rural Fires Act 1997 No 65 Schedule 2
Schedule 2 Amendment of Rural Fires Act 1997 1
No 65 2
[1] Section 4 Definitions 3
Omit the note to the section. Insert instead: 4
Note. Some expressions defined in the State Emergency and Rescue 5
Management Act 1989 that are used in this Act are: 6
combat agency means the agency identified in the State Emergency 7
Management Plan as the agency primarily responsible for controlling the 8
response to a particular emergency. 9
emergency means an emergency due to an actual or imminent 10
occurrence (such as fire, flood, storm, earthquake, explosion, terrorist 11
act, accident, epidemic or warlike action) which: 12
(a) endangers, or threatens to endanger, the safety or health of 13
persons or animals in the State, or 14
(b) destroys or damages, or threatens to destroy or damage, 15
property in the State, 16
being an emergency which requires a significant and co-ordinated 17
response. 18
emergency services organisation means the NSW Police Force, Fire 19
and Rescue NSW, Rural Fire Brigades, Ambulance Service of NSW, 20
State Emergency Service, Volunteer Rescue Association or any other 21
agency which manages or controls an accredited rescue unit. 22
State Emergency Management Plan means the State Emergency 23
Management Plan referred to in section 12 of the State Emergency and 24
Rescue Management Act 1989. 25
[2] Section 9 Functions of Service 26
Omit "Displan" wherever occurring in the note to section 9 (1) (b) and in 27
section 9 (2). 28
Insert instead "the State Emergency Management Plan". 29
[3] Sections 14 (2), 21 (2) (b) (iii), 44 (2), 45 (1) and 47 (1) (b) and Dictionary 30
(paragraph (b) of the definition of "fire fighting authority") 31
Omit "New South Wales Fire Brigades" wherever occurring. 32
Insert instead "Fire and Rescue NSW". 33
[4] Section 33D Functions of Commissioner that may be exercised by 34
others 35
Insert after section 33D (3): 36
(4) Any function conferred or imposed on the Commissioner under 37
section 33B or 33C may be exercised by a police officer for the 38
purpose of determining whether the cause or origin of the fire 39
should be the subject of a criminal investigation. 40
Page 5
Emergency Legislation Amendment Bill 2012
Schedule 2 Amendment of Rural Fires Act 1997 No 65
(5) Subsection (4) does not limit any of the functions of a police 1
officer under this or any other Act. 2
[5] Sections 33D (1) and (3), 47 (1) (b), 55 (1) (b), 85 (paragraph (c) of the 3
definition of "appropriate authority"), 100K (1) (h) and 128 (2) 4
(paragraph (e) of the definition of "protected person or body") 5
Omit "NSW Fire Brigades" wherever occurring. 6
Insert instead "Fire and Rescue NSW". 7
[6] Section 131A 8
Insert after section 131: 9
131A Power to require name and address 10
(1) An authorised officer who intends to serve a penalty notice on a 11
person under section 131, or a police officer who has reason to 12
suspect that a person is committing an offence against this Act or 13
the regulations, may direct the person to state the person's full 14
name and residential address. 15
(2) A person must not, without reasonable excuse, fail to comply 16
with a direction under this section. 17
Maximum penalty: 5 penalty units. 18
(3) A person is not guilty of an offence under this section unless the 19
authorised officer or police officer (as the case may be) explained 20
to the person, when giving the direction, that failure to comply 21
with the direction is an offence. 22
(4) An authorised officer or police officer may request a person who 23
is required under this section to state the person's full name and 24
residential address to provide evidence of the correctness of the 25
name and address if the officer reasonably suspects the stated 26
name or address is false. 27
[7] Section 132 Powers of police officers to give directions 28
Omit section 132 (1) (a). 29
[8] Section 132 (3) 30
Insert ", without reasonable excuse," after "not". 31
[9] Schedule 3 Savings, transitional and other provisions 32
Insert at the end of clause 1 (1): 33
any other Act that amends this Act. 34
Page 6
Emergency Legislation Amendment Bill 2012
Amendment of Rural Fires Act 1997 No 65 Schedule 2
[10] Dictionary 1
Omit the definition of Displan. 2
Page 7
Emergency Legislation Amendment Bill 2012
Schedule 3 Amendment of State Emergency and Rescue Management Act 1989 No
165
Schedule 3 Amendment of State Emergency and 1
Rescue Management Act 1989 No 165 2
[1] Section 3 Definitions 3
Omit the definition of Chief Executive, Emergency Management NSW from 4
section 3 (1). 5
Insert instead: 6
Chief Executive, Emergency Services means the person holding 7
office under Chapter 1A of the Public Sector Employment and 8
Management Act 2002 as the Chief Executive of the Ministry for 9
Police and Emergency Services. 10
[2] Sections 3 (1) (definitions of "combat agency" and "recovery agency"), 11
10 (1) (c), 12 (2) and (4), 13 (1), (3) and (4), 15 (d) and (e), 19 (1A) and (1B), 12
20B (2) and (3), 25 (1A) and (1B) and 31 (1A) and (1B) 13
Omit "Displan" wherever occurring. 14
Insert instead "the State Emergency Management Plan". 15
[3] Section 3 (1) 16
Omit the definitions of Displan, district, District Emergency Management 17
Committee and Emergency Management NSW. 18
[4] Section 3 (1), definition of "emergency operations centre" 19
Omit "district". Insert instead "regional". 20
[5] Section 3 (1), definition of "emergency services organisation" 21
Omit "Fire Brigades, Rural Fire Brigades, Ambulance Service". 22
Insert instead "Fire and Rescue NSW, Rural Fire Brigades, Ambulance 23
Service of NSW". 24
[6] Section 3 (1), definition of "functional area" 25
Omit "preparations for". 26
Insert instead "prevention of, preparation for, responses to or recovery from". 27
[7] Section 3 (1), definition of "functional area" 28
Omit paragraph (b). Insert instead: 29
(b) telecommunications services, 30
(b1) energy and utility services, 31
Page 8
Emergency Legislation Amendment Bill 2012
Amendment of State Emergency and Rescue Management Act 1989 No Schedule 3
165
[8] Section 3 (1) 1
Insert in alphabetical order: 2
region means a region established under section 21. 3
Regional Emergency Management Committee means a 4
Regional Emergency Management Committee constituted under 5
Part 2. 6
State Emergency Management Plan means the State Emergency 7
Management Plan referred to in section 12. 8
[9] Part 2, Division 1, Subdivision 2, heading 9
Omit "Disaster". Insert instead "Emergency Management". 10
[10] Section 12 State Emergency Management Plan 11
Omit section 12 (1). Insert instead: 12
(1) There is to be a State Emergency Management Plan. 13
[11] Sections 12 (3) and 13 (2) 14
Omit "Displan" wherever occurring. 15
Insert instead "The State Emergency Management Plan". 16
[12] Sections 12 (3) (d), 22 (1), (2) (a) and (5), 23 (1), 24, 25 (except where 17
secondly occurring in section 25 (1B) (b) and (4)), 26 (1), 29 (2), 30, 18
31 (1C) and (5), 32A (paragraph (e) of the definition of "emergency 19
services officer"), 48A (2), 60KA (paragraph (c) of the definition of 20
"emergency or rescue management organisation") and 62 (c) and 21
clause 1 of Schedule 2 (paragraph (c) of the definition of "relevant 22
organisation") 23
Omit "District" wherever occurring. Insert instead "Regional". 24
[13] Sections 12 (4), 17 (1) and 20A (2) 25
Omit "Emergency Management NSW" wherever occurring. 26
Insert instead "Emergency Services". 27
[14] Section 14 State Emergency Management Committee 28
Omit section 14 (3). Insert instead: 29
(3) The representative of a non-government agency is to be 30
nominated by the Minister and the representative of a 31
government agency is to be nominated by the Minister 32
responsible for the agency. 33
Page 9
Emergency Legislation Amendment Bill 2012
Schedule 3 Amendment of State Emergency and Rescue Management Act 1989 No
165
[15] Section 16 Functional area sub-committees of State Emergency 1
Management Committee 2
Omit "emergency operations" from section 16 (2). 3
Insert instead "activities carried out to prevent, prepare for, respond to or 4
recover from an emergency". 5
[16] Sections 19 (1) (a) and 20B (1) (a), Division 2 of Part 2 (heading), 6
sections 21 (2), 22 (1) and (2) (a)-(c), 23 (1), 24 (1), 25 (1), 26 (1), 30 (2) (a) 7
and 48A (1), (2) and (4) 8
Omit "district" wherever occurring. Insert instead "region". 9
[17] Sections 20 (2) (a) and 21 (1) 10
Omit "districts" wherever occurring. Insert instead "regions". 11
[18] Section 22 Regional Emergency Management Committees 12
Omit section 22 (2) (d). Insert instead: 13
(d) a representative of each organisation that: 14
(i) provides services in a functional area or areas in the 15
relevant region, and 16
(ii) the Minister determines from time to time is to be 17
represented on the Committee. 18
[19] Section 22 (3) 19
Omit the subsection. Insert instead: 20
(3) The representative of an emergency services organisation is to be 21
nominated by the organisation. The representative of an 22
organisation providing services in a functional area is to be 23
nominated in accordance with arrangements determined by the 24
Minister. 25
[20] Section 23 Functions of Regional Emergency Management Committees 26
Insert "and reviewing" after "preparing" in section 23 (1). 27
[21] Section 23 (1A) 28
Insert after section 23 (1): 29
(1A) Without limiting subsection (1), any such Committee may: 30
(a) review and monitor emergency management policy and 31
practice across the region, and 32
Note. The State Emergency Management Committee is 33
responsible for reviewing, monitoring and developing emergency 34
management policy and practice at a State level and for 35
Page 10
Emergency Legislation Amendment Bill 2012
Amendment of State Emergency and Rescue Management Act 1989 No Schedule 3
165
disseminating information about that policy and practice, 1
including to Regional and Local Emergency Management 2
Committees. 3
(b) review and prepare plans in respect of the region that are, 4
or are proposed to be, subplans or supporting plans 5
established under the State Emergency Management Plan, 6
and 7
(c) make recommendations about and assist in the 8
co-ordination of training in relation to emergency 9
management across the region, and 10
(d) develop, conduct and evaluate regional emergency 11
management training exercises, and 12
(e) facilitate regional level emergency management capability 13
through inter-agency co-ordination, co-operation and 14
information sharing arrangements, and 15
(f) assist the Regional Emergency Operations Controller for 16
the relevant region in the Controller's role under 17
section 25, and 18
(g) carry out such other functions as are: 19
(i) related to this Act, and 20
(ii) assigned to the Committee (or to Regional 21
Emergency Management Committees generally) 22
from time to time by the State Emergency 23
Management Committee. 24
[22] Section 25 Functions of Regional Emergency Operations Controller 25
Omit "or, in the case of any disagreement on the matter, the Minister has 26
directed the District Emergency Operations Controller to do so" from 27
section 25 (1B) (b). 28
[23] Section 25 (4) 29
Omit "District emergency operations centre". 30
Insert instead "regional emergency operations centre". 31
[24] Section 26 NSW Police Force to provide executive support for Regional 32
Emergency Management Committee and Operations Controller 33
Omit section 26 (2). 34
Page 11
Emergency Legislation Amendment Bill 2012
Schedule 3 Amendment of State Emergency and Rescue Management Act 1989 No
165
[25] Section 28 Local Emergency Management Committees 1
Omit section 28 (2) (a). Insert instead: 2
(a) the General Manager of the council of the relevant local 3
government area, who is to be the Chairperson of the 4
Committee, and 5
[26] Section 28 (2) (c) 6
Omit the paragraph. Insert instead: 7
(c) a representative of each organisation that: 8
(i) provides services in a functional area or areas in the 9
relevant local government area, and 10
(ii) the council of that area determines from time to time 11
is to be represented on the Committee, and 12
[27] Section 28 (3) 13
Omit the subsection. 14
[28] Section 29 Functions of Local Emergency Management Committees 15
Insert "and review" after "the preparation" in section 29 (1). 16
[29] Section 29 (1A) 17
Insert after section 29 (1): 18
(1A) Without limiting subsection (1), any such Committee may: 19
(a) give effect to and carry out emergency management policy 20
and practice, consistent with information on that policy 21
and practice disseminated by the State Emergency 22
Management Committee, and 23
(b) review and prepare plans in respect of the relevant local 24
government area that are, or are proposed to be, subplans 25
or supporting plans established under the State Emergency 26
Management Plan, and 27
(c) make recommendations about and assist in the 28
co-ordination of training in relation to emergency 29
management in the relevant local government area, and 30
(d) develop, conduct and evaluate local emergency 31
management training exercises, and 32
(e) facilitate local level emergency management capability 33
through inter-agency co-ordination, co-operation and 34
information sharing arrangements, and 35
Page 12
Emergency Legislation Amendment Bill 2012
Amendment of State Emergency and Rescue Management Act 1989 No Schedule 3
165
(f) assist the Local Emergency Operations Controller for the 1
relevant local government area in the Controller's role 2
under section 31, and 3
(g) such other functions as are: 4
(i) related to this Act, and 5
(ii) assigned to the Committee (or to Local Emergency 6
Management Committees generally) from time to 7
time by the relevant Regional Emergency 8
Management Committee or by the State Emergency 9
Management Committee. 10
[30] Section 31 Functions of Local Emergency Operations Controller 11
Omit "or, in the case of any disagreement on the matter, the Minister has 12
directed the Local Emergency Operations Controller to do so" from 13
section 31 (1B) (b). 14
[31] Section 32 Councils to provide executive support for Local Emergency 15
Management Committee and Operations Controller 16
Omit section 32 (2). 17
[32] Sections 32A (paragraph (b) of the definition of "emergency services 18
officer") and 43 (1) (d) 19
Omit "New South Wales Fire Brigades" wherever occurring. 20
Insert instead "Fire and Rescue NSW". 21
[33] Section 43 Composition of Board 22
Omit "New South Wales Ambulance Service" from section 43 (1) (f). 23
Insert instead "Ambulance Service of NSW". 24
[34] Section 43 (1) (g1) 25
Omit "the Volunteer Marine Rescue Council of New South Wales". 26
Insert instead "Volunteer Marine Rescue NSW". 27
[35] Section 53 Offence to operate rescue unit or rescue vehicle without 28
accreditation 29
Omit "the Fire Brigades, the Ambulance Service" from section 53 (2) (a). 30
Insert instead "Fire and Rescue NSW, the Ambulance Service of NSW". 31
[36] Section 60A Interpretation 32
Omit "employee and employer are defined in subsection (2)." from 33
section 60A (1). 34
Page 13
Emergency Legislation Amendment Bill 2012
Schedule 3 Amendment of State Emergency and Rescue Management Act 1989 No
165
[37] Section 60A (2) 1
Omit "A person is considered to be the employer of another person (and that 2
other person is considered to be the employee) for the purposes of this Part if:". 3
Insert instead "The circumstances in which a person is considered to be the 4
employer of another person (and that other person is considered to be the 5
employee) for the purposes of this Part include the following:" 6
[38] Section 60A (2) 7
Omit ", or" wherever occurring. Insert instead ",". 8
[39] Section 60A (2) (a1) 9
Insert after section 60A (2) (a): 10
(a1) the person engages the other person to carry out regular 11
work under one or more contracts for services and the 12
value of that work represents a substantial proportion of 13
the regular work carried out by the other person, 14
[40] Schedule 4 Savings, transitional and other provisions 15
Insert at the end of clause 1 (1): 16
any other Act that amends this Act. 17
[41] Schedule 4, Part 9 18
Insert after Part 8: 19
Part 9 Provisions consequent on Emergency 20
Legislation Amendment Act 2012 21
16 Definition of "amending Act" 22
In this Part, amending Act means the Emergency Legislation 23
Amendment Act 2012. 24
17 State Emergency Management Plan 25
(1) Displan, as in force under section 12 (1) immediately before the 26
commencement of the amending Act, is taken to be the State 27
Emergency Management Plan. 28
(2) A reference in any Act, any instrument made under an Act or a 29
document of any kind to Displan or the State Disaster Plan is 30
taken to be a reference to the State Emergency Management Plan. 31
Page 14
Emergency Legislation Amendment Bill 2012
Amendment of State Emergency and Rescue Management Act 1989 No Schedule 3
165
18 Existing districts established under section 21 1
(1) Districts established under section 21 before the commencement 2
of the amending Act are taken to be regions. 3
(2) A reference in any Act, any instrument made under an Act or a 4
document of any kind to a district established under section 21 is 5
taken to be a reference to a region. 6
19 Existing District Emergency Management Committees 7
(1) District Emergency Management Committees constituted under 8
Part 2 of this Act before the commencement of the amending Act 9
are taken to be Regional Emergency Management Committees. 10
(2) A reference in any Act, any instrument made under an Act or a 11
document of any kind to such a District Emergency Management 12
Committee is taken to be a reference to a Regional Emergency 13
Management Committee established under that Part. 14
20 Existing District Emergency Operations Controllers 15
(1) Any person holding office as a District Emergency Operations 16
Controller, or as the deputy of that District Emergency 17
Operations Controller, immediately before the commencement 18
of the amending Act is taken to have been appointed as the 19
Regional Emergency Operations Controller or as the deputy of 20
that Regional Emergency Operations Controller (as the case may 21
be). 22
(2) A reference in any Act, any instrument made under an Act or a 23
document of any kind to a District Emergency Operations 24
Controller appointed under section 24 is taken to be a reference 25
to a Regional Emergency Operations Controller. 26
21 Repeal of sections 26 (2) and 32 (2) 27
The repeal of sections 26 (2) and 32 (2) by the amending Act does 28
not operate to abolish any positions. 29
Page 15
Emergency Legislation Amendment Bill 2012
Schedule 4 Amendment of State Emergency Service Act 1989 No 164
Schedule 4 Amendment of State Emergency Service 1
Act 1989 No 164 2
[1] Section 8 Functions of Service 3
Omit "New South Wales Fire Brigades, the NSW Rural Fire Service or the 4
Ambulance Service" from section 8 (1) (g). 5
Insert instead "Fire and Rescue NSW, the NSW Rural Fire Service or the 6
Ambulance Service of NSW". 7
[2] Section 8 (2) 8
Omit "Displan". Insert instead "the State Emergency Management Plan". 9
[3] Section 18A Definitions 10
Omit "New South Wales Fire Brigades" from paragraph (b) of the definition 11
of senior emergency officer. 12
Insert instead "Fire and Rescue NSW". 13
[4] Section 18A, paragraph (e) of the definition of "senior emergency 14
officer" 15
Omit "District". Insert instead "Regional". 16
Page 16
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