State Emergency Service Amendment
Bill 2005

Explanatory note
This explanatory note relates to this Bill as introduced into Parliament.

Overview of Bill

The object of this Bill is to amend the State Emergency Service Act 1989 (the
Principal Act) as follows:

(a) to extend the functions of the State Emergency Service to the protection of life
and property in storms and floods and to remove civil defence from the
functions of the Service,

(b) to replace State Emergency Service divisions with regions and to allow the
Director-General of the State Emergency Service (the Director-General) to
divide the State into regions without the need to seek approval from the State
Emergency Operations Controller,

(c) to recognise the volunteer status of members of the State Emergency Service,

(d) to provide that the Director-General be recognised as the State controller for
the State Emergency Service, and to allow the Director-General to make
arrangements to assist States and Territories that do not have any SES units,

(e) to allow the Director-General to appoint more than one local controller for a
local government area and to form an SES unit on his or her own initiative,

(f) to make other miscellaneous amendments of a minor, consequential or savings
or transitional nature.

Outline of provisions

Clause 1 sets out the name (also called the short title) of the proposed Act.

Clause 2 provides for the commencement of the proposed Act on the date of assent.

Clause 3 is a formal provision that gives effect to the amendments to the State
Emergency Service Act 1989 set out in Schedule 1.

Clause 4 is a formal provision that gives effect to the amendment to the State
Emergency and Rescue Management Act 1989 set out in Schedule 2.

Clause 5 repeals the State Emergency Service Regulation 2001.

Schedule 1 Amendment of State Emergency Service
Act 1989
Schedule 1 [1] and [11] amend the definitions of Deputy Director-General and
Director-General and section 9 of the Principal Act, respectively, to update
references to an Act.

Schedule 1 [2] repeals the definitions of division, division controller and S.E.S. unit
and replaces them with definitions of region, region controller and SES unit to
reflect a change in terminology for the purposes of the Principal Act. The amendment
also inserts proposed definitions of exercise, function and unit controller. Schedule
1 [4], [19] and [29] make consequential amendments.

Schedule 1 [3], [15] and [31] make statute law revision amendments in relation to
references in the Principal Act to SES units.

Schedule 1 [5] and [9] repeal section 5 and amend section 8, respectively, of the
Principal Act to remove civil defence functions of the State Emergency Service.

Schedule 1 [27] makes a consequential amendment.

Schedule 1 [6] amends section 7 of the Principal Act to reflect the volunteer status
of the officers and members of SES units.

Schedule 1 [7] amends section 8 of the Principal Act to include the protection of
persons from dangers to their safety and health, and property from destruction or
damage, arising from floods and storms, as one of the functions of the State
Emergency Service.

Schedule 1 [8], [13], [26] and [32] remove references to “tempest” and “tempests”
in the Principal Act, which are superfluous terms already covered by references to
“storm” and “storms”.

Schedule 1 [10] and [28] amend sections 8 and 21, respectively, of the Principal Act
to update references to various emergency services organisations.

Schedule 1 [12] amends section 11 of the Principal Act to provide that the
Director-General may use the title “State controller” in the exercise of his or her
functions, and that the Deputy Director-General may use the title “Deputy State
controller”.

Schedule 1 [14] substitutes section 14 of the Principal Act to remove the requirement
that the Director-General, before dividing the State into regions, is to obtain the
approval of the State Emergency Operations Controller.

Schedule 1 [16] substitutes section 16 of the Principal Act to replace the term
division controller with region controller, reflecting the change in terminology from
divisions to regions. The section provides for the appointment of a member of staff
of the State Emergency Service as a region controller for a region. The section also
allows for the appointment of a deputy region controller, which was previously
provided for in the State Emergency Service Regulation 2001.

Schedule 1 [17] amends section 17 of the Principal Act to allow the Director-General
to appoint more than one local controller for a local government area.

Schedule 1 [20] makes a consequential amendment.

Schedule 1 [18] amends section 17 of the Principal Act to allow the Director-General
to revoke the appointment of a local controller at any time and for any reason.

Schedule 1 [21] inserts proposed sections 17A–17D into the Principal Act, the
provisions of which were previously contained in the State Emergency Service
Regulation 2001.

Proposed section 17A (Unit controllers) provides for the appointment and
responsibilities of a unit controller, and for unit controllers to be subject to the
directions of the Director-General, the relevant region controller or the relevant local
controller.

Proposed section 17B (Terms of appointment for local and unit controllers) provides
for the term of appointment for local controllers and unit controllers to be subject to
an annual review and report. These provisions were previously contained in the State
Emergency Service Regulation 2001.

Proposed section 17C (Local and unit controller deputies) provides for the
appointment of deputy controllers in relation to local controllers and unit controllers.

Proposed section 17D (Region headquarters unit) provides that the State Emergency
Service may make available such of its staff and facilities as the Director-General
considers appropriate to establish a headquarters for a region.

Schedule 1 [22] amends section 18 of the Principal Act to allow the Director-General
to register any group of persons as an SES unit. Currently, only an association of
persons formed for the purpose of dealing with emergencies to which the Principal
Act applies may be registered as an SES unit.

Schedule 1 [23] inserts proposed section 18AA (Granting, suspension and
withdrawal of membership of SES units) which provides for the manner in which
membership of an SES unit may be granted, suspended or withdrawn. These
provisions were previously contained in the State Emergency Service
Regulation 2001.

Schedule 1 [24] amends section 18A of the Principal Act to clarify the definition of
senior emergency officer for the purposes of Part 5 of that Act.

Schedule 1 [25] updates a reference to a rural fire brigade.

Schedule 1 [30] amends section 23 of the Principal Act to provide that the
Director-General may make arrangements with States and Territories that do not
have similar SES units to this State to assist those States and Territories in relation to
certain emergencies.

Schedule 1 [33] inserts proposed section 28A (Donations of financial or material
support) to provide that the unit controller of an SES unit must keep written records
of any donations of financial or material support provided to the unit, and that a copy
of those records is to be furnished to the Director-General if requested. These
provisions were previously contained in the State Emergency Service
Regulation 2001.

Schedule 1 [34] enables savings and transitional regulations to be made as a
consequence of the proposed Act. Schedule 1 [35] makes a consequential
amendment.

Schedule 1 [36] inserts savings and transitional provisions as a consequence of the
enactment of the proposed Act.

Schedule 2 Amendment of State Emergency and
Rescue Management Act 1989
Schedule 2 makes an amendment consequential on the amendment made by
Schedule 1 [24].

Note: If this Bill is not modified, these Explanatory Notes would reflect the Bill as passed in the House. If the Bill has been amended by Committee, these Explanatory Notes may not necessarily reflect the Bill as passed.

 

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