NSW promises 'HazardWatch' app by end of 2022

The NSW state government has published [pdf] its full response to the independent inquiry into the NSW floods earlier this year, and has committed to some tech investments to back up its response.

Of the 28 recommendations made in the inquiry’s report, the government has given unqualified support to just six, with the remaining 22 receiving “in principle” acceptance subject to further work.

Those needing technology investment include a NSW disaster app (supported), while other recommendations received in-principle support: more resilient essential services, the merger of Rural Fire Service (RFS) and State Emergency Service (SES) back-office functions, and coordinating disaster communications within the Department of Customer Service.

The inquiry said a single app would “improve community confidence in government messaging and warnings”, by consolidating individual agencies’ warning apps, providing a simple interface, delivering real time flood warnings with detail down to “raw information from gauges”. 

It would also allow citizens to provide on-the-ground information such as, for example, photographs and “local knowledge observations” before, during and after flood events.

The government agrees, and said its HazardWatch app will launch “by the end of the year” with an initial focus on floods, and over the years, it will be “expanded to include all hazards and incidents occurring in NSW and across Australia”.

The inquiry also recommended the government work to minimise disruptions to essential services like power, water, and telecommunications. 

This includes improving backup power for mobile facilities and availability of temporary facilities, ensuring that infrastructure owners are using “up to the minute, whole-of-catchment models” in their planning, and putting roaming arrangements in place for basic voice, text, and data services.

The inquiry’s recommendation that disaster communications be coordinated by a Public Information Functional Area Co-Ordinator (PIFAC) within the Department of Customer Service is supported in principle, with the government saying the PIFAC’s location is under consideration.

The government has offered only muted support for the recommendation that the RFS and SES back-office and corporate service functions be merged.

The government said: “Further consideration is required to examine the operational implications of this recommendation, including the feasibility of undertaking this before the next storm season.”