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CLAUSE NOTES
Fire Service Amendment Bill 2012
Clause 1: Short Title
Clause 1 is a formal provision specifying the title of the proposed
Act.
Fire Service Amendment Act 2012
Clause 2: Commencement
Clause 2 is a formal provision specifying that the Bill will
commence on the day it receives Royal Assent.
Clause 3: Principal Act
Clause 3 identifies that the amendments contained in the Bill
relate to the Fire Service Act 1979 (the Act).
Clause 4: Section 3 amended (Interpretation)
Clause 4 amends section 3 (interpretation of Part 1) of the Act as
follows:
Subclause (a) inserts a definition of ,,fire management.
fire management means a strategic defined program
to manage bushfire fuels.
Subclause (b) omits "fire management area" in lower case from
the definition of Fire Management Area and substitutes it with
"Fire Management Area" in upper case.
CA
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Subclause (c) omits the definitions of Special Fire Area and
Special Fire Area Committee.
Subclause (d) omits "volunteer." with a full stop from the
definition of volunteer member and substitutes "volunteer;" with
a semicolon.
Subclause (e) inserts two definitions ,,Wellington Park and
,,Wellington Park Management Trust.
Wellington Park has the same meaning as in the
Wellington Park Act 1993.
Wellington Park Management Trust means the Trust
established under section 9 of the Wellington Park Act
1993.
Clause 5: Section 8 amended (Functions and powers of
Commission)
Clause 5 amends section 8 of the Act:
Subclause (a) omits section 8(1A). The training of officers and
firefighters is called up in Section 10(2)(b) of the Act and there
does not need to be a specific reference to hazard reduction
burning as in Section 8(1A).
Subclause (a) omits subsections 8(2) and 8(3) of the Act.
Previously these functions were carried out by the Commission.
The Council will have responsibility for Fire Management Area
Committee fire protection plans and the review of those plans on
an annual basis.
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Subclause (b) omits from subsection (6) the word "must" and
substitutes it for "is to".
Subclause (c) inserts a subsection after subsection (6). Subsection
(7) defines the responsibilities of the Commission in relation to
reserved land as defined in the Nature Conservation Act 2002
and the National Parks and Reserves Act 2002. The Commission
must also take into consideration any management plan that is
in place for the reserved land.
Clause 6: Section 15 amended (Functions of Council)
Clause 6 amends section 15 of the Act:
Subclause (a) omits "The Council" and adds a new subsection to
Section (15) that will be identified as subsection "(1) The
Council".
Subclause (b) omits the word "extinguishment" from paragraph
(c) and substitutes it for "mitigation". The Council is not
responsible for the extinguishment of bushfires. The Council has a
shared responsibility in relation to identifying strategic bushfire
risks throughout the State and mitigating the risk of bushfires.
Subclause (c) omits the word "extinguishment" from paragraph
(d) and substitutes it for "mitigation". The Council does not have
a responsibility for the extinguishment of bushfires.
Subclause (d) omits "Commission." from paragraph (e) and
substitutes it for "Commission prepared under section 107G;"
The Council must prepare a report to be inserted in the
Commissions annual report called up under section 107G of the
Act.
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Subclause (e) inserts a new paragraph for the Council to provide
an annual report to the Commission on the activities of Fire
Management Area Committees. This report will be provided for
inclusion in the Commissions annual report.
Subclause (f)(2) inserts a new subsection 2(a) and (b).
2 (a) requires the Council to consider each fire
protection plan submitted to it pursuant to section
20(1)(c) of the Act.
2 (b) The Council may approve the plan or approve the
plan subject to any modifications as it thinks fit.
Subclause (f)(2)(c) requires the Council to reject a fire protection
plan and to instruct a Committee to recast the plan should it be
deficient.
Subclause (f)(3) inserts a new subsection that instructs the
Council to perform its functions in respect of Wellington Park in a
manner that is consistent with the purposes for which Wellington
Park is set aside under the Wellington Park Act 1993 and
consistent with any management plan in force in respect of
Wellington Park.
Subclause (f)(4) inserts a new subsection that instructs the
Council to perform its functions in respect of reserved land in a
manner that is consistent with the purposes for which the
reserved land is set aside under the Nature Conservation Act
2002 and the National Parks and Reserves Management Act
2002 and consistent with any management plan in force in
respect of the reserved land.
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Clause 7: Section 17 amended (Fire Management Areas)
Clause 7 amends section 17 of the Act. Subsections (1) and (2)
are omitted and substituted for the following subsections;
Subclause (1) by omitting subsection (1) and substituting it to
enable the Council to publish in the Gazette a notice declaring
any area of the State a Fire Management Area.
Subclause (2)(a) enables the Council, by notice, to assign a
suitable name to the Fire Management Area that the Council
thinks fit. This name may reflect the demographic or topographic
area that the Fire Management Area is located.
Subclause (2)(b) enables the Council, by notice, to publish a
map of the Fire Management Area.
Clause 8: Section 18 amended (Fire Management Area
Committees)
Clause 8 amends section 18 of the Act to enable the Council to
establish Fire Management Area Committees.
Subclause (a) omits reference in subsection (1) to the
"Commission" and substitutes it for the "Council". Fire
Management Area Committees will now report to the Council.
Subclause (b) omits paragraph (b) from subsection (2) and
substitutes it with a paragraph enabling each local council,
which municipal area lies either wholly or partly within the fire
management area, to have a representative on the fire
management area committee. Or, those councils which
municipal area lies either wholly or partly within the fire
management area can jointly nominate a single person to
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represent the councils as a collective on the fire management
area committee.
Subclause (c) omits paragraph (e) from subsection (2) and
substitutes the following sub subsections (e) and (f);
Sub subsection (e) if any part of Wellington Park is within
the Fire Management Area, the Committee will include
a person nominated by the Wellington Park
Management Trust.
Sub subsection (f) where a brigade boundary is wholly
or partly within the fire management area, a single
person jointly nominated by the brigade chiefs of those
brigades is to be nominated to represent those
brigades on the fire management area committee.
Subclause (d) omits from subsection (3) the word "Commission"
and substitutes it for "Council".
Subclause (e) omits from subsection (4) the word "Commission"
and substitutes it for "Council".
Subclause (f) omits from subsection (7) the word "Commission"
and substitutes it for "Council".
Clause 9: Section 20 substituted
Clause 9 repeals section 20 of the Act and substitutes it with the
following section; 20. Functions and powers of Fire Management
Area Committees. And, adds Section 21 to the Act, Directions in
relation to Fire Management Areas.
Subclause (1) establishes certain functions on the Committee;
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Subclause (1)(a) requires a fire management area committee to
coordinate fire management activities within its Fire
Management Area and those activities are to include:
(i) community education and information; and
(ii) bushfire fuel management.
Subclause (1)(b) requires a committee to identify and assess the
community bushfire risks within the fire management area and to
prioritise works to mitigate the risks identified.
Subclause (1)(c) requires the committee to prepare a fire
protection plan for its fire management area and then submit
that plan for approval by the Council no later than 30 September
of that year. The plan must be prepared for the next 12 months
commencing on 1 October of that year.
Subclause (1)(d) stipulates that a Committees fire protection
plan must be consistent and integrated with:
(i) the State Fire Protection Plan;
(ii) State vegetation fire management policy; and
(iii) any instructions or guidelines that the Council may
from time to time issue to the Committee
regarding the fire protection plan.
Subclause (1)(e) requires the Committee to provide advice to
the Council on fire management issues and any other function
that the Council may refer to the Committee.
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Subclause (1)(f) requires the Committee to advise the Council on
such matters concerning fire management, that in the opinion of
the Committee, should be brought to the Councils attention.
Subclause (1)(g) requires a Committee to perform such other
functions relating to the prevention or mitigation of vegetation
fires as the Council may direct.
Subclause (2) provides a Committee with the power to do all
things necessary or convenient to be done in connection with
the performance of its functions.
Subclause (3) directs a Committee to perform its functions in
respect of Wellington Park in a manner that is consistent with any
purpose for which Wellington Park is set aside under the
Wellington Park Act 1993 and also to be consistent with any
management plan in force in respect of Wellington Park.
Subclause (4) directs a Committee to perform its functions in
respect of any reserved land in a manner that is consistent with
the purpose for which the reserved land was set aside under the
National Parks and Reserves Management Act 2002 and
National Parks and Reserves Act 2002 and also consistent with
any management plan that is in place in respect of the reserved
land.
Subclause (5) inserts a definition of fire protection plan to clarify
that all references to fire protection plan are in relation to the
prevention, preparation, response and recovery arrangements
for that fire protection plan.
Fire protection plan means a plan that describes the
prevention, preparation, response and recovery
arrangements for one or more hazards.
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Clause 9: 21. Directions in relation to Fire Management Areas
Clause 9 adds Section 21 to the Act.
Subsection (1) is inserted to provide powers to the Commission to
direct the Council in writing in relation to the performance of the
Councils functions in managing Fire Management Areas.
Subsection (2) is inserted to direct the Council to comply with any
directions given by the Commission relating to subsection (1)
Subsection (3) is inserted to enable the Council to give directions
to Committees relating to their performance of the Committees
functions and management of the Fire Management Area.
Subsection (4) is inserted to direct Committees to comply with
any directions given by the Council under subsection (3).
Clause 10: Sections 54 and 55 repealed
Sections 54 and 55 of the Principal Act are repealed.
Clause 11: Section 65 amended (Fire permit officers)
Clause 11 amends section 65 of the Act.
Subclause (a) is amended by omitting from subsection (1)
reference to the "Commission" and changing it to refer to the
"Council". The Council will now appoint fire permit officers.
Subclause (b) is amended by omitting from subsection (4)(b)
reference to the "Commission" and changing it to refer to the
"Council". The Council will now appoint fire permit officers.
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Subsection (c) is amended by inserting two new subsections after
subsection (4) that are identified as subsection (5) and (6).
Subsection (5) is inserted to establish fire permit officers
appointed by the Commission prior to the
commencement of this Bill are recognised as being
appointed by the Council. On the same terms and
conditions as they were appointed by the Commission.
Subsection (6) is inserted to define the commencement
day as meaning the day the Fire Service Amendment
Bill 2012 commences.
Clause 12: Section 65B amended (Public notice of
appointment, &c.)
Clause 12 amends Section 65B of the Act.
Subclause (a) is amended by omitting from subsection (1)
reference to the "Commission" and changing it to refer to the
"Council". The Council may notify by public notice in the
Gazette or any newspaper the appointment of a permit officer.
Subclause (b) is amended by omitting from subsection (2)
reference to the "Commission" and changing it to refer to the
"Council". The Council may place any information in any public
notice as stimulated in subsection (1) as the Council considers
necessary in the public interest.
Clause 13: Section 105 amended (Expenses of Council and
Committees)
Clause 13 amends Section 105 of the Act.
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Subclause (a) omits the word "Advisory" as this specifically refers
to "the Council" being the State Fire Management Council in the
interpretation of the Act.
Subclause (b) Omits the words "Fire Management Area and
Special Fire Area Committees" and substitutes it for "and Fire
Management Area Committees". Special Fire Areas will no
longer exist after the commencement of this Bill.
Clause 14: Schedule 5A amended (Savings and transitional
Provisions)
Clause 14 amends the Act by removing clauses 6 and 7 from
Schedule 5A. These clauses specifically refer to Special Fire Areas
and Hobart Special Fire Area. These will no longer exist after this
amendment Bill has commenced.
Clause 15: Repeal of Act
Clause 15 is a standard provision included in Bills to enable the
automatic repeal of amendment Acts.
Clause 16 repeals this Act three hundred and sixty five days from
its commencement.