A Select Committee of the NSW Parliament is carrying out a review of the existing coronial system, which holds inquiries into unexplained deaths, damaging bushfires and some other matters.
The Select Committee is reporting on the scope and limits of coronial jurisdiction, resources, timeliness and appropriate changes.
There are concerns about these matters and how coronial processes can be more effective. Many authoritative submissions to the Select Committee have called for a standalone court.
IBG’s submission to the Select Committee is the only one of 48 submissions received that specifically focused on bushfires. IBG was subsequently invited to appear before the committee on 30 November 2021. IBG presented an Opening Statement and answered questions from the committee. IBG’s session can be seen on the NSW Government’s YouTube channel.
Under the Coroners Act 2009, the coroner has “jurisdiction to hold an inquiry concerning the cause and origin of a fire or explosion if the coroner is satisfied that the fire or explosion has destroyed or damaged any property…”. Fire includes bushfires, and inquiries can “extend to the examination of all of the circumstances concerning the fire or explosion (including, but not limited to, an examination of its cause and origin)“.
The NSW Coroner has held inquiries into a number of major bushfires, most recently the Sir Ivan Dougherty Drive Leadville fire of 2017 and the 2013 Wambelong fire. These have delivered some good if limited findings and recommendations but more than two years after the events.
The coroner is presently conducting a lengthy inquiry into the Black Summer bushfires of 2019-2020. Stage 1 public hearings are expected to conclude in mid 2022, to be followed by Stage 2 hearings which will focus on “selected case studies, any expert evidence and recommendations“.
IBG comment
- IBG has long called for more effective, expert, timely and most of all independent processes for reviewing bushfires. While coronial inquiries are independent, they lack specific expertise, can only investigate damaging events and are very slow to deliver. Other processes including internal agency reviews and special inquiries (eg. 2021 NSW Independent Bushfire Inquiry) also have serious drawbacks.
- IBG advocates for an independent Inspector-General of Emergency Management, which would be able to conduct independent reviews of both successful and damaging bushfire operations in an expert and blame-free process. These could promptly deliver important lessons for fire fighters and managers and feed into any necessary coronial processes.
- As a starting point, any effective review would need to be based on a factual and technical analysis of what happened in a fire, to establish a common understanding for discussion.
- There are many good models of this sort of review system. Other similar government functions in Australia have long had independent oversight, including the police, the military, transport and security agencies.
Independent Bushfire Group 