Question Time

VICTORIAN BUSHFIRES ROYAL COMMISSION

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO (14:44): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Urban Development and Planning a question regarding the Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission and implications for South Australia.

Leave granted.

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO: The Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission recently handed down its findings into the tragic loss of life in 2009. This government has since provided an interim response to its recommendations. The desire to protect human life from a repeat of this tragedy has led to some interest from residents in high-risk areas in the possibility of installing shelters on their properties. Will the minister provide advice on any state government initiatives to assist South Australians who want to install bushfire bunkers before the next bushfire season?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister Assisting the Premier in Public Sector Management) (14:45): Following the devastating Victorian bushfires in 2009, which claimed 173 lives, there was considerable public interest both locally and nationally in bushfire bunkers or shelters as a means of enabling people to survive a bushfire. In particular, there was interest from a number of South Australians residing in high bushfire risk areas to install bushfire shelters.

While there are almost miraculous stories of those who survived these devastating bushfires by sheltering in bunkers, the Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission also heard details of seven people who, sadly, perished while sheltering in bushfire bunkers. In the immediate aftermath of the Victorian bushfires, this loss of life was less publicised than the stories of those who survived. At the time of the Victorian bushfires, there was no national standard for the construction of a bushfire shelter, so there was no way of being able to assess whether any particular design would provide a reasonably safe refuge during such a catastrophic fire event.

Bushfire shelters are fundamentally different from other buildings for fire safety. With most other buildings, the objective is to ensure that people can leave a building safely and quickly in the event of a fire. With bushfire shelters, the intention is to retain people inside the building, using it as a fire resistant container to protect them from the effects of a bushfire as it passes through an area.

A number of products have begun to appear on the market claiming to be bushfire bunkers but, without a national standard, it is difficult to assess whether these structures could deliver on their promise of being a safe haven in a bushfire. This prompted the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to warn consumers about representations being made by those offering a bunker as protection from a bushfire.

In South Australia, a cautionary note was issued summarising all of the things that needed to be considered by homeowners contemplating installing a bunker. As a result of this uncertainty, the Australian Building Codes Board announced in September 2009 that it was developing a standard for bushfire bunkers as a matter of urgency. On 30 April this year, the Australian Building Codes Board released the Performance Standard for Private Bushfire Shelters which, I am advised is the first such standard in the world.

Under normal processes, the earliest date for adoption of this standard in South Australia through the national Building Code of Australia would be 1 May 2011. An added difficulty in South Australia, as in other jurisdictions, is that there are very few people who have the expertise to be able to either design or assess proposals for bushfire bunkers against the new standard. Accordingly, a somewhat different approval process has been initiated, where designs are reviewed by a panel with technical building expertise rather than individuals.

In most normal circumstances, the assessment of buildings would be conducted either by qualified officers from local councils or private certifiers with the professional expertise to ensure that they comply with the relevant technical requirements. However, with the bushfire season soon to approach us, and with many local council officers and private certifiers without the expertise required to assess the structures, I took advice as to the best course of responsibly progressing this matter. I know that the Hon. Mr Brokenshire, as a resident of Mount Compass, has taken an interest in this issue, along with several other members in this place and elsewhere.

New development regulations were gazetted on 26 August, adopting the performance standard for private bushfire shelters as developed by the Australian Building Codes Board. To ensure new bushfire bunkers in South Australia comply with the performance standard, all applications to begin building these structures will be referred to the Building Rules Assessment Commission for its concurrence.

As many honourable members are aware, the Building Rules Assessment Commission is established by the Development Assessment Commission under the Development Act 1993. It is a peer referral group of technical experts appointed to ensure national consistency and timely decision-making on technical matters relating to compliance with the performance requirements of the Building Code of Australia.

This government remains committed to doing all it can to preserve human life and property in the event of a bushfire and to help make our state as safe as possible. The state government is moving quickly, but carefully, and taking a considered approach to ensure that South Australia's response to the Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission, and other bushfire issues, will help reduce the likelihood of a catastrophic loss of life in a similar bushfire event. I, along with all members in this place, genuinely hope that South Australia does not experience a catastrophic event to match Victoria's Black Saturday tragedy.

The state government is initiating a range of measures to ensure that South Australians have a greater awareness of the danger of bushfires and also provide considered policies to help lessen the chances of similar tragedies. The introduction of assessment controls for the building of bushfire bunkers in South Australia is one of many steps this government is undertaking for the safety of South Australians.