Abstract | This paper will review the legal obligation
upon the emergency services to warn the
community of impending natural disasters.
The essential legal elements in ‘failure
to warn’ cases will be identified and, with
reference to findings from post event
inquiries (including the 2009 Victorian
Bushfires Royal Commission), post event
litigation (including litigation arising
from the 2003 Canberra fires) and recent
amendments to legislation (including the
Fire Services Commissioner 2010 (Vic)) the
implications for the emergency services
and their media advisers will be discussed.
This paper will show that agencies must, in
future, put as much effort into ‘putting out
the information’ as they do in ‘putting out
the fire’! |