Emergency services to be boosted following Budget announcement

AFAC, the National Council for fire and emergency services, welcomed the federal Budget announcement committing $1.7 million to the National Resource Sharing Centre (NRSC), made by Minister for Emergency Management and National Recovery and Resilience Senator the Hon Bridget McKenzie. The NRSC, operated by AFAC with state and territory fire and emergency services, facilitates the sharing of resources in Australia and internationally in response to a disaster event.

The NRSC was responsible for moving hundreds of specialised personnel from across the country to Queensland and NSW in February including swift water rescue technicians and flood boat crews, incident management specialists, field crews, command and administration staff, storm crews and community liaison officers. The NRSC has recently re-activated, with more than 20 personnel currently in NSW, including fleet technicians, in-water teams, jurisdictional liaison officers and deployment managers.

The investment will be used to better plan, prepare and deploy resources in Australia and overseas, while keeping in close contact with the Australian Government’s National Situation Room.

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