Vol. 12 Issue 2. 2019

VOL 12 2019
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
Lest We Forget
25th April

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CONTENTS
2
Editor’s Note
Latest Events
4
5
5
6
10
14
18
20
24
29
33
34
• 2019 Gippsland Bushfire Fund
• Police Commissioner’s statement
on Christchurh Massacre
• ESTA wins Police & Emergency
services Inter-trophy
Emergency Law with Professor
Michael Eburn
Reeling Veterans fishing for therapy
Strained Australian/Turkish
relations ahead of ANZAC Day
ANZAC Heroes
Summer weather warmest on record
National Plan needed for threat of
climate disasters
Livestreaming Terror
Emergency Contact Information
2019 Budget modernises Medicare
Cover Image:
ANZAC DAY
Red Poppies
They shall grow not old, as we
that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the
years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and
in the morning
We will remember them.

EDITORS NOTE
FROM THE EDITOR
April is such an important month for all Australians
and New Zealander’s. On April 25th we pay our
respects to those service men and women who have
fought bravely for our country and those who are still
serving in so many different capacities.
It is especially poignant this year as we stand
alongside our New Zealand neighbours in the wake
of the Christchurch mosque massacres. This incident
reminds us of the solidarity we have always shared
with our brothers and sisters in NZ. Our hearts are
with you all. Kia kaha.
ANZAC Day brings an opportunity to reflect on what
our defence personnel have gone through in the line
of duty. Many suffer from PTSD due to the traumatic
events they have witnessed or been a part of. There
is a fantastic organisation in the Northern Territory
called “Reeling Veterans”. They are helping veterans
who suffer from post traumatic stress disorder using
fishing as a form of therapy. You can read more about
the Reeling Veterans in this edition.
In the wake of the Queensland floods, cyclones in
the west and north and the bushfires in the south, it
is our defence personnel who are on call to organise
evacuation and coordinate relief efforts. This ANZAC
day we remember today’s heroes alongside those we
have lost.
Follow us on our social channels
and on our new website
Lest We Forget
Emma Parker
Editor
www.ausemergencyservices.com.au
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NOVEMBER 2019
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LATEST EVENTS
Bendigo Bank and the Latrobe
Regional Hospital have worked
with representatives of Bunyip and
Mirboo North Community Bank®
branches, Department of Health and
Human Services, Cardinia, Baw Baw,
Wellington and East Gippsland Shires
and the City of Latrobe to establish this
public appeal to support community
recovery from the 2019 Gippsland
bushfires.
Funds raised will be used for a range of
locally identified charitable initiatives
such as clean-up activities, business
support or counselling, temporary
fencing, and water quality control
measures. Bendigo Bank’s Community
Enterprise Foundation CEO David
Impey said the Fund was able to help
build stronger local communities by
helping them respond to their current
and future needs.
“We urge people across Australia
to donate to the Fund and support
communities who have been impacted.
Community Relief Fund launched to
support fire affected communities
Emergency Management Victoria
has partnered with Bendigo Bank to
establish a Community Relief Fund
in support of community members
affected by the recent south east
Victoria fires.
The Fund aims to support communities
across Cardinia, Wellington, Baw Baw,
East Gippsland and Latrobe areas where
the fires destroyed homes and impacted
communities.
The Fund provides a formal channel for
the public to donate money directly to
affected communities and is designed
to achieve positive outcomes for
the community, by working directly
with local recovery committees and
structures to inform and drive the
distribution of funds.
Emergency Management
Commissioner Andrew Crisp thanked
the community for their support for
impacted communities during the
recent bushfires.
“The impact on these communities has
been significant. Recovery is different
for everyone and some people, families
and communities have a long journey
ahead of them.”
The Community Relief Fund is a
vital part of encouraging affected
communities to play an integral role in
managing their own recovery, by being
part of the Fund distribution process,
along with councils and the emergency
management sector.
Community members who want to help
can donate to the Fund, which will be
distributed collectively across impacted
communities, rather than to individuals
or specific groups.
The Community Relief Fund is
facilitated through a Memorandum
of Understanding between EMV and
Bendigo Bank. It is delivered through
the Bendigo Bank branch network and
has already been used for the collection
and distribution of donated funds
following emergencies.
“Our past experience tells us that
Australians are generous when it comes
to helping those in need. Monetary
donations are effective and provide
more flexibility than the donation of
material items or pre-loved goods.”
Donations to the Community Relief
Fund can be made at any Bendigo
Bank branch or online via https://www.
communityenterprisefoundation.com.
au/make-a-donation/appeal… (External
link) Anyone wishing to support
their local community is encouraged
to donate directly to this Fund, as
monetary donations are effective
and provide more flexibility than the
donation of material items or pre-loved
goods.
South East Victorian Fire Appeal
is a management account of the
Community Enterprise Foundation
ABN 69 694 230 518, PO Box 480,
Bendigo Vic 3552. Funds raised
from this appeal will be disbursed as
grants and gifts to eligible charitable
organisations to assist with relief,
recovery and reconstruction projects for
communities in the fire affected areas of
south east Victoria.

LATEST EVENTS
partners we ensure that we remain vigilant to extremism
leading to violence, in all of its forms.
The community continues to be one of the greatest sources
of intelligence that law enforcement can rely on. If you
know something or see something that doesn’t add up call
the National Security Hotline on 1800 123 400 or if you
think lives are in danger do not hesitate to call 000.
Police Commissioner’s
Statement on Christchurch
Tuesday, 19 March 2019
As I said on Friday, I am shocked and deeply saddened by
the events in Christchurch on Friday and I would like to
offer my heart-felt sympathies to the families, friends and
colleagues of victims of this horrendous terrorist attack. My
thoughts go also to Muslim communities throughout the
world, who are grieving for this senseless loss.
I commend the first responders in New Zealand for their
swift actions as this attack occurred. The response is
testimony to the skills and experience of police and other
emergency workers.
The efforts of the Australian Federal Police are focused on
keeping the community safe, and we have been working
hard with our partners since Friday to understand this
terrible event, and to support New Zealand authorities,
particularly the New Zealand Police investigation. This work
is being led by the NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Team.
The AFP is concerned about terrorism in all of its forms.
The AFP works with our domestic and international
partners to target criminals and criminal activity, not
ideologies or backgrounds. All individuals or groups that
seek to do us harm are treated seriously, and all criminality
is targeted regardless of the perpetrators’ background or
motivation.
There is simply no place in Australia for violence of this
nature. The Joint Counter Terrorism Teams across Australia
work seamlessly to ensure that all allegations of politically
motivated violence are treated equally, and with our security
ESTA’s CEO, Marty Smyth accepting the 2018 Inter-Services Trophy
ESTA wins Police and
Emergency Services Inter-
Services Trophy
Minister for Police and Emergency Services, Lisa
Neville, launched the 2019 Victoria Police and
Emergency Services Games at the MCG earlier this
month and presented ESTA’s CEO, Marty Smyth, with
the 2018 Inter-Services Trophy.
ESTA won the trophy because its competitors received
the highest number of points at last year’s games.
This year, ESTA’s competitors will join around 4000
police and emergency services workers from 23 different
agencies to compete in 43 different sports.
ESTA’s CEO, Marty Smyth said, “The 2018 Inter-
Services Trophy was a well-deserved win by our ESTA
participants. It was a great opportunity for our people to
come together with the emergency services sector and
get involved in the events, friendships and spirit of the
Games.”
This year’s games were run on Friday 22 March to
Sunday 31 March.

AUSTRALIAN EMERGENCY LAW with Professor Michael Eburn
A DISCUSSION ON
THE LAW THAT
APPLIES TO OR
AFFECTS AUSTRALIA’S
EMERGENCY
SERVICES AND
EMERGENCY
MANAGEMENT
Spontaneous
volunteers,
emergencies
and insurance
Feb 9, 2019
PHD
Barrister
Leading expert in Law
relating to Emergency
Management &
Emergency Services
Follow Michael Eburn
Facebook- facebook.com/EburnM/
Twitter - @EburnM
For his latest articles on Emergency
Law go to:
www.emergencylaw.wordpress.com
In light of the recent flooding in
Townsville I’m asked:
How are the spontaneous volunteers
helping before, during or after an
emergencies or disasters covered by
insurance, under legislation or other
laws?
This is a big question that we can only
touch the service here. The status of
management of spontaneous volunteers
is a growing issue and the subject of
research – see, for example, the Bushfire
and Natural Hazards CRC Research
Project ‘Out of uniform: building
community resilience through nontraditional
emergency volunteering’.
Spontaneous Volunteers
Spontaneous volunteers are those
that step up in an event to offer what
assistance they can but were not, before
the event, members of any organisation
that was training for and intending to
take part in an emergency response.
Spontaneous volunteering can take
many forms including:
• Those that step up and help their
neighbour;
• Those that step up and create
their own NGO out of need –
think Queensland Mud Army,
Christchurch Student Army,
Tasmania’s ‘Can we help’, Blazeaid
etc (some of which go onto to
become substantial and longrunning
aid agencies); or
• Those that turn up to work with an
established emergency service eg
those that are now being recruited
by NSW SES to help fill sandbags
etc but have never formally ‘joined’
the SES.
Insurance
Insurance is a contract between
the insured (the first party) and the
insurance company (the second party).
It is in effect a gamble. If I pay an
insurer a premium (say for the sake of
round numbers, $1000) then I’m betting
that the risk that I’m insuring will
happen. Again, for the sake of round
numbers, let’s assume the agreed value
of my house is $1,000,000.
In that case when I pay my $1000
premium, I’m betting with my insurer
that my house will burn down or be

otherwise destroyed. If I’m wrong,
then the insurer gets to keep my
premium. If I’m right the insurer pays
me $1m, that’s a payout of $1000:1.
The insurance company gets premiums
from many, many people and most of
them will be wrong, in any given year
their house won’t be destroyed. From
those premiums the insurance company
makes enough profit to give a return to
its shareholders as well as have money
in cash and investments to be able to
pay out to those few insurance holders
who do lose their home.
The critical point is that insurance is a
contract between the insured and the
insurer and the insurer pays out when
the risk that they guaranteed to cover –
that they accepted the bet on – happens.
There are two sorts of insurance. First
party and third party. First party
insurance means I’ve taken out a policy
to cover risk to me. Insurance on my
house, insuring my car against theft or
damage, income protection and health
insurance are all examples of first party
insurance. If the ‘bad’ thing happens
to me I make a claim on my insurance
policy and the insurer pays out to me.
Third party insurance covers my
liability to someone else. There is
compulsory third party insurance when
I register my car, an employer has to
have workers’ compensation insurance
to meet the employer’s liability to
injured workers, home insurance comes
with insurance to meet claims of people
injured on your property. The difference
here is that if someone makes a claim
against me, I claim on my insurance
policy and my insurer stands in my
place. The insurer can settle or defend
the claim, and they pay out if I am
legally liable. The person making the
claim is not claiming on my insurance,
they are claiming against me and I am
claiming against my insurance. That
will be relevant in the context of the
question ‘How are the spontaneous
volunteers … covered by insurance?’.
Volunteers that step up and help
their neighbour
Assume there is a street that goes up
a hill. A flood affects the house at the
bottom of the street (number 2) but not
the neighbouring house (number 4)
that is further up the hill. The resident
in number 4 goes into number 2 to
help with them clean up. This might
happen if the house is one of 1000
affected or if it’s the only house affected.
It might happen if the flood is due to a
rising river, or a burst water pipe in the
wall. This is just one neighbour going
to help another. Are they covered by
insurance?
We have to stop and ask: ‘what risk are
we considering?’ In this context the
biggest risk is injury. The neighbour
from number 4 is covered by insurance
if they have relevant first party
insurance, eg health insurance, accident
insurance, income protection insurance.
If they are injured due to the negligence
of the owner of number 2 they could
sue that person. If number 2 has
relevant insurance then the insurer will
take responsibility for the claim and
either settle it or defend it. As discussed
above, the neighbour from number 4 is
not claiming on that insurance policy as
they are not a party to it. The neighbour
from number 4 is not ‘covered’ by that
insurance, the resident at number 2 is.
Insurance does not however determine
liability, number 4 can sue number 2
whether number 2 has insurance or
not. If number 2 has insurance, their
insurer manages and meets the claim. If
number 2 does not have insurance, they
have to meet the claim themselves (but
number 4 probably wouldn’t bother as
there is little point suing people who are
not insured).
Those that step up and create their
own NGO out of need.
Here the issue becomes more complex
simply because the nature of these
organisations and what they end up
doing can vary so much with the need.
There is also another potential risk, that
is the risk that a volunteer will do some
harm at the place they are volunteering
(either accidentally or maliciously) or
that they will be accused of doing harm
(they are different risks).
It is however unlikely that any
organisation that has just sprung up
out of need will have any insurance in
which case the answer is the same as the
situation for volunteers that step up and
help their neighbour.
Where a person has suffered harm and
believes it was caused by the volunteer
they may look to the organisation for
relief but that would be very difficult.
First it would depend on what role
they were playing. If, for example, the
organisation operated a website where
people who wanted assistance could
list what they needed and people who
wanted to help could then offer to meet
that request, the organisation is in
no way asserting that the volunteer is
competent or reliable or the place that
they are going is safe and the person
seeking assistance is reliable. To the

extent one has a duty of care it’s a duty
to do what you said you would do
with reasonable care, not a duty to do
something you clearly weren’t doing.
One can see therefore that the potential
to ‘claim’ against the organisation
will depend very much on what it is
they were doing. Again the presence,
or absence, of insurance does not
determine whether there is liability
but again trying to sue a spontaneous
group that does not have insurance and
probably does not owe a duty of care to
anyone would be a waste of time and
money.
Those that turn up to work with
an established emergency service
or other organisation used to
dealing with volunteers
Volunteers that assist organisations
that use volunteers will be incorporated
into that organisation. That may be
an SES, a council or even a volunteer
management group eg Volunteering
Queensland. These organisations will
no doubt have insurance (or in the case
of government agencies will be covered
by the governments self-insurance
arrangements). These policies would be
expected to provide some protection
for volunteers that are injured and also
some legal representation if claims
are made against the volunteers or the
agency due to some alleged misconduct
(intentional or accidental) by the
volunteer.
In the emergency service context, there
are legislative provisions that impact
upon the status of volunteers in most
states and territories. Taking New
South Wales as an example, the State
Emergency Service Act 1989 (NSW) s
25 extends a protection from personal
liability to a ‘casual volunteer’ that is
‘a person who, with the consent of the
member or officer, assists a member
of the State Emergency Service or an
emergency officer in the exercise of
the Service’s functions’. The Workers
Compensation (Bush Fire, Emergency
and Rescue Services) Act 1987 (NSW)
provides workers compensation type
insurance to members of the Rural Fire
Service, the State Emergency Service
and to any person ‘who, in the opinion
of the Self Insurance Corporation
having regard to all the circumstances,
should be deemed to be an emergency
service worker for the purposes of this
Part’. That would extend, in my view, to
SES casual volunteers.
Every state and territory has legislation
to provide protection from civil
liability for volunteers and that would
include all volunteers, whether they
joined up this morning or many years
ago. In all states other than NSW, the
legislation says that even though the
volunteer is not liable for any mistake,
the organisation they volunteer for
is. In that case if there is an allegation
that the volunteer did some damage
the organisation will have to manage
that and the organisation’s insurer
(if there is one) will meet the claim.
That may feel, to the volunteer, that
they are protected or covered by the
organisations’ insurance but that’s not
quite the correct way to see it. It’s not
that they are covered by ‘insurance’, they
are not liable, the organisation is and
it is the organisation that is covered by
insurance. If there is no insurance, it’s
still not the volunteer who is liable.
Regardless of the legislation, when
a person is volunteering under the
direction and control of an agency like a
State Emergency Service or fire service,
they are not representing themselves.
They are doing the work of that service,
whether they are formally a member or
not. The organisation will be vicariously
liable for any negligent (but not
criminal) damage they cause.
In the absence of a statutory
compensation scheme such as that

in the Workers Compensation (Bush Fire, Emergency
and Rescue Services) Act 1987 (NSW), or required by
the Fire and Emergency Services Act 1990 (Qld) s 154C
(Commissioner to insure SES members etc.) an agency will
only be liable to compensate a volunteer if the volunteer can
show that their injury was caused by the agencies negligence.
Even if they are not required to have insurance, there may
well be many cases where organisations do have ‘third party’
insurance that does offer a no-fault benefit. A volunteer
organisation may have a workers’ compensation type
insurance policy to pay out benefits to injured volunteers
without need for that volunteer to prove any negligence (see
for example Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act
2003 (Qld) s 14 Rural fire brigade member; s 15 Volunteer
firefighter or volunteer fire warden; s 17 Honorary ambulance
officers; s 18 Person in voluntary or honorary position
with religious, charitable or benevolent organisation; s 19
Person in voluntary or honorary position with non-profit
organisation). Non-government agencies would not be
required to do that so I can’t say that such a policy exists,
or does not exist, but in most large organisations and any
government organisation you would expect that would
indeed be the case.
Conclusion
There is no simple answer to the question:
How are the spontaneous volunteers helping before, during
or after an emergencies or disasters covered by insurance,
under legislation or other laws?
It depends (as it always does) on what state they are in. It
also depends on the nature of their volunteering and the sort
of risk that is being considered. Fundamentally how people
are covered by insurance depends firstly on whether there
is insurance and then on the terms of that insurance – what
risks in what circumstances.
If the question means how are they covered for compensation
for injuries that is in fact quite a different question. Again
it depends on the state or territory. In NSW there is a
statutory scheme to cover emergency service volunteers, in
Queensland agencies like the SES are required to take out
a workers compensation insurance and other agenices may
chose to do so. If a person is volunteering with an agency
like that then they will have the benefit of that insurance. If
they are simply helping their neighbour then they won’t.
If the risk that you are concerned about is a risk that
volunteers will be liable for honest errors made during their
volunteering, those that are volunteering with and as part of
the response of a community organisation will be protected
by volunteer protection legislation in each state and territory.
Again, those that are just helping their neighbours will not
have that.
But that should not stop people helping the neighbours.
We all do things every day including helping friends and
neighbours without worrying about whether or not we’re
insured. The risk of getting sued is no-existent. The risk of
getting injured whilst helping in a fire or flood may be higher
but a volunteer should think about that, not insurance, when
deciding to help. Wear proper footwear and gloves, and go
for it.
Professor Michael Eburn
This article originally appeared on the blog Australian
Emergency Law (https://emergencylaw.wordpress.com/)
and is reproduced with the permission of the author.
As a blog post it represents the author’s opinion based
on the law at the time it was written. The blog, or this
article, is not legal advice and cannot be relied upon
to determine any person’s legal position. How the law
applies to any specific situation or event depends on
all the circumstances. If you need to determine legal
rights and obligations with respect to any event that has
happened, or some action that is proposed, you must
consult a lawyer for advice based on the particular
circumstances. Trade unions, professional indemnity
insurers and community legal centres can all be a source
for initial legal advice.

Reeling Veterans
find therapy
on the water
There are more than 1.5 million people in Australia who suffer
post traumatic stress disorder. A condition that is the result of
exposure to violence, trauma and shock. First responders and our
defence personnel are the most vulnerable to this disorder due to
the very nature of their work.

PTSD manifests itself in many different ways and each case is very specific to the type of trauma that
has been experienced. There are four main groups of symptoms that occur for sufferers. They are:
• Re-experiencing – re-living the traumatic event through distressing, unwanted memories, vivid
nightmares and/or flashbacks, intrusive thoughts
• Avoidance – avoiding activities, places, people, thoughts or feelings that bring back memories of
the trauma
• Hyper vigilance – constantly alert for danger, sleeping difficulties, irritability, anger, finding it
difficult to concentrate, and being easily startled
• Feeling emotionally numb – Losing interest in day to day activities, feeling detached from family
and friends, thinking negatively
It is not unusual for people with PTSD to experience other mental health problems like depression
or anxiety. Many sufferers feel overwhelmed and may have withdrawn from those around them.
Reluctant to seek help and reach out, people with PTSD are at increased risk of self harm or suicide.
Treatment for PTSD is out there, but having the support of your loved ones and your mates is a vital
ingredient for sufferers to be able to seek help. Reeling Veterans, an organisation founded by veteran
Michael Hurren, provides an outlet where mateship and support is in abundance whilst dropping a line
in and having a chat.

Reeling Veterans grew from a
really simple idea. The idea
that reaching out to veterans
and asking “would you like to go
fishing?” may help them to have a
chat, open up or quite simply just get
them out of the house.
Veteran, Michael Hurren, from
Darwin suffers PTSD after two
deployments to Afghanistan. He was
actively seeking help for his condition
and found it frustrating that there
was very little support for veterans
with mental illness in Darwin. Lack
of funding was always the excuse
given. “Call Lifeline” he was usually
told. The only time he felt completely
relaxed was when he was out on his
boat “wetting a line”. He used fishing
as a form of therapy.
Michael was constantly reading and
hearing about fellow veterans taking
their own lives. Time and time
again he would read the same story.
Young veterans either being denied
treatment or their support being
taken away after they were deemed
“better”.
The turning point was when Michael
found out that another young veteran
had taken his own life. Michael knew
and served with him in Afghanistan
and his death hit Michael very hard.
He felt he needed to do something
to try and stop this epidemic. This is
when Reeling Veterans was born.
Through sponsorship and fundraising
Michael raised the funds to get a team
into the Barra Nationals, a major
barramundi fishing tournament held
at the mighty Daly River about 2
hours south of Darwin.
From there Reeling Veterans has gone
from strength to strength. A news
story was run about them and the
response was overwhelming! They
were contacted by so many people
wanting to be involved and people
who needed help.
The wonderful people from Dhipirri
Barra & Sportfishing Lodge (in
Arnhemland, Northern Territory)
have donated 4 trips per year to
groups of veterans. This has been
an amazing gift and the first trip
occurred at the end of October 2018.
So, what started as an idea to put
a team in a fishing tournament,
has now become a not-for-profit
organisation who run monthly fishing
outings for anyone who would like to
come along. They also hold monthly
catch ups at restaurants around
Darwin.
Reeling Veterans is about mateship.
It’s about people getting together in a
non-judgemental environment where
they feel comfortable and can talk
about their problems, if they want
to. We have one member who, before
hearing about Reeling Veterans, never
left the house. Now he doesn’t miss
an event.
If Reeling Veterans can help even just
one person think twice before taking
their own life, then that is a success
story.
Reeling Veterans is a registered
charity that is based and run in
Darwin, however they are contacted
by people all over Australia. For more
information on Reeling Veterans, visit
their website www.reelingveterans.
com or facebook page: Reeling
Veterans.
With thanks to Michael Hurren
Source: Fearless.org.au/Australia21 for
information about PTSD

Christchurch attack
strains Australian-
Turkish relations ahead
of ANZAC day

Weeks ahead of the ANZAC
commemoration at
Gallipoli, serious tensions
erupted between Australia and Turkey,
after threatening comments by Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the
wake of the Christchurch massacre.
Scott Morrison on Wednesday called
in the Turkish ambassador to give
him a tongue lashing. He demanded
a withdrawal of the remarks and the
taking down of a nationalist video
featuring footage of the Australian
gunman’s live stream.
The strength of the Prime Minister’s
response has an eye to the emotional
place of Gallipoli in the Australian
narrative. But he also has to be careful
not to cause the Turkish government
to respond by hampering next month’s
ANZAC commemoration.
President Erdoğan, electioneering
at Çanakkale, just across from the
Gallipoli peninsula, referred to the
massacre, saying: “They test us with
the messages they give in New Zealand
[…] We understood that your hatred
is alive […] We understood that you
begrudge our lives.”
He said: “Your ancestors came. […]
Later on, some of them returned back
on their feet, some of them in coffins.
“If you will come here with the same
intentions, we will be waiting for
you. You should have no doubt that
we will farewell you just like your
grandfathers”.
New Zealand Foreign Minister
Winston Peters, visiting Indonesia,
on Wednesday highlighted that the
gunman was “a non-New Zealander,
an outsider”.
Peters also said he thought Erdoğan
had not known the full facts but “since
he’s been apprised, or informed of the
facts, he’s made a very conciliatory
statement today […] which would
stand in stark contrast to what he said
the other day.”
In an opinion piece published in The
Washington Post Erdoğan has written
“all Western leaders must learn from
the courage, leadership and sincerity
of New Zealand’s prime minister,
Jacinda Ardern, to embrace Muslims
living in their respective countries”.
Peters, who is going to Turkey this
week, said when there he would “set
any record straight that needs to be set
straight as to what went on”.
Attacking Erdoğan’s original
comments, Morrison told a news
conference they were “highly
offensive to Australians and highly
reckless in this very sensitive
environment”.

Morrison said he had asked for
the remarks to be clarified and
withdrawn. “I’ve asked for these
comments, particularly their
reporting of the misrepresented
position of Australia on Turkish
television, the state-sponsored
broadcaster, to be taken down,” he
said.
He would wait for the Turkish
government’s response - beyond that
“all options are on the table”. Asked
what these options were, the Prime
Minister would not elaborate.
Morrison said he did not accept as
an excuse that “things are said in an
electoral context”.
The travel advisory for Turkey is
under review. People planning to go
to Gallipoli should exercise common
sense and await further advice,
Morrison said. The present advice is
for people to exercise a “high degree
of caution”.
Morrison said Erdoğan’s remarks
were “offensive, because they insult
the memory of our ANZACs and they
violate the pledge that is etched in
the stone at Gallipoli, of the promise
of Atatürk to the mothers of our
ANZACs. So I understand the deep
offence Australians would be feeling
about this.
“The comments completely
misrepresented the Australian and
New Zealand governments’ very
strong response to the extremist
attack, he said. All Australians had
condemned it.
“We have reached out to embrace our
Muslim brothers and sisters in New
Zealand and in Australia, quite to
the contrary of the vile assertion that
has been made about our response,”
Morrison said.
He said he had spoken with Turkish
Australian leaders on Wednesday
morning. “They have expressed to
me their deep disappointment about
these comments. They don’t represent
the views of Turkish Australians.
“I am not going to single out the
comments of one person and ascribe
it to a people, whether in Turkey
or across Australia. I don’t think it
does reflect the views of the Turkish
people, or certainly of Turkish
Australians,” Morrison said.
He said Foreign Minister Marise
Payne would be speaking to her
Turkish counterpart.
The Australian ambassador to Turkey
was due to speak with Erdoğan’s
advisers.
This article was originally published on
The Conversation on March 1st. Please
refer to current travel advice when
seeking travel information to Turkey.

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ANZAC Day comes around but once
a year and allows us, as a nation, to
commemorate the incredible bravery
and duty that goes along with being a
member of any of the factions of the
Australian Defence Force. We allow
ourselves a minute of silence to thank
those who have served us and saved us
from all manner of threats. But maybe
we should think of them more often,
after all they think of us all year round.
We all have a deep respect and
understanding of what our defence
personnel face on a daily basis to
protect the fundamental rights for us
as Australians. We tend to forget the
work these brave men and women do to
protect us not just on foreign soil, but
here in Australia. They are the first point
we look to whenever there is a natural
or humanitarian disaster, and they never
let us down.
In March of this year, Cyclone Trevor
tracked across the Gulf of Carpentaria
endangering many of the people who
live in the area. So began the largest
mass evacuation of the Northern
Territory since Cyclone Tracy in 1974.
The Australian Defence Force came
to aid and evacuated more than 2,000
people from the remote communities
of Groote Eylandt and Borroloola
to Darwin. With only days to spare,
as Cyclone Trevor tracked towards a
category five cyclone, the ADF rushed
to ensure the safety and livelihood of as
many residents as they could.
Facing weather conditions that put
themselves in danger, but pushing
forward to be of service wherever they
could, they almost certainly saved the
lives of many who could have been
caught in one of the worst storms North
Australia has seen for more than thirty
years.
Again, in the case of the recent
2019 Queensland flood disaster,
the Australian Defence Force were
immediately boots on the ground. A
disaster that resulted in hundreds of
thousands of cattle perishing, multigenerational
families losing everything
and the deaths of 6 people, including 2
children.
In amongst these horrors witnessed
by those who live in Townsville and
its surrounds, there comes stories of
unbelievable bravery and resilience
that represent the very heart of the
Australian spirit. Stories of volunteer
workers, daring rescues and the strength
of community, but lost in these stories
are the incredible efforts of our defence
personnel helping the community get
back on their feet.
Under the Joint Task Force 646, that
was formed to assist the North and
Northwest Queensland communities
affected by the flood disaster, 32,000
litres of fuel were delivered by
transport aircraft to remote farms and
communities, 41 tonnes of livestock
feed were delivered by helicopter and
there are still approximately 200 defence
personnel assisting with clean up of the
communities in the crisis.
The families of the defence workers
who have assisted with these efforts
have buckled down with the rest of the
community while their husbands, wives,
brothers, sisters, sons or daughters
have been helping all others above
themselves.
They do this with little to no recognition
or thanks. They do this because
Australia is their home and they love
it, and they do this because they must.
When the flood waters are up to their
chests they go on, when their faces are
windburned and chapped from bush fire
they go on, when they’re being pelted
with hail the size of golf balls, still, they
go on. And the reason they do it is us.
We will always need to be rescued from
rising flood waters, and raging fire and
hail storms. We will always need to
be protected from foreign and home
based threats. We will always need to
be helped. And the Australian Defence
Force will always be there to help,
forsaking their own lives and safety for
ours.
So this ANZAC day, give thanks to those
first ANZACs who were felled on the
bloody sands of Gallipoli, and to those
who have given their lives in service of
our country. But also remember to bow
your head in thanks of the brave men
and women who help us today through
all disasters. These men and women who
continue to embody the ANZAC spirit
of grit, determination and loyalty above
all else. Many of us wouldn’t be here
without them.

Lest We Forget
Yesterday and Today’s Heroes
Brooke Turnbull
Writer

THIS WAS AUSTRALIA’S
HOTTEST SUMMER ON
RECORD, WITH A WARM
AUTUMN LIKELY TOO

Australian summers are getting
hotter. Today marks the end
of our warmest summer
on record, setting new national
temperature records. Worsening
drought, locally significant flooding,
damaging bushfires, and heatwaves
capped a summer of extremes.
As we look to autumn, warmer
temperatures overall and below
average rainfall – especially in eastern
parts of the country – are likely.
Very hot…
The starkest feature of this summer
was the record warmth. The national
average temperature is expected to
be about 2.1° above average, and will
easily beat the previous record high
set in summer 2012-13 (which was
1.28° warmer than average).
Australian summer mean temperature anomalies against the 1961–1990 average. Bureau of Meteorology
monsoonal weather was absent for
most of summer.
Australia on the 27th, with mid-tohigh
40s extending over larger areas.
Very low rainfall accompanied
the record heat of summer. At the
national scale, each month was
notably dry, and total summer rainfall
was around 30% below average; the
lowest for summer since 1982–83.
The monsoon onset was delayed in
Darwin until the 23rd of January
(the latest since 1972–73) and typical
In December 2018 Australia saw
its highest mean, maximum and
minimum temperatures on record
(monthly averages, compared to all
other Decembers). Notable heatwaves
affected the north of Australia at the
start of the month, spreading to the
west and south during the second half
of December. Temperatures peaked
at 49° at Marble Bar in Western
The heat continued into January,
which set a national monthly mean
temperature record at 2.91° above
the 1961–1990 average. Heatwave
conditions which had emerged in
December persisted, with a prolonged
warm spell and numerous records set.
Eight of the ten hottest days for the
nation occurred during the month,
while a minimum temperature of

36.6° at Wanaaring (Borrona Downs)
in western New South Wales on the
26th set a new national minimum
temperature record.
Temperatures moderated a little in
the east of the country for February,
partly in response to flooding rainfall
in tropical Queensland. Even so, the
national mean temperature will come
in around 1.4° above average, making
this February likely to be the fourth or
fifth warmest on record.
…and very dry
Australia has seen dry summers
before and many of these have been
notably hot. The summers of 1972–73
and 1982–83 – which featured mean
temperatures 0.90° and 0.92° above
average, respectively – both came
during the latter stages of significant
droughts, and were both records at
the time.
As the State of the Climate 2018
report outlines, Australia has warmed
by just over 1° since 1910, with most
warming occurring since 1950. This
warming means global and Australian
climate variability sits on top of a
higher average temperature, which
explains why 2018-19 was warmer
again.
A major rain event affected tropical
Queensland during late January to
early February, associated with a slowmoving
monsoonal low. Some sites
had a year’s worth of rain in a twoweek
period, including Townsville
Airport which had 1,257mm in ten
days. Many Queenslanders affected
by this monsoonal low went from
drought conditions to floods in a
matter of days.
Flooding was severe and continues
to affect rivers near the Gulf of
Carpentaria, as well as some inland
rivers which flow towards Kati
Thanda–Lake Eyre.
The outlook for autumn
Spring 2018 saw a positive Indian
Ocean Dipole which faded in early
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summer. At the start of summer sea
surface temperature anomalies in
the central Pacific exceeded 0.8°,
which is the typical threshold for El
Niño affecting the oceans, but these
declined as summer progressed.
Combined with a lack of coupling
between the atmosphere and ocean,
the El Niño–Southern Oscillation
remained neutral, though normal
rainfall patterns shifted to oceans to
the north and east, leaving Australia
drier as a result.
As we move into autumn, the El
Niño–Southern Oscillation and
Indian Ocean Dipole tend to have
less influence at this time of year. The
onset of new Indian Ocean Dipole
or El Niño/La Niña events typically
happens in late autumn or winter/
spring.
Over recent years, autumn rainfall
has also become less reliable, with
declines in cool season rainfall
in the southeast and southwest.
Temperatures are also rising, in a local
expression of the global warming
trend.
The Bureau’s outlook for autumn
shows high probabilities that day
and night-time temperatures will
remain above average for most of the
country. We expect to see continued
below-average rainfall in much of
the east, where drought is currently
widespread.
Looking to the winter, the Bureau’s
ENSO Wrap-Up suggests the Pacific
Ocean is likely to remain warmer than
average. The potential for an El Niño
remains, with approximately a 50%
chance of El Niño developing during
the southern hemisphere autumn or
winter, twice the normal likelihood.
David Jones
Climate Scientist
Lynette Bettio
Senior Climatologist
Skie Tobin
Climatologist
Australian Bureau of Meteorology
This article was originally
published on’The Conversation’
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We are entering a new
era in the security of
Australia, not because of
terrorism, the rise of China, or even
the cybersecurity threat, but because
of climate change. If the world warms
beyond 2℃, as seems increasingly
likely, an era of disasters will be
upon us, with profound implications
for how we organise ourselves to
protect Australian lives, property and
economic interests, and our way of
life.
The early warning of this era is
arriving almost daily, in news reports
from across the globe of recordbreaking
heatwaves, prolonged
droughts, massive bushfires, torrential
flooding, and record-setting storms.
In a new special report from the
Australian Strategic Policy Institute,
I argue that Australia is not facing
up to the pace of these worsening
threats. We need a national strategy to
deal specifically with climate disaster
preparedness.
Even without climate change, the
impact of these natural hazards is
enormous. More than 500 Australians
– roughly the same number who died
in the Vietnam War – die each year
from heat stress alone. The annual
economic costs of natural disasters are
projected to increase to A$39 billion
by 2050. This is roughly equivalent to
what the federal government spends
each year on the Australian Defence
Force.
Climate change will dramatically
increase the frequency and severity of
many of these hazards. The number
of record hot days in Australia has

Australia needs a
national plan to face
the growing threat of
climate disasters
Robert Glasser
Honorary Associate Professor
Australian National University
Rising flood waters threaten imminent inundation of homes in the suburb of Annandale
Image: Robert Hiette/Shutterstock
doubled in the past 50 years, and
heatwaves have become longer and
hotter. Extreme fire weather days have
increased in recent decades in many
regions of Australia.
Shorter and more intense rainstorms
that trigger flash floods and urban
flooding are also becoming more
frequent, and sea level has been rising
at an accelerated rate since 1993.
Australians are already exposed to
a wide range of the hazards that
climate change is amplifying. Almost
4 million of our people, and about
20% of our national economic output,
are in areas with high or extreme risk
of tropical cyclones. Meanwhile, 2.2
million people and 11% of economic
activity are in places with high or
extreme risk of bushfire.
Chronic crisis
As the frequency of extreme events
increases, we are likely to see an
increase in events happening at
the same time in different parts of
the country, or events following
hard on the heels of previous ones.
Communities may weather the first
few setbacks but, in their weakened
state, be ultimately overwhelmed.
Large parts of the country that
are currently marginally viable for
agriculture are increasingly likely
to be in chronic crisis, from the
compounding impacts of the steady
rise of temperature, drought and
bushfires.
The scale of those impacts will be
unprecedented, and the patterns
that the hazards take will change

in ways that are difficult to predict.
Australia’s fire season, for example, is
already getting longer. Other research
suggests that tropical cyclones are
forming further from the Equator as
the planet warms, putting new areas
of eastern Australia in harm’s way.
This emerging era of disasters will
increasingly stretch emergency
services, undermine community
resilience, and escalate economic
costs and losses of life. Federal,
state and local governments all
need to start preparing now for
the unprecedented scale of these
emerging challenges.
Queensland as a case study
Queensland’s recent experience
illustrates what could lie ahead for all
of Australia. Late last year, a major
drought severely affected the state. At
that time, a senior manager involved
in coordinating the state’s rebuilding
efforts following Cyclone Debbie
commented that his team was in the
ironic situation of rebuilding from
floods during a drought. The drought
was making it difficult to find water
to mix with gravel and to suppress the
dust associated with rebuilding roads.
The drought intensified, contributing
to an outbreak of more than 140
bushfires. This was followed and
exacerbated by an extreme heatwave,
with temperatures in the 40s that
smashed records for the month of
November. Bushfire conditions in
parts of Queensland were classified
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as “catastrophic” for the first time
since the rating scale was developed
in 2009. More than a million hectares
of bush and farmland were destroyed
– the largest expanse of Queensland
affected by fire since records began.
Just days later, Tropical Cyclone Owen
approached the Queensland coast,
threatening significant flooding and
raising the risk of severe mudslides
from the charred hillsides. Owen
set an Australian record in dumping
681 millimetres of rain in just 24
hours – more than Melbourne usually
receives in a year. It did not, however,
diminish the drought gripping much
of the state.
A few weeks later, record rains
flooded more than 13.25 million
hectares of Northern Queensland,
killing hundreds of thousands of
drought-stressed cattle. As two
Queensland graziers wrote at the
time: “Almost overnight we have
transitioned from relative drought
years to a flood disaster zone.”
Time to prepare
We need to begin preparing now for
this changing climate, by developing a
national strategy that outlines exactly
how we move on from business as
usual and adopt a more responsible
approach to climate disaster
preparedness.
It makes no sense for the federal
government to have two separate
strategies (as it currently does) for
disaster resilience and climate change
adaptation. Given that 90% of major
disasters worldwide are from climaterelated
hazards such as storms,
droughts and floods, these two
strategies should clearly be merged.
One of the prime objectives of the
new strategy should be to scale up
Australia’s efforts to prevent hazards
from turning into disasters. Currently,
the federal government spends
30 times more on rebuilding after
disasters than it does on reducing the
risks in the first place.
Australia should be leading global
calls for urgent climate action, not
just because we’re so vulnerable
to climate hazards, but also for
traditional national security reasons.
We are the wealthiest nation in a
region full of less-developed countries
that are hugely vulnerable to climate
change. Shocks to their food security,
economic interests and political
stability will undermine our own
national security.
No military alliance, deployment of
troops or new weapon system will
adequately protect Australia from
this rapidly escalating threat. The
only effective “forward defence” is
to reduce greenhouse gases globally,
including in Australia, as quickly as
possible. Without far greater ambition
on this front, the scale of the disasters
that lie ahead will overwhelm
even the most concerted efforts to
strengthen the resilience of Australian
communities.
This article was originally
published on’The Conversation’
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Livestreaming
Terror
New criminal code amendment
in the wake of Christchurch
Robert Merkel
Lecturer in Software Engineering
Monash University

In the wake of the Christchurch
attack, the Australian government
has announced its intention to
create new criminal offences relating
to the livestreaming of violence on
social media platforms.
The Criminal Code Amendment
(Sharing of Abhorrent Violent
Material) Bill will create two new
crimes:
It will be a criminal offence for
social media platforms not to
remove abhorrent violent material
expeditiously. This will be punishable
by 3 years’ imprisonment or fines that
can reach up to 10% of the platform’s
annual turnover.
Platforms anywhere in the world must
notify the Australian Federal Police
if they become aware their service is
streaming abhorrent violent conduct
that is happening in Australia. A
failure to do this will be punishable
by fines of up to A$168,000 for
an individual or A$840,000 for a
corporation.
The government is reportedly seeking
to pass the legislation in the current
sitting week of Parliament. This could
be the last of the current parliament
before an election is called. Labor,
or some group of crossbenchers, will
need to vote with the government if
the legislation is to pass. But the draft
bill was only made available to the
Labor Party last night.
This is not the first time that
legislation relating to the intersection
of technology and law enforcement
has been raced through parliament
to the consternation of parts of
the technology industry, and other
groups. Ongoing concerns around
the Access and Assistance bill
demonstrate the risks of such rushed
legislation.
Major social networks already
moderate violence
The government has defined
“abhorrent violent material” as:
[…] material produced by a
perpetrator, and which plays or
livestreams the very worst types of
offences. It will capture the playing
or streaming of terrorism, murder,
attempted murder, torture, rape and
kidnapping on social media.
The major social media platforms
already devote considerable resources
to content moderation. They are
often criticised for their moderation
policies, and the inconsistent
application of those policies. But
content fitting the government’s
definition is already clearly prohibited
by Twitter, Facebook, and Snapchat.
Social media companies rely on a
combination of technology, and
thousands of people employed
as content moderators to remove
graphic content. Moderators (usually
contractors, often on low wages)
are routinely called on to remove
a torrent of abhorrent material,
including footage of murders and
other violent crimes.
Technology is helpful, but not a
solution
Technologies developed to assist
with content moderation are less
advanced than one might hope –
Police in front of the Masij El Noor as they stand guard at the Memorial Service to remember the victims of the Christchurch shootings.
Image: Sheryl Watson/Shutterstock

particularly for videos. Facebook’s
own moderation tools are mostly
proprietary. But we can get an idea of
the state of the commercial art from
Microsoft’s Content Moderator API.
The Content Moderator API is
an online service designed to be
integrated by programmers into
consumer-facing communication
systems. Microsoft’s tools can
automatically recognise “racy or
adult content”. They can also identify
images similar to ones in a list.
This kind of technology is used by
Facebook, in cooperation with the
office of the eSafety Comissioner, to
help track and block image-based
abuse – commonly but erroneously
described as “revenge porn”.
The Content Moderator API cannot
automatically classify an image, let
alone a video, as “abhorrent violent
content”. Nor can it automatically
identify videos similar to another
video.
Technology that could match videos
is under development. For example,
Microsoft is currently trialling a
matching system specifically for
video-based child exploitation
material.
As well as developing new
technologies themselves, the tech
giants are enthusiastic adopters
of methods and ideas devised by
academic researchers. But they are
some distance from being able to
automatically identify re-uploads
of videos that violate their terms
of service, particularly when
uploaders modify the video to
evade moderators. The ability to
automatically flag these videos as
they are uploaded or streamed is even
more challenging.
Important questions, few answers so
far
Evaluating the government’s proposed
legislative amendments is difficult
given that details are scant. I’m a
technologist, not a legal academic,
but the scope and application of the
legislation is currently unclear. Before
any legislation is passed, a number of
questions need to be addressed - too
many to list here, but for instance:
Does the requirement to remove
“abhorrent violent material” apply
only to material created or uploaded
by Australians? Does it only apply to
events occurring within Australia? Or
could foreign social media companies
be liable for massive fines if videos
created in a foreign country, and
uploaded by a foreigner, were viewed
within Australia?
Would attempts to render such
material inaccessible from within
Australia suffice (even though
workarounds are easy)? Or would
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emoval from access anywhere in the world be
required? Would Australians be comfortable with
a foreign law that required Australian websites to
delete content displayed to Australians based on the
decisions of a foreign government?
Complex legislation needs time
The proposed legislation does nothing to address the
broader issues surrounding promotion of the violent
white supremacist ideology that apparently motivated
the Christchurch attacker. While that does not
necessarily mean it’s a bad idea, it would seem very far
from a full governmental response to the monstrous
crime an Australian citizen allegedly committed.
It may well be that the scope and definitional
issues are dealt with appropriately in the text of the
legislation. But considering the government seems set
on passing the bill in the next few days, it’s unlikely
lawmakers will have the time to carefully consider the
complexities involved.
Messages of solidarity, remembrance; grief and commiseration to the families of
the 50 dead. Image: Nigel Spiers/ Shutterstock
While the desire to prevent further circulation of
perpetrator-generated footage of terrorist attacks is
noble, taking effective action is not straightforward.
Yet again, the federal government’s inclination seems
to be to legislate first and discuss later.
This article was originally published on’The Conversation’
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Cyclone Warnings 1300 659 212 www.bom.gov.au/cyclone
Coastal Marine Warnings 1300 360 427 www.bom.gov.au/marine
Tsunami Threat Information 1300TSUNAMI www.bom.gov.au/tsunami
RADIO
EMERGENCY CONTACT INFORMATION
POLICE FIRE AMBULANCE
ABC Local Radio
ABC Local Radio Frequency Finder
Commercial Radio Australia
www.abc.net.au/local
www.abv.net.au/radionational/frequency/
www.commercialradio.com.au
GOVERNMENT/HEALTH/ROADS
Standard Emergency Warning Signal
www.emergencyalert.gov.au
Health & Hospitals 13HEALTH www.health.gov.au
Road Closures 13 19 40 seek local/state road closure info
ELECTRICITY
Energex 13 19 62 www.energex.com.au
Ergon 13 16 70 www.ergon.com.au
PHONE
Telstra 132 203 www.telstra.com.au
Optus 13 13 44 www.optus.com.au
ANIMALS & WILDLIFE
Wildlife Hotline 1300 130 372
RSPCA 1300 852 188
Disease Watch Hotline 1800 675 888
Lost/Missing Animals
Local RSPCA website
CALL 000 IN AN EMERGENCY

BUDGET 2019 BOOSTS
AGED CARE AND
MENTAL HEALTH, AND
MODERNISES MEDICARE
HEALTH EXPERTS RESPOND

This year’s budget includes
$448.5 to modernise
Australia’s Medicare system, by
encouraging people with diabetes to
sign up to a GP clinic for their care.
The clinic will receive a lump sum
payment to care for the person over
time, rather than a fee each time they
see their GP.
The indexation freeze on all GP
services on the Medicare Benefits
Schedule (MBS) will lift from July 1,
2019, at a cost of $187.2 million. The
freeze will be lifted on various X-ray
and ultrasound MBS rebates from July
1, 2020.
The budget announces $461 million
for youth mental health, including
30 new headspace centres, some of
which will be in regional areas. But it
does little to address the underlying
structural reforms that make it difficult
for Australians to access quality and
timely mental health care.
In aged care, the government will fund
10,000 home care packages, which
have been previously announced, at
a cost of $282 million over five years,
and will allocate $84 million for carer
respite. But long wait times for home
care packages remain.
Other announcements include:
• $62.2 million over five years to
train new rural GPs
• $309 million for diagnostic
imaging services, including 23
new MRI licences
• $331 million over five years for
new pharmaceuticals, including
high-cost cancer treatments
• $107.8 million over seven
years for hospitals and facilities
including Redland Hospital,
Bowen Hospital, Bass Coast
Health and Ronald McDonald
House
• $70.8 million over seven years
for regional cancer diagnosis,
treatment and therapy centres
• $114.5 million from 2020-21 to
trial eight mental health facilities
for adults
• $43.9 million for mental health
services for expectant and new
parents

• $35.7 million over five years for
increased dementia and veterans’
home care supplements
• $320 million this year as a one-off
increase to the basic subsidy for
residential aged-care recipients.
Here’s what our health policy experts
thought of the budget announcements.
A hesitant step forward for
Medicare
Stephen Duckett, Director, Health
Program,
Grattan Institute
Medicare funding is slowly creeping
into the 21st century. The 19thcentury
model of individual fees for
individual services – suitable for an
era when medicine was essentially
dealing with episodic conditions – is
being supplemented with a new fee to
better manage the care of people with
diabetes.
The budget announcement, as part
of the Strengthening primary care
package, is for a new annual payment
for each person with diabetes who
signs up with a specific GP. Funding is
provided for about 100,000 people to
sign up – about 10% of all people with
diabetes in Australia.
The new item number is consistent
with the recent MBS review Report on
General Practice, which recommended
a move toward voluntary enrolment.
The precise details of the new fee –
including the annual amount and
any descriptors – have not yet been
released. But it should encourage
practices to move towards a more
prevention-oriented approach
to chronic disease management,
including using practice nurses
to call patients to check up on
their condition, and using remote
monitoring technology.
The budget announcement contained
no evaluation strategy for the
initiative. The government should
produce such a strategy soon.
Support for aged and disability
care
Hal Swerissen, Emeritus Professor, La
Trobe University, and Fellow, Health
Program, Grattan Institute
The budget has short-term measures
to address major issues in aged care
and disability while we wait for the
royal commissions to fix the long-term
problems.
The National Disability Insurance
Agency (NDIA) is struggling with
the huge task of putting the National
Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)
in place.
There has been a major under-spend
on the on the scheme. Price caps for
services such as therapy and personal
care are too low and nearly one-third
of services are operating at a loss. The
under-spend would have been more if
there hadn’t been a last-minute budget
decision to significantly increase
service caps, at a cost of $850 million.
$528 million dollars has also been
announced for a royal commission
to look at violence, neglect and abuse
of people with disabilities – the most
expensive royal commission to date.
There is more funding for aged care.
Currently, 130,000 older people are
waiting for home care packages –
often for a year or more. Nearly half
of residential care services are losing
money and there are major concerns
about quality of care.
The short-term fix is to give residential
care $320 million to try to prevent
services going under. The budget
includes 10,000 previously announced
home care packages, at a cost of $282
million, but that still leaves more than
100,000 people waiting.
Little for prevention,
Indigenous health and to
address disparities
Lesley Russell, Adjunct Associate
Professor, Menzies Centre for Health
Policy, University of Sydney
Prevention
Preventable diseases and conditions
are a key factor in health inequalities
and rising health-care costs. The two
issues looming large are obesity and its
consequences, and the health impacts
of climate change.
There is $5.5 million for 2018-19 and
2019-20 for mental health services in
areas affected by natural disasters, and
$1.1 million over two years for the
Health Star rating system – otherwise
nothing for primary prevention.
Indigenous health
The Treasurer did not mention
Closing the Gap in his budget speech,
and there is little in the budget for
Indigenous health.
Just $5 million over four years is
provided in the budget for suicideprevention
initiatives. And the Lowitja
Institute receives $10 million for
health and medical research.
Some announcements in March
contribute a little more:
• an additional $12.4 million for the
phase 3 response to the syphilis
outbreak
• $21.9 million for the Connected
Beginnings program to help
Indigenous children in Tasmania
make a positive transition to
school
• $6.3 million to continue the
development of the Health Data
Portal for services funded under
the Indigenous Australians Health
Program.
Inequalities and disparities
Disadvantaged rural and remote
communities will (ultimately) benefit
from efforts to boost National Rural
Generalist Training Pathway, with
$62.2 million provided over four years.
This was a 2016 election commitment.
The announcement of $200
million over three years to index
Medicare payments for ultrasound
and diagnostic radiology services
(beginning from July 1, 2020) came

with claims this will help reduce outof-pocket
costs. But given that these
payments have not been indexed in 20
years, will the money go to providers
or patients?
Hospitals and private health
insurance
Peter Sivey, Associate Professor, School
of Economics, Finance and Marketing,
RMIT University
There are no major changes to public
hospital funding arrangements in this
year’s budget.
Funding for public hospitals is
predicted to increase at between
3.7% and 5.6% over the forward
estimates. However, these figures
are contingent on the new COAG
agreement on health funding between
the Commonwealth and states, which
is due to be finalised before the end of
2019.
The states will be hoping to wring
some more dollars from the federal
government given their soaring public
hospital admissions and pressure on
waiting times.
There is no change to the government’s
private health insurance policy which
has just come into force.
Government spending on the private
health insurance rebate is projected to
increase more slowly than premiums
at between 1.8% and 3.2% because of
indexation arrangements which are
gradually reducing the rebate over
time.
Smaller targets for mental
health
Ian Hickie, Co-Director, Brain and Mind
Institute, University of Sydney
Numerous reports and accounts from
within the community have noted
the flaws in Australia’s mental health
system: poor access to quality services,
the uneven roll-out of the NDIS,
and the lack of accountability for
reforming the system.
The next federal government faces
major structural challenges in mental
health and suicide prevention.
Not surprisingly, this pre-election
budget does not directly address
these issues. Instead, it focuses on less
challenging but worthy targets such as:
continued support for expansion of
headspace services for young people
($263m over the next seven years) and
additional support for early psychosis
services ($110m over four years)
support for workplace-based mental
health programs ($15m)
support for new residential care
centres for eating disorders ($63m).
A more challenging experiment is the
$114.5 committed to eight new walkin
community mental health centres,
recognising that access to coordinated,
high-quality care that delivers
better outcomes remains a national
challenge.
Despite the commitment of health
minister Greg Hunt to enhanced
mental health investments, the total
increased spend on these initiatives
($736.6m) is dwarfed by the big new
expenditures in Medicare ($6b),
improved access to medicines ($40b),
public hospitals ($5b) and aged care
($7b).
It will be interesting to see whether
mental health reform now receives
greater attention during the election
campaign. At this stage, neither of
the major parties has made it clear
that it is ready to deal directly with
the complex challenges in mental
health and suicide prevention that are
unresolved.
New funding for research, but
who decides the priorities?
Philip Clarke, Professor of Health
Economics, University of Melbourne
The budget contains several funding
announcements for research.
The government will establish a Health
and Medical Research Office, to help
allocate money from the Medical
Research Future Fund (MRFF). This
will be needed, as the budget papers
commit to a further $931 million from
the MRFF for:
• Clinical trials for rare cancers and
rare diseases
• Emerging priorities and
consumer-driven research
• Global health research to tackle
antimicrobial resistance and drugresistant
tuberculosis.
In addition, the budget includes:
• $70 million for research into type
1 diabetes
• a large investment for genomics
(although that is a reannouncement
of $500 million
promised in last year’s budget)
• a series of infrastructure grants
to individual universities and
institutions, such as $10 million
to establish the Curtin University
Dementia Centre of Excellence.
The government appears to be
moving away from allocating medical
research funding through existing
funding bodies, such as the National
Health and Medical Research Council
(NHMRC), towards allocating
research funds to specific disease areas,
and even to individual institutions.
This is a much more direct approach
to research funding, but it raises a few
important questions. On what basis
are these funding decisions being
made? And why are some diseases
considered priorities to receive
funding? There is very little detail to
answer these questions.
Australia’s allocation of research
funding through the MRFF is
diverging from long-held traditions
in other countries, such as the United
Kingdom, which apply the “Haldane
principle”. This involves researchers
deciding where research funding is
spent, rather than politicians.
* This article has been updated since
publication to clarify the 10,000 home
care packages have been previously
announced.
This article first appeared on ‘The
Conversation’ Authors supplied
throughout article.

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