Media Release: New technology to speed up disaster response
5 January 2012
The Hon Brendan O'Connor MP and the Hon Robert McClelland MP
New technology which allows the Gillard Government to set up mobile offices and begin delivering disaster relief payments from virtually any location will be rolled out this summer in the event of significant emergencies, Minister for Human Services Brendan O'Connor said today.
The Point of Presence (POP) IT system, which was tested during the Queensland floods, is one of several improvements that the Government has put in place following last summer's natural disasters.
At the peak of last year's bushfires, floods and cyclones, the Department of Human Services - which includes Centrelink, Medicare and Child Support - responded to 14 simultaneous emergency response activations across six States and granted almost 800,000 claims for assistance from early to mid-2011, Mr O'Connor said.
Departmental call centres took more than 750,000 enquiries and phone claims, and since January 2011, the Government has made emergency payments of over $938 million nationally - a record amount.
"During this time the Government identified areas for potential improvement and over the winter months, it's been refining procedures around claiming and claim processing, field technology and strengthening relationships with other federal, state and local agencies," Mr O'Connor said.
"We all hope that we don't face a repeat of last summer's weather events. But if we do, the Government is ready to draw on last year's experiences to support Australians in need."
The PoP system is easily transportable and can operate using 3G broadband, satellite or a fixed phone line.
"This new technology allows staff to connect securely to the Human Services network and to deliver emergency payments from almost anywhere. It can even run off a car battery in areas where mains power is unavailable," Mr O'Connor said.
Further enhancements in IT will also allow incoming claims to be identified and tracked in almost real-time, allowing managers to deploy more resources to help alleviate pressure points.
Minister for Emergency Management Robert McClelland said thankfully so far this summer there had been no reason to activate the Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment (AGDRP), which goes directly from the Commonwealth to people caught up in disasters.
"Should direct Commonwealth payments be activated this year, we will all be in good hands with the federal Department of Human Services and Centrelink, who delivered payments quickly to people in need during widespread flooding last summer," Mr McClelland said.
"We all hope that there will be no need for the Commonwealth to provide this kind of assistance again this season, but it's reassuring for Australians to know that, should the circumstances call for it, our systems are better equipped than ever to deliver help."
In the event of any future emergency response, finalising claims where possible at the point of contact will be a priority, reducing the need for large numbers of staff to process claims elsewhere.
The phone claim questionnaire has been streamlined, allowing staff to finalise claims more quickly and take more calls for assistance.
More than 5,000 staff are also on standby to assist recovery efforts at short notice, working where required on the front line or behind the scenes.
Departmental officials have been meeting with other federal, state and local authorities across the winter months to build relationships and share knowledge ahead of the summer disaster season.
Mr McClelland said a series of pre-season briefings coordinated by Emergency Management Australia between the Commonwealth and all States and Territories last year had highlighted and reinforced the Australian Government arrangements including the provision of timely Australian Government assistance to jurisdictions.
"These briefings were well received in each jurisdiction with a consensus that yearly pre-season briefings provide a useful vehicle to share information between jurisdictional and Australian Government agencies," Mr McClelland said.