Australian Capital Territory

Emergencies (Communication Centre) Commissioner’s Guidelines 2017

Notifiable Instrument NI2017–338

made under the

Emergencies Act 2004, s 11 (Commissioner may make guidelines).

1.	Name of Instrument

This instrument is the Emergencies (Communication Centre) Commissioner’s Guideline 2017.

2.	Commencement

This instrument commences on the day after it is notified. 

3.	Commissioner’s Guideline

I make the Commissioner’s Guideline relating to the Communication Centre at Schedule 1 to this instrument.

Dominic Lane AFSM
Commissioner
ACT Emergency Services Agency

26 June 2017

SCHEDULE 1

ACT
EMERGENCY SERVICES AGENCY

COMMISSIONER’S GUIDELINE

relating to

Provision of Emergency Triple Zero (E000) and Non Emergency Communication Services 
on Behalf of the ACT Emergency Services Agency

June 2017

_____________________________________________________________________

1.	PURPOSE

a)	To provide a Commissioner’s Guideline for the provision of E000 and Non-Emergency communication services on behalf of the ACT Ambulance Service, ACT Fire & Rescue, ACT State Emergency Services and ACT Rural Fire Service.

b)	These guidelines are made in accordance with the Emergencies Act 2004.  

2.	BACKGROUND

a)	Under the Emergencies Act 2004, the ESA Commissioner is responsible for:
i.	the overall strategic direction and management of the emergency services; and
ii.	operational and administrative support to the services, including the communication centre and training.

b)	Under the Emergencies Act 2004:

i.	the ESA Commissioner must also seek to improve the operational effectiveness and flexibility of the emergency services.
ii.	the Minister must, in consultation with the Commissioner, ensure that common planning, administrative and logistic support is provided for the emergency services (including common communication and emergency coordination centres).

c)	The ACT Government has, in 2017/18 committed significant recurrent funding to support the modernising of emergency services call-taking.  

d)	This project, supported by extensive consultation and reviews is a five-year program of work. Key priorities include but are not limited to  the establishment of the Communication Centre (Comcen) as a Business Unit within the ESA, clearly defined roles and responsibilities for staff, accredited training and qualifications, Business Rules supported by quality assurance and clearly defined levels of service provided by the Comcen agreed to with the response agencies of the ESA. 

3.	GUIDING PRINCIPLES

3.1	Provision of services

a)	The Comcen is a Business Unit of the ESA that provides services to the four (4) response agencies of the ESA 24 hours/365 days.
3.2	
Effectiveness and efficiency of service

a)	The Comcen provides the efficient and effective receipt, triage, resource allocation and initial management of all requests for emergency, non-emergency or aero medical resource.

b)	Comcen staff also undertake a range of other operational support and /or administrative functions that will be reviewed as a component of the approved project. 

c)	All requests to the Comcen should be managed in a consistent manner, regardless of the type of request.

d)	Requests to the Comcen should be managed and guided by established Business Rules.

3.3	Availabilityof service

a)	The Comcen must be staffed 24 hours/365 days.

b)	Business Continuity planning must be in place to ensure continuation of Comcen services in the event that the main Comcen becomes unavailable. 

c)	The Comcen staffing model should reflect the needs of the ACT community. The patterns for demand must be carefully modeled so that optimum Comcen resourcing levels are maintained 24 hours/365 days.

3.4	Leadership team

a)	A leadership team will be appointed to manage the Comcen as a business unit within the ESA.

3.5	Staff training

a)	National competencies will be used to guide and assess Comcen training and ongoing staff currency.

3.6	Quality Assurance

a)	A quality assurance function will monitor the operation and performance of the Comcen. The quality assurance process will encompass fixed and routine review working with staff to ensure that agreed standards of service are being maintained. 

3.7	Consultation

a)	Consultation to progress the ComCen project will continue through established consultation forums. 
b)	A Comcen Customer Service Council will further evaluate emerging technology, duty officer and roster arrangements in line with community demand and the role of volunteers.

Dictionary:

Note 1	The Emergencies Act 2004 and the ACTPS Recruitment Guidelines 2015 contain definitions and other provisions relevant to this Guideline.