Bushfire victims fleeing their Victorian homes to the nearest evacuation centre across the border will no longer be refused help, and warning apps on mobile phones will be improved, after the NSW government accepted all recommendations in the state's bushfire inquiry.
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Both state and national inquiries conducted after the summer bushfires have heard stories of people who could not get welfare assistance in NSW because they had a Victorian address.
The NSW bushfire inquiry's final report, released on Tuesday, recommended that change.
"On both sides of the border, people were told to go to an evacuation centre in their home state in order to access support services and reported being made to feel unwelcome if they attended a centre outside their home state," the report stated.
"In order to ensure every Australian citizen can have access to the appropriate range of support services when evacuating from a bushfire, regardless of where they may live, the inquiry recommends that cross-border arrangements be reflected in evacuation centre standard management guidelines."
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Cross-border issues were a recurring theme of the report.
Warnings and information were not consistent from NSW and Victoria for the Upper Murray fire that jumped state borders after starting on December 31.
People were told to go to an evacuation centre in their home state ... and reported being made to feel unwelcome.
- NSW bushfire inquiry
The NSW inquiry has recommended the "Fires Near Me" mobile phone app incorporate information on fires in neighbouring states and territories, rather than having data on the map stop at the border.
"As the 2019-20 fire season demonstrated, bushfires do not respect state borders," the report stated.
"The lack of information on cross-border fires made it difficult for people living near the Victorian and Queensland borders to get an accurate picture of what was happening in their local area and make an informed decision about how they should respond.
"Rather than being able to see cross-border fires on 'Fires Near Me', people needed to switch between other jurisdictional apps (eg VicEmergency), which was time-consuming and stressful in an emergency situation."
The inquiry also recommended the federal government fund a dedicated spectrum for "public safety mobile broadband" so all state agencies can communicate across borders, which was another issue during the summer emergency.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said on Tuesday that all 76 recommendations would be accepted, but would take time and funding - in some cases from the federal government - to put into place.
