Recommendations


Recommendations

Recommendation 1

2.33    The committee recommends that Australian governments collaboratively establish a national database of residential fire incidents and that state and territory fire and emergency services are adequately resourced to collect and report data to that national database.

Recommendation 2

2.36    The committee recommends that Australian governments consider establishing a national residential fire reporting and recording mechanism to capture statistics of currently unreported residential fire incidents.

Recommendation 3

3.40    The committee recommends that the National Construction Code is amended to require the installation of interconnected, and preferably mains powered, photoelectric smoke alarms, supplemented where appropriate by ionisation smoke alarms, in every residential property and specify the type of smoke alarm to be used at different locations within each residential property, taking into account the different smoke detection properties of photoelectric and ionisation smoke alarms.

Recommendation 4

3.41    The committee recommends, to give effect to Recommendation 3, that all state and territory governments adopt the amended National Construction Code and agree to apply it to all residential properties, irrespective of the age of a property.

Recommendation 5

3.43    The committee recommends that all states and territories implement mandatory compliance checks of smoke alarms in residential properties whenever a property is sold, tenanted or hired.

Recommendation 6

3.50    The committee recommends that the Commonwealth, state and territory governments develop and implement a package of measures, including but not limited to a website and resources for key stakeholders, to educate Australians about:

  • different types of smoke alarms;
  • the benefits associated with installing smoke alarms with different smoke detection properties in particular locations within a property;
  • the smoke alarm requirements that apply to residential properties in each jurisdiction;
  • the importance of regular smoke alarm testing and maintenance;
  • who has responsibility for installing and maintaining smoke alarms, and advice about how to do this or seek assistance to do so; and
  • the triggers for compliance checking of smoke alarms (for example at time of sale, tenancy or hire).

Recommendation 7

3.53    In the event Australian governments are unwilling to amend the National Construction Code and apply it to all building stock irrespective of classification and age, the committee recommends that they consider implementing a nation-wide smoke alarm household installation scheme that includes consultation with:

  • fire and emergency services, housing providers and the real estate agency industry; and
  • individuals and organisations working with vulnerable members of the community.

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