NSW Reconstruction Authority Act 2022

The Authority’s functions are as follows—

disaster prevention and preparedness, including—

identifying, assessing and managing the risks from disasters, and

leading disaster resilience, adaptation and mitigation activities, and

building community capacity and resilience to disasters, and

developing and implementing methodologies for disaster resilience, adaptation and mitigation activities,

reconstruction and recovery following disasters and other emergencies, including—

assisting the Minister administering the State Emergency and Rescue Management Act 1989 and the State Emergency Recovery Controller to exercise the Minister’s and Controller’s functions in relation to recovery under that Act, and

facilitating, coordinating and directing the recovery, planning and rebuilding of affected communities, including repairing and rebuilding land and infrastructure and other development, and

balancing constraints to enable a focused, timely and expedited recovery of affected communities,

information provision and exchange and community engagement, including—

supporting collaboration and coordination between government agencies, local councils, service providers and communities to improve disaster prevention, preparedness, recovery, reconstruction and adaptation, and

increasing the flow of information and enabling community participation to support the development of strategies for disaster prevention, preparedness, recovery, reconstruction and adaptation,

to coordinate the development and implementation of whole-of-government policies for—

managing the risk of disasters in the State, and

ensuring communities can recover, reconstruct and adapt effectively and efficiently following disasters, and

improving the preparedness and resilience of communities for potential disasters,

to prepare and implement a State disaster mitigation plan for disasters in the State,

to provide advice and support to local councils to help maximise the effectiveness of councils’ disaster preparedness and reconstruction programs,

to provide advice and assistance to local councils and relevant strategic planning authorities under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 to ensure strategic plans prepared under that Act, Division 3.1 and the State disaster mitigation plan align,

to lead the management and coordination of housing and infrastructure renewal and recovery within affected communities,

to work closely with affected communities to ensure the needs of each community are recognised in the recovery and reconstruction of the community, and to improve the disaster preparedness and resilience of communities,

to lead public education on disaster risks and certain disaster preparations,

to carry out research, and provide advice, proposals, recommendations and reports to the Minister, about—

disaster prevention and preparedness, and

recovery and reconstruction following disasters,

to enter into joint ventures, project delivery agreements and other arrangements with landowners, developers, State and Commonwealth government agencies and local councils in relation to disaster prevention, recovery and reconstruction,

to implement funding schemes to provide financial support in relation to disaster prevention, recovery and reconstruction,

to carry out rezoning and land use planning, including exercising the functions of local councils for the purpose of land use planning in relation to disasters,

to carry out flood modelling and the determination of flood planning levels, particularly in relation to high risk catchments,

to assist with the development of flood plans,

to monitor the cumulative impact of disasters on the State, including by collecting and storing data about the impact, or likely impact, of disasters across the State,

to exercise other functions conferred or imposed on the Authority by or under this Act or another Act,

to do anything supplementary, incidental or consequential on the exercise of the Authority’s functions under paragraphs (a)–(r).

To avoid doubt—

the functions of the Authority are not intended to limit functions given to agencies by the State Emergency Management Plan under the State Emergency and Rescue Management Act 1989, and

to the extent of any inconsistency between a direction given by the Authority or chief executive officer in exercising functions under this Act and a direction given by the State Emergency Recovery Controller in exercising functions under the State Emergency and Rescue Management Act 1989, the direction given by the State Emergency Recovery Controller under the State Emergency and Rescue Management Act 1989 prevails.

In this section—