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Rescue Accreditation of CB Monitors
In Australia the operation of emergency and rescue agencies is usually in the hands of a state rescue agency or authority. For example, in NSW the State Rescue Board (SRB) accredits organisations to provide rescue services, in Queensland the Department of Emergency Services is responsible for emergency organisations, and in Victoria the Department of Justice holds responsibility. In some cases CB monitoring groups claim superiority to other groups because they are accredited or recognised by these agencies, however in reality any such accreditation has absolutely nothing to do with the monitoring of CB emergency channels.
ACREM has long believed that in any major emergency our primary concern should remain the provision of monitoring services on the CB emergency channels, to receive calls from the community and also to broadcast information to the community when necessary. As this activity does not require any form of accreditation or registration with any state emergency management agency ACREM feels that pursuing such an accreditation would only serve to take resources away from this task in order to provide personnel to other services during any incident. We have however strongly petitioned the Federal Government, through Emergency Management Australia, to formerly recognise and possibly accredit CB monitoring groups specifically for that purpose rather than for providing a service that ACREM was not organised to provide in the first place.
ACREM is recognised by the emergency services, as the valuable community service that it is. What ACREM, and many other CB monitoring groups, is not is accredited to provide personnel to fulfil roles other than the provision of a CB monitoring service. Having said that however it should also be remembered that in any major incident there is no need for a support group such as ACREM to be accredited in order to be utilised by the emergency services should the need arise. Any group or person may be asked to assist in a support role if the need arises, and ACREM members are already in a position to provide support through our CB monitoring network without the need for any additional accreditation or recognition.
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New South Wales
In NSW the organisation known as CREST is accredited by the State Rescue Board to provide "specialist communications support to the emergency services". However this accreditation has absolutely nothing to do with the role of CB monitoring, and when it comes to that role this accreditation does not provide them with any benefits whatsoever. What this accreditation does mean is that in a serious major incident it is very likely that members of that organisation that would normally be used to monitor the CB emergency channels may be required to provide support to other services for things such as telephone answering, message relays, traffic control, door knocking, etc, severely reducing the number of people available to monitor the CB bands in case the community needs help.
ACREM does however stand ready to assist the NSW emergency services should the need arise, and this will not interfere with our primary role. In a letter dated 30 January 2008, NSW Police Assistant Commissioner C J Burn stated "In accordance with the State Rescue Policy, the NSW Police Force has authority ‘to call out any resource whether accredited or not to undertake a rescue or assist in a rescue.’ "
The one thing we would like to make clear relates to the misleading claim that "All emergency services in NSW must now be accredited" being made by some misguided individuals and groups. In NSW, as in other states of Australia, the only groups that must be accrediated are rescue services. From the NSW State Rescue Board website http://www.emergency.nsw.gov.au/
Principle Function of the Board: The principal function of the Board is to ensure the maintenance of efficient and effective rescue services throughout the State.
Particular Duties of the Board:the SRB is required to: ....make recommendations to the Minister on the accreditation of rescue units (both permanent and volunteer) for participation in rescue operations.
Queensland
As in NSW, in Queensland the relevant emergency management agency does not have any control over the monitoring of CB frequencies, nor do they accredit or train CB emergency monitoring organisations.
Victoria
Tim Holding MP, Victorian Minister for Police and Emergency Services, has confirmed the same situation exists in Victoria. In brief, the Minister advises that "The monitoring of CB emergency channels is not under the control or jurisdiction of the Bureau of Emergency Services Telecommunications (BEST) or any other emergency management agency in Victoria."
Why ACREM doesn't seek accreditation
Whilst ACREM has been a long time petitioner of the federal agency Emergency Management Australia (EMA) to provide a federal level accreditation system for CB monitoring groups, ACREM has not and will not seek accreditation under the current state systems for the following reason.
The current state systems of accreditation is primarily intended for rescue and emergency services that provide "front line" services to the community. Various support groups are also accredited in order to allow them to provide support personnel to the primary emergency services such as Police, Fire, Ambulance, SES and VRA. However this support is often in the form of additional personnel to help answer telephones, run messages, relay messages, stand at road blocks or barricades, or otherwise supplement the primary agencies internal operations.
ACREM was formed to provide a monitoring service on the CB bands, responding to calls from the community and relaying information to the required services as necessary. To do this we need our operational members to remain in a position where they can continue to operate according to ACREM policies, rather than providing a totally different role. If Monitors are called away to provide these support roles to another service then our ability to provide a monitoring service would be greatly reduced, if not totally removed.