Resilience NSW is to be axed and its commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons stood down while the state government reviews its emergency response network.
Fitzsimmons, previously commissioner of the NSW Rural Fire Service and 2020 NSW Australian of the Year, will stand down from his role as commissioner of Resilience NSW.
Resilience NSW is an agency created after the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires to coordinate emergency services and their disaster management.
Resilience NSW Shane Fitzsimmons speaking to the Upper House Estimates Committee at the NSW Parliament in April. (Sam Mooy)
The agency has a budget of $750 million.
Following the floods that devastated northern NSW earlier this year, an inquiry was launched to investigate the response and recovery from the catastrophic event.
Resilience NSW was accused of “dropping the ball” during its flood response and that there was confusion about who was in charge among the multiple emergency agencies.
“Is Resilience NSW in its infancy or a failed experiment?” Banasiak asked.
The research was launched after the devastating Lismore floods of 2022. (Dan Peled/Getty Images)
9News reporter Chris O’Keefe said the inquiry’s report found the state’s response to the disaster needs to be restructured, starting with the dismantling of Resilience NSW, which means Fitzsimmons is out of a job.
O’Keefe also said the report found police should play a much bigger role in responding to natural disasters.
The NSW Premier is expected to address the changes later on Thursday.
A devastating deluge affects two states