VMR Mornington Volunteer Marine Rescue Inc. Response to the Inquiry into Marine Rescue Services in Victoria being conducted by the Economic Development, Infrastructure and Outer Suburban/Interface Services Committee (EDIOSISC) 1
Preamble VMR Mornington, Volunteer Marine Rescue has been operating since 1980. VMR would like to pose the following question to the Inquiries panel; If change is to be made in the delivery of Marine Search and Rescue in Victoria, will this directly impact positively, on a person who is in dire need of immediate assistance out on the water? VMRs mission statement, our reason for being is serving the community in the protection of life at sea. It is this single focus that has shaped our systems; our equipment and our training that have seen us continuously awarded by the Victoria Water Police and Boating Industry Association of Victoria. VMR is a ready response volunteer marine rescue service operating three vessels (two out of Mornington and one from Hastings) and was the busiest volunteer MSAR service in Victoria in 2012/13 with 203 responses (Table 1) under the direction of the Victoria Water Police. VMR Mornington understands that the Inquiry will investigate and provide recommendations on administrative improvements that will have financial savings and improve the governments risk mitigation strategies. We ask that the core focus of providing emergency service response capability within the AIIMS framework is at the core of all recommendations. Will the proposed change see a better result for a person in dire need for assistance out on the water, regardless of time of day or location in the State? We are all volunteers who have always strived to be professional and have been acknowledged as such. If the proposed change is to be accepted; will it be equal to or better than the service delivery of VMR? Will this lead to better outcomes for persons in trouble out on the water? 250 200 150 100 50 0 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 Table 1. Number of marine search and rescues responses conducted by VMR under the direction of the Victoria Police 2008/09 to 2012/13 2
Response to the Terms of Reference (ToR) of the Inquiry a) Fit for purpose VMR Mornington and VMR Hastings (VMR) were collectively the busiest Volunteers Marine Search and Rescue service in the state of Victoria in FY 2012/13, with 203 responses conducted under the direction of the Victoria Water Police. We believe this to be as a result of the professionalism of our service. We have been publicly acknowledged through external awards as providing the highest level of Volunteer MSAR because of this professionalism. This external acknowledgement has come from the Victoria Water Police, Boating Industry Association of Victoria and is represented in the Club Marine magazine feature article on VMR titled, The Benchmark. VMR has continued to review MSAR operations all over the world to ensure we are using best practice. We have provided advice to several Volunteer MSAR organisations in Victoria on our systems and shared our training packages to better their own systems and capability. VMR is solely staffed and managed by volunteers and provides marine search and rescue operations strategically based for Port Phillip, Westernport, out into Bass Strait and to all points of the compass, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days per year. VMR prides itself on the ability to be on the water and underway, on an average 10 mins after being activated by the Victoria Water Police. In the entirety of its 34 year history, without exception, VMR has always responded to a tasking from the Victoria Water Police. VMR has never experienced a situation where it has been unable to respond due to lack of crew or adverse weather conditions. We believe no other volunteer MSAR group in Victoria can make this claim. Our capability and service delivery is a true emergency service, 24/7. All of VMR s vessels have been built to survey, even before there was a requirement to do so. This ensured we were creating the safest possible workplace for our volunteers, an indication of how much we pride ourselves on having the most professional approach. To our knowledge VMR is the only Volunteer MSAR organisation that is trained in Blue Water first aid, and is equipped on all vessels with full spine boards and collars (for deep water rescue). VMR has saved countless lives in its 34 years of operating. This has only been possible by setting the bar higher than the legislative requirements, and continually training in, and above the minimum commercial requirements, to ensure safe operations which mitigate risk to our volunteers, the people we are serving, the Victoria Water Police and the State Government. b) Current structure and possibilities for improvement VMR Mornington and Hastings conduct their operations under the direction of the Victoria Water Police (Regional Control Centre RCC). We are of the belief that this reporting structure fits within the AIIMS framework and has led to rapid responses which have saved multiple lives on numerous occasions. Our procedures are based upon the AIIMS system and complement the RCC and SCC systems 3
governing emergency management in Victoria. This has been the key in communications and delivering outcomes that have saved lives due to the seamless inoperability with the Water Police. We would suggest that the strengths that exist in our relationship with the RCC are captured in policy agreements with the volunteer agencies. c) Responsibilities of MSAR providers, Regulators and overlapping responsibilities VMR has always been clear in its responsibilities in relation to conducting all of our Volunteer MSAR arrangements through the RCC. Our Constitution is very clear, as are the supporting SOPs on how we operate internally and within the DoJ and AIIMS frameworks. d) Legislation that enables and governs MSAR VMR does not have a position on the regulatory frameworks that underpin and enable National and or State MSAR arrangements. We have always enjoyed our master servant relationship with the Victoria Water Police. We are of the understanding, there are several Acts that govern different agencies and thus there would likely be an opportunity to ensure that all volunteer agencies fall under one Act, enabling consistent procedures and policies. e) Marine monitoring and communications processes All VMR vessels are fitted with Class B AIS transmitters. This decision was made for the safety of the crews and the greater boating public. VMR has been part of a trial conducted by the Water Police, in which closed channel GPS locators are placed on vessels so the RCC has clear coverage of the states assets and their locations. VMR believes this system should be expanded to all MSAR vessels. We believe that in a digital age, all emergency services should have an interagency frequency assigned to their radio networks enabling them to talk to one another. We have been involved in several multiagency response incidents where the land based police or SES units have been unable to talk directly to the Water based units. f) Training and development needs VMR has always been proud that it was the first organisation in the State to commission its vessels into commercial survey with the Marine Regulator. This position was strengthened by ensuring that our Skippers held the Commercial Coxswain qualification as a minimum, to ensure the safety of the crews and better serve our community. VMR has supported the AMSAR position of moving all MSAR vessels into commercial survey 4
and whilst we understand the reluctance from volunteer groups on the time it takes to get the qualification and the marine hours needed we continue to hold the view that this qualification is the minimum standard. Further training (practical and theoretical) must be conducted in a competency based form to ensure Skippers of MSAR vessels are familiar with towing work, as well as rough weather handling and the other risks that are specific to MSAR operations. We believe that further training could be standardised, to include the above as well as search patterns and communications with other agencies and protocols to ensure there is a consistent approach to MSAR operations State wide. VMRs SOPs have been shared and copied to further enable other volunteer MSAR organisations. We are focused on continuing improvement and ensuring we have the safest systems of work in the dynamic marine emergency management environment. Our Training officers hold the TAE qualification. Other VMR has struggled with the ever increasing burden of paper work and administrative tasks that consume in excess of 40 hours per week. This, for a volunteer organisation is hard to balance, week in and week out. Whilst we are reimbursed for fuel claims relating to MIRs, the process of doing so is convoluted and duplicated. We believe a simpler system will benefit and be a lesser burden to both the Water Police and TSV, along with the volunteer MSAR groups. VMR has always enjoyed promoting public marine safety initiates, for example being instrumental with the Stay with Your Boat campaign which is still promoted, and has proved to be a key life saving initiative. 5
In Closing We believe there are improvements that can be made to the administrative processes and interagency working that will improve the provision of MSAR services in Victoria. We believe that our systems and processes are, of a standard that should be replicated. VMR has demonstrated that our systems through working with the Victoria Water Police are effective, safe and timely. Our focus for decades, on having a minimum standard of commercial qualifications, commercial vessels, and specific MSAR training combined with excellent local marine knowledge, has ensured we have created and maintained a professional service. VMR Mornington is strategically positioned to cover both Port Philip Bay and Westernport and has demonstrated on numerous occasions, that our systems see us arriving safely on scene, prior to other units even when the incident is not in our usual response area. VMR is proud of our service model, and even prouder that we have been able to directly save multiple lives over many decades. VMR has never, in its 34 year history been unable to respond when tasked by the Victoria Water Police. We ask that the panel consider; will any proposed or recommended changes address the reason these services all exist? Will they directly result in an improved marine search and rescue capability in Victoria? One that is a true emergency service, one that has a marine response that is capable of a rapid response 24/7? Will this lead to better outcomes for persons in dire need for immediate assistance out on the water, anywhere in the state? 6