Snowy Valleys Council has used its submission to the Royal Commission into bushfires to call for greater communication and consistency between state borders during times of crisis.
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Up to $7 million in ratepayer money has been spent recovering communities in the wake of the Dunns Road and Green Valley 'mega-fire' that burnt through 402,650 of land in 50 days.
Snowy Valleys Council general manager Matthew Hyde told The Daily Advertiser that in the months since the fires broke out, an enormous list of ongoing and unexpected costs has been raked in by the council.
"The cost is a large impost on our ratepayers and means we've had to use up a lot of our cash reserves on mostly roadside issues that haven't been covered by [government] funding packages," Mr Hyde said.
These unforeseen costs are one of the issues detailed in the council's 20-page submission the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements.
More than 400 submissions have been tabled with the Royal Commission, with the deadline closed from Tuesday.
"Just over 400 hectares or 45 per cent of our local government area was burnt," said Mr Hyde.
"It had a big impact, not just on businesses but socially with communities being isolated for days at a time. The worst of it was felt by Khancoban, where they were isolated for 12 days."
"Our concentration has been on cross-border methods and the inconsistency between Victoria and NSW," he said.
"It was not such a problem with the ACT where they worked well with us to get information out."
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The biggest issue during the Dunns Road and Green Valley 'mega-fires' over the summer, Mr Hyde said was the access to timely communications.
"We had issues with telecommunications as the electricity went down, we couldn't get messages out to people," Mr Hyde said.
"There were also a lot of mixed messages getting out when we needed to have that one voice of truth getting through."
In the immediate aftermath, the council once again struggled to continue mass communication with its residents who had been scattered throughout evacuation centres.
Their submission also details the challenges faced in maintaining access to cut-off communities.
"As a council, our main issue was roadside, getting roads open for residents to return safely [following the fires] to care for livestock and property," Mr Hyde said.
In the wake of the fires, the council has found significant follow-up challenges in the restoration of services, and distribution of aid, including the enormous task of delivering donations throughout the affected communities.
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The Daily Advertiser has also been given a copy of international charity Save The Children's submission to the Royal Commission.
The 32-page document outlines ways to better inform and include young people in the management of crisis situations in the future.
"While the level of support in the aftermath of the fires was incredible, the needs of children was one very important area that was largely forgotten," said Matt Gardiner, Save the Children's Australian branch executive director.
"Unfortunately, the bushfire response did not adequately cater to the unique needs of children, and as a result, many suffered unnecessarily when appropriate and systematic support could have alleviated this.
"With more extreme and catastrophic events like this expected, we need to ensure that children's needs are prioritised alongside other essential services in future emergencies."
It comes after the children's right advocacy group was forced to postpone its trauma counselling workshops across the Riverina and Snowy Valleys area, due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The Royal Commission will continue its hearings, with official recommendations to be handed down in August.
The ceremonial hearing heralded the beginning of proceedings on April 16.