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| HOUSEHOLD PREPAREDNESS FOR EMERGENCIES |
The first issue of
Household Preparedness for Emergencies, NSW, Vic., Qld and ACT, October 2007 (cat. no. 4818.0.55.001) was released on 6 June. The survey examined the steps households had taken in preparing for emergencies. Where households had experienced a recent emergency (in the last 2 years) the survey investigated how they responded during the emergency and whether any changes were made to ensure better preparedness in the future.
Some NSW highlights include:
The most common safety precaution that households had taken was to have smoke alarms or detectors installed in their homes. In NSW 94% of homes had a smoke alarm installed. This reflects legislation and building codes in NSW, it is (and was at the time of the survey) mandatory for all homes, new and old, to have smoke alarms installed.
Electrical safety switches or circuit breakers were the second most common safety precaution. These were present in over three quarters of homes in NSW (76%). It is (and was at the time of the survey) mandatory to have safety switches installed in new houses and those undergoing renovations or rewiring work in NSW.
A written or rehearsed emergency plan was the least common safety precaution, implemented in 13% of NSW households.
Over half the households in Sydney (54%) had a portable first aid kit. In comparison, the balance of NSW reported a higher proportion of homes with a portable first aid kit (63%).
In NSW, over a third of all households (36%) did not keep emergency phone numbers in a location for ease of use.
Of the NSW households with a perceived risk of bushfire, 205,100 (41%) had an emergency plan.
Of the NSW households with a perceived risk of flooding, 80,200 (37%) had an emergency plan.
In the two years prior to October 2007, 12% (309,200) of NSW households experienced an emergency. The most common type of emergency experienced was storm, wind or hail by 192,700 (7%) of NSW households.
The publication's entire content is available for free on the ABS website in Excel Data Cube format. For further information contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or email client.services@abs.gov.au.
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