The Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements' interim report has highlighted "real difficulties" in fully understanding the impacts of last summer's bushfire devastation.
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Bega Valley mayor Sharon Tapscott said while the role of the newly formed National Cabinet is being investigated, the interim report's failure to include local government representatives within the cabinet formation is an "absolute travesty".
"It won't be any good for decision making," she said.
"There should be at least one of the local government national executives on the cabinet, or at least there as an advisor.
"To exclude them is absolutely ridiculous, and if they're not included it will be hard to implement the recommendations on the ground."
Ms Tapscott said the interim report shows the commission has overall "a good understanding of the problems and how to fix them".
"I think the recommendations, as long as they are implemented and funded, will be effective," she said.
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The royal commission has so far found improved national data sharing could help improve the delivery of recovery services and provide a better assessment of the effectiveness of resilience measures.
"We have experienced real difficulties in developing a clear national picture of the impact of the 2019-2020 bushfires across the nation," the interim report states.
The limited availability of data, technical limitations in systems and platforms, inconsistent and incomplete collection practices, and limited capacity of entities responsible for conducting impact assessments, and barriers in the broad distribution of impact data, were highlighted as major issues.
"Government agencies and non-government organisations have struggled to provide a full and clear picture of the devastating impact of these bushfires, in part because of inconsistencies in how data about natural disasters are collected, collated and shared across the nation," the report states.
The growing risk of natural disasters due to climate change, the national approach to disasters, cooperation and collaboration between Australian, state, territory and local governments, the role of recently created disaster-specific recovery agencies, the role of the Australian Defence Force, bettering air quality measurement and the use of emerging technologies are also being investigated.
Improving evacuation planning and sheltering options, traditional fire and land management, the mental health of firefighters and supply chain continuity are also highlighted.
"The evacuation of people from aged care facilities raises particular issues, and we have referred this topic to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety," the report said.
Commission Chair Mark Binskin, described as a leader in the national security, defence and aerospace sectors, said the inquiry has received evidence from more than 270 witnesses, over 50,000 pages of tendered documents and more than 1,700 public submissions.
He said the full report will be presented to Governor General David Hurley by October 28, with final hearings beginning on September 21.
"We are mindful that many Australians are still living with the effects and devastation caused by the 2019-20 bushfires," he said.
"Australia has a long history of natural disasters extending also to floods, cyclones and storms."
The report states it is attempting not to duplicate the findings of past and current inquiries related to natural disasters.
