South Australian emergency services execute their biggest mass casualty training exercise to date at the Adelaide Convention Centre and surrounding North Terrace area, incorporating elements from recent global incidents.

Exercise Scenario and Components

The deployment exercise simulates a car crash followed by an explosion on North Terrace. It escalates to include an active armed offender scenario with hostages, casualties, intelligence gathering, and negotiation tactics.

SA Police Deputy Commissioner Linda Williams notes that such drills adapt to current threats worldwide. “The exercises are always adaptive to what’s been happening around not only Australia but around the world, so, yes, there have been nuances that have been learnt from live events and it’s really important for us to simulate that as much as possible,” she states.

Unprecedented Scale

Approximately 300 first responders from SA Police, SA Ambulance Service, Metropolitan Fire Service, and SA Health participate alongside volunteer actors. This surpasses a 2008 South Australian exercise at the now-demolished Football Park, which focused on an explosion scenario.

National Lessons and Agency Praise

Funded by the Australia-New Zealand Counter-Terrorism Committee, the exercise yields debrief insights shared with interstate law enforcement and first responders. Deputy Commissioner Williams emphasizes reviewing lessons to enhance national preparedness.

MFS Chief Officer Jeff Swann praises the collaboration: “It was really quite outstanding to be able to collaborate with other agencies. I couldn’t be more proud of our firefighters. The way they conducted themselves and the skills that they used to go back to their core of protecting life, property and the environment was really outstanding.”

SAAS Chief Executive Rob Elliott highlights inter-agency teamwork: “Working together was incredibly important. We look forward to the lessons learnt. Even though we feel very confident the way today was handled, there’s always those opportunities to improve and that’s what today is about—walking away and seeing how we can work together better for South Australia.”

North Terrace experiences traffic disruptions and bus diversions during the operation.