In all states of Australia, it is a requirement of AS3745-2010, Section 3.5 of Planning for Emergencies in Facilities, to have Evacuation Diagrams in the common areas of multi-residential buildings.
In Queensland, the emergency exit diagrams must show the path to be followed to exit the building, eg. via the stairwells. The exit diagrams must be no smaller than A4 size. The diagrams show the location of fire hydrants, fire extinguishers and fire hoses for the level the diagram is on.
In our building, the diagrams are placed in the corridors above the Up/Down buttons of the lifts.
It is up to occupiers to familiarise themselves with the exit diagrams. In the event of an emergency they should know in advance the path to exit the building. Visibility is an issue in corridors filled with smoke from a fire, especially at night, event with emergency lighting operating.
Using lifts to evacuate a building in an emergency is an no-no. Fire services personnel have a key that over-rides the lift systems so that if they cannot exit the lift on the level of the fire, the lift doors will shut very much faster than usual.