The Inspector-General for Emergency Management recommends that Emergency Management Victoria – in collaboration with the community and emergency management sector:
a) updates the 2012–13 State Emergency Risk Assessment to include strategic and operational elements of emergency management. This should consider:
• the place-based risk assessment development through the community emergency risk assessment process
• consequence management capability across the sector
• existing risk models for natural and human-induced hazards.
b) provides guidance and support for the sector on how to incorporate the updated risk assessment in emergency management planning, policy development, decision-making and assurance activities.
Guidelines to facilitate the development of Regional and Municipal Emergency Management Plans (REMPs) will be published in September and December 2020 respectively.
Since the Governor’s 25 September 2019 proclamation of new state-level emergency management planning arrangements:
- On 30 September 2020 Victoria’s eight emergency management regions and the regional level arrangements came into effect.
- On 1 December 2020 the municipal level arrangements came into effect, completing the transition to arrangements under the new framework.
In November 2019 EMV published guidelines issued by the then Minister for Police and Emergency Services to facilitate the development of the SEMP. EMV published updated guidelines with regional content in September 2020 and municipal content in November 2020.
The guidelines aim to strengthen the alignment of planning activities in accordance with the EMLA Act with a focus on efficiency and effectiveness, interoperability and integration, the local needs of communities, promoting community resilience, and the importance of collaborative emergency management planning.
The guidelines are available on EMV’s website: emv.vic.gov.au/how-we-help/emergency-management-planning/planning-guidelines