The Inspector-General for Emergency Management recommends that Emergency Management Victoria – in accepting that emergency management is a 'shared responsibility' - collaborate with the emergency management sector and community to:
a) establish clear guidance that clarifies the roles and responsibilities of individuals, communities, the private sector, responder agencies and government before, during and after emergencies
b) develop, implement and evaluate an ongoing communications strategy that ensures these roles and responsibilities are well-understood and reiterated throughout the year.
The Victorian Government will continue to invest in different communication strategies to build a common understanding of risk and what individuals, households and communities can do to act and mitigate risk (for example, seasonal campaigns, engagement through the Safer Together Program and other year-round opportunities).
As noted in IGEM’s 2021 progress report, departments and agencies continue to deliver various seasonal and year-round risk-related engagement activities.
These include:
- information on bushfire risk and mitigation through FFMVic and the Safer Together program (also refer to FSIP1 Action 5.2)
- CFA’s Plan & Prepare webpage (cfa.vic.gov.au/plan-prepare (External link))
- preparedness information on the VicEmergency app and website (emergency.vic.gov.au (External link))
- DH continues to provide information on the COVID-19 pandemic in over 50 language – refer to coronavirus.vic.gov.au/translated-information-about-coronavirus-covid-19 (External link)
The Victorian Government delivered the 2021–22 water safety communications campaign ‘Play it Safe by the Water’ with a focus on males aged between 25-64 and parents and carers of children aged 0-4 – refer to vic.gov.au/water-safety (External link)
The Victorian Government intends to launch the 2022 Victorian Fire Season Campaign in November 2022. The campaign’s core messaging will be ‘How well do you know fire?’. The campaign will utilise advertising means, including television, digital, social media, radio and print. Regional and metropolitan content has been developed to draw attention to the nuances of each of the regions.
The progress summary for FSIP1 Action 12.6 provides information on statewide communication strategies for the Australian Fire Danger Rating System (AFDRS) and Australian Warning System (AWS).