The Inspector-General for Emergency Management recommends that Emergency Management Victoria – in collaboration with the emergency management sector and as part of the emergency management planning reforms:
a) review, update and confirm arrangements for all tiers of control, including the flexible application of areas of operations, with a particular focus on the triggers for activation, integration with other tiers of control and clearly defined roles and responsibilities
b) exercise these arrangements to ensure they are appropriate and familiar during emergencies.
EMV will conduct a review of the introduction of the first SEMP following the 2020–21 fire season, to inform any necessary changes, prior to the 2021–22 fire season.
Victoria’s first SEMP was published in September 2020, superseding the State Emergency Response Plan and the State Emergency Relief and Recovery Plan within the Emergency Management Manual Victoria. The SEMP sets out arrangements for emergency mitigation, response and recovery and specifies the roles and responsibilities of agencies in relation to emergency management.
During 2021 EMV led a sector review of the SEMP. The review considered learnings from the 2020–21 summer season and the COVID-19 pandemic response, as well as items held over for future consideration at the time of initial publication.
SCRC approved the revised SEMP on 7 October 2021, and further changes were incorporated in response to IGEM's Phase 2 report. Both sets of changes are summarised in Figure 3 on page 87 of IGEM's 2022 progress report.
The revised SEMP came into effect on 27 October 2021 and is available at emv.vic.gov.au/responsibilities/semp (External link)
EMV maintains a register of items raised by sector organisations for consideration in future SEMP reviews. The next review is due to commence in late 2022 and conclude in 2023.