Victoria has well-established emergency management arrangements, to ensure a coordinated approach across government agencies to support emergency management efforts. These arrangements are described in the State Emergency Management Plan (SEMP)
All Victorian Government departments play a role in leading or supporting relief and recovery at the state and regional levels. ERV coordinates state and regional recovery efforts, and state relief efforts. The SEMP describes “coordination” as the bringing together of people, resources, governance, systems and processes, to ensure effective response to and relief and recovery from an emergency.
ERV has place-based teams across Victoria to work closely with councils and communities. ERV functions as a standalone business unit within a broader DJCS Emergency Management Group and is designed to fit within the existing Victorian emergency management governance arrangements.
This model enables ERV to effectively engage and coordinate across government and outlines the recovery functions for lead and support agencies in relevant legislative frameworks.
Departmental responsibilities
The below information is split into State Government Recovery Partners and portfolio agencies.
Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions (DJSIR, previously DJPR)
- local and regional economies
- businesses
- tourism
- food and grocery supply continuity.
Department of Education (DE, previously DET)
- advice and support to schools and early childhood services
- repairing and rebuilding DE-managed buildings and assets
- support for impacted students.
Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA, previously DELWP)
- energy services
- reticulated water and wastewater services
- natural environment, public land and waterways, including public assets
- agriculture and primary production
- protection and rehabilitation of Aboriginal cultural heritage sites on public land.
Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH)
- financial assistance (individual and household)
- housing and accommodation
- psychosocial support
- family violence prevention and support.
Department of Government Services (DGS, new department)
- local government
- consumer affairs
- public telecommunications.
Department of Transport and Planning (DTP, previously DoT)
- restoration of airport access, port infrastructure, rail, tram, contracted ferries, and bus services
- assessment, restoration, clean up and rehabilitation of DTP owned public buildings, roads, bridges, and tunnels
- support municipal councils with undertaking the assessment, restoration of essential municipal assets including roads, bridges, and tunnels under municipal council responsibility
- built environment including land use planning, building regulations and registered heritage assets.
Department of Justice and Community Safety (DJCS/ERV)
- legal aid and support
- statewide recovery coordination
- recovery support program (for this event)
- emergency and temporary accommodation (for this event).
Department of Health (DH)
- advice on accommodation standards for interim accommodation
- ‘whole-of-health’ advice, information and assistance
- maintain community access to primary and acute health services, including mental health and wellbeing services
- public health (health protection) advice
- repairing and rebuilding DH-managed buildings and assets.
Phases of emergency management
As a distinct phase of emergency management, there are specific state-level governance arrangements in place to support recovery following a major emergency.
State Recovery Coordination Committee
The State Recovery Coordination Committee (SRCC) is a Victorian Government senior officials committee providing governance of recovery activities both following major emergency events and during a steady state. SRCC supports recovery agencies to undertake their responsibilities and resolve cross-government strategic issues.
SRCC is co-chaired by the Emergency Management Commissioner (EMC) and the CEO of ERV. As required, SRCC provides advice on the recovery needs and priorities of Victorian communities, to:
- the State Crisis and Resilience Council (which includes Secretaries from each Victorian Government department)
- the Chief Commissioner of Police
- the Emergency Management Commissioner, and
- the CEOs of Emergency Management Victoria and Emergency Recovery Victoria on the recovery needs and priorities of Victorian communities.
State Recovery Working Groups
SRCC is supported by 5 State Recovery Working Groups (SRWGs), which comprise executives from relevant Victorian Government departments and external stakeholders.
Their role is to:
- guide the effective implementation of recovery activities
- connect initiatives with department recovery services, and
- foster partnerships with government and non-government stakeholders.
The SRWGs report on the status of initiatives and activities that align to their respective lines of recovery. They provide strategic direction, coordination, reporting and program development advice.
Recovery taskforces
Following a major emergency, the Victorian Government may choose to establish one or more dedicated taskforces to coordinate efforts around specific issues, needs or places. After previous events time-limited taskforces have been established to support activities such as clean-up and housing.
Local and regional arrangements
Recovery can also be managed by new or existing governance at the community, municipal and/or regional levels, with issues escalated to the state tier as required.
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