The actions on this page are identified in the Victorian Government response to Recommendation 12 from the IGEM Inquiry into the 2019-20 Victorian Fire Season - Phase 1 report.
IGEM Recommendation 12: Emergency management planning reforms
The Inspector-General for Emergency Management (IGEM) recommends that Emergency Management Victoria – in collaboration with the emergency management sector and as part of the emergency management planning reforms:
- review, update and confirm arrangements for all tiers of control, including the flexible application of areas of operations, with a focus on the triggers for activation, integration with other tiers of control and clearly defined roles and responsibilities
- exercise these arrangements to ensure they are appropriate and familiar during emergencies
Actions
Action 12.1: Incorporate command and control arrangement flexibility for concurrent and compounding emergencies
The State Emergency Management Plan incorporates command and control arrangement flexibility to enable a more agile response to concurrent and compounding emergencies.
Action 12.2: Confirm control arrangements before 2020-21 summer season for state and regional control teams
Emergency Management Victoria and agencies will confirm control arrangements in readiness for 2020-21 summer season. This includes the intended use and application of any area of operation, and subsequently exercise the state and regional control teams to ensure arrangements and processes are understood.
Action 12.3: Train personnel on changes to tiers of control through the introduction of the State Emergency Management Plan
Emergency Management Victoria and its partners will train personnel on any consequential changes to the tiers of control through the introduction of the State Emergency Management Plan and undertaking scenario exercises to test the respective state, regional and municipal emergency management plans.
Action 12.4: Reinforce state, regional and incident tier arrangements in Regional and Municipal Emergency Management Plans
State, regional and incident tier arrangements will be reinforced through the delivery of the Regional and Municipal Emergency Management plans to better support emergency response activities.
Action 12.5: Revise the State Bushfire Plan to clearly define command and control arrangements
The revised State Bushfire Plan will inform any changes to arrangements to the existing tiers of command and control for bushfire, while improving the doctrine that supports the operation of each tier by clearly defining roles and responsibilities, supported by consistent implementation of agreed Australasian Inter-service Incident Management System structures.
Action 12.6: Develop community-focused communication strategies for operational arrangements in all phases of emergencies
The Victorian Government commits to developing community-focused communication and engagement strategies to build greater understanding of operational structures and arrangements across all phases of emergencies.
Action 12.7: Review the State Emergency Management Plan following the 2020-21 fire season
Emergency Management Victoria will conduct a review of the introduction of the first State Emergency Management Plan following the 2020-21 fire season, to inform any necessary changes, prior to the 2021-22 fire season.
An update on these actions can be found in IGEM's progress report
Updated