Real Time Monitoring and Evaluation (RTM&E) teams recently travelled to the state’s flood zones – the Loddon Mallee Region during October and the Hume Region in November, as well as completing virtual deployments in November and December.
The RTM&E team provided incident management personnel with real time feedback about the emergency response to the flood crisis, as well as capturing learnings for future events.
RTM&E is a state level, multi-agency program. Unlike with traditional evaluations, often conducted post events, we conduct RTM&E during the readiness, response, relief and early recovery phases of an emergency.
Observing meetings, debriefing personnel and reviewing documentation in action captures details that could be missed if an evaluation is done after the event. The approach promotes a no-blame, just and fair culture, consistent with the lessons management lifecycle in the EM-LEARN framework.
For the Loddon Mallee deployment, the team was embedded in the local Incident Control Centre, capturing observations and analysing for insights which they fed straight back into operations. This also contributes to continuous improvement of the broader emergency management sector.
The deployments included members from:
- Queensland Fire and Emergency Services
- Australian Red Cross
- Emergency Recovery Victoria
- Emergency Management Victoria
- Victoria State Emergency Service.
Loddon Mallee was the RTM&E teams’ first in-person deployment since the COVID-19 pandemic began: in recent years, teams have deployed virtually. In every emergency we focus on continuous improvement, with people committed to capturing observations, analysing for insights and identifying lessons, including the deployment of RTM&E. We will continue to collect learnings as this flood event progresses.
The department acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the Traditional Custodians of the land and acknowledges and pays respect to their Elders, past and present.