Victorian Emergency Management Planning Toolkit for People Most at Risk

Hazards, natural disasters, and emergencies are happening more often, for longer, with greater intensity, and sometimes at the same time. This trend is projected to persist and increase in the future.

Victoria has experienced a series of consecutive, wide ranging emergencies and natural disasters over the last few years, which may have long-lasting and compounding effects on the people impacted by these events. Given the changing nature of emergencies in recent times, a contemporary, systematic approach to emergency management planning, shared responsibility and risk mitigation is now needed in this state.

The Victorian State Emergency Management Plan (SEMP) recognises that sharing responsibility for emergency management planning and preparedness is everyone’s business. That means that everyone has a role to play in planning for, responding to, and recovering from emergencies.

The concept of ‘shared responsibility’ also recognises that some people and communities may be disproportionally affected and/or at greater risk in emergencies, based on factors like:

• the type and extent of the emergency
• the situational and consequential factors
• other changing and variable circumstances.

The Victorian Emergency Management Planning Toolkit for People Most at Risk (the Planning Toolkit) is a key deliverable of a State Crisis and Resilience Council emergency management priority project. It aims to support shifting Victoria’s emergency management planning to be more dynamic and situation-based, with a focus on people who are most at risk in specific circumstances.

This Planning Toolkit has been co-designed with a range of stakeholders and emergency management experts to be used flexibly, taking an ‘all hazards, all emergencies’ approach to emergency planning.

The key concepts that inform and underpin the Planning Toolkit include:

• emergency management planning recognises that everyone has some role to play in planning for, responding to and recovering from emergencies, and therefore adaptable and flexible processes are needed
• emergency management planning and strategies, where relevant, include coordination amongst various agencies aiming to minimise the impact of emergencies on life, property, and the environment
• a focus on identifying and supporting community cohorts most at risk in a specific emergency (e.g., people with asthma may be most at risk during an epidemic thunderstorm asthma event and least at risk in another type of emergency)
• supporting tailored approaches that are monitored and adjusted, as required.

Planning Toolkit

Who it is for

The Planning Toolkit has been developed with and for emergency management practitioners to use as a reference guide in planning with and for different community cohorts that may be most at risk depending on the circumstances, as part of SEMP responsibilities.

Aim / Overview

The Planning Toolkit is a practical resource providing a range of guidance and support materials, to help emergency management practitioners to consider and plan for the needs of groups of people and communities most at risk in emergencies. It has been developed in recognition that the needs of communities and cohorts of people may vary depending on the type, scale, and duration of emergencies – so it is not a ‘one approach for all.’

The Planning Toolkit incorporates contemporary emergency management strategies and promotes ‘strengths-based‘ approaches. It enables practitioners to:

• develop scenarios and create adaptive and dynamic risk assessments that determine the impact a hazard/emergency may have for a community cohort/s
• show how varied factors and considerations emerge when assessing risks in the context of varying hazard/emergency scenarios
• customise the support materials to support planning discussions and/or processes
• identify opportunities to enable and enhance shared responsibility, e.g.:
  • Engage with communities and people with lived experience to co-design approaches as well as further foster shared responsibility
  • Collaborate with relevant sector partners
• review the efficacy of implemented strategies to reduce, eliminate or manage identified risks.

How to use the Planning Toolkit

The Planning Toolkit has two main components:

• Component 1: Guiding Principles
• Component 2: Risk Assessment / Planning Guidance and Support Materials.

Practitioners can use the Planning Toolkit as a reference guide to support developing, reviewing and/or updating emergency management plans and arrangements. It provides a range of concepts, considerations and examples designed to be used flexibly and can be customised to be fit-for-purpose.

Practitioners can use all or some of Planning Toolkit’s sections as needed. For example, a practitioner may wish to only consider the Guiding Principles for a specific purpose at one time, and at another time refer to the pre-populated examples to further inform their planning and risk assessment processes.