Victoria’s leadership in emergency management reform
Victoria has a long history of emergency management reform. The state’s emergency management practices have been strengthened and improved through our experience and learnings from significant natural disaster events in recent years. These events include the 2009 bushfires, the 2010–11 floods across parts of Victoria, the 2014 Hazelwood coal mine fire, the 2016 thunderstorm asthma event in Melbourne and the 2019–20 bushfires in the east and north-east of Victoria. This provides a solid foundation upon which to continue to reform and strengthen our arrangements in Victoria and nationally.
Victoria maintains a strong commitment to strengthening our mitigation against, response to and recovery from natural disasters. We are uniquely placed as one of only two states or territories to have a dedicated Inspector-General for Emergency Management (IGEM) and we recognise the value of ongoing accountability and assurance mechanisms to support emergency management reform.
The Royal Commission acknowledged the valuable work undertaken by IGEM to support public accountability, in addition to their core objectives of encouraging a culture of assurance, accountability, continuous improvement and best practice in emergency management. The findings of the Royal Commission present an opportunity for enhanced national coordination in accountability and assurance.
In supporting cross-border communities, Victoria built capability and capacity ahead of the 2020-21 summer season through dedicated personnel and arrangements. Additionally, in partnership with the Commonwealth, we have committed to strengthening telecommunications resilience in isolated bushfire-prone communities, as well as ensuring that isolated communities and peak holiday destinations are key to the planning of evacuation processes.
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