Municipal Emergency Management Planning
As documented in the Emergency Management Act 1986 and the Local
Government Act 1989, councils play a critical role in Victoria’s
emergency management systems.
Councils have emergency management responsibilities because they
are the closest level of government to their communities and have
access to specialised local knowledge about the environmental and
demographic features of their districts. People also naturally
seek help from their local council and emergency management agencies
during emergencies and the recovery process.
Most of the activities in the list below are carried out by councils
in close conjunction with, or with direct support by, Government
departments and agencies.
Prevention / Mitigation / Risk Reduction Activities
- Perform municipal functions under Local Government, Fire,
Health, Building, and Planning legislation eg. planning, building,
occupancy.
- Identification and assessment of hazards/risks.
- Provision of community awareness, information and warning
system(s).
- Identification and assessment of risks using a community emergency
risk management framework.
- Implementation/coordination of specific risk treatments for
identified risks and exposed elements in the community These
include, for example, flood/fire management, maintaining a register
of at-risk groups, fire risk reduction (private and council lands)
Response Activities
- Provision of resources as available and needed by the community
and response agencies.
- Establishment of MECC - facilities and staffing.
- Provision of facilities for emergency services’ staging
areas.
- Facilitate the delivery of warnings to the community
- Provision of information to public and media.
- Coordination of the provision and operation of emergency relief
(includes catering, emergency relief centres, emergency shelters
and material needs).
- Clearance of blocked drains and local roads, including tree
removal.
- Support to VicRoads for partial/full road closures and determination
of alternative routes
Recovery Activities
- Provision of information services to affected communities,
using eg information lines, newsletters, community meetings and
websites
- Provision and staffing of Recovery/Information Centre(s).
- Formation and leadership of Municipal/Community Recovery Committees.
- Post-impact assessment — gathering and processing of
information.
- Survey and determination regarding occupancy of damaged buildings
- Environmental health management — including food and
sanitation safety, vector control.
- Oversight and inspection of rebuilding/redevelopment.
- Provision and management of community development services.
- Provision and/or coordination of volunteer helpers.
- Provision of personal support services, eg. counselling, advocacy.
- Coordination of clean up activities, including disposal of
dead stock.
- Provision/coordination of temporary accommodation.
- Repair/restoration of infrastructure, eg. roads, bridges, sporting
facilities, public amenities
- Organisation, management or assistance with public appeals.
Extracted from the Emergency
Management Manual Victoria (Chapters 3-3 and 6-44), available
on the Office of the Emergency Services Commissioner website.
See Also:
