Victorian Emergency Management Strategic Action Plan Update #4 2019-22 - Progress Report 2021 | Inspector-General for Emergency Management Victoria

All hazards

Risks spanning across multiple hazard types and across the emergency management system.

Biosecurity

Exotic animal and plant disease outbreaks and pest incursions can have significant economic, community and environmental impacts.

Bushfire and other fires

Bushfire and other fires have potential consequences including loss of life and property, and damage to infrastructure and environment.

Climate change

Risks include more days of extreme heat, harsher fire weather, less rainfall and rising sea levels.

Communications disruption

Communications services are crucial in keeping communities safe, connected and informed before, during and after emergencies.

Cyber security and ICT systems failure

Risks relating to the confidentiality, availability, integrity of information and data and disruption of services.

Energy supply disruption

Reliable energy supplies are critical to many social and economic activities.

Flood

Major flood events have occurred in Victoria every 10 to 20 years, with much of the increasing risk created by human settlement.

Hazardous material incident

Potential risks relate to many places where Victoria’s hazardous materials are manufactured, stored, transported, used and disposed.

Heatwave

Heatwaves are considered to be the ‘silent killer’ of extreme weather events and are the leading cause of weather-related deaths in Australia.

Public health emergency

Risks may relate to the delivery of public health services, with impacts on community health and wellbeing and potential for loss of life.

Supply chain disruption

Geopolitical, environmental, economic, societal and infrastructure-related shocks can expose supply chains to wide ranging consequences.

Terrorism and extremism

Attacks carried out by individuals or non-state groups with ideological, political or religious goals can result in loss of life, severe injury and/or material damage.

Water supply disruption

Risks include collection, storage, treatment, delivery, availability and allocation of water for consumption and environmental, recreation and cultural uses.

Workforce and resourcing

Risks may relate to human resource supply and skills to support emergency management operations.

This is the Inspector-General for Emergency Management’s (IGEM) sixth progress report on the State’s implementation of the Victorian Emergency Management Strategic Action Plan (External link) (SAP).

Implementation of SAP actions aim to support a sustainable and efficient emergency management system for Victorian communities.

This report summarises key activities and provides an assessment of implementation progress of nine of the eleven SAP Update #4 actions between 1 January to 31 December 2021, and key developments in early 2022.

IGEM found that all nine SAP actions assessed in the progress report remain ongoing:

four are progressing satisfactorily
one is progressing but has experienced implementation challenges
four are overdue - with one nearing completion and three in the early stages of development

Two SAP Update #4 actions are not covered in the report, as IGEM reported them complete in its 2019 progress report.

IGEM acknowledges that operational pressures faced by organisations across the sector due to recent emergency events, including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic had an impact on implementation activity. Although no actions were completed during 2021, important progress was made towards completing many of them by lead agencies and support partners.

IGEM will continue to monitor SAP implementation by sector organisations and report to the Minister for Emergency Services on implementation progress.

IGEM’s Victorian Emergency Management Strategic Action Plan Update #4 2019–22 – Progress Report 2021 was published 28 June 2023.

Access the report in PDF format in the link at the bottom of this page, or view in flipbook (External link)format.

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