Emergency management policy

The Social services sector emergency management policy 2021 (Word) protects Victorians’ health, safety, and wellbeing by outlining how social services plan and prepare for emergencies.

The policy applies to:

• community services that are delivered directly by the department
• agencies delivering services that are funded by the department, as outlined in service agreements, funding plans and other relevant performance agreement documentation
• Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) and short-term accommodation and assistance owned by the department
• agencies providing Supported Independent Living (SIL) and short-term accommodation and assistance services with which the department has a funding relationship
• any other agency or service provider, as stated in contractual agreements or regulatory/registration requirements.

Agencies not required to implement this policy are also encouraged to use it, and the accompanying resources, to guide their emergency management planning.

Important changes

The important changes are:

• Scope – The scope of the policy has been updated to reflect that the Department of Health and the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing have formally separated. The Department of Families, Fairness and Housing is responsible for social housing, disability, and child protection services. It is also responsible for emergency financial assistance, emergency accommodation, regional recovery coordination and social and wellbeing recovery activities.
• Structure and language – The policy has been updated to make it easier to read and navigate, and for service provider to understand their responsibility to plan and prepare for emergencies.
• Guidance – A new easy to use emergency management plan template has been included in the policy, which is designed to assist small to medium-sized providers plan for and act during an emergency.
• Leave early plans for home-based care – Home-based (foster and kinship) carers now only need one leave early plan, instead of a new plan each time a child or young person enters their care.

Resources

Resources available to assist service providers plan and prepare for emergencies include:

• Preparing for emergencies: a reference guide for the social services sectors (Word)
• Template emergency management plan (Word)
• Home-based care emergency management factsheet (Word)
• Emergency relocation – bushfire leave early plan (Word)
• Emergency management – What to do in a fire, flood or other emergency 2021 East A4 poster (pdf)
• Emergency management – What to do in a fire, flood or other emergency 2021 North A4 poster (pdf)
• Emergency management – What to do in a fire, flood or other emergency 2021 South Gippsland A4 poster (pdf)
• Emergency management – What to do in a fire, flood or other emergency 2021 South Metro A4 poster (pdf)
• Emergency management – What to do in a fire, flood or other emergency 2021 West A4 poster (pdf).

More information

Are you looking for the Department of Health’s Emergency Management policy? You can find it on the Department of Health website.

For more information, email the Emergency Management Policy and Programs team: EMPolicy@dffh.vic.gov.au

2021 Emergency preparedness forums

The Department of Families, Fairness and Housing hosts an emergency preparedness forum each year to provide service providers with practical advice, guidance and resources to support them to prepare effectively for an emergency.

The 2021 forum was held on Tuesday 26 October via Microsoft Teams.

Note: A video and transcript of the forum will be available on this page shortly.

Family violence framework for emergency management

The Family violence framework for emergency management supports planning and response to family violence during and after emergencies.

For more information about the framework, see:

• Family violence in emergencies
• Emergency management sector - what you can do
• Family violence resources.

Vulnerable people in emergencies policy

The Vulnerable people in emergencies policy (Word) integrates emergency preparedness planning with the delivery of funded services.

The policy applies to organisations funded by the department to provide personal care, support and/or case management services to clients living in the community within the 64 municipal council areas wholly or partly covered by the Country Fire Authority districts.

The policy also outlines funded services and municipal councils’ roles in screening and maintaining information on a vulnerable persons register. The register is specifically for people who require support from authorities to evacuate in the event of an emergency.

The Vulnerable people in emergencies policy is supported by three guidelines:

• Guideline 1 – Emergency Planning and Screening
• Guideline 2 – Vulnerable Persons Register
• Guideline 3 – Vulnerable Persons Register: Getting Started

An evaluation of the Vulnerable Persons Registers, a key component of the vulnerable people in emergencies policy, was undertaken by the department in 2019. A summary of the findings is available in the Vulnerable Persons Registers evaluation - Summary of key findings and next steps January 2020 (word).

For tailored information, including how to use the register, see the Vulnerable Persons Register. 

Promoting financial resilience to emergencies through home and contents insurance strategy

The Promoting financial resilience to emergencies through home and contents insurance strategy (PDF) supports the Victorian community to understand the importance of home and contents insurance as a key pillar of their financial resilience and emergency preparedness.

It also support Victorians to build the knowledge and skills necessary to make informed decisions relating to their financial resilience and emergency preparedness.

Insure it. It’s worth it toolkit

We partnered with Good Shepherd Microfinance to develop the Insure it. It’s worth it toolkit to help financially prepare individuals and families if things go wrong.

This toolkit provides practical information and advice about the importance of home and contents insurance to reduce emergency-related financial risk and promote effective recovery.

The toolkit uses a simple approach to encourage you to check your financial readiness, understand the financial effects of a disaster and to start a conversation about financial wellbeing.

The Insure it. It's worth it toolkit is available to download on the Good Shepherd website.