Preparing for emergencies helps to keep Victorians safe, healthy and well. Learn about the social services sector emergency management policy and how to do an emergency preparedness attestation.
Read the updated policy (effective from 1 October 2026): Social services sector emergency management policy (v7.0) (Word)
Read the current policy (in place till 30 September 2026): Social services sector emergency management policy (v6.0) (Word)
Who the policy applies to
The policy applies to services that the department funds, delivers or regulates.
This includes:
- community services
- agencies funded through service agreements or funding plans
- department-owned Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) and short-term respite properties
- any other agency or service provider, covered by contracts, regulations or registration requirements.
If your agency is not in scope, you can still use the policy and resources to guide your emergency planning.
Policy resources
The below resources can help agencies to plan and prepare for emergencies:
- Emergency preparedness: Information and resources
- Preparing for emergencies: a reference guide for the social services sector (Word)
- Emergency management plan template (Word)
- Home-based care emergency management factsheet (Word)
- Emergency relocation – bushfire leave early plan (Word)
Emergency preparedness attestation
You must complete an emergency preparedness attestation each year if your agency:
- is funded by the department,
- provides direct services to clients, and
- is covered by the social services sector emergency management policy.
Services can complete the form any time between 1 October to 30 November each year.
What you need to do
Fill out the attestation form on the Service Agreement Module (SAM).
This helps the department:
- understand how ready services are for emergencies
- report to the Emergency Management Commissioner
- improve emergency management policies and resources.
Important:
- You only need to attest once for your agency per year even if you run more than one service. Agencies are not required to attest for each individual service they are funded or regulated to deliver.
- The online form is available to agencies covered by the policy on 1 October every year.
- Your agency is not required to upload or send your emergency management plans to the department as part of the annual emergency preparedness attestation process.
How to complete your attestation
- Log into the Funded Agency Channel
- Go to My Agency
- Complete the Emergency Preparedness Attestation form in the Service Agreement Module (SAM).
For help, see Completing the Emergency Preparedness Attestation in SAM on the Funded Agency Channel. It shows you how to fill out your agency’s attestation and how to add or update your emergency management contact.
Contact
Contact the Emergency Management Policy and Programs team: EMPolicy@dffh.vic.gov.au