Confidential · Pacific Dunlop Limited · Andersen Consulting

Emergency Recovery Inception Plan project

Presentation to Yarra Ranges MEMPC

May 2012

Strictly Confidential; For Internal Use Only

Presentation Contents

Strictly Confidential; For Internal Use Only - Page 2

Defining Recovery Inception & Project Rationale

Project Governance, Objectives & Scope

Project Methodology

Consultations & Emerging Themes

ERIP Structure and Examples Content

Project Challenges and Lessons Learnt

30 mins

Next Steps and Questions

Defining Recovery Inception

‘Recovery Inception’ is the transition phase from response to an emergency event into recovery for the medium to long term.

For example, approximately the first eight weeks following the Black Saturday bushfires; although the timeframe will vary subject to the scale and type of emergency event experienced.

The Recovery Inception phase encompasses:

• Establishment of Recovery Inception arrangements (i.e. adoption of initial governance models and the allocation of recovery staff).

• Impact assessment.

• Development of ongoing Recovery Plans in consultation with the community.

Defining Recovery Inception

Project Rationale

The Emergency Recovery Inception Plan (ERIP) was developed because:

• It will contribute to the continuous improvement of Council’s emergency management planning arrangements and organisational capability;

• Council needs to better understand communities and how they recover from a large scale emergency events,

• The resilience of the local community, and their capacity to adopt ad-hoc or informal processes (‘the organic nature of their initial response’), were under-estimated in 2009;

• There is an opportunity to capture and share the learning from Council’s Black Saturday recovery experiences;

• Recent emergency events (Victorian Floods) have highlighted wider shortfalls in recovery inception planning that need to be addressed;

• Whilst Bushfire Royal Commission recommendations have focused on improvements to the preparedness and response phases, Council perceive that gaps remain for recovery planning; and

• There is a need to develop more appropriate recovery roles, structures and actions at a local government level, regardless of an event’s scale/type or the actions of State Government.

 

The project was funded as part of the Natural Disasters Resilience Grants Scheme, through OESC

Project Governance

The project was overseen by a Steering Committee that met regularly according to project milestones to monitor progress and endorse deliverables.

Name Role

Kate Powne Executive Officer, Emergency Management(Project Manager)

Alison Cran MRM / Director, Social & Economic Development

Simon O’Callaghan

Deputy MRM / Executive Officer, Economic Development

Brett Ellis MEM / Risk, Emergency and Community Safety Manager

Grant Jack MERO / Manager, Parks and Facilities

Project Objectives

The initial key objectives were to:

• Capture, understand and articulate the needs or expectations of the community, Council and other stakeholders during the period of Recovery Inception

• Evaluate best practice approaches in other jurisdictions (nationally and internationally) as they relate to the topic of Recovery Inception

• Develop a practical Recovery Inception Plan that:o Creates a sustainable document structure and suite of templates;o Contains useful information applicable to a range of types and scales of emergency event;o Will facilitate the development of prompt appropriate community recovery activity;o Is user-friendly and tailored to a local government audience of users;o Can be quickly and easily mobilised for use;o Aids thinking and decision making during the inception period and beyond; ando Is considerate of local community needs and capabilities.

Additional objectives that emerged over the course of the project included:

• Develop a future-focused ERIP that captures how the Yarra Ranges Council (represented by the Steering Committee) wants to manage Recovery Inception in the future, rather than be constrained by current arrangements.

ERIP Scope

The scope of the ERIP was further defined as:

Target audience

• Primarily Yarra Ranges Council staff that will be called upon to perform Recovery activities in the aftermath of an emergency event;

• However, it is acknowledged the document’s readership will extend to other agencies and organisations supporting Council in its Recovery efforts.

All-Hazards

• Whilst much has been learnt by Yarra Ranges Council from bushfire and flood experiences, the Plan must adopt an ‘all hazards’ approach.

Geographic Location

• The ERIP was designed for and tailored to the Dandenong Ranges and Warburton corridor;

• This is one of Australia’s highest risk bushfire zones;

• However, the ERIP should be able to be adapted and adopted by other communities.

Scalable

• The ERIP must be able to be used by Yarra Ranges Council staff in any emergency regardless of type, size, complexity and scale.

Project Methodology

• Establish Steering Committee

• Establish project objectives & charter

• Research & examination best practices

• Individual consultations with sector representatives

• Group consultations with community members

• Analysis of stakeholder consultation findings

• Steering Committee approval of ERIP Structure

• Development of Plan contents & appendices

Review Project Environment

Undertake Desktop Research

Conduct Stakeholder Consultations

Develop ERIP Structure

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4

Develop ERIP Content

Step 5

• Revisions based on Steering Committee feedback

Steering Committee Review

Step 6

April 2011 May 2011 June-July 2011 August 2011 September 2011 October 2011

• Presentation to MEMPC

• Distribution to sector representatives

• Dissemination to community stakeholders

Presentation of ERIP to stakeholders

Next Steps

Now

Key Doc

Key Doc

Desktop Research

A research report was produced which examined literature and thinking on the topic from inter-state and overseas:

Consultations

Thirty-two individual and group roundtable consultations were held in-person and via teleconference with emergency management sector experts, Council staff and community groups and representatives:

Council Teams• Community Recovery & Social Welfare

teams

• Built Environment teams

• Natural Environment teams & DSE

• Local Laws

Other State Government Agencies• DHS & DPCD

• VicRoads

• Utilities (SP Ausnet & Telstra)

These consultations deeply influenced the structure and content of the ERIP.

Individuals:• Adam Dent/Angela Sutherland , Red Cross

• Luke Roberts, Salvation Army

• Craig Campbell, Victorian Council of Churches

• Emma Fitzclarence, MAV

• Anne Leadbeater , OESC

• Kaylene Ramsdell , Knox City Council

• John Chaplain , VicSES

• Theo Pykoulas, MEMEG

• Greg Little, Northern Grampians

• Ken Gibbs, Manningham Council (and ex-VicPol)

• Dean Mann, DEECD

• Stuart Toplis, Tourism Victoria

RoundtablesCommunity Groups• Community Donated Goods & Volunteer

Coordination groups • Tourism & Economic Development

representatives • Personal & Community Support Agencies • Township Improvement Groups• Sporting Groups & Clubs• Neighbourhood Houses • Animal Management Agencies &

Organisations (DPI; Animal Aid & VFF)

Key Themes from Consultations

Key themes that emerged from the consultations were:

• There is much support for both the concept and the need for a Emergency Recovery Inception Plan;

• Recovery Inception is only as good as the effort put into the preparedness phase, the co-ordination of effort and the resulting partnerships;

• Identifying clear roles and responsibilities for all those involved is important (including volunteer agencies and other community organisations);

• There is a need for considerable communication efforts during the recovery inception phase to keep all those involved informed – Communicate, Communicate and Communicate some more;

• There was much commonality of thinking amongst the three stakeholder groups: local government, agencies and community groups;

• Community and agency expectations of Council are more focused towards the corporate teams than might have been expected, rather than ‘operational’ teams;

• Restoring Council services as soon as possible can help the community to recover;

• The four recovery environments (Social, Economic, Environmental and Built) is a well recognised and supported framework; and

• Gathering timely and accurate impact assessment and other data is crucial.

ERIP Structure

As a result of consultation findings, the structure of the ERIP is based on the four recovery environments, plus dedicated sections on Council’s coordination arrangements and communications and community engagement.

7. Economic 8. Built 9. Social 10. Natural

5. Coordination Arrangements: (inclu governance, resource allocation and impact assessment)

3. Introduction: (inclu Plan maintenance and preparedness)

Check-list Further Insights

Communications

Likely Council Roles

Likely Roles of Others

Additional Resources

1. Forward

2. How to use the document

6. Communications & Community Engagement

4. Top Ten Priority Considerations

12. Appendices: Unpopulated templates & tools for use during Recovery Inception

Example ERIP Content

The content is designed to be ‘action-able’ with multiple checklists, visuals and colour-coding supported by short sections of descriptive text. It is designed to foster linkage between relevant teams and organisations in any emergency event.

The ERIP can quickly be broken down into sections that can be separately distributed to specific teams and individuals.

Example ERIP Content

Project Challenges

Maintaining the engagement of stakeholders over a long project period

Keeping to project timeframes amidst competing demands

Undertaking concurrent projects to evaluate Yarra Ranges Recovery Response to February 2009 bushfires, while developing the ERIP

Satisfying the multiple objectives of the ERIP, as well as new objectives which emerged over the course of the project

Developing the ERIP while the emergency management sector is undergoing significant change

A summary of key project challenges includes:

Clearly defining and ‘sticking to’ the concept of ‘Recovery Inception’

Theme: Governance and Project Management

Theme: Concurrent Initiatives

Theme: Stakeholder Engagement

Theme: Products

Lessons Learnt

5. Ensure there is a clear and consistent view on key project concepts amongst team members, before progressing to subsequent project phases

4. Set clearer expectations of what will be required of Project Steering Committee members and gain commitment to this

3. Re-visit the agreed project objectives throughout the life of the project to ensure these have not altered

2. Consider a greater client site presence during critical periods of the project when decisions are required

1. Enforce project timelines or be prepared to re-cast project deadlines if significant delays occur

9. Be better informed and seek to understand stakeholder positions prior to consultations where possible

8. Develop a Communications Plan to keep stakeholders informed of project progress and be clear from the outset whether Cube or the client is expected to ‘own’ the consultation relationship

7. Adapt consultation processes for community members and apply IAP2 principles

6. Identify stakeholders to be consulted at the earliest possible opportunity, maintain key agency contacts and be prepared to work with the client to gather this information

The project came a long way in both its conceptual thinking, the stakeholder engagement and the products produced. However, there is acknowledgement in hindsight from both Cube and the Yarra Ranges, that project activities could have been delivered more effectively and efficiently.

Regardless, the ERIP has been produced and has the potential to enhance recovery arrangements at local, regional and State wide levels.

10. Identify and plan for competing demands on those providing feedback to draft documents, and make alternative arrangements

11.Consider the appropriateness and demands on Council staff of running projects concurrently

Next Steps

In Cube’s opinion, the next steps in the next six to nine months for the Yarra Ranges Project Manager / PSC are:

Communicate the current project progress/status to those consulted in 2011, and inform them of intended next steps

Update Stakeholders

Take the working draft of the ERIP out to an external audience beyond the Steering Committee to sell the recovery inception concept and test the plan’s underlying principles:

A) Internal – Council employees;

B) Emergency management sector; and

C) Community

Circulate the Draft ERIP

Use the ERIP in a training test exercise to verify its practicality and train staff and partners in its us

Host Training Exercise

Re-evaluate the ERIP’s content and concepts in the wake of the Emergency Management White Paper

Re-evaluate following White Paper

Implement an annual review cycle and collate feedback from the above activities and tangibly update the ERIP

Collate Feedback, Review & Update

Continue to liaise with EMA as the funding body to inform/influence their thinking

Liaise with EMA

Questions

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