1. Building the resilience of Victorians who are vulnerable in an emergency
2018 VCOSS/MAV Emergency Management Forum
Friday 21 September 2018
Andrea Spiteri, Director Emergency Management Department of Health and Human Services

2. The Emergency management team works to increase resilience and improve recovery outcomes for all Victorians
We are committed to:
developing person-centred services and programs
building community and sector resilience to emergencies
enabling place-based and locally-led policy solutions
supporting a shared approach to policy development, with strong regional leadership and mature stakeholder engagements approaches.
We do this by:
minimising the negative health and social impacts of emergencies
supporting the emergency preparedness and capability of the health and human services sectors
improving the recovery outcomes of Victorian communities.

3. The context in which we operate continues to evolve
The complexity and nature of emergencies (Thunderstorm Asthma, Bourke Street)
The different ways people will access support with the roll out of NDIS and changes to the HACC program
Embedding shared responsibility
Opportunities stemming from the IGEM review and legislative changes to emergency management arrangements
Devolution of service provision increases the importance of collaboration and broader engagement between emergency management and community service organisations

4. The Increasing the emergency resilience of vulnerable Victorians strategic framework
This program of work consists of:
Work package 1 – Identifying pathways to resilience
Work package 2 – Health and human services sector resilience
Work package 3 – Information system to support Victoria’s most vulnerable
The Vulnerable People in Emergencies Policy Discussion Paper informed this program of work.
The strategic framework is just one component of the Policy and Programs key projects.

5. Heat Health Program minimises the health impacts of extreme heat Speaker: Shane Robertson
Extreme heat and heatwaves are significant public health risks to Victorians.
We all have responsibilities to prepare for extreme heat.
The department's Heat Health program focuses on educating and empowering individuals, families and service providers to minimise the impact of extreme heat.
New messaging focusing on the health impact of extreme heat and a refreshed Heat Health Plan for Victoria will feature for the summer season.
Get involved by updating your extreme heat plans and sharing key messages and collateral with your clients and communities

6. Promoting effective Psychosocial support Speaker: Fiona Li
The Psychosocial Reference Group provides expertise to inform psychosocial support; for policy, research and program development before, during and after emergencies. Members represent a broad cross-section of the sector including service providers, clinical psychologists, academia, peak organisations and relevant state departments. The group is guided by four strategic priorities. These are: • enhancing the provision of psychological first aid • improving psychosocial outcomes for children and young people • working with communities through high emotion • integrating the department’s psychosocial relief and recovery planning.

7. The Emergency Management sector has an important role to play in responding to family violence Speaker: Georgina Padgham
The Family Violence framework will support relief and recovery organisations in responding to family violence in emergency-affected communities.
The framework builds on a review of the department’s family violence in emergencies strategy, which was undertaken in 2017.
The framework will support relief and recovery organisations by promoting and supporting:
Communications and awareness building
Capability development
Coordination with other family violence and emergency management stakeholders.

8. Promoting financial resilience to emergencies Speaker: Shane Robertson
More than 1 in 2 Victorians have not insured their home and contents or don't have enough insurance to replace their belongings.
Individual and household recovery is significantly hampered by housing instability and financial insecurity.
The department's financial resilience work program increases awareness of financial resilience and preparedness activities for emergencies.
We'd love to have your help to distribute the Insure It. It's Worth It toolkit to your clients and communities this summer.

9. Increasing the emergency resilience of vulnerable Victorians strategic framework Speaker: Corinne Waddell
It is the aspiration of the department for all Victorians to be healthy, safe and able to lead a life they value
This project will contribute to this aspiration by empowering people to:
Identify their emergency risks
Navigate access to emergency preparedness planning information
Make informed decisions about their health and personal safety.
Shift the language of vulnerability and focus more on risk factors, circumstances and/or characteristics that may result in a person experiencing vulnerability in an emergency

10. The development of a person-centred, consequence-based model to promote community resilience
The model will enable the department to:
Effectively transition to contemporary language around resilience
Empower individuals and communities to actively participate in their own emergency preparedness planning
Remove ‘vulnerability’ labels, and instead focus on the factors, characteristics or circumstances that may result in a person being vulnerable to an emergency
Capture the different ways people access support and identify any gaps or barriers preventing a person from accessing that support
Understand and contribute to a shared responsibility approach to preparing for, responding to and recovering from emergencies

11. The development of a person-centred, consequence-based model to promote community resilience
Shared responsibility

12. Panel Discussion Question & Answers
Facilitator: Shane Robertson, Manager Policy and Programs, Department of Health and Human Services

13. Emergency preparedness is key to ensuring safety of clients and staff before, during and after emergencies
Andrea Spiteri – Director, Emergency Management, Department of Health and Human Services Frances Ford – Coordinator Resilient Communities at City of Greater Bendigo. This role includes emergency management coordination and support for community resilience initiatives Jo Brown – Manager Health and Wellbeing at Southern Grampians Glenelg Primary Care Partnership

14. Interactive exercise

15. In the context of risk, would you consider your case study to be adequately prepared?
What are the factors, characteristics and/or circumstances that you believe illustrate resilience?
What are some actions or support mechanisms that your case study can undertake to further enhance their resilience and potentially improve their response and recovery outcomes?
Are these support mechanisms currently available?
If not, what are the barriers preventing them from accessing support?
What would need to occur for those barriers to be removed?