Review of our Bushfire Complex Fires Recovery Program

Background information

• To guide our future recovery planning, council engaged Melbourne University to complete an independent review of our Bunyip Complex Fires Recovery Program 
• This review involved consultation with the impacted community, volunteer groups and other government agencies involved in the recovery program  
• The review includes information on how well council achieved our recovery plan objectives, what the community, volunteers and agencies see as the successes and gaps in recovery programming and provides council with a set of recommendations for future planning 
• Council is committed to reviewing, actioning and improving processes for future disasters in line with the recommendations. 
• Where changes identified in the recommendations sit with other levels of Government, Council will continue to play a strong role in advocating for changes on behalf of our community. 

Successes of the recovery program

The review showed the following successes for the recovery program: 

• Communication 
• Engagement and outreach through recovery activities 
• Consistent council staff involvement  
• The Community Recovery Committee (CRC) 
• The longevity of the recovery program 
• Fostering and improving a sense of community 
• Enhancing the operation of volunteer organisations 

Areas for improvement

The review showed the following areas for improvement for the recovery program: 

Recommendations

The report provides recommendations under the themes of people, systems and procedures. 

People  

• Maintain a trained team of staff 
• Find ways to build experience ensure regular training and handover processes are in place 
• Provide easy to understand flow charts to help community members and recovery partners understand the recovery process 
• Support and provide coordination for partner organisations through recovery 
• Consider innovative organisational responses  

Systems 

• Develop systems and strategies that offers assistance, connects services and support and manages privacy  
• Address data management to improve the  use and timely access of  information 
• Guide and assist the community to understand the navigate recovery processes - have resources such as FAQs or links to resources and people available to support the community to access information when they need it   
• Establish an information management system related to recovery 

Procedures 

• Resource staffing to be able to respond in a timely manner 
• Establish CRC (Community Recovery Committee) and subcommittees as early as possible post-disaster  
• Resource CRC and subcommittees with support  
• Address the issue of public liability insurance for volunteer involvement  
• Simplify planning processes to help with rebuilds in accordance with the Planning Scheme and advocate for improved communication and responsibility for tree and land clearing. 
• Establish relief and recovery centre(s) as close as safely possible, as early as possible.  
• Establish communication protocols for future recovery programs 
• Strive for broad community consultation  
• For issues outside of the scope of Cardinia Shire Council’s response  we recommend that Council has a significant role in liaising and advocating with other bodies   
• To consider further opportunities for research and evaluation, related to disaster preparedness, response, and recovery, which can inform Council strategy and resourcing 

Our next steps

We have started to address some of the recommendations from the review including: 

• Increasing our emergency management training for staff including a greater recovery focus  
• Planning the delivery of emergency exercises to provide staff greater experience 
• Providing clarity of roles for Council staff across the phases of response, relief and recovery 
• Involving recovery services in matrix of support services for emergencies 
• Providing an opportunity for new members to join Councils Emergency Support Team  
• Updating Councils Relief and Recovery Plan  
• Improving our data collection and sharing protocols 
• Improve our engagement and communication tools 

Council will continue to develop actions based on the recommendations to inform emergency planning.