Council's role in emergencies

In an emergency, we support response agencies such as Victoria Police, Country Fire Authority, Fire Rescue Victoria and the Victoria State Emergency Service, as well as coordinating relief and recovery efforts within our region.

In an emergency we

• Activate the municipal emergency coordination centre which is a location from which council emergency management activities are coordinated.
• Activities may include opening and operating an emergency relief centre for displaced residents. Services may include assistance with food and clothing, temporary accommodation, personal support services and access to grants or financial aid.
• Other activities include secondary impact assessment, road/tree clearing, traffic management support, animal welfare related services, volunteer/donations coordination and assisting the distribution of warnings and information to the public and media.

To prepare and mitigate emergencies we

• Support the preparation of the Municipal Emergency Management Plan which includes specific sub plans for fires, floods, heatwaves and pandemics
• Implement relevant local government legislation (eg. fire, health, building and planning)
• Assess hazards and undertake appropriate preventative measures, like private property fire hazard inspections
• Work with agencies to identify community shelter options, such as Neighbourhood Safer Place – Bushfire Place of Last Resorts.
• Provide support to community resilience building programs
• Work with other councils across the Barwon South West to increase our capacity and capability to respond in an emergency