Putting the community at the heart of Victoria’s recovery from emergencies

Emergency Management Victoria (EMV) is a government body that shares responsibility for ensuring Victoria’s emergency management system is sustainable, effective and community-focused.

Reform within the emergency management sector gave EMV responsibility for coordinating recovery following emergencies, including bushfires and floods. EMV adopted a community-focused model characterised by increased engagement and representation. After reviewing the recovery phase of two bushfires, Nous worked with EMV to deliver a Resilient Recovery Strategy.

Nous reviewed relief and recovery efforts to identify gaps and improvement opportunities, informing the Resilient Recovery Strategy. We:

1. consulted with state government representatives to build a shared understanding of the case for change, the government’s role and Victoria’s relief and recovery system’s desired outcomes
2. tested, refined and built consensus through co-design workshops across regional Victoria with stakeholders from the community, local government and non-government organisations
3. synthesised over 200 initiatives identified in the workshops into a compelling narrative with clear implementation actions
4. conducted workshops with senior state government executives to refine the strategy to win the authorising environment’s support.

The Resilient Recovery Strategy was endorsed by the State Crisis and Resilience Council, the government body responsible for providing emergency management policy and strategy advice. It is shifting the focus of recovery towards preparation and planning, placing the community at the centre and ensuring recovery activities support community resilience.