Recent events such as the 2019-20 bushfires and the COVID-19 pandemic have highlighted the sector’s reliance on critical employees to support emergency management operations and ability to surge workforce resources as needed in the event of a prolonged disruption or emergency incident.

Examples of past reviews examining human resource capabilities and capacity to support emergency management operations include, Managing Emergency Services Volunteers and Review of incident management teams: accreditation and rostering.

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Publish year Assurance activity Summary Organisation
2013 Management of Unplanned Leave in Emergency Services (External link) An assessment of whether AV, MFESB and VicPol were effectively and efficiently managing unplanned leave. The audit provided recommendations to all three agencies separately based on its findings. Victorian Auditor-General's Office
2014 Managing Emergency Services Volunteers (External link) An examination of the adequacy of strategic and operational planning within CFA and SES to identify and address volunteer workforce capacity and requirements, including recruitment, retention and support. The report found that addressing these issues is critical to the long-term sustainability of these emergency services agencies. Victorian Auditor-General's Office
2015 Natural Disaster Funding Arrangements: Inquiry Report (External link) An inquiry into natural disaster funding arrangements found they are inefficient and unsustainable, and recommended systemic changes to recovery and mitigation funding – specifically that the Australian Government increase its contribution to mitigation funding and reduce its contribution to recovery funding. Australian Government
2015 The Evaluation Report: Municipal Emergency Resourcing Program (External link) A evaluation of the MERP, this report made four recommendations, two of which related to continued funding and better allocation of funding among councils. The other two recommendations sought to ensure the MERP had clearly defined objectives and intended outcomes and for LGV to continue improving its communication with councils. Local Government Victoria
2016 2016 Sector Report - Emergency Management Volunteer Welfare and Efficiency Survey (External link) A report based on a survey conducted to understand emergency management volunteer perceptions of volunteer welfare and about the efficiency of emergency management service delivery, it found that organisational support and accessible training and leadership opportunities for volunteers can be improved. Emergency Management Victoria
2017 Review of incident management teams: accreditation and rostering (External link) A review of the effectiveness of accreditation processes and approaches to rostering personnel into Level 3 Incident Management Teams. The review makes a number of observations and two recommendations, focusing on AIIMS Level 3 incident management for Class 1 emergencies. Inspector-General for Emergency Management
2017 2017 Sector Report - Emergency Management Volunteer Welfare and Efficiency Survey (External link) A report based on the second survey conducted in 2017 to understand emergency management volunteer perceptions of volunteer welfare and about the efficiency of emergency management service delivery. The report identified that emergency management volunteers would like to see increased access to and flexibility of training, and greater and more meaningful engagement in corporate decisions that impact them. Emergency Management Victoria
2017 The 3Vs interim Report: Uncovering the hidden value (External link) An identification of different types of value provided by emergency management volunteers, including supporting measures and data, for effective policies, practices and decision-making. The report details potential approaches and methods to develop a more robust view of the value of volunteers, volunteering and volunteerism. Emergency Management Victoria
2019 The people behind 000: mental health of our first responders (External link) An inquiry into the role of Australian, state and territory governments in addressing the high rates of mental health conditions experienced by first responders, emergency service workers and volunteers, the report makes 14 recommendations that seek to address the rates of conditions experienced. Parliament of Australia
2019 The people behind 000: mental health of our first responders (External link) An examination of the role of Australian, state and territory governments in addressing the high rates of mental health conditions experienced by first responders, emergency service workers and volunteers. In February 2020, the Australian Government responded to the Senate Committee’s 14 recommendations that seek to address the conditions experienced by first responders. Parliament of Australia